Don’t Slam the Door on Prospective Employees Who Ghost You不要拒絕曾放你鴿子的準(zhǔn)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(shí)讓人無法接受，但如果有機(jī)會(huì)重新聘用那個(gè)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(gè)國家越來越多，那就是準(zhǔn)員工放企業(yè)鴿子。它正影響著無數(shù)小型和大型企業(yè)。

“放鴿子”就是一個(gè)準(zhǔn)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(bào)到。大多數(shù)情況下這是因?yàn)槌霈F(xiàn)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(duì)來自美國近30個(gè)城市的2800名員工進(jìn)行了一項(xiàng)新的調(diào)查。調(diào)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(jīng)歷。

原因？近一半（44%）的人表示因?yàn)樗麄儭皬牧硪患夜灸玫搅烁玫墓ぷ饕s”。其他人有的從現(xiàn)任雇主那兒得到了反要約，有的則聽說了一些準(zhǔn)下家的事兒，對(duì)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(duì)較小型的企業(yè)而言。當(dāng)一個(gè)工作要約發(fā)出并被接受時(shí)，很可能其他的競(jìng)爭(zhēng)者也已被告知這一結(jié)果并尋找新的機(jī)會(huì)了。經(jīng)理們可能覺得被辜負(fù)，計(jì)劃或需要重新調(diào)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(jí)執(zhí)行董事保羅·麥克唐納說道，“盡管避免尷尬場(chǎng)面看起來更容易些，但在找工作時(shí)保持信息透明永遠(yuǎn)是最好的選擇。如果接受一個(gè)職位后改變了主意，請(qǐng)?zhí)拐\地告訴招聘經(jīng)理?！?/p>

我同意這是種讓人無法接受的行為。如果這事發(fā)生在你身上，你完全有權(quán)利生氣?！疤拱字v，這就像肚子被狠狠捅了一拳，”我的一個(gè)客戶在經(jīng)歷了這樣的糟心事后跟我說，“我絕不會(huì)再把這個(gè)人招進(jìn)來?！?/p>

但這是正確的應(yīng)對(duì)方式嗎？我對(duì)此保留意見。

毫無疑問，現(xiàn)在有些員工對(duì)自己的工作保障過于自信。這也不能怪他們——經(jīng)濟(jì)在不斷增長，失業(yè)率正處于50年來最低水平。2009年經(jīng)濟(jì)衰退已成為過去，工作機(jī)會(huì)數(shù)不勝數(shù)，很多雇主都迫切想要招到優(yōu)秀員工。但要知道，風(fēng)水總是輪流轉(zhuǎn)，經(jīng)濟(jì)總會(huì)下行，人們——很多人——最終會(huì)失去工作。這樣的事總會(huì)發(fā)生。而這些放鴿子的員工將會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)自己的行為會(huì)使他們錯(cuò)失一些潛在的雇主。

所以，當(dāng)一個(gè)曾經(jīng)放你鴿子的合格應(yīng)聘者突然又現(xiàn)身尋求工作時(shí)，你會(huì)怎么做？有些雇主會(huì)直接把他拒之門外，但我不會(huì)。為什么？

隨便問一位資歷深厚的企業(yè)主，他們都會(huì)告訴你類似的事兒在他們公司很多不同工作中總會(huì)碰到?？蛻粽f了會(huì)付錢但并沒有;承諾的交貨期已到但供應(yīng)商卻食言了;合伙人并沒有像承諾的那樣開始行動(dòng);在職員工并非總是說到做到。現(xiàn)在不過是一個(gè)準(zhǔn)雇員本來接受了工作機(jī)會(huì)卻又反悔罷了。要知道人們總會(huì)選擇讓自己利益最大化，你也應(yīng)該如此。

一個(gè)準(zhǔn)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(yè)透明的方式來處理這件事吧！但如果有機(jī)會(huì)可以重新把那個(gè)人納入麾下，我對(duì)其他企業(yè)主的建議是：保持高姿態(tài)并敞開機(jī)會(huì)的大門。如果那個(gè)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(jiǎng)選手）

1 prospective未來的，預(yù)期的。? 2 ghost形容沒有任何解釋突然失去消息、聯(lián)系。

3 let down令……失望，辜負(fù)。? 4 have cold feet〈習(xí)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(quán)利做某事。

8 recession經(jīng)濟(jì)衰退，不景氣。? 9 turn south形勢(shì)惡化（或衰退、變壞等）。? 10 slam the door in one’s face〈習(xí)語〉（帶有敵意、針對(duì)性的）拒絕，不給某人機(jī)會(huì)。

11 step up to the plate〈習(xí)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(xí)語〉保持高姿態(tài)。