SHRM Practice Test
The shared service centers of a multinational technology company are concentrated in one country. They provide back-office operational support for the finance and accounting, procurement, and HR functions of the company. The local talent market for the back-office operations skills is very competitive, but the company has been successful in recruiting experienced professionals from its competitors. The main draw has been the generous compensation and benefits package and the general perception of an amiable and cooperative management team. While competitors' workforces have unionized in this country, this company's workforce has remained union-free. The annual planning process has kicked off. The process begins top-down with the global HR and finance teams recommending the payroll increase budget for each country based on key economic indicators, company performance, affordability, and compensation market survey data and recommends a salary increase budget of 18% for this country. The country HR director is concerned that the recommended budget is too low and believes that in order to remain competitive and compensate for inflation, the increase should be 30%. The country director brings her concerns and recommendations to the global VP of HR. In a discussion with the global VP of finance and the global functional leaders, the global VP of HR learns that the 18% budget increase is a stretch and that going any higher will have a negative bottom-line impact. 18) Which is the best first step the VP of HR should take to address the differences in opinion and concerns on the salary increase budget? 19) Which is the best step that the VP of HR should take at this point in time? 20) Which action should the country HR director recommend country leaders take that would proactively support a union avoidance strategy?
18) Recommending that, as a fair compromise for all stakeholders, the budget be 24%, which is midway between 18% and 30% 19) Having the country HR director review and provide input on the recommendations before presenting them to the rest of the leadership team 20) Instilling a culture of trust and teaming between employees and management
An HR director's compensation team is trying to integrate a centralized compensation model across multiple offices. Employees are having trouble understanding what the changes in compensation mean to them, and the eastern office location does not want to be a part of the centralized model because they believe that changes to compensation and bonuses will drive employees away. The organization is also dealing with other companies trying to poach their best employees by offering them higher salaries and more perks, so they cannot afford any additional turnover. 32) Which of the following is the best move to socialize the eastern office into the new compensation program? 33) What is the best way for the HR director to respond to other organizations poaching their employees? 34) What is the best way to handle the confusion regarding changes to the compensation model?
32) Conduct a market analysis of compensation rates in the eastern region for comparison to the eastern office rate 33) Conduct a compensation analysis to benchmark against the market, implementing appropriate responses to further the company's mission to be an employer of choice (e.g., retention bonuses, adjustment to compensation policy). 34) Create a presentation that can be used by HR managers across the organization to communicate changes in compensation and bonuses
An HR manager is the liaison for the sales department at an organization with roughly 600 employees. Recently the organization had a slight downturn in revenue and profit. To save money, over the past year the sales department's senior management has laid off several administrative assistants and assigned their work tasks, such as photocopying and processing sales orders, to the sales staff. Additionally, the department has modified its compensation system by reducing base pay but increasing sales commissions. The HR manager believes that the additional work duties and new compensation system have put substantial stress on employees. It's been observed that employees seem dissatisfied with their jobs and are leaving the organization or thinking of leaving. One recently departed employee told the HR manager that he had looked for a new job because the increased workload caused him to make fewer sales, thereby significantly reducing his salary. The HR manager brings these concerns to the vice president (VP) of sales. The manager tells the VP that he is worried about the effects of these changes on the department, such as high turnover and the loss of institutional knowledge. The VP disagrees with the manager; he believes that turnover is good for the department because poorly performing employees are leaving. The VP notes that one employee comes in late, leaves early, and takes a long lunch break every day. The VP believes the recent changes to compensation save the company money by not employing administrative assistants and motivate sales employees to work harder by focusing on sales commissions. The VP tells the HR manager to ignore employees' complaints and focus on hiring new employees who are willing to take on the additional tasks and work harder 47) Which approach is most effective for the HR manager to use to resolve his disagreement with the vice president of sales? 48) Which approach best enables the HR manager to evaluate the effectiveness of the new compensation system to increase sales?
47) Suggest that HR conduct several focus groups and exit interviews to find out why employees are leaving the company and if they are dissatisfied with their jobs 48) Review existing research and literature on best practices to see if similar changes in other organizations have been effective.
An operations team is having problems with the IT support staff responsible for finishing their deliverables. According to operations, IT is not providing timely support, causing delays for operations. The operations team leader thinks HR should do something to get everyone to work together more effectively. However, the CEO is considering outsourcing IT to increase productivity. The IT manager insists that IT staff is doing everything they can. IT believes that the operations team is impossible to satisfy and asks for HR's help to change the CEO's mind about outsourcing. 62) What is the best way to handle the situation between the operations team and IT? 63) What is the best method to respond to IT's fears about outsourcing?
