A phenomenon known as candidate ghosting is on the rise in which prospective candidates and new hires simply stop responding and engaging with an employer. This practice is becoming more common, and your business likely has had its fair share of ghosting. You are not alone. Many firms report this problem from early candidate contact through new employees.
Ghosting can create a lot of problems for your business. A substantial amount of time and effort goes into the candidate recruitment process. When you spend time courting one candidate to have them disappear suddenly, you waste that time. This increases the length of the candidate hiring process and decreases productivity as the position remains unfilled. Fortunately, there are things you can do to improve your candidate recruitment and hiring processes and limit ghosting. Try these methods to reduce the likelihood of ghosting and attract the best candidates to your business.
Target Recruitment Efforts
One reason people ghost prospective employers involve an incompatibility with the position or a difference in expectations. To reduce the amount of candidate ghosting you endure, you need to focus your recruitment efforts on the candidates most likely to accept the position and stay engaged throughout. Post your ads on job boards with agencies that specialize in the field. Tailoring the process upfront means speaking to people who already know the jargon in the field and can understand the expectations. This also means that you need to be as clear as possible about the position and your company in your job ad. Discuss the kind of person who excels in the position, the company culture, and the specific tasks involved. Avoid vague comments so that candidates know better whether the position matches their skills and goals.
Streamline the Recruitment Process
When your talent recruitment process is too long or unclear, candidates are more likely to take another position. This is especially true when candidates field multiple job offers. You can avoid ghosting by shortening your hiring process and relaying the schedule to candidates. Putting multiple barriers in their way during the hiring process makes it more difficult for candidates to stay engaged. Limit the number of interviews you hold. Try not to have the same candidate more than a few times. During the interview, address key aspirations candidates have and how feasible those are within your company. When you start the interview process, have key deadlines in mind. Let the candidates know when they can hear back from you and the process for candidate selection. Most importantly, stick to the timeline as much as possible. If there is a delay in the process, let your candidates know right away. Consider software that allows candidates to track their position in the process online.
Personalize Candidate Communications
Although it is a good idea to automate initial receipts of job applications, depersonalizing the rest of the hiring process can lead to an increase in ghosting. When coordinating times for the interview, send a personal email instead of an autogenerated email. Appoint the same person to interact with particular candidates to build a relationship. This way, candidates feel responsible to someone and have a single contact if they want to end their candidature. Send personal communications after the interview that reinforce the next steps. If you sense a candidate is trying to ghost you, send them a quick email that contains an interesting article or anecdote from a conversation in the interview. Be aware that for younger candidates, non-verbal communication platforms, such as social media or text messaging, can be a more effective way to communicate.
Create an Early Onboarding Process
Once you select a candidate, you still face the danger of ghosting in the early employment stages. Reduce the chance of this occurring by integrating an early employee onboarding process within your talent recruitment procedures. Set a start date as soon as possible. Before the start date, including the new hires in company social events. Have them come into the office to meet their new team. Organize a coffee social or lunch so new hires can engage with their new team members and management. Require new hires to start their paperwork early. Create an online system to complete their human resources paperwork while they wait to start their job. Make new hires feel like they are a part of your company from the moment they accept your offer.
Instead of stemming from malice, candidate ghosting often comes from a lack of communication and relationship with the prospective employer. As candidates have lots of options in a thriving economy, it is easy to get overwhelmed with the number of offers. By implementing changes in your talent recruitment process, you can save time and money by decreasing the chances of ghosting. Use these methods to target top talent and recruit reliable candidates.