Reduce New Hire 'Ghosting' In Your Contact Center

‘Ghosting’ is a modern day term that describes vanishing from a relationship – without warning or explanation – avoiding any further phone calls / social media / electronic communications.

This behavior used to be called giving someone “The Cold Shoulder" – a phrase used to express dismissal – or the act of disregarding someone.

‘Ghosting’ is a phenomenon that originated during the past decade in the internet dating world – when someone cut off all communication with the person they'd been romantically connecting with – without notice & without an explanation.

‘Ghosting’ is done in the hope that the ‘ghostee’ will just “get the hint”.

At its core psychologically – ‘Ghosting’ is about avoidance – wanting to avoid confrontation – or difficult conversations – or hurting someone’s feelings.

‘Ghosting’ Has Gone Beyond Bad First Tinder Dates – Jumping From The Dating Pool To The Labor Pool – Making Its Way Into The Contact Center Workplace – And It’s On The Rise

These days – in most Metro Areas in the USA & Canada – Contact Centers find themselves dealing with a serious labor pinch. Competition for new recruits has become intense. Employers are struggling to attract quality Customer Service Representatives (CSRs) in enough numbers.

The hot employment market for customer facing staff of the past 3 years (2017/20) – and the increased demand for CSRs due to Covid19 (2020/21) – has saturated most Metro Areas with too many Call Centers chasing too few candidates – raising demand for job applicants to their highest levels in more than a decade.

A growing number of Contact Centers are emphasizing “Talent Poaching” / “Employee Raiding” in their recruiting strategy – purposefully targeting & recruiting CSRs from other Call Centers – convincing them to ‘Job Hop’ & join their team instead.

‘Job Hopping’ has always been fairly common in Contact Centers performing the same function – because they basically require similar qualifications from their applicants.

The number of Hourly Wage workers voluntarily quitting & ‘Job Hopping’ in the USA has been steadily rising since April 2020 – increasing 13.3% since Oct 2019.

There’s Wage Inflation & A Bidding War Underway Between Contact Center Employers For New Hires

Salary.com reports that for 2017/20 – median hourly wages for CSRs jumped by an average of 9.7% annually – more than 3x the US National Average for Hourly Workers.

In 2020 - CSRs who ‘Job Hopped’ to do the same work for another Call Center averaged a 9.4% increase in their base hourly wage.

In addition – Contact Center employers these days are also paying more than $1,000/Year per new hire in increased incentives – like fully paid health insurance/sign up bonuses/paid vacations/transit & tuition reimbursements.

CSR New Hires Are ‘Ghosting’ Call Center Jobs Like Never Before – Not Showing Up For Day1 Of Work – Without Calling Or Giving Notice – Or Sitting Through Their Paid Training & Soon After Going For Lunch And Never Coming Back

A recently released study from employment website Indeed reports that 83% of employers experienced new hire ‘Ghosting’ in 2020.

A growing number of Contact Centers find themselves having to make 40 job offers to fill a 20 seat training class – fully expecting 50% of new hires to be “No Call/No Show” – no reason given. Management realizes they’ve quit only after a series of unsuccessful attempts to reach them.

Call Centers are also dealing with up to 80% of their new hire CSRs turning into “Quick Quit” voluntary job abandonment attrition (the first 90 days out of training).

Instead of giving two weeks’ notice – the CSR decides to ‘Ghost’ the job instead. They stop showing up for their work shifts – they avoid all company calls & emails – and assume the employer got the message.

From Not Showing Up To Start Work – To Disappearing Without A Trace During The First 90 Days Out Of Training – ‘Ghosting’ Is Now One Of The Biggest Problems In Contact Center Recruiting & CSR Retention

According to Feb 2021 survey results from job site Indeed – since the onset of the Covid19 pandemic – ‘Ghosting’ has become increasingly common during the hiring process & during the first 90 days out of training.

• 83% of employers reported an increase in entry level new hire “No Call/No Show” on their first day of work in 2020.
• 28% of entry level job seekers admitted to ‘Ghosting’ an employer in 2020 – up from 18% in 2019.
• 18% of entry level new hires admitted to ‘Ghosting’ their job within 90 days of starting.
• Over half of entry level new hires who were “No Call/No Show” for their first day of work admitted to “Candidate Acceptance Remorse” – deciding the job wasn’t right for them – beginning to doubt whether they should have taken the position at all during the wait time between job offer & Start Date.
• 40% of entry level new hires admitted to ‘Ghosting’ their new job after receiving another offer with a higher hourly wage & better benefits during the wait time between job offer & Start Date.

Top Tips For Reducing Contact Center New Hire ‘Ghosting’

1.    Hire The Right Job Fit To Begin With

Use Psychometric Pre Employment Assessment Testing such as the SPAS Call Center Agent Pre-Employment Screening Software to confirm the candidate’s Personality/Job Fit/Soft Skills/Motivation/Work Ethic traits & Business English Language Competency – and to identify the negative traits that are exaggerated in people who ‘Ghost’ / ‘Job Hop’ such as:

• Being a poor fit for the job.
• Likelihood to struggle with work performance.
• Likelihood to have frequent Attendance & Shift Adherence issues.
• Likelihood to be a ‘Quick Quit’ or ‘Fast Fire’.
• Likelihood to struggle with coworker relationships and to exhibit “defiance” towards management.

