Sharing Sensitive Information: A Hidden Profile Employee Selection Exercise

Abstract

Employee selection and group decision-making skills are critical for ensuring hiring is valid, meets organizational goals, and considers ethical and legal limitations. This exercise has participants role-play members of a search committee reviewing job finalists using shared and unique information. A novel twist to traditional hidden-profile exercises is introduced by including unique information inappropriate for employment decisions (e.g., health information, an old misdemeanor charge). By uncovering unshared details and deciding whether to discuss potentially biasing information, learners practice group decision making and consider legal issues. While exploring professional guidelines and best practices, the exercise acknowledges that managers occasionally know sensitive or potentially biasing information. Although primarily an human resource activity, the exercise includes a traditional hidden-profile variant with organizational behavior learning goals. Both variants are appropriate for learners across the organizational spectrum. A teaching note for adapting the in-person exercise for synchronous or asynchronous online delivery gives detailed instructions for popular learning management systems.