Full Quiz

An organization launched its first diversity and inclusion initiative five years ago. Recently, there has been an increase in younger people resigning. In exit interviews, these employees say that they feel they were ignored by management. Which kind of data should HR collect to help measure inclusion?

Actual treatment of employees versus perception

What action should the CHRO take to help with integrating the IT company employees into the consulting firm?

Ask executives from the consulting firm to hold listening sessions with the staff from the IT company.

Which action should the VP of HR take to discourage unethical practices by sales employees?

Ask the CEO to communicate the ethical expectations for every interaction and transaction.

What action may the EEOC take when initially receiving a complaint?

Asking the employer to initiate a mediation process with the charging party before investigating

As HR's role becomes more strategic, how must HR executives transform their skill sets?

By deepening their understanding of the organization's business, internal partners, and external business factors

What should the HR director do about the pay equity within the company?

Conduct a pay equity study and compare internal and external data. Recommend any changes to the leadership team for approval.

Which step should HR take to address a team leader posting negative comments on social media about recent budget cuts??

Create a social media policy that provides guidelines and usage rules.

When the need for high-quality employees is urgent, identifying the main competition for high-quality talent is essential and is accomplished by conducting formal and informal labor market research to determine where the organization fits as an employer of choice.

Create a structured onboarding process that lasts through the first three months of employment.

An organization with a non-tech workforce is looking to create a more efficient way to handle technology questions. Currently, the IT department reports that 40% of help desk calls are seeking direction on common tasks, such as archiving an e-mail or accessing the organization's parts ordering system. Which option is the best way to address repeated questions like these and free up time for the IT department to complete other crucial projects?

Create an FAQ web page, accessible from the intranet home page, with step-by-step instructions for performing common tasks.

After raising compensation to above market average, an organization continues to struggle to attract and retain top talent. Which action should the organization take next to address the issue?

Create an employee value proposition to attract top-level candidates.

A vice president of HR observes two HR members arguing heatedly about an activity they both need to work on. How should the vice president approach this situation?

Determine first if the conflict is based on tasks or values or communication styles.

An organization has an aging workforce. What is the best method listed that can reduce the risk of bottlenecks forming because only one or a few individuals know how to perform an important process?

Develop a knowledge map.

Federal inspectors cite an employer for multiple health and safety violations. The employer was already aware of these issues and working to correct them. What measures might the employer take to avoid or reduce penalties?

Document recent efforts to correct issues.

If the new manager feels frustrated with the pace at which the HR director is assigning him new tasks and challenges, which approach should he take with the HR director?

Meet with the HR director to discuss the working relationship and affirm his confidence in his ability to do the job.

Which action should the VP of HR take to ensure that the project stays on track and barriers to success are removed?

Post project timelines, deadlines, and progress for everyone on the project team to see.

An HR Director comes to the VP of HR and complains that the organization has made a verbal commitment to diversity but will not take steps to change recruitment practices. How should the VP of HR approach this situation?

Propose to senior management that the organization develop a diversity and inclusion strategy.

How should an HR director handle allegations of sexual misconduct by an employee who has recently resigned and received substantial severance in order to avoid possible retaliation?

Report the allegations through the company's confidential fraud, waste, and abuse tip line.

A company's learning and development (L&D) division is tasked with creating, developing, and implementing an executive leadership program across the organization. What should be the L&D division's first step in creating the executive leadership program?

Review the organization's strategic plan.

When challenged to prove the worth of risk management to an organization's leaders, which benefit should an HR professional describe?

Risk management leads to more-efficient use of organizational resources.

An HR vice president is adding goals to the corporate social responsibility strategy. Which leadership activity best supports this endeavor?

Serving on a board of directors

Due to the increased use of technology, an organization is considering closing two branches. The HR director completes a job analysis of the company's open positions to determine if there is overlap with the skill sets of employees who would be outplaced in this plan. What role is the HR director demonstrating?

Strategic

A company announces that it intends to capture another 20% of market share by opening ten more stores within three years in key locations. What is being communicated?

Strategic objective

Which concern would be closely examined during a merger and acquisition (M&A) if the organization wanted to avoid redundancy in staff resources?

Structure

An employer wants to hire 15-year-olds to work 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. What should HR advise management?

This may violate the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

Why do HR departments conduct annual compliance audits?

To ensure that HR activities are aligned with current and new legal requirements

Which describes the primary purpose of an essential job function?

To identify the necessary duties of a position

As an organization grows, it finds that it needs to develop a more formalized sales pipeline to close more sales. How can HR use the sales pipeline to add organizational value?

Use benchmarked information on salespersons to identify training needs.

Several of the decision makers have begun to express concern regarding the time requirement to ensure an effective rollout of the new system. They feel that the short-term need for a system is more important than the long-term scalability. What should the HR manager do to be most effective in resolving these concerns?

Acknowledge their concern, but remind them of the need to meet the company's future growth needs.

An organization decides not to replace employees who leave. This organizational strategy initially proves effective; however, the strategy fails to reap long-term benefits. What type of initiative might have prevented this?

Administering a proactive intervention aimed at assessing organizational strength in various positions

The VP of HR for a midsized organization is examining the organization's hiring metrics and identifies that the organization is underperforming with regard to filling open positions as it attempts to maintain a pay strategy of matching market competition. As the organization plans to expand at the start of the next fiscal year, it is preparing to open several new positions that will be crucial to the long-term success of the organization's growth. However, some other anticipated expenses related to the expansion are causing budgetary pressure across the organization. What should the VP of HR do with regard to the pay strategy?

Adopt a lead-lag pay strategy.

A few employees approach the HR manager with concerns about identifying their specific roles and feeling like their areas of responsibility are encroached on by coworkers. How should the HR manager motivate employees to remain with the company?

Advise leadership to communicate employees' role in the company's expansion.

What should the HR director do to reinforce the company's commitment to ethical conduct and values? A. Notify the on-site HR manager that all company employees are expected to adhere to the company's ethical standards. B. Advise the operations center's senior HR leader to conduct an investigation of the employee's complaint. C. Ask the senior leaders of the operations center to issue a memo to all staff that conveys strong support for ethical behavior. D. Schedule a coaching session with the on-site HR manager to discuss universally applicable ethical principles.

Advise the operations center's senior HR leader to conduct an investigation of the employee's complaint.

It is discovered that an employee misrepresented his education credentials when he applied for his current position. The organization wants to terminate this employee. Which document in the employee's record should the organization use as a basis to justify terminating him for this reason?

Application form

An organization is looking to fill an IT position that requires the person fulfilling the role to focus on continuing education. Which type of substantive assessment may help the organization determine if a candidate is able to learn and acquire new skills as required?

Aptitude tests

The HR manager recommends implementing a technical training program and proposes organizational restructuring. A mid-level manager e-mails the HR manager to express concern about job security due to a lack of technical skills. How should the HR manager respond? A. Suggest that the employee enroll in an external training program to increase skills. B. Provide information that highlights how restructuring will help the organization. C. Tell the employee that job security is not based solely on technical skills. D. Arrange a meeting between the employee and the employee's supervisor to discuss the skill gaps.

Arrange a meeting between the employee and the employee's supervisor to discuss the skill gaps.

Which HR action would align with the International Labour Organization's strategic objectives and core labor standards?

Articulating a talent development strategy that encourages employee growth

A new HR director joined the HR team 45 days ago to train as the CHRO's successor. During their first one-on-one coaching session, the HR director finds it easy to confide in the CHRO and quickly establishes trust. The HR director is impressed by the CHRO's insistence on paying for their coffee and food items. The HR director later discovers that the CHRO expenses the cost of food and drink to HR's cost center while receiving customer incentive rewards from the store that can be used to obtain free coffee. Having just completed the company's code of conduct and ethics training, the HR director believes that this practice represents a conflict of interest. What should the HR director do to ensure that the company's code of conduct policy is adhered to consistently by all company employees? A. Ask the CHRO to openly discuss the practice of earning incentive rewards on purchases covered by company expenses. B. Confidentially discuss the practice of earning incentive rewards on company purchases with individual HR staff members. C. Convene focus groups with a random sample of employees to review and discuss the company's code of conduct policy. D. Conduct unscheduled audits throughout the company to identify employees who have violated the rules for expense reporting.

