How Can Suitable AI’s Employee Referral Program Help You Prevent Candidate Ghosting?

So, you’ve found a seemingly perfect candidate in one of your recruitment drives. Everything’s going well until it suddenly isn’t. The applicant vanishes into thin air—no explanations, not even an email. 

What you just experienced is candidate ghosting. And, you aren’t alone. In fact, a study found that 76% of surveyed employers have been facing the same issue since 2019. 

It’s easy to blame the pandemic for all of it, citing the significant changes in global work habits. However, the problem is much more insidious and has to do with the redundancies in current hiring processes.

Referral recruitment can alleviate these issues. But, you need Suitable AI to execute such techniques effectively.

Want to find out how it’s all connected? Let’s dive right in.

What exactly is candidate ghosting?

A standard hiring process goes somewhat like this:

• Qualified individuals apply for a position
• They get shortlisted and make it through the selection stages
• Recruiters host a final interview to establish any remaining details

Now, the applicant not showing up for the final interview or even the selection stages is what candidate ghosting is. Often, an individual may be hired and still not bother to appear on the first day of work. 

Whichever of the two scenarios occur, ghosting has a core underlying feature: Recruiters do not receive any clarity on why the applicant decided to opt out of the process.

But why is this phenomenon so prevalent now? Well, first off, the hiring market has become candidate driven. People want to be sure that they choose the proper organization. In short, the idea of ‘sticking it out with a job’ no longer works—not for the company nor the employee. 

Still, that’s a blessing in disguise. How so? It simply means that talent acquisition now only focuses on people who want to work for the organization. No matter how long it takes to find them, the result is always someone who will be a better fit.

But what if you come across the perfect candidate who seems eager to join the company, and then they ghost you? That will only happen if you:

• Unnecessarily prolong the recruitment process
• Fail to maintain consistent communication with the applicant
• Convey the wrong details about a position, making people doubt their competency  

Here’s a secret: You can efficiently manage all three issues. Curious as to how? Well, read on.

How can Suitable AI help deliver a positive recruitment experience and reduce candidate ghosting?

The key to successful talent acquisition lies in being detailed, communicative, and organized. Suitable AI helps you deliver on all three ends.

Here’s how the platform achieves this:

1. Consistent communication through trackable channels

Current recruitment processes are riddled with communication gaps. Applicants aren’t told about anything for days on end. Referral hiring suffers from this issue as well. 

Suitable AI’s Slack integration changes that. In short, notifications are sent out on the platform and the Slack channels when a position is available. After employees submit their recommendations, the entire process is easily trackable through the consolidated platform channels.

Essentially, everyone remains in the loop—employees know how their connections are faring, applicants are aware of their progress, and recruiters track the overall process.

2. Concise details that are on brand

A LinkedIn report states that 75% of people look into an organization before sending in their applications. Now, ask yourself this: What prompts a person to research a company? 

The answer is apparent: A compelling job description.

However, listings aren’t just for engagement. They also have to provide details and convey the idea of ‘employer brand’. This is where Suitable AI can help.

The platform offers a wide range of templates that enable you to highlight whatever you want in your job description. Want to call attention to flexible hours? Just select the option from the template. What about diversity preferences? That’s there too! Everything the applicant needs to know—work responsibilities, company culture, employee benefits—is present in the post outline.

The current recruitment landscape demands you to be nuanced in your hiring approach. When you curate a job listing, you introduce specificity in the details. That discourages the ‘no-shows’ from applying in the first place. 

3. Automation over everything else

One of Suitable AI’s features is the ability to import your existing workforce’s digital network onto the platform. This enables employees to make referrals as soon as recruiters announce a position. Even if they don’t, hiring managers can access those connections and review anyone they find interesting.

What does that do? It accelerates recruitment—a vacancy opens up, employees see the details, and they make the referral. Conversely, recruiters can approach a potential candidate from the imported contacts and ask them to apply.

Streamlined, hassle-free, and a responsive hiring process: That’s what Suitable AI offers.

Why choose Suitable AI?

Candidate ghosting is essentially tied to the lack of a connection between the organization and the applicant. And, it’s understandable if people aren’t immediately drawn in by a company. Why would they be? A standard recruitment drive barely reveals anything about the employer brand. 

Referral hiring is the opposite of this—it works based on personal connections. Simply put, employees bring in compatible candidates and, in doing so, minimize the chances of someone flaking halfway through the process. Still, it’s not enough to craft engaging referral programs. You also have to sustain them.

Suitable AI lets you do both. Here’s how:

• Incentives: Every step the referred candidate takes rewards the employee who recommended them. The emphasis is on increasing workforce participation by encouraging engagement rather than just rewarding the outcome. 
• Transparency: Employees track the applicants up until they get hired. That gives them a better idea of the candidates the organization is looking to on-board.
• Gamification: Employees strive to make better recommendations because there is something significant at stake—rewards. Essentially, recruitment becomes a healthy competitive playground.

Of course, it also helps that the platform is highly responsive and easily navigable. People can make recommendations in minutes, and recruiters can review those submissions within the same period. 

Leverage connections better with Suitable AI and reduce candidate ghosting

When does candidate ghosting happen? Most often, you’ll find it’s when people cannot build a professional relationship—with you or your organization.

The only way you get rid of that issue is by relying on employee recommendations. After all, your workforce knows everything about the company. They are also familiar with who the organization wants. On the other hand, a generic job board can’t help you with those things.

When you grasp the importance behind that idea, you’ll see that Suitable AI’s referral programs have always been the solution.