Definition: What is Ghosting
Ghosting is an act of abruptly cutting off communication with no explanation or notice to the other person. The term is primarily associated with modern dating but has infiltrated professionalism too.
In the workplace context, assuming you’ve heard this phrase in your workplace somewhere, it means employees or job candidates disappearing without communicating their departure to anyone in the organization.
You can notice this behavior in many ways like employees not showing up for work, ignoring work calls and messages, or being absent in the interview after having all initial interactions.
Types of Ghosting
Now, ghosting in the workplace can be of several types.
Candidate Ghosting
It means the candidate would fail to attend the interview without giving any prior notice or explanation.
Post Offer Ghosting
It happens when a candidate is successfully recruited for the company. They would give an interview and pass the whole selection process. But then they would suddenly disappear without formally declining the offer.
Employee Ghosting
This happens when the candidate has formally accepted the job offer, but then they fail to join the office and disappear without formally informing anyone or declining the offer.
It also involves silent resignations, where an employee abruptly stops showing up to work without giving any notice to the company or informing anyone, either their employer or HR, about their intentions to resign.
Colleague Ghosting
It can also be of two types; one is when a colleague becomes unresponsive and stops engaging in a team project. They leave their coworkers in the middle to figure out things on their own.
Another one includes when a colleague ignores emails, messages, or all sorts of communication from their other team members or superiors. And then they continue to do it without any explanation.
Vendor or Client Ghosting
In this case, vendors, clients, or other business partners suddenly cease all communications or corporation with the company without notice. It may cause disruptions in ongoing business relationships.
It would also include independent contractors or freelancers who work for the company, but suddenly go silent. They may leave without completing agreed-upon work, which might affect the ongoing projects.
Managerial Ghosting
It’s about lack of feedback and absentee management. For instance, when managers neglect providing regular feedback or evaluating the performance of their team members. This act would leave the team clueless about their progress and development.
Regarding absentee management. When managers are frequently unavailable, unresponsive to their employee concerns, or uninvolved in team activities, it leads to disengagement among the team members and their other subordinates.
Understanding the Reasons for Ghosting
You can only address this issue of ghosting, whether this is on employee level or managerial level, when you actually understand the reasons behind it. So, let’s discuss them.
- Employee ghosting might happen if they receive a better job offer or opportunities from other companies. In such cases, they might decide to leave their current role and join the other.
- Another reason can be the toxic work environment. If your company has a hostile and unhealthy work environment, it might push employees to ghost their employers.
- It mostly happens when the individual is unable to discuss his or her concerns with anyone in the company or they’re irresponsive to these conversations. Lack of transparency can also be a huge cause for ghosting.
- If the organization doesn’t provide clarity in its communication, the decision-making employees may find ghosting as their final resort to avoid uncomfortable communications.
- Personal issues can also contribute to it. Sometimes, people in the workplace find it difficult to communicate their intentions due to their personal problems.
So, instead of discussing their challenges, they choose to withdraw from their work.
Addressing Ghosting in the Workplace
Here are some of the strategies that HRs can try to address the issues of ghosting in the workplace.
- Encourage employees to have clear communication with each other. Make sure they’re open and transparent about their concerns.
- Regularly check-in with employees to understand their concerns.
- Conduct exit interviews to gain more insights into the reasons why people leave your organization.
- Improve candidate experience during the hiring process regardless of the outcome. Keep them informed throughout the process and provide timely feedback.
- Document your policies and procedures. It would include how to handle employee departure so that the employees stay aware of what’ expected of them and what will be the consequences of their actions.
Final Thoughts
By understanding the ghosting meaning and knowing that it can be a huge concern for HRs in the workplace. As an HR, you can take the necessary steps to prevent it and ensure that you don’t do it to anyone either.