Ask the CHRO to openly discuss the practice of earning incentive rewards on purchases covered by company expenses.

The junior consultant has a strong performance record and would likely perform very well in the position recommended by the department head. However, employees may view the promotion as a result of the relationship between the junior consultant and the department head. What should the HR director do?

Ask the department head to send an email to HR explaining the justification for the promotion recommendation.

Based on the HR director's understanding of the call, he does not believe that the employee's actions warrant termination. Others on the call express mixed reactions to the termination suggestion. The regional manager then calls for a vote on the termination. What action should the HR director take first when asked to vote on the termination?

Ask the regional manager to clarify the unfamiliar acronyms.

As part of an organization's merger/acquisition, the HR talent management director is tasked with developing a formal knowledge management system for the new, combined organization. What should the HR director do first?

Assemble an HR team to gather and analyze existing documents from both organizations.

How should an HR director start a leader development needs assessment?

Assess current leaders in relation to organizational strategy and goals.

If the organization's pay equity report indicates that its gender dimension has pay inequality for a given position, what additional analysis might be needed to determine if more than one gender equity initiative will be required?

Assess gender plus other dimensions such as race.

An organization's vision is to enhance interrelationships between functions. Which objective would be the best addition to HR's business plan?

Assign specific HR staff as a resource to each function.

The HR director wants to provide the potential candidate with this necessary information during the interview so the candidate can make an informed decision whether to accept the offer. The HR director is concerned that there is potential risk for not following the organizational staffing and selection policy and the absence of transparency. The president is adamant about maintaining the confidentiality of the retirement/restructuring. The HR director reminds the president that moving forward without full disclosure is not in line with the organization's values and culture. If an executive assistant is hired for 10 months, what can the HR director do to help the executive assistant prior to announcing the departure of the president and the executive assistant's pending job elimination?

Be available for advice or counseling during the transition.

A new construction company is growing rapidly and hires its first HR director. To date, the construction company's hiring managers have been basing salary offers on candidates' salary demands. Therefore, the company does not have a salary structure in place, and large pay disparities are emerging among employees in the same positions. The new HR director is concerned about the inconsistencies in compensation and worries that the company's current pay practices may be discriminatory. Additionally, the HR director fears the situation will eventually result in both negative relations among current employees as well as future recruiting challenges. What step is most crucial for the HR director to take first? A. Benchmark the company's salaries against those of other construction companies in the area. B. Distribute a company-wide survey to determine employees' satisfaction with the current salary structure. C. Analyze the market data for all positions to implement a limit on salary offers for new hires. D. Hire an external vendor to assess the company's salary practices and provide recommendations.

Benchmark the company's salaries against those of other construction companies in the area.

What type of technology arrangement would best meet the needs of an organization with highly distinctive demands, a need for a high level of security, and an uninhibited budget?

Best-of-breed solution, hosted off-site

As part of its brand, an employer espouses a commitment to green energy. How does a focus on sustainability support the employment brand's credibility?

By educating employees on ways to reduce their carbon footprint

What is the best way to create an effective onboarding and assimilation process?

By ensuring that new hires understand expectations, are connected with coworkers, and receive timely feedback

How can HR develop sustainability sweet spots?

By evaluating the economic, social, and environmental effects of HR practices and policies

A multinational company is assessing its corporate social responsibility (CSR) goals and expectations for the coming year. How can HR best help with this initiative?

By gathering information from stakeholder focus groups

What is the best way HR can help create value in social corporate responsibility?

By gathering input from external stakeholders

What should the HR manager do to ensure that the new incentive plan will drive behaviors that will result in increased sales?

Communicate to sales the reason why the plan is being implemented, including how individual performance drives incentives.

Identifying candidates who are positioned for success within a family business environment is critical. Which should be the HR representative's key consideration in creating an external candidate applicant pool?

Competence and cultural fit

Which type of HR audit reviews whether employees are taking required meal breaks and overtime is being calculated and paid properly?

Compliance

The global HR director initiates an investigation of the employee's complaint. Which approach should the global HR director take to share sensitive information about the investigation with senior leaders at the operations center? A. E-mail a summary of decisions and actions taken to the operations center's senior executive team once the investigation is complete. B. Conduct a web-assisted group meeting with the operations center's senior executive team at the beginning and end of the investigation. C. Save all investigation documents electronically in a cloud-based folder and grant access rights to the operations center's senior leaders. D. E-mail the operations center's senior leaders a bulleted list of important issues and decisions as they arise throughout the investigation.

Conduct a web-assisted group meeting with the operations center's senior executive team at the beginning and end of the investigation.

Which should the HR director do regarding the turnover and engagement issues of high-level salespeople?

Conduct exit interviews with the salespeople who have left the company.

The CEO asks the HR manager to investigate the potential impact of favoritism at the company. Which action should the HR manager take?

Conduct focus groups to understand employee perceptions of ethical work behavior.

For the first time in its history, a small, privately held consulting company decides to create and implement a strategic plan. During the process, the team disagrees over whether the organization should add a new division responsible for providing HR services, in addition to its core accounting services, to its clients. Which action should the leadership take to resolve this disagreement?

Conduct internal and external research to assess needs.

What would be the best solution for an HR director to strengthen teamwork in a globally dispersed organization?

Conduct regular staff webconferences during appropriate times for each location.

After reviewing the results of a recent benefits needs assessment, an employer must make tough decisions about controlling health insurance costs. At the same time, employees are asking for enhanced health insurance. Which is the appropriate next step the benefits manager should take to resolve the issue?

Conducting due diligence about supplemental coverage before making a decision

The HR director wants to provide the potential candidate with this necessary information during the interview so the candidate can make an informed decision whether to accept the offer. The HR director is concerned that there is potential risk for not following the organizational staffing and selection policy and the absence of transparency. The president is adamant about maintaining the confidentiality of the retirement/restructuring. The HR director reminds the president that moving forward without full disclosure is not in line with the organization's values and culture. What dilemma could the HR director face if the president's request is ignored and the pending restructuring is shared with the candidate?

Confidential information will be breached.

HR staff is conducting an internal ethics misconduct investigation. What does the HR director need to ensure is a top priority in this investigation?

Confidentiality

The HR director wants to provide the potential candidate with this necessary information during the interview so the candidate can make an informed decision whether to accept the offer. The HR director is concerned that there is potential risk for not following the organizational staffing and selection policy and the absence of transparency. The president is adamant about maintaining the confidentiality of the retirement/restructuring. The HR director reminds the president that moving forward without full disclosure is not in line with the organization's values and culture. What is the best course of action for the HR director to take?

Counsel the president, focusing on the benefits of making decisions that reflect the organization's mission and values while supporting the organizational culture.

Which action should the SVP HR take to effectively communicate information about the merger's effect on the workforce to the employees?

Create a global communication plan, beginning with a description of high-level changes and advising that details will follow after a thorough review.

The HR manager wants to improve the interview process. Currently, the interviews are unstructured and result in each interviewer recommending or not recommending the employee for hire. How should the HR manager improve the process?

Create a structured interview protocol for interviewers to follow.

An organization typically measures the engagement levels of new employees via survey on a monthly basis throughout the first year of employment. The surveys show that engagement levels drop precipitously from initial levels, with engagement dropping throughout the first three months and then stabilizing at an unacceptably low level. Which action can the organization take to best combat the issue?

Create a structured onboarding process that lasts through the first three months of employment.

Which action should HR take to validate that recruiting goals support overall company strategy?

Create a value driver tree to determine if there is a sight line to the strategy.

Creating an employee value proposition is the best course of action. Highly qualified individuals may have their pick of organizations to move to, so it is important to advertise reasons that candidates should choose the organization over other options, including reasons unrelated to remuneration. Catering to younger generations doesn't necessarily address the issue of attracting highly qualified individuals. Investing in internal talent development programs may help lessen the need to look outside of the organization to fill important positions but does not necessarily help attract top talent, especially in the short term. With the compensation levels being above average already, it is unlikely that an increased signing bonus will achieve the desired result.

