1. Nip COVID-19 concerns in the bud.
It’s easy to see why more applicants today are taking the “contact-less” trend too literally.
“We now have a large pool of displaced workers — about 38 million — from restaurants, retailers, hotels and other businesses that have temporarily closed,” said OnShift Product Marketing Manager Tommy Marzella. “These employees may have thought they wanted to work in healthcare but might have changed their minds with the rapidly changing news surrounding COVID-19.”
Jeff Sandstrom, a post-acute care expert and strategic product marketing manager for Relias, says the pandemic has only intensified ghosting, but for slightly different reasons. Time after time, it creates a ripple effect.
“Employees stop showing up to work because they are afraid for their own or loved ones’ health,” he said. The resulting staffing gaps cause nursing directors and managers to “become so overwhelmed that they, too, eventually stop showing up to work.”
One solution: Applying more emphasis on your organization’s infection control process and commitment to employee and resident safety in candidate messaging, according to David Wilkins, chief strategy officer at HealthcareSource. It wouldn’t hurt to raise applicant awareness and ease worries around supporting local childcare options, he believes.
2. There’s never been a better time to beef up your employee application process.
While overall ghosting rates in long-term care are down from the same time in 2019, it’s no time to become complacent.
“One of the most effective ways, ironically, to reduce ghosting is to increase the rigor and length of the application, especially through the addition of assessments,” said Wilkins.
Essentially, making the process more robust will weed out less enthused applicants at the start, he explained.
Implementing a smarter screening processes is another option.
Wilkins favors modern behavioral assessments up front, giving managers “a predictive analysis of turnover risk” and related structured interview questions to probe for potential commitment issues.
Another screening tool is the candidate’s own job history, which will reveal instability and frequent job changes, said Kendra Nicastro, director of business development at LeaderStat.
Prompt responses to applicants’ initial queries and follow-ups is yet another, according to Marzella, who offered texting as the most powerful communication tool available.
He also advises being completely transparent during interviews and keeping applicants engaged by making job offers earlier during background check or drug screen contingencies.
3. Anticipate ghosting before it happens.
How? “Managers who cultivate a healthy rapport with their staff will be better equipped to identify a potential ghosting situation,” Sandstrom said.
Wilkins reiterates the value of behavioral assessments, which more times than not will reveal candidates who have chronic “commitment issues” and would rather take to flight than fight to do better or find fulfilling work where they’re at.
4. Cut unresponsive applicants some slack.
A reminder text on interview day, for example, may turn a no-show into a great interview. Finding out why they ghosted your facility may reveal a less sinister motive. “Perhaps they got sick, forgot or got called in to pick up a shift,” said Marzella.
The follow-up may also generate invaluable lessons for avoiding future ghosting.
One lesson is more compassion. The manager may learn, for example, that the applicant had a personal issue that he or she was afraid to raise, and offering assistance could turn a no-show into a hire, Wilkins said.
5. Reconnect with ghost applicants.
Doing so “reinforces and aligns your organizational values and strategy of support, and it may make them re-evaluate that cost-reward equation,” Sandstrom said.
In some cases, the investment of time and resources you expended in the first place could lead to a more meaningful recruitment experience, or even a solid hire the second time around.
If anything, it can make your hiring managers more adept at meeting future challenging situations.
“There are a number of reasons that an applicant disappeared,” said Marzella. “Perhaps they found another job or it just wasn’t the right time to make a career move. As you work with applicants, you should begin to collect a database of applicants who, for one reason or another, didn’t work out.”
From the July/August 2020 Issue of McKnight's Long-Term Care News
