Don’t Slam the Door on Prospective Employees Who Ghost You不要拒絕曾放你鴿子的準員工

吉恩·馬克斯　陳棟

Not showing up after accepting an offer is unacceptable， but if you have a chance to hire someone again don’t shut them out—they may have beneficial skills.被錄用卻又爽約確實讓人無法接受，但如果有機會重新聘用那個人，不要把他們拒之門外——他們可能仍有一技之長。

A disturbing and growing behavior in this country is affecting countless small and large businesses： prospective1 employees are turning into ghosts.

“Ghosting”2 happens when a prospective employee goes through all the steps of your company’s hiring process， accepts the job that you have offered… and then doesn’t show up to work because—in most cases—a better offer came along.

What kind of behavior is this？ Apparently， a very popular one. A new survey of 2，800 workers from across nearly 30 US cities conducted by job search firm Robert Half found 28% of workers had backed out of offers at the last minute after initially saying yes.

The reasons？ Almost half （44%） said it was because they “received a better offer from another company.” Others received counter-offers from their current employers or heard things about the new company that they “didn’t actually like.”

As you can imagine， the impact of these actions is disruptive， particularly to a smaller company. By the time an offer is made and accepted it’s likely that the competing candidates were told of the decision and moved on. Managers may feel let down3. Plans probably need to be changed. Paperwork has to be thrown out.

“Having cold feet4 is understandable; ghosting an employer is unacceptable，” said Paul McDonald， senior executive director for Robert Half. “Even though it may seem easier to avoid an awkward situation， transparency5 is always the best policy during a job search. If you have a change of heart6 after accepting a position， be honest with the hiring manager.”

I agree that this type of behavior is unacceptable， and if it happens to you， you have every right to7 be furious. “Frankly， it’s like a punch in the stomach，” one of my clients who went through the experience told me. “I would never hire that person again.”

But is that the right response？ I’m not so sure.

There’s no doubt that some employees today are a little too confident about their job security. You can’t blame them—the economy is growing and our unemployment rate is the lowest it has been in 50 years. The memories of the 2009 recession8 have faded. Jobs are plentiful and many employers are desperate to find good workers. But here’s the thing： it’s not going to last. The economy will eventually turn south9 and people—many people—are ultimately going to lose their jobs. This always happens. And the employees who ghosted are going to find themselves avoiding some prospective employers because of their behavior.

So what would you do if a qualified applicant who once ghosted you suddenly shows back up looking for work？ Some employers would slam the door right in his face10. But not me. Why？

Just ask any experienced business owner. They will tell you that this kind of stuff happens all the time and in many different areas of their business. Customers say they will pay and they don’t. Suppliers are late on a promised delivery. Partners don’t step up to the plate11 like they said they would. Current employees don’t always do what they said they would do. Now， it’s prospective employees who agree to an offer and then back off. You learn that people are going to do what’s in their best interest and you should do what’s in yours.

It may come as a shock when a prospective employee ghosts you before even starting. Let’s hope they do it in a way that’s professional and transparent. But if you have a chance to hire that person again， then my advice to other business owners is to take the high road12 and keep the door open. If that person brings a level of skills to your organization that could potentially put more money in your pocket， keep your emotions out of it and profit.

有種令人惱火的行為在這個國家越來越多，那就是準員工放企業鴿子。它正影響著無數小型和大型企業。

“放鴿子”就是一個準員工走完了公司所有的招聘流程，接受了工作要約……但最后卻未來報到。大多數情況下這是因為出現了更好的工作要約。

這是怎樣一種行為？顯然，它非常流行。羅伯特哈夫獵頭公司對來自美國近30個城市的2800名員工進行了一項新的調查。調查顯示28%的員工都曾有過一開始接受了工作要約，但在最后一秒臨陣變卦的經歷。

原因？近一半（44%）的人表示因為他們“從另一家公司拿到了更好的工作要約”。其他人有的從現任雇主那兒得到了反要約，有的則聽說了一些準下家的事兒，對此他們“不是很喜歡”。

可以想象，這種行為帶來的影響是破壞性的，尤其是對較小型的企業而言。當一個工作要約發出并被接受時，很可能其他的競爭者也已被告知這一結果并尋找新的機會了。經理們可能覺得被辜負，計劃或需要重新調整，之前的文書工作也付諸東流。

“臨陣打退堂鼓可以理解，但放雇主鴿子讓人無法接受。”羅伯特哈夫高級執行董事保羅·麥克唐納說道，“盡管避免尷尬場面看起來更容易些，但在找工作時保持信息透明永遠是最好的選擇。如果接受一個職位后改變了主意，請坦誠地告訴招聘經理。”

我同意這是種讓人無法接受的行為。如果這事發生在你身上，你完全有權利生氣。“坦白講，這就像肚子被狠狠捅了一拳，”我的一個客戶在經歷了這樣的糟心事后跟我說，“我絕不會再把這個人招進來。”

但這是正確的應對方式嗎？我對此保留意見。

毫無疑問，現在有些員工對自己的工作保障過于自信。這也不能怪他們——經濟在不斷增長，失業率正處于50年來最低水平。2009年經濟衰退已成為過去，工作機會數不勝數，很多雇主都迫切想要招到優秀員工。但要知道，風水總是輪流轉，經濟總會下行，人們——很多人——最終會失去工作。這樣的事總會發生。而這些放鴿子的員工將會發現自己的行為會使他們錯失一些潛在的雇主。

所以，當一個曾經放你鴿子的合格應聘者突然又現身尋求工作時，你會怎么做？有些雇主會直接把他拒之門外，但我不會。為什么？

隨便問一位資歷深厚的企業主，他們都會告訴你類似的事兒在他們公司很多不同工作中總會碰到。客戶說了會付錢但并沒有;承諾的交貨期已到但供應商卻食言了;合伙人并沒有像承諾的那樣開始行動;在職員工并非總是說到做到。現在不過是一個準雇員本來接受了工作機會卻又反悔罷了。要知道人們總會選擇讓自己利益最大化，你也應該如此。

一個準員工還沒入職就放你鴿子，這或許是晴天霹靂。希望他們能以一種專業透明的方式來處理這件事吧！但如果有機會可以重新把那個人納入麾下，我對其他企業主的建議是：保持高姿態并敞開機會的大門。如果那個人能為你的組織帶來一定的技能，從而可能讓你賺更多的錢，那么不要被情緒左右，賺錢才是王道。

（譯者為“《英語世界》杯”翻譯大賽獲獎選手）

1 prospective未來的，預期的。? 2 ghost形容沒有任何解釋突然失去消息、聯系。

3 let down令……失望，辜負。? 4 have cold feet〈習語〉臨陣畏懼，打退堂鼓。? ? ? ? 5 transparency透明，透明度。? 6 change of heart改變主意。? 7 have every right to完全有權利做某事。

8 recession經濟衰退，不景氣。? 9 turn south形勢惡化（或衰退、變壞等）。? 10 slam the door in one’s face〈習語〉（帶有敵意、針對性的）拒絕，不給某人機會。

11 step up to the plate〈習語〉指在棒球比賽中開始擊球，引申為開始做某事。? 12 take the high road〈習語〉保持高姿態。