Create an employee value proposition to attract top-level candidates.

The senior HR leader wants to share the progress of the change, acknowledge the employee concerns, and communicate to the rest of the organization HR's plan to resolve the issues. Which actions should she take to begin this process? A. Send an e-mail to only the senior leadership team to keep them updated on the progress. B. Ask employees at the next quarterly meeting about their most pressing issues, and then plan to address those. C. Create both cascading and direct communication to acknowledge the issues and state her commitment to resolving them. D. Update the communications manager about the issues and resolution so he can send that communication to the organization.

Create both cascading and direct communication to acknowledge the issues and state her commitment to resolving them.

Which steps can HR use to develop managers to effectively work in a diverse organization?

Create opportunities for managers to travel and to work on teams.

Which benefit is most advantageous when considering a best-of-breed solution compared to an integrated solution?

Creates customized solutions for different functional areas

In a highly competitive industry, which recommendation by HR leadership will have the greatest impact on retaining an organization's proprietary knowledge?

Creating a comprehensive Knowledge Management System

Which is an example of the risk management strategy of mitigation?

Department leaders train two employees to perform critical leadership tasks.

While completing a job analysis of management positions, HR finds evidence of confusion among the roles regarding responsibilities. Which intervention should HR identify as a way to optimize the strategic performance of the organization?

Departmentalization

The CEO convenes a meeting with the senior officers and the HR director to discuss the company's growth strategy. What should the HR director do to clarify HR's role during the growth period?

Describe how HR department functions can be leveraged to support the company's vision for growth.

The HR director looks at the junior pilot's employee file to discover three other recent similar events, all noting substance abuse as a possible cause. The HR director also learns that the junior pilot had a pre-existing relationship with the pilot in charge, outside of work. Protocol requires all pilots to submit to drug tests immediately following an incident. The junior pilot does not do so until the next day. Which piece of information should the HR director collect first to investigate the incident?

Description of what happened from all involved in the incident

A few employees approach the HR manager with concerns about identifying their specific roles and feeling like their areas of responsibility are encroached on by coworkers. Which approach should the HR manager take to improve the sense of inclusion and diversity across regional offices?

Develop a diversity and inclusion strategic plan with company leadership.

A manufacturing organization is struggling with employee engagement and with filling open management positions across its manufacturing facilities. Part of its struggle in filling open positions in management arises from a requirement that floor managers have detailed knowledge of the processes associated with each position and manufacturing line in the building the manager works in. HR is tasked with addressing these issues. What action should HR take?

Develop a training and development program using job rotation.

After much discussion about whether the company should adopt a standardized approach or a localized approach to compliance, they agree to a balanced, "glocalized" approach. The CEO tasks the CHRO with leading the efforts of moving toward this agreed-upon approach. How should the CHRO assess the impact of these changes on the business goals and objectives?

Develop and assess metrics that measure the outcomes of the changes.

Which step would be most effective in addressing an organization's concerns about technology breaches?

Develop and distribute a 'bring your own device' policy to all employees.ss

Which approach can best address complaints received from the workforce regarding a recent disclosure of executive compensation?

Develop and distribute individualized total rewards statements for all employees.

Which makes a benefits program most effective in attracting and retaining employees?

Developing a compensation strategy specifically targeted at the workforce

An HR VP is worried about the organization's risk of being found noncompliant with employment laws and regulations. What should the HR VP suggest that the organization do?

Direct HR to perform an HR compliance audit.

A CEO forms an executive team by hiring four senior VPs who, with their respective subject matter expertise, share responsibility and accountability for the organization's success. Which dynamic is most likely to emerge among the team in its first few months?

Discord

The results of an employee engagement survey indicate newly hired employees do not see the organization as a long-term stop in their career. What action should the HR director take to make the organization a long-term destination for newly hired employees?

Discuss career path options during the interview process to show employees how they can grow in their career.

The board finally agrees on a candidate for the CEO position. The candidate asks for a higher salary than what was offered. The board says it is unwilling to approve the requested salary because it is much higher than the previous CEO's salary. What action should the HR specialist take?

Discuss with the candidate the other benefits offered by the organization that contribute to the total compensation package.

What action should HR take to approach global assignments from a strategic-systematic perspective?

Disseminate information, technology, and values uniformly throughout the global organization.

An organization has had decreases in net income associated with lower productivity and increases in expenses. What is the most likely potential root cause among those listed?

Employee engagement issues

The accounting department was recently restructured. While the department management team is engaged and excited about the new direction, there have been many interpersonal conflicts among staff, causing service delays and poor perceptions of the department. What should HR advise the department director to do next?

Ensure that roles and responsibilities are clearly specified, starting at the functional level.

Which strategy for international assignees best helps to improve their overall experience and reduce their sense of isolation?

Ensuring that assignees are equipped with communication platforms and technologies

Once the new culture is defined, which is the best approach for the CHRO to take for fostering its adoption by all employees? A. Create a task force to analyze workforce trends and behaviors quarterly. B. Establish ongoing and regular two-way communication with all employees. C. Include company culture as part of the new employee onboarding program. D. Develop hiring and selection criteria based on the new cultural values.

Establish ongoing and regular two-way communication with all employees.

An organization promotes teamwork as a core value. Which would be the best way for an HR manager to model this value for the rest of the organization?

Establishing cross-functional brainstorming groups

The HR manager recommends implementing a technical training program and proposes organizational restructuring. While examining organizational restructuring options, the HR manager determines that several nontechnical positions could be eliminated by implementing an expensive software solution. Which action should the HR manager recommend to the VPO to decide if the software should be implemented? A. Prepare a budget and staffing plan for the software implementation. B. Estimate the cost of severance packages for affected employees. C. Identify other positions to which the affected employees could be transferred. D. Evaluate the cost savings that will be achieved by eliminating the positions.

Evaluate the cost savings that will be achieved by eliminating the positions.

The HR director has just seen the data from the function's first internal customer satisfaction survey in ten years. Customers complain about hiring times they consider unreasonable. At an HR meeting, staff defends itself by arguing that they address every opening quickly, offer the hiring managers a good pool of candidates, and have a high rate of employee success in positions. How should the leader of the HR function approach this customer service problem?

Examine the recruiting and hiring process for inefficiencies.

A manager comes to the HR director and complains about a recent global assignee. The employee has been late on the first report deadline and is not meeting initial goals. How should the HR director respond?

Explain to the manager the process of cross-cultural adjustment and its effect on productivity.

The HR director also learns that the junior pilot had a pre-existing relationship with the pilot in charge, outside of work. Protocol requires all pilots to submit to drug tests immediately following an incident. The junior pilot does not do so until the next day. How should the HR director respond to the account of the incident provided by the pilot in charge?

Explain to the pilot in charge that the HR director will conduct an independent investigation.

A recently promoted HR director, with a limited financial background, is now responsible for submitting a quarterly financial analysis of HR decisions. The first report is due in two weeks, however his boss is out of the office until the day before the report is due. How should the new director prepare to create the first report with this limited financial background?

Find someone in the finance department who could provide guidance.

Based on the HR director's understanding of the call, he does not believe that the employee's actions warrant termination. Others on the call express mixed reactions to the termination suggestion. The regional manager then calls for a vote on the termination. Based on the call, which document(s) is most important for the HR director to update to ensure that the company protects itself from future litigation?

Formal approval process for terminations

An organization is planning to construct a new satellite location. During the initial steps of the planning process for the construction, they explore the use of a project labor agreement. What potential impact would deciding to use a project labor agreement have?

Increased cost due to fair wage and health insurance requirements

A manager wants to implement a paid-time-off program for employees to volunteer in their local communities. What is the best way to respond to his request?

Initiate a joint management-employee committee to develop a policy for this type of program.

When updating the employee relations strategy following a merger, HR must partner with senior organizational leadership on what element?

Intended workplace culture

To recruit talent for a new venture in a small developing country, organizational executives suggest that HR use market pricing instead of job-content-based evaluation. Which is a potential disadvantage in this compensation strategy?

