You’ve probably heard of ghosting—a trend where both potential employees and potential employers “go missing” after initially engaging in the talent acquisition process. You may also be familiar with quiet quitting—employees who, while they remain on the payroll, do the minimal amount of work required to keep those paychecks coming.
There’s a relatively new business buzzword getting some attention these days—catfishing. It’s the tendency for either employees or employers to misrepresent themselves during the hiring process.
Employee Catfish
You paint a bright and impressive picture of your background and experience, most of which is exaggeration at best and outright mistruth at worst.
You espouse your commitment to customer service yet, once on board, make it abundantly clear to all around you that you’re not that concerned about service and you don’t feel very favorable to most of your customers or clients.
Employer Catfish
You build up your commitment to a strong work/life balance and workplace flexibility during the hiring process but, once hired, employees struggle to get time off or to modify their schedules to meet personal demands.
Catfishing on the Rise
In a Monster survey of more than 1400 US workers conducted in March, 13% of employees admit to catfishing during the employment process. It is far more startling that 79%of employers admit to doing the same.
And, interestingly, while only 13% of employees admit to catfishing themselves, 67% believe that some of their colleagues have done just that.
Employees don’t feel favorably toward catfishing among peers or employers—85% believe it is morally wrong. Finding and sustaining a position as a trusted and sought-after employer requires honesty and transparency all through the employee life cycle.
Committing to Transparency
The thing with both employee and employer catfishing is that either side will almost certainly be exposed once an employee accepts a job and comes on board. What’s the value in that?
If, as an employer, you espoused an open and transparent culture during the hiring process, only for new employees to find out that there is little openness or transparency in the organization, their likelihood of becoming or remaining engaged is almost certain to be diminished.
If, as a potential employee, you touted your team-oriented and collaborative approach to working with others yet failed to demonstrate either while on the job, who have you benefited? Not the organization and certainly not yourself.
It’s like listing a property and describing it as modern and fully remodeled when neither is true. You may attract people to an open house, but they won’t stay long, and they certainly won’t form a positive opinion of you.
Lin Grensing-Pophal is a Contributing Editor at HR Daily Advisor.
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