So, imagine this: You just had this great interview and you are ready to extend a job offer. The candidate you found that was so perfect for your job opening now won’t respond to you. You’ve emailed, called, and even sent a text but have heard nothing back.

Or how about this:  have you had an applicant accept an offer and not show upon Day One? Or had someone working for you that left and seemingly vanished with no explanation or communication to say why?

Maybe you don’t have to imagine these things because they’ve happened to you multiple times!

This is “ghosting” at its finest and while at its finest, it is the absolute worst when it comes to workforce planning.

Ghosting is harmful to employers because it disrupts hiring plans and annoys talent acquisition professionals. Statistically speaking, while it is difficult to set in stone, there is an estimated 20 to 50% of employers that say an applicant and worker will no show.

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Business and talent acquisition experts believe this is indicative of the low unemployment rate and competitive job market. As of July 2019, the US employment rate was at 3.7% which is the exact same as the month prior.

We know it’s a problem, but now what?

Ghosting Prevention

How to Engage Applicants

An easy way to reduce the chances of being ghosted by a candidate is to treat them well through the application process. Think of it like customer service. If you are purchasing goods or services, you expect to be treated well by the seller. The same rings true by candidates applying for your job openings.

If someone is applying to your organization, they won’t want to work with you if they find fault in the application process. If the application process is flawed, so will their experience working for you, right? Well, that is what your applicant is thinking. They want to see that you have good “customer service.”

Tips for Better Applicant Engagement

First, be transparent about the application process and provide details about next steps and timing of the whole process. A video can help tell this story as well. Avalon Health Care Management has a candidate expectation video to portray their application process, giving their candidates a clear vision of what to expect while applying.

Second, delays can happen. It is critical to keep a candidate aware of any hiccups that may have occurred and will make the process longer than expected. Pick up the phone or send a simple email letting he or she know.

Third, honesty really is the best policy. Be accurate and detailed in your job advertisements and descriptions. Again, video can help too. Video job ads not only tell the story, they show is too. Imagery, b-roll, music, text and voice over gives a much clearer picture than long strings of text that a candidate will likely skim over anyway and not read word for word.

Beckman Coulter Diagnostics, HCA Healthcare, Kelly Services and Lockheed Martin all use video technology to recruit better. Take a look at their videos job ads.

How to Engage New Hires

If you offered good “customer service” during the application process and delivered on the promises you made to your candidates, they will have a more trusting relationship during the onboarding process and feel he or she made a good decision by joining your team.

It takes more than just having a good feeling from your new hire. You may have delivered during the hiring process, but you cannot drop the ball while you are onboarding. It is important to make new hires feel welcome.

Provide details about your company culture and make proper introductions to their new team mates. Team building exercises can help too, building relationships and a sense of camaraderie.

Likewise, provide details as to expectations for the first 90-days. Set goals. Meet one-on-one to provide feedback and ensure that the new hire is meeting expectations and goals. Be open. Communication is key here.

Short on-demand videos that provide information and training, ones that can be watched over and over again, help too. Take a look at this safety video for McGrath RentCorp.

Video Can Help Prevent Ghosting

From the video job ads, to candidate expectations, to onboarding and training, video can help with your recruitment and new hire challenges.

And here are the statistics to prove it.

• Google says that 6 out of 10 people would prefer to see an online video versus watching broadcast television.
• Mobile views of video have gone up 100% annually according to Insivia.
• 55% of people watch online video each day according to HubSpot.
• Wordstream reports that 59% of executives admit that they would rather see a video than read text.

While a picture may be worth a thousand words (as is the old saying), one minute of video is in fact worth 1.8 million words. Insivia also posted that video viewers will retain 95% of your message while only retaining 10% when reading text verbiage.

If you are looking for a way to prevent ghosting and create better engagement for candidates and new hires, video technology should be a part of your planning. It is an easy solution to reduce headaches, reduce wasteful spending, and build a better relationship with applicants and new hires.

Companies around the globe are adopting video technology to assist in their hiring needs. You should too!

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