The term “ghosting” originally applied to personal relationships. Often, it was used to refer to a prospective or current partner or friend who opted to cease all communications as a means of severing the relationship. In recent years, the term has been applied more broadly. It’s now associated with any relationship – personal or professional – where one party stops engaging with another.
Ghosting at work can be incredibly troublesome. After all, networking in the professional world is often crucial for success. Without strong connections, you may have trouble seizing opportunities or advancing your career.
If you’d like to learn more, here is a look at the different types of ghosting at work that you may encounter.
Hiring
While hiring technically falls on the pre-employment side of the work line, it is nonetheless relevant to the discussion. If you’re extended a verbal job offer only to receive no contact afterward, you’ve essentially been ghosted by a prospective employer.
The lack of contact can be particularly bothersome as it can be hard to determine the state of the offer for quite some time. You may not know if you should give your notice at your current job or assume that the position will not be yours.
If this happens to you, it is usually best to exercise caution. Until you have a written offer with a formal start date in hand, don’t give notice at work and don’t stop your job search. That way, if the opportunity does disappear, you won’t experience any undue harm.
Quitting
On the opposite side of the spectrum from hiring, ghosting can also occur when a person decides a job is no longer a fit. In some cases, this happens early, with a hired candidate no-showing on their first day on the job. In others, it involves an employee hitting a line and deciding that walking away without saying a word is their best option.
As a professional, both of those approaches are best avoided. They can significantly harm your reputation, creating doubts about your professionalism and reliability. If you change your mind about a job offer, it’s always best to call and say as much. If you want to quit your job, try to give notice or, at a minimum, let your manager know that you’re leaving.
Pitching
If your job involves reaching out to prospective customers, you may experience your fair share of ghosting. In this context, it happens when the client ends all engagement, not responding to calls, voicemails, and emails after hearing a pitch and expressing interest.
This type of ghosting at work can often be frustrating, but it regretfully comes with the territory. Many prospects don’t want to engage in a discussion once they’ve decided they aren’t going to become formal customers. At times, it’s because rejecting someone is difficult. In others, it’s because they don’t want to have to deal with a rebuttal, allowing them to avoid any attempts to change their mind.
Provider
Another kind of ghosting you may face at work is when a product or service provider stops responding after you’ve expressed interest in or ordered their offerings. This can be one of the most frustrating forms to encounter, particularly if the provider has already been paid for the product or service.
Often, this kind of situation requires a lot of effort and diligence to resolve if money has already changed hands. At times, legal departments have to get involved to pursue reimbursement for the purchased offering, allowing them to leverage the law to get results. If money hasn’t been paid, then you may need to move onto other providers.
Ultimately, ghosting at work isn’t easy to deal with, but it can come with the territory. By using the information above, you can navigate the situation effectively. If you’d like to learn more, the staff at The Squires Group can help. Contact us today.