Internal positions may not match market data.

What is the primary benefit of using a risk register?

It creates transparency and accountability.

The HR director then receives a call from the HR manager, who explains to the HR director that the HR manager was discussing the termination of an employee with the VPO, and the VPO became angry and began yelling at the HR manager, insulting the HR manager and angrily leaving the office. The HR director must determine how to resolve the situation. What is the best way for the HR director to handle the VPO's request to terminate the HR manager?

Mediate a face-to-face discussion between the HR manager and the VPO to discuss the situation.

Given the owners' children's uncertainty, the HR representative identifies a potential need for a succession plan, initially at the senior leader level. Which is the best course of action the HR representative should take to start this process?

Meet separately with the children to determine leadership expectations and then prepare a SWOT analysis.

Which is the first step the CHRO should take to facilitate consensus and gain support for initiating culture change in the merged company? A. Implement the culture change that is needed regardless of conflicting views. B. Develop a strategic plan and outline on how the new culture will be defined. C. Create a cross-organizational task force for redefining the company culture. D. Meet with resistant executive committee members to gain understanding.

Meet with resistant executive committee members to gain understanding.

The executive team in the consulting firm asks its chief human resources officer (CHRO) to address these issues. Specifically, the CHRO has been asked to find ways to improve employee morale, sharply reduce turnover, and integrate the IT company staff into the larger company. Which action should the CHRO take first to address the executive team's request?

Meet with senior leaders in the IT company to discuss their concerns about the current situation.

The executive team in the consulting firm asks its chief human resources officer (CHRO) to address these issues. Specifically, the CHRO has been asked to find ways to improve employee morale, sharply reduce turnover, and integrate the IT company staff into the larger company. The CEO tells the CHRO of a heated argument he had with the president of the IT company. The CHRO is concerned that the president of the IT company may resign, which would likely lead to many other employees leaving. What should the CHRO do? A. Hire a professional mediator to facilitate a discussion between the CEO and the president of the IT company. B. Suggest to the CEO that bonuses be offered to all IT company employees who stay for the next year. C. Ask the CEO to hold an emergency executive team meeting to discuss the IT company. D. Meet with the CEO to explain her concerns and brainstorm possible paths forward

Meet with the CEO to explain her concerns and brainstorm possible paths forward

The senior officers are frustrated by the CEO's micromanagement of their job functions and are considering whether to leave the company or ask the company's board of directors to intervene. What should the HR director do?

Meet with the CEO to share the senior officers' perceptions of the CEO's management style.

A new HR director joined the HR team 45 days ago to train as the CHRO's successor. During their first one-on-one coaching session, the HR director finds it easy to confide in the CHRO and quickly establishes trust. The HR director is impressed by the CHRO's insistence on paying for their coffee and food items. The HR director later discovers that the CHRO expenses the cost of food and drink to HR's cost center while receiving customer incentive rewards from the store that can be used to obtain free coffee. Having just completed the company's code of conduct and ethics training, the HR director believes that this practice represents a conflict of interest. Which is the most effective action for the HR director to take to demonstrate respect for the company's code of conduct? A. Meet with the CHRO to better understand the company's policy on the use of incentive rewards earned on company expenses. B. Talk with the CEO to express concerns about HR's cost center being charged for these expenses. C. Send a company-wide memo documenting the HR director's interpretation of the company policy in relation to common employee behaviors. D. Ask the CHRO to convene a meeting with HR staff to discuss how the coaching sessions align with the company policy.

Meet with the CHRO to better understand the company's policy on the use of incentive rewards earned on company expenses.

Two members of the board of directors begin arguing about the executive director hire, each claiming the other one pushed the board to make the final hiring decision. The two refuse to speak or attend board meetings together. The chairman of the board asks the HR manager for recommendations on addressing this conflict. What should the HR manager recommend?

Meet with the full board of directors to gather feedback about the hiring process.

The HR director also learns that the junior pilot had a pre-existing relationship with the pilot in charge, outside of work. Protocol requires all pilots to submit to drug tests immediately following an incident. The junior pilot does not do so until the next day. The HR director suspects that substance abuse may have been the cause of the incident. Which action should the HR director take?

Meet with the junior pilot about the issue to offer employee assistance information.

How should the HR director handle the complaints from the managers about the new manager's delegation style?

Meet with the managers, expressing confidence in them and asking the tenured managers to assist the new manager in meeting expectations.

While reviewing equipment operator applicant records for the past 12 months, the HR director notices that post-interview documentation for applicants was not submitted to HR in a timely manner and was frequently incomplete. What should the HR director do?

Meet with the operations manager to discuss the challenges associated with conducting applicant interviews.

HR is concerned that the senior leader is not able to objectively define the manager's performance metrics. How should HR ensure that the PIP written by the senior leader is not biased against the manager?

Meet with the senior leader to create a PIP that is clear, concise, and measurable.

In Peter Senge's The Fifth Discipline, which discipline discusses our assumptions that influence how we understand the world and take action?

Mental models

After completing the investigation, the HR director advises the leadership team to terminate the junior consultant and offer a severance package. While the leadership team is considering the recommendation, the coworker admits to lying about the junior consultant's unprofessional behavior. What should the HR director do?

Notify the leadership team that the investigation must be reopened to consider new information.

Management wants the HR director to determine how the organization would be negatively impacted by switching to a more basic plan. Which response should the HR director choose?

Obtain information on plan usage from the health-care plan provider to quantify the impact of switching to a more basic plan.

Provide assurance that skills and experience attained during the assignment will be used as part of a new assignment.

Offer cultural training for both managers and their new employees.

HR is committed to maintaining the strength of a business division that is being sold in order to preserve its sales value. Which strategy offers the best opportunity to reduce resignations by key talent once the divestiture is announced?

Offer generous severance protection.

Which is the best option for an HR director to use to increase productivity for an underperforming team?

Offer group incentive pay based on the team's overall performance goals.

The CEO believes that the HR function should be outsourced and asks the HR director for help in convincing the board of directors to support the change. What should the HR director do?

Offer to conduct a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats analysis of the company's current HR operations.

The CEO of a company with an experienced but aging workforce has tasked HR with developing a succession plan. Which approach is likely to be most effective in sourcing a diverse pool of applicants?

Offering a structured mentoring program that offers a clear path of career progression

A talent acquisition manager is negotiating a compensation package with a potential candidate for a difficult-to-fill senior-level position. Which is the best strategy the manager should consider in order to make the offer more attractive?

Offering additional vacation time

A natural disaster results in a major disruption to a country's manufacturing of goods that are exported worldwide. Far-reaching effects to other countries include disruption of global supply chains, changes to import policies, and new regulations. What term best describes this kind of breadth of effects?

Political, economic, social, technological, legal, and environmental (PESTLE)

What is the biggest risk of bringing HR into a merger and acquisition (M&A) process only after the deal is done?

Poor top talent retention

An HR manager is informed by an employee that a supervisor is working for a competitor on nights and weekends. What describes this ethical concern?

Potential conflict of interest

Which disadvantage should an HR director of a small organization consider when determining whether to implement a dual career ladder?

Potential effectiveness of the program due to the organization's size.

The HR director then receives a call from the HR manager, who explains to the HR director that the HR manager was discussing the termination of an employee with the VPO, and the VPO became angry and began yelling at the HR manager, insulting the HR manager and angrily leaving the office. The HR director must determine how to resolve the situation. The HR manager thinks leadership training is needed for senior leadership, as the HR manager has heard of numerous similar instances of senior leaders yelling at and verbally abusing subordinates. When proposing the training, how should the HR manager convince senior leadership that it is needed?

Present research that shows the importance of positive leadership practices.

A few employees approach the HR manager with concerns about identifying their specific roles and feeling like their areas of responsibility are encroached on by coworkers. The CEO asks the HR manager to conduct research to advise on future hiring needs. Which action should the HR manager take to provide the most relevant data?

Project future staffing needs based on company needs and market trends.

An organization is extremely risk-averse, and its technology policies aim at retaining the greatest degree of physical and legal control. Which option for acquiring software offers the most control to the organization?

