Ghosting

A few days ago, I spoke with a senior business leader who’s seeking a new role. He told me he has already pursued an opportunity with a well-known international firm, the recruitment process involving numerous rounds of interviews with different stakeholders and a presentation to the executive team.

The last thing the business said was they’d contact him once they’d made their final decision. But, despite chasing several times, he never heard from them again. Zero, zip, zilch, nada, nothing.

The term he used to describe the situation is unfortunately one that’s entered the common vernacular: he’s been “ghosted”.

It’s something that’s happening ever more frequently and there’s simply no excuse for it. If a hiring firm’s processes are letting something like this slip then they’re not fit for purpose. If a company’s culture says this sort of thing is acceptable then it’s failing.

At the end of any recruitment exercise, more people are unsuccessful than successful – only one person can be appointed after all. So not only should passing on negative outcomes be part of established process but businesses should be good at it given the practice they should be getting.

Disappointed maybe but no-one’s going to be angry. In business, people are used to receiving bad news – the sale that wasn’t completed, the business plan that wasn’t approved, the supplier order that wasn’t fulfilled on time, it happens all the time. As long as they’re informed of the situation so that actions can be taken and lessons can be learned, they’ll move on.

It surprises me that companies who “ghost” don’t realise the effect it has on their brands. Word gets around so wouldn’t it be better if people were talking about how a business communicated in a timely fashion, was transparent and passed on feedback and explanation regardless of the outcome rather than about how it ignores people?

If you’ve ever been “ghosted”, maybe the silver lining is you found out how useless that company is without ever having to work for it.

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