62) Offer to work with the operations and IT team leaders to develop organization- wide project management guidance. 63) Analyze whether the effects of outsourcing IT align with the long-term strategic objectives of the organization
An HR consultant is contacted by the chief financial officer (CFO) of a mid-sized family-owned manufacturing company. The CFO states that the company's turnover is nearing 100% in the operations department. Employees are staying an average of 60 to 90 days before leaving. Exit interviews indicate that the high turnover has occurred because there is very little training. The CFO doesn't understand this data, because all new employees participate in a one-day orientation and an onboarding program. The HR consultant also learns from the CFO that the manager of the operations department has a reputation for being aggressive and direct. This manager directly reports to the CEO, has been with the company for ten years, and is a good friend of the owners. The CFO admits that the operations manager can be difficult to deal with sometimes, but nobody says anything because of the operations manager's strong relationship with the family. The CFO says morale is low in the operations department, but an employee survey hasn't been done in the two years that the CFO has been at the company. The CFO and the HR consultant discuss various options, including training, coaching, and an employee engagement survey. The CFO provides the HR consultant with a small budget to determine which tasks are necessary and to complete them. 8. What should the HR consultant do to determine the true cause of the turnover as soon as possible? 9. What solution should the HR consultant suggest to improve training for new hires?
8)Further analyze exit interview information. 9)Evaluate and enhance the company's orientation and onboarding program.
What company is using a corporate strategy of differentiation?
A company develops a product that is uniquely easy to use and charges a premium price
Which budgeting method is based on an HR leader comparing how much it costs to complete an initiative versus its strategic significance?
Activity-based
What is the essential concept behind the stakeholder theory?
An organization affects and is affected by complex interests.
What benefit is served by analyzing an organization's value chain?
Appreciation of relationships between contributors to value
HR has analyzed the organization's strategy and has identified that it can contribute by: Developing alternative staffing strategies to provide more flexibility to meet shifts in production demands. Providing easier access to HR services, including consultation with functional leaders. Applying technology to increase efficiency and capture data. Making sure that future leaders will be available across functions, throughout the organization. Which tool will help the HR leader with evaluating the effectiveness of these HR activities?
Balanced scorecard
What is the difference between career planning and career management?
Career planning responsibility lies with the individual; career management responsibility lies with the organization.
Salespeople are polled to determine their top training needs. The majority say they want to be able to identify key decision makers and their needs. What learning activity would work best for this?
Case Studies
Which action should an organization take to help prevent retaliation against its employees?
Check in on employees who have made complaints
Which leader behavior illustrates the concept of social intelligence?
Checking the group continually for visible signs of reactions
Which is a key advantage that market-based (external) job evaluation provides organizations over job-content-based (internal) job evaluation?
Comparing compensation to those externally in the same labor market competing for the same employees
A business operates in an industry characterized by a high level of competition. The sales function is evaluated on its ability to build market share. What service could HR provide to the sales function?
Consultation on sales force incentive compensation design
A review of the organization's cash flow statement shows that cash outflow has increased over the previous year. Which action should HR take in response to this metric?
Delay any resource-intensive projects.
What first step should HR take when assessing a recent trend that shows an increase in telecommuting in the industry?
Determine the percentage of organizations that currently offer a telecommuting option.
After conducting a reference background check, HR discovers that a leading candidate misrepresented dates of previous employment on both the résumé and the job application. What is the most probable outcome of learning this information?
Do not extend an offer of employment.
Management has a history of poor communication with employees. They act with little input and offer little rationale for decisions. A senior manager wants to conduct an employee attitude survey, believing it will help improve morale. What would be the most important thing you would advise?
Don't do the survey unless management commits to responding to results
Which of the following activities is MOST likely to protect sensitive corporate data?
Encrypting employee computers and network communications
What action reflects the requirements of due process in a disciplinary process?
Ensuring that disciplined employees have a chance to defend themselves
In an organization with a multicultural workforce, which measure designed to minimize the need for discipline may be hindered by a high power distance culture?
Establishing a climate of communication
Dissatisfaction among clerical staff is high, as measured by turnover and mistake rates. Exit interviews indicate boredom as a primary reason for leaving. What strategy would be MOST successful in addressing this problem?
Expanding the tasks to be performed
What is the dominant characteristic of a learning organization?
Failures viewed as opportunities to make change
HR generalists, who may be located within divisions or other locales, implement policies, adapt them as needed, and interact with employees. Which type of HR structure is this?
Functional
What constitutes bribery?
Giving or receiving something of value to influence a transaction
Based on the upstream/downstream metaphor for resolving the standardization/localization dilemma, which of the following activities is more likely to be driven at the global, rather than local, level?