In the Indeed study – 22% of entry level new hires admitted to ‘Ghosting’ new jobs more than once – not showing up for their first day of work multiple times at multiple companies. It’s very costly & time consuming to interview / make job offers / train these applicants.

Having reliable predictive results about a candidate’s job fit – as early as possible in recruiting process –empowers your hiring team to focus on those applicants most likely to succeed long term as CSRs – while the applicant’s excitement & interest in the job is at its highest – decreasing the likelihood they’ll develop “Candidate Acceptance Remorse”.

Users of the SPAS Call Center Agent Pre-Employment Screening Software report reductions in “Quick Quit” voluntary job abandonment attrition (the first 90 days out of training) of up to 80%.

2.    Communicate Every Day During The Wait Time Between Job Offer & A New Hire’s Start Date

To minimize ‘Ghosting’ by new hires – communicate with them daily. Make sure they have all the information  they need for a successful first day. Establish & maintain a connection so they feel a greater sense of commitment to the job.

• Send them welcome notes by email from Trainers / Supervisors / Managers.
• Invite them to the office for a “Meet & Greet” lunch with coworkers.
• Text them links to positive online employee reviews. Social media reputation plays an important role in an employer's ability to attract applicants – and minimizes “Candidate Acceptance Remorse”.

Job site Monster recently reported that using a 5 star rating system – 33% of entry level respondents stated they would have no issue ‘Ghosting’ a job with a 3 star (or less) employer rating.

Daily communication touchpoints decrease the likelihood of “Candidate Acceptance Remorse” – and reduces the chances of new hire job ‘Ghosting’ on the first day of work by up to 33%.

3.    The Time To Hire For Quality Call Center Job Candidates Is Shrinking

In the Nov 2020 Survey of “Staffing Practices in Financial Services Contact Centers” from Fidelity National Information Services – the average elapsed Time to Hire for a CSR was 38 days for full time & 30 days for part time. The minimum Time to Hire reported was 5 days.

38 days – 30 days – or even just 5 days – during that time quality candidates get snatched up by competitors.

Acquiring top Contact Center talent has become a race – with the most responsive companies snapping up the Above Average standouts.

In today’s “Virtual Interview” hiring environment – job applicants can explore working for various Call Center employers without having to go anywhere.

Candidates who are an Above Average fit for a CSR position are on the job market for an average of just five business days – and during that time they will have applied to an average of three different Call Centers – and they will have received two job offers.

4.    With So Many Contact Centers Vying For The Same Above Average Applicants – Hiring Best Fit Candidates & Reducing ‘Ghosting’ Depends Greatly On Employer Response Time

Companies relying on more traditional practices & a longer hiring process lose nearly 25% more of the Above Average candidates – and have to settle for nearly 25% more of the Average & Below Average ones. These poorer job fits are more likely to ‘Ghost’ the job.

In today's competitive Call Center labor market – you need to acknowledge / communicate with / pre screen / make an employment offer to applicants faster – because Above Average candidates quickly drop out of the talent pool in order to accept job offers.

Only Average & Below Average applicants are still looking for work after just 1 week has gone by.

5.    Get More Top Performers On Your Team With Same Day Job Offers

Same day job offers aren’t about haphazardly filling Call Center vacancies by “throwing mud against the wall to see what sticks” – but instead about being able to make quick & informed hiring decisions.

Call Center employers need to rapidly identify the candidates with “The Right Stuff” to be solid long term fits for their specific type of telephone or text based customer facing jobs – and to then respond to those top candidates with a job offer within 24 hours of when they complete the application / online screening process.

Make an immediate job offer – contingent upon Reference Verification (including Security Clearances & Drug Testing if required) – and passing any other skill testing your company may want to administer.

6.    Run Smaller Training Classes More Often

Instead of a 1x per Month 20 seat training class for new CSRs – with some applicants waiting up to 4 weeks until they start – run 1x per Week training for 5 new hires at a time.

“Ghosting” can be reduced by compressing the wait time interval between job offer and when a new hire starts training.

If you don’t begin new hire intake training within days (not weeks) from when you made the job offer – the candidate is going to consider themselves to still be a “Free Agent” – open to other opportunities.

Younger (age 18 to 34) job seekers are the most likely to ‘Ghost’ a Contact Center job when they feel the hiring process is taking too long.

Speed Of Hire – Psychometric Pre Employment Assessment Testing – Daily Communications With Applicants Waiting For Their Start Date – And Running Smaller Training Classes More Often – Really Make A Difference In Contact Center Hiring – While Reducing ‘Ghosting’

When candidates “No Call/No Show” on their first day of work – or ‘Ghost’ their job within the first 90 days out of training – it costs your company money.

While you can’t physically make your new hire CSRs show up on the job – there is a lot you can do to reduce ‘Ghosting’ among them.

These tips will save your company money / time / resources – allowing you to staff your Contact Center with more top performing Above Average CSRs who are far less likely to ‘Ghost’ their job.

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If your Contact Center has hiring on the radar - then you should be using the legal / proven / cost effective SPAS Call Center Agent Pre-Employment Screening Software Psychometric Pre Hire Assessments to quickly gain better insight & more accurate predictions as to which applicants from a pool of candidates would perform up to or beyond your established standards for telephone & text based customer facing jobs – for Bricks & Mortar – Work@Home – and Hybrid positions.

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