Today, one of the main difficulties in attracting and recruiting collaborators is the work ghosting. This phenomenon occurs when the candidate disappears from one day to the next, without answering calls, messages or emails. It can occur both during the selection process and in the first days after being hired.
According to the study “Hiring intention for the second semester of 2023”, prepared by Pandapé, the abandonment of 44% of the applicants during the selection process is positioned among the main difficulties in attracting talent. To a large extent, this makes it more difficult for 71% of Mexican companies to fill open vacancies due to high turnover.
Labor ghosting is a practice that occurs more and more frequently in recruitment processes. It is a phenomenon that can be avoided, understanding its causes and putting hands to work to reverse them. Chief among these is empathy and communication. Here it is key to make the candidate feel valued and respected during the interview and the selection process. This is accomplished with clarity, speed, and candor from HR.
How to avoid labor ghosting of candidates?
Companies often overlook the fact that recruiting is a two-way process. In other words, if the candidate feels valued and his expectations have been clear during an interview, which has also been comfortable, it is very likely that he will respond in the same way to the company. In this way, the chances of job abandonment will tend to be reduced.
Given this scenario, human resources teams must analyze their recruitment and selection processes. They must also create offers that are much clearer, more concise and with the indicated information on responsibilities, roles and needs of each position.
Likewise, promoting effective communication is very important, where keeping the candidate well informed allows trust to be established. This is not minor if we take into account that more than 70% of the companies in Mexico agree that contracting times have lengthened in the recent 2 years, following the data from the report made by Pandapé.
Finally, and coupled with clarity during the attraction process and optimal communication. It is also necessary to promote a good shipment of feedbackas well as optimize the processes of onboarding.
We are in a challenging context where the shortage of talent and high turnover are positioned as challenges for companies in the country. Given this, the abandonment of candidates adds to the phenomena to be faced by recruiters. For this reason, it is important that they understand what this practice is, how it occurs, and identify the changes that must be implemented to prevent the disappearance of candidates during the attraction stage.
Yvonne Lopez Expert in planning and executing global communication and marketing strategies. She has served as a spokesperson for different companies in the technology sector and startups.