Goal Setting
Which of the following activities would be most useful in an organizational intervention to reshape culture?
Identifying recognized heroes
How can an organization that is experiencing high turnover minimize the learning curve for new employees?
Immediately provide appropriate access to the organization's information library.
A retail chain's business model requires the handling of cash and credit/debit cards by a large number of cashiers who do not typically stay for long with the employer. What action reflects the appropriate priority for this risk?
Implement immediate technical controls
An organization conducts a pay survey and finds that some of its key employees are underpaid. They want to raise the pay for these employees but are concerned about adding to their salary burden. Which of the following is their BEST option?
Incentive pay
What would be the BEST way for a new global HR vice president to understand the perspective of the communities in which the organization operates?
Include questions about community interests in annual employee surveys.
What is a Benefit Corporation, or B Corp?
International certification of corporate sustainability achievement
A benefits manager is looking for a creative program to assist employees with retirement planning. If cost is a strong factor in the decision, which is the best choice the benefits manager should consider?
Invite employees to the benefits office to discuss retirement options.
Which test is used to ensure due process when disciplining an employee?
Issuing discipline in a consistent and predictable manner
How is sustainability viewed in the first stage of the corporate social responsibility (CSR) maturity curve?
It is an issue of compliance and the cost of doing business
A manager leaves an organization to follow a transferred spouse. Which recruiting practice would be readily accessible to current employees and help the employer pinpoint and identify qualified internal candidates for the open job?
Job Posting
An organization is in the process of updating its compensation system and has started the task of evaluating jobs and grouping those with similar duties together. Which documents would be most useful for this purpose?
Job descriptions
A manager tends to use his position in the organization's hierarchy to justify his decisions. What type of power is this manager demonstrating?
Legitimate
Which step might an organization take to retain a multigenerational workforce?
Offer employees a broad range of customized benefits
What policy encourages employees to speak to management first regarding suggestions, concerns, or complaints?
Open door
An organization plans to compete with highly trained employees with unique skill sets. What activities should be a primary HR focus?
Performance management and training efforts
Which should be the first step in solving an organization's problems with a sharp increase in back orders of shipments?
Performing a process analysis
How can data analytics be used to improve employee recruitment and retention?
Predicting employee preferences and aligning HR practices accordingly
As it relates to diversity and inclusion, what is the phenomenon of covering?
Promoting cultural assimilation
which conditions encourage a higher retention rate for adult learners?
Reviewing and visualizing key concepts
An organization or its chief executive officer adopts a risk position based upon which factors?
Risk appetite and risk tolerance
What is the best way to address a high volume of annual staffing fluctuations and the need to onboard new employees quickly?
Seasonal workers
Which of the following is a compensable factor?
Skills
A risk scorecard provides a weighted number for each event or threat and the probability of that threat occurring. Which other factors are needed to complete a threat ranking index?
Speed of onset, existing mitigation, severity of impact
An HR manager is planning to outsource the creation of the employee newsletter, which has long been created by several HR staff with input from departments. What possible negative outcome should the manager consider?
Staff motivation and attitude
A company is experiencing high turnover of female engineers. Which initiative should the company support in its effort to improve retention rates?
Support an affinity group.
An organizational effectiveness and development (OED) initiative focuses on several departments that are expanding or facing future challenges. What type of OED intervention is this?
Team
Which situation illustrates task conflict in team interactions?
Team members argue continually about the best measurement of project success.
Which of the following statements best describes cultural determinism?
The culture made me do it.
A cosmetics company opens a division in a geographical area where it has never competed before. It opts for a strategy of localization. What is the likely effect on HR?
The local HR office will develop a code of conduct, policies, and procedures and submit them for headquarters review.
Senior management at a company has determined that it must speed up the production of its most popular product. Doing so will involve changing some of the company's production processes. Why should HR conduct employee focus groups before a project plan is finalized?
To encourage employees to ask questions and express their reactions
Over five years, an employee has been promoted from Scientist I to Scientist III and then laterally moved to the operations department as Engineer III, a position more routine than previous jobs. The employee performed well in previous positions but is clearly performing poorly in the current one. What action should the employee's manager consider?
Transfer
What is an example of implicit culture?
Values
What question does the employee value proposition (EVP) answer?
Why would a talented person want to work for this organization?
What type of strike occurs without the approval of union leadership?
Wildcat
What should a human resource professional do to prepare global assignees for their international assignments?
discuss country-specific risks
What is one of the disadvantages of implementing multiple smaller systems (sometimes known as best of breed ) to support multiple HR functions?
this solution could pose difficulties in integrating data across applications.