How Ghosting Can Impact Your Business? And The Solution

Ghosting candidates or abruptly cutting off communication with them without any explanation or follow-up can have several negative impacts on a company's brand; however, research suggests that this doesn’t stop hiring managers from continuing to ghost candidates.

What is the impact?

• Reputation Damage

• Word of Mouth

• Employee Morale

• Recruitment Challenges

• Solution

Reputation Damage

Ghosted candidates may share their negative experiences on social media platforms, company review websites, or with their network. This can tarnish the company's reputation as a potential employer, leading to a loss of trust and credibility among current and future job seekers.

Word of Mouth

Unhappy candidates can spread their negative experiences with the company. In particularly small industries, this can deter other qualified candidates from applying to the company in the future and may even influence potential customers or clients.

Employee Morale

Current employees who hear about or witness the company's lack of professionalism in handling candidate communication may become disheartened or lose confidence in their employer. This can impact employee morale and productivity, especially when they refer candidates in their personal networks.

Recruitment Challenges

Ghosting candidates can make it harder for companies to attract top talent in the future. Talented candidates may pursue opportunities with competitors or companies with a better reputation and who are known for treating candidates respectfully throughout the hiring process.

Despite the impact, a recent survey from Resumegenius reported that up to 80% of hiring managers regularly ghost candidates after their first interaction. 

The primary reasons for not responding to candidates are ongoing decision-making about the right candidate (34%) and the high volume of applications (33%).

Both reasons equate to time.

Solution

When a business needs to hire, internal hiring requires hiring managers to take on the extra responsibility of sifting through CVs and interviewing candidates, which takes their time away from their daily duties, which may include revenue generation.  

Using this method of internal hiring can often take longer due to balancing daily responsibilities and finding the right candidates, therefore, it can cost a business more compared to using external search firms. Not only can it cost more financially, but it can also cost a business its reputation when employees and customer experience are not prioritised.

Using an external search partner can position your business attractively to prospective candidates who are strategically targeted based on your requirements, therefore streamlining your recruitment process. An executive search partner can also manage closing off with unsuccessful candidates, mitigating the implications of ghosting candidates and strengthening your reputation in the market.

Oakstone recently ran a cost analysis with a long-standing client to calculate the cost of advertising a role using internal resources vs. an executive search partner. Read more about the calculations and how Oakstone International contributed to 2.2x ROI.