Bust Ghosting!

“Ghosting” from a social lens, the action of disappearing within the context of an established relationship or courtship process, has become so every day on the dating scene that, according to Psychology Today, almost 50% of men and women have either experienced, or done the ghosting.  

It is speculated that this is driven by the need to avoid the emotional discomfort of the conversation around a break up, and this, coupled with the lack of mutual social connections of people you may meet online, means there are fewer social consequences to engaging in this type of behavior. Ultimately this type of unilateral disengagement can be very traumatic to people, especially if you have known the person beyond a few dates. 

Interestingly, this phenomenon has also become so prevalent in the interview and recruiting process by corporate North American business in their hiring practices that it even has its own (albeit small) Wikipedia page! This is further evidenced individually across discussion forums for job seekers where people are finding themselves being ghosted during the interview process, sometimes after surprisingly long process engagements. 

In understanding why this is happening, intuitively I feel this has similar roots to the dating scene-it’s a tough conversation that individuals in the hiring process want to avoid having and there is a perceived limited direct social consequence to doing so. 

“Once we stop engaging with the candidates we have interviewed, it will just sort itself out” 

 Here are 3 reasons why you might rethink that from a corporate perspective: 

1. Often job seekers are vulnerable. While not in every instance, many job seekers are coming off a potentially devastating loss of former role which can play havoc with identity, confidence and self-esteem. There can also be financial sensitivity from a candidate's perspective, an extension of their circumstance due to unemployment. One or both factors can be in play making the need to display compassion as an attribute of your organizations character more paramount than under normal circumstances. If this is not a natural way of seeing the world, a good opportunity to challenge yourself to see the world from a different perspective. 
2. Candidates do not control the interview process, that process is controlled by the hiring company. The hiring company owns communications and updates with the candidate pool, especially as you get further within the process, beyond the screening interview, and into deeper investments of time (including prep and research) by the candidates. Candidates are not privy to the multitude of factors that often derail a hiring process, including loss of budget or reorg within the company that puts the role on hold. There are factors outside of candidate suitability that lead to a no-hire decision, and while specifics don’t need to be shared in granular detail, if the business requirement changes, you need to connect with the people waiting for feedback. 
3. The process reflects your companies' culture and your brand. Ghosting makes you look tone deaf, especially in the current environment of inclusiveness as a social construct. Your companies' brand is reflected by your behavior in this two-way process. An amazing story was shared on LinkedIn recently from a professional who had mailed the famed brick manufacturer LEGO when he was 7 years old around employment opportunities. LEGO responded with a LETTER explaining their corporate structure and ideas on what education to pursue to make their dream of working for LEGO come true. He has not forgotten this to this day. This speaks volumes to the quality of culture within that org and their understanding of how the recruiting process affects their brand. 

How can the candidates help themselves? They can ask for the sale! Unfortunately, most job seekers err on the side of “I don’t want to bother them/I don’t want to seem pushy” in seeking feedback and next steps. Many job seekers express a concern it will invalidate them if they pursue proactive communication and set arbitrary standards like “ I will call if I haven’t heard in a week/they are probably busy”, as though they are being intrusive. Job seekers have more latitude in communicating than they practice. There is no harm or foul in polite persistence. I always appreciated this as a hiring manager. In many cases when qualified candidates reiterated their desire for the role in their follow up, that helped finalize us in our decision to extending them job offers. 

What can companies do? I was fortunate to work as a hiring manager within a culture that made “maintain candidates' self-esteem through the interview process” the primary objective above all else. This helped shape a lot of decision making along the way. Train your managers to have the tough conversations and value the tough conversations. Have them role play to get great at delivering tough news with class and compassion. This type of deliberate focus can help shape a healthy culture around your hiring process and contribute to making you an employer of choice! 

We can all engage collaboratively from both sides of the interview table to bust ghosting!  

Who you gonna call? Your candidates, to let them know where they stand!