By Phil Harwood

You had five interviews set up but only one showed up. The other four ghosted you. You hired the one person who showed up but they were a no-call, no-show for their first scheduled day of work. You hear from your peers that they are experiencing the same thing. What is going on here? Why is this happening and can anything be done about it? The short answer is YES!

It’s easy to become jaded after being ghosted time after time. I see this frequently. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard about the next generation’s lack of desirable qualities, to put it nicely. The Baby Boomers are especially harsh in their critique of the new workforce. I understand why they feel this way. But that doesn’t solve the problem. To solve the problem, we need to first understand what is happening. 

The reality is that the people you are interviewing and expecting to show up for their first day of work really don’t need you and your job. They have many options. Jobs are easy to find. Everyone is hiring. If they forget about the interview because something else came up, or because they overslept and missed their first day of work, it’s no big deal. Don’t take it personally.

This isn’t their fault. It’s not anyone’s fault. It’s just the reality of the situation. If you were in their shoes, you would appreciate the many opportunities available. You would see yourself as a highly desired free agent, in control of your own destiny. In fact, you’ve been told this about yourself from the day you were born. You can do anything you set your mind to. No limits. 

So it’s possible that they didn’t show up because something else came up. This happens all the time. Maybe it was a better offer. Maybe another company hired them on the spot and they started working immediately. Maybe they went on a last-minute road trip with their buddies. Surfs up, dude. Life is about experiences. No regrets. 

It’s also possible that your offer wasn’t acceptable to the committee. Who’s the committee? The committee is everyone in this person’s life who will help them make decisions like this. The committee usually includes parents, grandparents, siblings, mentors, and close friends. Today’s young person is highly networked. They don’t make decisions without the committee’s input. 

Couldn’t they have called or emailed or texted, as a courtesy, to let you know they weren’t going to make it? Yes, of course. But that would be uncomfortable or embarrassing, and addressing situations like this are not life skills they’ve acquired yet. They’re much better at ghosting people. Again, don’t take it so personally.

So, let me ask you a few questions. What steps did you take to proactively address the no-call, no-show situation? What did you discuss with this person about how to handle it when something else comes up? Did you have an understanding with this person or did you just make an assumption? How did you prepare them for the committee’s interrogatories? What did you do to equip them to answer the committee’s questions and address their concerns? What steps did you take to keep in touch with this person to keep them engaged?

You see, we can blame the next gen. We can call them entitled snowflakes. We can continue to do what we’ve always done in the past. That’s an option. Good luck with that. A better option is to understand the next gen and try something different. 

Now go forth.