A Relational Perspective on the Use of Intuition in Recruitment: Exploring Tensions

Abstract

This article explores how recruiters navigate tensions related to their use of intuition in recruitment processes. While intuition is often described as a fast and unconscious cognitive process rooted in individual expertise, we argue that this perspective overlooks the relational dynamics through which intuitive judgments are shaped, challenged, and legitimized. Drawing on 17 months of fieldwork in a multinational organization, we examine how recruiters experience tensions at the intersection of intuition, objectivity, bias, and organizational expectations. Guided by Paradox theory, our analysis shows that recruiters navigate these tensions through both internally and externally oriented relational practices, including critical self-reflection, internal dialogues, peer sparring, and negotiation with hiring managers. Based on this, we contribute with a relational perspective on intuition, demonstrating that intuition is not merely applied by individuals but also socially constructed through interaction. We further introduce the concept of intrapersonally relational paradox navigation to Paradox theory to highlight how internal reflections are shaped by imagined or anticipated responses from others. This concept expands paradox theory by emphasizing that paradoxes are not only resolved through relational practices but also constituted within the individual in socially embedded ways. Based on this, the study contributes to the recruitment literature within the broader field of Human Resource Management (HRM) research by advancing a relational and socially situated understanding of intuition.