Proprietary software hosted on the organization's on-site servers

A new construction company is growing rapidly and hires its first HR director. To date, the construction company's hiring managers have been basing salary offers on candidates' salary demands. Therefore, the company does not have a salary structure in place, and large pay disparities are emerging among employees in the same positions. The new HR director is concerned about the inconsistencies in compensation and worries that the company's current pay practices may be discriminatory. Additionally, the HR director fears the situation will eventually result in both negative relations among current employees as well as future recruiting challenges. Managers say that they need to be flexible with salary during the hiring process because it is difficult to find enough talent. Which action would be most effective for the HR director to take? A. Provide managers with a salary structure to follow, but tell them HR is open to discussing special situations. B. Add a step in the hiring process to meet with managers to discuss each offer before it is given. C. Ask an attorney to talk with managers about the importance of following a salary structure. D. Ask managers to provide their input when developing a salary structure for the company.

Provide managers with a salary structure to follow, but tell them HR is open to discussing special situations.

Recently the minimum wage was raised. New hires will be making almost as much as people in the same job with years of seniority. The senior employees who have had years of raises to get to their current hourly wage are upset. Which is the best way to ensure pay practices are fair?

Providing additional benefits or incentives to senior employees affected by pay compression

The HR director learns that the former CEO had a certain political affiliation and often tried to use the organization to advance the goals of the CEO's political allies. How should the HR director use this information to respond to the board's concerns about candidates' political affiliation?

Recommend to the board that the integrity of the candidates be assessed through components of the selection process.

A retail sales manager of a bank sees a commercial for a local competitor advertising low rates for a home equity loan. The next day, the manager develops a promotion offering a lower rate than the competitor's. What conventional business strategy is this?

Red ocean

HR is responsible for an on-site day-care center and uses a third-party expert to assess safety and implement recommended changes to the facility. Which critical step in risk management is missing from this process?

Regularly checking site and monitoring adherence to policies and practices

A global HR team meets every two weeks via telephone conference calls. They supplement this communication with team and individual e-mails. The team has had many problems and conflicts that can be attributed to miscommunication. What might help the team leader reduce the number of these issues?

Replacing conference calls with video conferences

After investigating the injury claims, the HR manager suspects that there may be some cases of employee fraud. Which action should the HR manager take to foster an ethical work culture?

Require all employees to complete ethics training and acknowledge an ethics policy.

Which strategy would be most effective in helping the staffing organization team understand the culture of the organization and thereby ensure that candidates are a good fit?

Research the organization by reviewing the intranet and company website to learn about the values and strategic goals of the organization.

An organization is completing due diligence on a new supplier. The product and the manufacturing processes are environmentally friendly, and the cost allows the organization to make a profit. What further action will help the organization reach the sustainability sweet spot?

Research the supplier's labor practices.

After the first cruise, the VP of corporate HR asks the HR director for an analysis of how effective the cruise line's global recruiting vendor was in terms of providing appropriate crew talent. How should the HR director approach this analysis?

Review customer satisfaction ratings to determine if guests gave the crew positive evaluations.

An international seed company is in a position to buy one of its competitors. Management has narrowed the options down to three possibilities. How can HR most strategically contribute to developing and evaluating a business case for this project?

Review pivotal talent pools of employees at each organization whose skills are critical to the seed company's strategy.

The senior HR leader wants to determine if the original assumptions made are still valid. Which first step should she take to begin this evaluation? A. Review the business case and project status based upon the original needs, risks, opportunities, costs, and time frames. B. Ask her HR team what they believe are the major issues and improvements needed for the shared services model. C. Ask the senior leadership team about the concerns they are hearing from employees and any new issues. D. Focus only on the employee complaints because they provide critical information about the success of the model.

Review the business case and project status based upon the original needs, risks, opportunities, costs, and time frames.

The HR manager examines the job specifications of the outreach team and notices that the higher-paid jobs require higher levels of education, more experience, and bilingualism. The HR manager also notices that the job specifications have changed over the years, and the job now includes qualifications that the coordinator does not possess. How should the HR manager respond to the coordinator's request for a pay increase?

Review the current job specifications with the coordinator and develop a plan to close skill gaps.

Which should the HR director do to address the work flow challenges facing the staffing organization initiative?

Review the current recruiting process and reporting structure with the implementation team to clarify roles and responsibilities.

A few bus drivers approach the HR manager, complaining that they receive inadequate training from their supervisors. How should the HR manager respond?

Review the drivers' training records to verify that the drivers completed proper training.

An organization's yield ratio for offers rejected compared to offers extended for qualified applicants increased from 50% in year 1 to 75% in year 2. What recommendation should HR make to improve the selection results for an organization in a growth mode?

Review the employee value proposition along with newly hired attrition data and recent exit interview surveys.

Which is the best first step the SVP of HR should take in response to the request of the European employees to meet with the organization's leaders?

Review the works council agreement to determine the best advice to provide management.

Which organizational change would be most effective in aligning the talent selection process with HR's strategic mission to provide service to internal customers?

Reviewing and revising the organizational structure.

Based on the HR director's understanding of the call, he does not believe that the employee's actions warrant termination. Others on the call express mixed reactions to the termination suggestion. The regional manager then calls for a vote on the termination. After the call, what step should the HR director take first to ensure that company processes including termination are clear for all employees?

Schedule a meeting with all regional managers to make sure that processes are consistent.

A new HR director joined the HR team 45 days ago to train as the CHRO's successor. During their first one-on-one coaching session, the HR director finds it easy to confide in the CHRO and quickly establishes trust. The HR director is impressed by the CHRO's insistence on paying for their coffee and food items. The HR director later discovers that the CHRO expenses the cost of food and drink to HR's cost center while receiving customer incentive rewards from the store that can be used to obtain free coffee. Having just completed the company's code of conduct and ethics training, the HR director believes that this practice represents a conflict of interest. The company budget for professional development is minimal, which is why the CHRO voluntarily provides coaching. What should the HR director do to persuade the company's executive team to increase professional development investment? Answers A. Schedule a meeting with the CEO to discuss the executive team's priorities and goals for professional development. B. Hire a third-party consultant to provide recommendations to the executive team on effective professional development policies. C. Convene a task force composed of HR staff to evaluate how employees are being developed across the company. D. Schedule a meeting with the CEO to design and develop a leadership development university for the entire organization.

Schedule a meeting with the CEO to discuss the executive team's priorities and goals for professional development.

The HR director then receives a call from the HR manager, who explains to the HR director that the HR manager was discussing the termination of an employee with the VPO, and the VPO became angry and began yelling at the HR manager, insulting the HR manager and angrily leaving the office. The HR director must determine how to resolve the situation. How should the HR director address the VPO's disregard for employee privacy?

Schedule a meeting with the VPO to discuss the VPO's attitude about employee privacy.

A manager leads a team that is highly diverse. Two team members frequently argue vigorously in meetings about causes and solutions to problems. The manager thinks these exchanges are fueled by ethnic differences. What should the team leader do?

Schedule a workshop to focus on improving cultural awareness and communication skills.

A new HR director joined the HR team 45 days ago to train as the CHRO's successor. During their first one-on-one coaching session, the HR director finds it easy to confide in the CHRO and quickly establishes trust. The HR director is impressed by the CHRO's insistence on paying for their coffee and food items. The HR director later discovers that the CHRO expenses the cost of food and drink to HR's cost center while receiving customer incentive rewards from the store that can be used to obtain free coffee. Having just completed the company's code of conduct and ethics training, the HR director believes that this practice represents a conflict of interest. What should the HR director do to build credibility and trust with the HR staff members? A. Share expertise and experiences with HR staff members whenever they ask for support with their daily assignments and tasks. B. Invite HR staff members to attend external networking events for HR professionals to expand their career options. C. Schedule meetings with HR staff members to learn more about their daily assignments and tasks and how they support the HR department's goals. D. Distribute a summary of the company's ethics policy to HR staff members and invite their comments and feedback.

Schedule meetings with HR staff members to learn more about their daily assignments and tasks and how they support the HR department's goals.

