The Impact of Underlying Stress and Trauma on HRM Recruitment and Selection Bias in Employee Interviews

Abstract

The 21st century has seen organizations promoting the use of fair methods to recruit workers. This exploratory study aims to understand conscious and unconscious biases during the acquisition of new talent. Conscious bias usually occurs through intentional means, thus is usually aligned with explicit bias; subconscious bias explains the implicit biases that occur through invisible and unaware means. This study analyzes the influence of the polyvagal theory on recruitment and selection, including the mediating roles of stress and trauma. The introduction section of the study explains the purpose of investigating the root causes of recruitment and selection bias. The literature review explores insights into the origins, severity, and outcomes of bias in talent acquisition. The methodology section explains the process of analysis, and the findings section tabulates the insights elicited. The discussion section proposes effective strategies for dealing with the different forms of implicit and explicit bias. In conclusion, the study’s findings can be utilized by modern recruiters to reduce the impact of bias.