Breaking the Silence: Tackling 'Candidate Ghosting' in Church Hiring

In the church hiring process, there's a prevalent but rarely confessed issue—candidate ghosting. This is when churches or church staff, having interacted with a candidate—sometimes going through multiple interview stages—abruptly cease all communication, leaving them hanging and questioning. This behavior can be damaging to your reputation, your church's credibility, and more importantly, the candidates who deserve far better.

The Unspoken Issue in Church Hiring

Ghosting can send unintended messages to your candidates:

1. Disrespect for their time and efforts
2. A lack of honesty in the process
3. Uncertainty about the leadership culture in your church

Reputation matters, especially when every ghosted candidate can potentially share their disappointments with their networks and, by extension, your community.

Why Does Ghosting Happen?

More often than not, ghosting is not intentional, but due to a series of oversights or missteps in the hiring process:

• The hiring process can be considerably longer than anticipated, leading to some tasks getting lost.
• Sometimes, church staff may avoid having hard conversations or giving negative feedback.
• Churches may unintentionally ghost a candidate while deliberating their options or trying to buy themselves more time.

While these can be genuine reasons for ghosting, it's crucial to remember silence eventually signifies rejection for the candidate.

Communicate Better, Lead Better

Fostering a culture of clear and consistent communication in your hiring process is key to preventing ghosting:

• Establish a communication rhythm with weekly updates, keeping your candidates informed at every step.
• Practice what can be termed 'kind clarity'. Let candidates know where they stand in the process, even if the news might disappoint them.
• Utilize pre-written email templates for sending follow-ups. While doing so, make sure to keep the communication kind and transparent.

Final Thoughts

How you treat candidates reflects your leadership culture and that of your church. You might not hire every candidate, but you can certainly honor each one of them. By choosing clear and considerate communication over silence, you not only build trust with a person but also across the kingdom.

Remember, silence is a deafening message. It’s time to choose a better one.

To learn more about managing communication in the hiring process, tune in to the latest Healthy Church Staff Podcast episode. Let's work on fostering a transparent, and trust-building hiring culture in our churches.