A male employee is concerned that he is treated differently, given different work than coworkers, and excluded from meetings. This treatment began after the employee disclosed that he had gone through a gender change. What provision under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act should the HR manager investigate?

Sexual harassment/hostile work environment

The HR manager suspects that leadership's beliefs prevent hiring the best talent. Which action should the HR manager take to show leadership that the university must do more to compete for talent?

Share IT department metrics regarding how turnover of temporary IT staff affects project completion.

A company is designing a structured onboarding program. The new program includes a comprehensive orientation and buddy system and has a focus on the company's culture. What additional component should the company add to the onboarding program?

Streamlined interview process

An employee is strongly in favor of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) and believes that the organization as a whole is an excellent role model in this area. Which is the clearest sign that the employee may have some unconscious biases in regard to DE&I?

The employee briefly expresses impatience with people who provide their preferred pronouns when they introduce themselves.

Which metric should HR most consider when evaluating a succession plan?

Time for candidates to attain full function.

Faced with declining sales for an older product line, management decides to eliminate one sales group and shift responsibilities to another sales group. How will this affect costs related to human capital?

Training costs will increase.

Which type of engagement can present risks to employees' well-being and to the sustainability of their engagement and performance?

Transactional

After much discussion about whether the company should adopt a standardized approach or a localized approach to compliance, they agree to a balanced, "glocalized" approach. The CEO tasks the CHRO with leading the efforts of moving toward this agreed-upon approach. What is the first step the CHRO should take to address the regulatory compliance requirements of the organization?

Understand the organization-wide impact of compliance across multiple jurisdictions.

What is a major talent acquisition consideration when engaging in a greenfield operation?

Understanding local laws and employment regulations

A member of the HR function wants to develop consultative skills. The HR director notes that the individual has a natural talent in analyzing problems and in relationship building. What other skill or knowledge could the individual develop to support their growth?

Understanding of the organization's business and environment

How can a benefit needs assessment help an organization increase employee satisfaction while staying within budget?

Understanding what benefits attract, motivate, and retain talent.

What criteria should the HR director propose to use in order to determine how to reduce personnel costs? A. Require the head of each department to reduce their head count by a percentage. B. Use the performance reviews of employees and eliminate the weakest. C. Use a combination of performance evaluations, current skill sets needed, and salary information. D. Eliminate the middle manager positions throughout the entire organization, regardless of the skill sets those managers may have.

Use a combination of performance evaluations, current skill sets needed, and salary information.

The vice president learns that the administrator of the previous employee satisfaction survey is no longer in business. An Internet search identifies several alternatives, and she has the questions from the previous survey. What is the best next step for the vice president of HR to take?

Use a ubiquitous, inexpensive, and reputable web-based survey tool that can easily be initiated.

Too frequently, a survey response from a training course is that the information is not pertinent to the employee's job and that the course seems more like a pet project of a particular manager. Often there is also no practical component for experiential learning. What is the best response to these issues?

Use action mapping to form a project goal linked to a specific problem.

After a period of steady growth, business has leveled off, and HR has been tasked with finding areas in which to cut costs. Which metric could be used to support a decision to outsource a function or area and decrease internal head count?

Vacancy costs

A hospital has a higher turnover of male nurses than female nurses. Since male nurses are in the minority, overall turnover is at acceptable levels. Many of the departing male nurses reported feeling unvalued. What should HR investigate in this regard?

Whether there is an ingroup/outgroup bias related to gender at the group level

Which is an essential reason for evaluation of strategic results?

Which is an essential reason for evaluation of strategic results?

How should human resources advise senior management about their role in communicating any layoff decisions to affected employees?

Work with senior management to communicate the strategic rationale and business necessity for the layoff, using managers for communication to staff.

A sales organization has set as a short-term goal that all sales team members achieve a standard level of proficiency. The HR director has been tasked with implementing a sales development training program. What step should the director take first?

Work with the sales manager to define the benchmark for sales team performance.

According to the upstream/downstream strategic model, what HR activities are most likely to be placed at headquarters?

Workforce alignment

A multinational organization discovers that more women than men move internally across borders to work; however, more men are being promoted. Additionally, the attrition rate for women is much higher compared to global benchmark data from other organizations. Which process could help HR proactively identify these types of trends and implement corrective measures?

Workforce analysis

An HR manager at a distribution center is contacted by a line manager. The line manager has evidence of a group of four employees who have been systematically stealing goods, along with two employees who were seen on tape apparently observing instances of theft and not reporting them. The line manager requests that all six employees be terminated immediately and escorted from the premises. Would this violate the employees' due process?

Yes. The employees should be presented with the evidence and allowed to defend themselves.

Which is an example of a tactical HR task being automated and replaced by a new HR system?

Employee self-service

What is needed to have a fully effective performance management system?

Employees are educated about the system and know how to get value from it.

Which organization cultural elements are most important when compiling an accurate and reliable risk analysis?

Employees that are honest and are willing to discuss shortcomings.

What is likely to happen when diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) gets a lot of attention after a high-profile police shooting of a person of color in the community but new DE&I initiatives later in the year are not well funded?

Employees will believe that DE&I is low in priority.

Which recruiting strategy is likely to ensure a long-term, consistent flow of qualified candidates in a competitive candidate market?

Employer branding

Which situation best illustrates conflict of interest?

Encouraging a manager to hire the child of the manager's director

The HR VP of a global organization has an issue developing and retaining international leaders from internal sources. The roles have unique requirements, making it difficult to hire external candidates. What is the best way the HR VP can address this situation?

Engage in a career management and succession planning process, building new job paths to develop internal leadership candidates.

A company has entered a period of no growth or new business initiatives. What type of initiative is the HR director most likely to support during a budget meeting with the HR team?

Enhancement of work/life balance including compressed workweeks

Which approach should HR recommend in order to assist a dysfunctional team with productivity issues?

Enhancing communication skills and processes

An organization is struggling to create and implement a strategic management plan. While multiple divisions have been involved in the creation of the plan from the start, which has lead to infighting over how major portions of the plan will benefit certain divisions. What should HR ensure is being done during the planning process to correct this situation and ensure that the plan is successfully created and implemented?

Ensure that the efforts of all divisions are properly aligned.

What major concern does HR face in a transnational organizational structure?

Ensuring technology and processes promote the exchange of information in the organization

How should the HR manager assist the CEO to improve the public perception of the company?

Establish a feedback channel for members of the public to report unsafe driving.

A company wants to ensure that it is able to react quickly and effectively in the event of a crisis. The vice president of HR is in charge of developing a crisis management plan. What is the first step the vice president should take?

Establish a planning team.

What is the first step of the International Organization for Standardizaion's (ISO) risk management process?

Establish the risk context

Which is the first step a global HR director should take when managing compliance risk associated with a new law being implemented in one of the countries the firm operates?

Evaluate new requirements relative to existing policies and procedures.

How should HR best ensure operational activities are accomplishing the organization's strategic objectives?

Evaluating the organization's talent management strategy for alignment with its strategic goals.

Which of the following is true when using a third-party administrator for COBRA claims?

Even when using a third-party administrator for COBRA claims, the employer retains legal responsibility for compliance.

After the manager is placed on the PIP, the manager approaches HR with questions concerning the plan. Specifically, the manager has concerns about being judged unfairly and being terminated no matter what improvements are made. How should HR handle this situation?

Explain the PIP review process with the manager and outline the role HR plays in ensuring fairness and equity.

What should an HR leader do after learning that some HR team members question the necessity for the project?

Explain the benefits of the initiative to the team.

Which is the best way for an HR director to influence staff that are resistant to adopting new processes that measure and report on the HR function's performance?

Explain the new processes impact on the perception of HR by other functions.

Senior management is concerned that the lack of technical skills in-house will make building a human resource information system (HRIS) impossible. What is the best option to procure a robust and functional HRIS?

Explore outsourcing to a third party.

Which diversity and inclusion challenges are most likely to involve issues that scheduling flexibility can address?

Family status, religion

What is the term for software and/or hardware that creates a barrier between the system and external networks and users?

Firewall

Which type of interview would be the best for determining how multiple candidates would handle performing in an environment where the ability to work in changing groups is required?

Fishbowl interview

What key characteristic of an effective risk management program is identified in ISO 31000?

Fits the organization's risk and control environment

An HR VP is looking to drive the organization to improve as a learning organization. How can the HR VP help create a culture that supports organizational learning?

Focus on instituting quality and continuous improvement to drive the organization moving forward.

An organization is embarking on the creation of a new strategic plan for the next five years. Just before the process starts, the HR VP becomes aware of widespread discussions between lower-level managers on how to use the strategic planning process to advance pet projects. How should the HR VP ensure that the strategic planning process is successful without it being abused for personal gain by those involved in the process?

Focus on organizational core competencies to drive the process.

A recent employee survey reveals inefficiencies in production processes. Which structured activities should be recommended to correct the inefficiencies?

Focusing on process requirements

Which HR action is most predictive of successful strategic outcomes in an organization?

Focusing on the organization's core competencies in each business unit to evaluate and employ change as needed

After a recent staff meeting, the VP of HR invites several managers to discuss their observations of the meeting. What additional step would be helpful in creating the desired communication culture?

Follow up with the managers to communicate the impact of their observations.

The VP of HR knows that without buy-in and support from all stakeholders, this project will struggle. What should she do to engage the stakeholders?

Formally present to the key decision maker, proposing objectives and a time line.

A company has reorganized its employees into new team structures and employee morale declined. Which stage of team formation is the company in?

Forming

HR is asked to develop a plan

Formulation

Framing the information will help the audience see the purpose behind the data analysis and will present the information in a logically sequenced way that leads the audience to the desired goal for the communication.

Frame the information.

Which key security concern should an organization consider for storing sensitive personnel records in a cloud-based platform??

Frequency and performance of security updates

What best demonstrates ethical universalism?

Fundamental principles apply in all cultures.

Which could the HR director have done differently during the implementation to ensure that roles and responsibilities were clearly defined?

Further qualify the reason why the hiring managers wanted to retain the corporate recruiters and consider the impact on the project goals

HR works with the executive leadership team to redesign the company's operational structure. HR brings on an external consultant to determine next steps. What should be the consultant's initial recommendation to HR?

Gain agreement on the initiative's objectives.

A revised company code of conduct was distributed to all employees. Managers are not adhering to the new guidelines. Which step has the company neglected to take when implementing the new code of conduct?

Gainbuy-in from all employees and stakeholders

What advice can you give to a new HR manager who is a bit of an introvert but wants to improve his networking skills?

Get outside your comfort zone and talk with non-team members and people who hold both higher and lower positions in the organization.

If the most important priority to a company is responsiveness, how should an HR manager uses multi-criteria decision analysis to select a new recruitment firm?

Give more weight to client references that describe customer service experiences.

What other HR Behavioral Competency can help people recognize when an organization may have a blind spot in terms of its actual diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) relative to its strategic goals in this area?

Global Mindset

Why is HR well positioned to serve as a cross-functional bridge?

HR can affect the ability of each function to produce value.

How can the performance of HR during the due diligence process maximize the success of a merger or acquisition?

HR can uncover obstacles that affect agreements and implementation plans.

An organization implements employee self-service through an HR portal for employees to check their personal data, update information, and handle expense reporting. What will likely be the most important impact of this initiative?

HR head count may be reduced due to time savings.

An organization that began as a small family business has decided, because of significant growth, to transition from a privately held company to a publicly traded and owned company. Which impact on HR processes will this transition most likely create?

HR will have to develop and implement new performance standards.

Which OSHA standard is known as the Employee Right-to-Know Law?

Hazard Communication

What is the value of a balanced scorecard?

Helps support a clear line of sight from strategic goals to strategic performance

An organization is looking to rebrand one of its subsidiaries in an effort to improve customer perception in the market. HR is tasked with choosing members for the team that will create the rebranding plan and submit it for approval of the CEO and the board. What team structure criteria should HR use when creating the team?

High skill diversity, low authority, low permanence

From investigating the injury claims, the HR manager believes that there is misunderstanding due to a language barrier. How should the HR manager ensure understanding of workers' compensation?

Hire interpreters to explain information about workers' compensation to bus drivers.

During the presentation, the HR director shares data about hiring and turnover rates, benefit usage, and compensation ratios. What would be an effective next step?

Hold listening sessions with employees to obtain their feedback on the strategy before finalizing it.

The senior HR leader and her team perceive the complaints as significantly harming the HR department's credibility. Which action should the senior HR leader take to begin changing the negative perceptions? Answers A. Tell employees that the HR department is addressing employee concerns and the issues will be fixed. B. Host meetings with leaders and employees to acknowledge the issues and solicit feedback about upcoming improvements. C. Wait and see if over time HR regains credibility, as this is a normal reaction to change. D. Inform employees that the senior HR leader will be readily available to address any concerns.

Host meetings with leaders and employees to acknowledge the issues and solicit feedback about upcoming improvements.

Obtaining full executive-level commitment is critical to any comprehensive diversity and inclusion initiative. Which information should be included in a business case to gain that commitment?

How this strategy plays a critical role in achieving the organization's core business goals

Which key area must be included in a multinational company's social audit?

Human rights

How does an understanding of global forces benefit HR practices in a traditional organization?

Hyperconnectivity has changed the way employees access information in the workplace.

The vice president of HR is participating in a strategy-setting session with senior management and functional leaders across the organization. What is the most useful role HR can play in this situation?

Identifying and communicating potential challenges and opportunities related to human capital

Which is the best strategy to address recent changes to the salary market data for key positions?

Identifying the age of the salary data.

How should an HR manager handle complaints that a well-performing HR employee often ignores or delays responding to requests?

Immediately address the issues, set expectations, and monitor performance.

One of the reasons for low employee engagement is lack of opportunities for training and development of new skills. What can the HR manager do to increase these opportunities without significantly increasing the training budget?

Implement a cross-training program for employees to learn other roles in the sales department.

Which action should the HR director take to help increase awareness of ancillary benefit programs to newer employees?

Implement an orientation program.

Which step should the HR manager take to ensure that the company abides by anti-bribery and anti-corruption laws?

Implement anti-bribery and anti-corruption training for all employees.

What should the HR director do to decrease the turnover rate among equipment operators?

Implement exit interviews to identify the most common causes of employee resignations.

Which is the best way to create a supportive knowledge management culture?

Implement systems that encourage information sharing at all levels throughout the organization.

According to Blake-Mouton's behavioral leadership theory, what kind of manager delegates duties without any authority over the team?

Impoverished manager

Which type of learning program would best suit an organization where employees at all levels expect to be able to access training anywhere and anytime, across varied formats?

"Pull" learning model

The sales forecast for the coming year is $9 million, and labor productivity is forecast at $26,000. Assuming no turnover, how many employees will be needed?

346

What statement best describes the 70 in the 70-20-10 rule of leadership development?

70% of managers time must be spent on challenging assignments.

Which is an example of the moral hazard at work in an organization?

A CEO tells operations to take shortcuts that increase revenue but reduce quality for customers.

Which of the examples demostrates an HR VP's role in creating a service culture?

A VP of HR negotiates time-to-hire goals with the organization's functional leaders

An organization must balance offering robust benefits with budget constraints. Why is a benefit needs assessment valuable?

A benefits package can have a positive impact on attracting, motivating, and retaining talent.

Which company is covered by the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act?

A company that has had 50 full-time and 50 part-time employees working 30 hours a week over the last 12 months

An HR director has been given a set of critical performance objectives for the upcoming year. How could advanced analytics help?

A dashboard can highlight progress in these areas with timely data.

What issue identified during an environmental scan for a small, family-owned grocery store represents a threat to its competitive strategy?

A gas station on the next block has expanded to include a new convenience store.

The NLRB v. Weingarten establishes legal protocols for which type of meeting?

A meeting with an employee accused of engaging in unlawful harassment.

Which HR action best illustrates an attempt to establish equity in a workplace?

A recently promoted employee from a minority group is offered access to a manager mentor.

An organization has identified multiple goals for its risk management program. How does it go about sifting through the risks to prioritize those that will get attention and resources immediately?

A risk scorecard can identify the higher threats and priorities; these can be ranked by their scores.

Which statement best explains the relationship between absenteeism and engagement?

Absenteeism rates are not indicative of employee engagement levels, as absences occur for many reasons.

Which step moves an organization from being multinational to globalized?

Accommodating a multidirectional flow of ideas

Increased global competition has forced an organization's leadership team to analyze and manage unanticipated risks. The team is using a risk scorecard to help assess a variety of risks. How should the various risks be weighted?

According to strategic importance

What is required for a supply analysis to be accurate?

Accounting for employee movement inside and outside of the organization

Which is a primary advantage of using local training experts to design and develop new programs?

Activities and delivery can be adjusted to local customs and norms.

A small manufacturer of specialized electrical controls is expanding. Which strategy will likely have the greatest impact on its HR function?

Add capacity by building a new plant in a different part of the country.

Which initiative is most likely to provide the best outcome for a multinational organization incorporating a new knowledge management system?

Adding translations for a wide range of languages

The ratio of offers made to offers accepted for job candidates has been falling. Which could be a contributing factor to this trend?

Additional rounds of separate interviews have been added.

What should an organization do if records retention requirements differ among multiple jurisdictions?

Adhere to the law that requires the longest time period.

After-action debriefs examine the effectiveness of a risk response strategy and can be an educational opportunity for everyone attending. There is a good argument to be made that debriefs should occur whenever a risk management plan has been invoked.

After-action debriefs

An HR manager is mentoring an employee who recently transferred into HR. Which resource will the manager recommend that the mentee review to understand how laws and regulations are enforced?

Agency guidelines

Which project management approach is being used when a team tackles new objectives as they are identified and prioritized by the customer?

Agile

Organizations have contingency plans for which primary purpose?

Aid in rebuilding and recovering the organization.

In an effort to sustain change, how can HR ensure a positive relationship between strategy and organizational culture?

Align culture and strategy for maximum effectiveness.

After completing a balanced scorecard for the HR function, the leader aims at increasing initiatives in learning and development by revising the performance management system to require evidence of completed certifications and/or training every year. How can the HR leader improve this initiative?

Align eligible growth activities with HR and organizational strategies.

Which characteristic is most important in an effective risk management system?

Alignment with organizational goals

How would an organization's use of zero-based budgeting impact the HR budget planning process?

All expenditures must be justified; HR must compete with other departments for funding.

Which should the HR director do to reduce expenditures on health care without sacrificing employee satisfaction with health-care benefits?

Allow each employee to choose from a variety of health plans with different plan designs and costs.

An organization has offices in ten countries. A current priority is developing a reliable way to measure diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) across the offices. What is a best practice for developing these metrics?

Allow measurement specifics to differ by country.

Which should the HR director do to reduce the risk of turnover of current salespeople?

Allow the salespeople more independence to make work-related decisions.

A company is interested in enhancing knowledge retention while providing "boomerang" employees the opportunity to reconnect with the company. Which information sharing system would best fit a company's goal of enhancing organizational retention?

Alumni network

What is true regarding a recommodation policy under the ADA?

An accommodation is considered reasonable if it does not pose an undue hardship on a company.

Which organization has evolved farthest on the CSR maturity curve?

An organization aligns its value with CSR principles, promoting this identification to stakeholders.

How should the HR director present the skills gap issue to the CEO? A. Present the CEO with qualitative data that illustrates the issue. B. Present the CEO with actual data that illustrates where there is a gap. C. Analyze the company's mission compared to the skills possessed by the company's workforce, and then provide solutions to the CEO. D. Present the process of determining how to analyze the gap in the skill sets of the workforce.

Analyze the company's mission compared to the skills possessed by the company's workforce, and then provide solutions to the CEO.

During a period of unprecedented turnover, what action should HR recommend to reduce the high turnover?

Analyze the current workforce to ensure that the current talent meets future needs.

The HR staff suspects that more employees are leaving because they are receiving better job offers with other organizations. Which action should the HR manager recommend to confirm this?

Analyze the number of temporary employees compared to the number of permanent employees who leave for salary-related reasons.

Which action should the VP of HR recommend to the project team as a starting point for aligning the sales incentive plan with employee behaviors?

Analyze the relationship between sales incentive plan payouts and business results.

How should the HR director respond to the board's request to continue the search for a new CEO?

Ask the board to provide specific reasons explaining why the two candidates are not suitable.

Three days after the beginning of a cruise, a stomach virus breaks out, and 20% of the crew is unable to perform their duties. The cruise line doctor says symptoms will last between 36 and 48 hours. Which action should the HR director take first to ensure that guest satisfaction remains high?

Ask the chief safety officer to hold an all-hands staff briefing on procedures for minimizing virus transmission.

The HR manager examines the job specifications of the outreach team and notices that the higher-paid jobs require higher levels of education, more experience, and bilingualism. The HR manager also notices that the job specifications have changed over the years, and the job now includes qualifications that the coordinator does not possess. The HR manager conducts a job analysis. Based on the findings, the manager believes that the coordinator role has basic qualifications and additional qualifications should not require more pay. Which action should the HR manager take first?

Ask the supervisor to explain reasons for higher requirements in the job specifications.

When implementing an employee attitude survey targeted to reveal internal or external reasons for driving employee behaviors,, which motivation theory is being?

Attribution

What are the repercussions of an organization placing a limit on the application length for a tenured professor position at a public university?

Inability to submit relevant information and experience

An organization conducts a pay survey and finds that some of its key employees are underpaid. Which approach best supports the desire to raise the pay for these employees while balancing a concern of adding to their salary burden?

Awarding compensation for results versus time in position

Which best provides an overview tying HR department objectives and performance to an organization's strategic business goals?

Balanced scorecard

The CEO of an organization has requested regular, comprehensive reports on staffing, turnover, engagement, and performance. What would be the most effective strategy to fulfill this request?

Begin a project to implement an HR dashboard.

A manufacturer has international wholly owned entities operating with little involvement from headquarters. The CEO asks the HR VP for ideas on integrating operations and products so that it could offer variety in each market and leverage dispersed expertise. What is the best advice HR could provide?

Begin by initiating some small global projects with team members from different regions.

The HR director in a rapidly growing start-up needs to secure specific talent for a specialty department with a very short time frame for full productivity. Which type of interviewing will be especially valuable in the selection process?

Behavioral

What competencies and skills can an HR manager instill in order to be proactive with a risk management initiative?

Being preventive, predictive and confidently taking preemptive actions

What is a key benefit to HR leaders of a business intelligence system?

Better evidence-based decisions

A multinational corporation is expanding quickly through acquisitions. It aims to create efficiency and innovation by integrating all its operations. What might the VP of HR advise the management committee in this case?

Budget time and resources to revise policies and practices and train all personnel.

An organization is adding an enterprise that requires a large number of highly knowledgeable and skilled workers. HR has noted the time required to fill open positions has increased because of the poor quality of applicants. How should HR advise management?

Budgets must include expanded training programs.

An HR manager is preparing a communication about how an IT purchase will align strategically with the organization's objectives, what capabilities will be added, what risk will be reduced, and what type of return the organization will receive for the investment. At what step in the technology acquisition process is the HR manager?

Building a business case

An organization's IT and HR functions both report a gender imbalance. How should the HR director approach this situation?

By analyzing representation, hiring, and retention as well as labor market data for these functions to benchmark gaps

How can HR best support the development of the organizational strategy?

By consulting with function leaders to understand unit-level goals

How does HR contribute to diverse locations in a multidomestic strategy?

By coordinating subsidiary activities to ensure that culture and policies are consistent with those of the home country

An employee recently filed a grievance against an employer with his union. When the employee came in for his shift the following day, the supervisor sent him home. Which should HR advise the employer to do?

Call the employee back to work immediately.

What should the newly assigned HR director do if weekly staff meetings to review previously submitted progress reports are not effective?

Cancel the regular meetings.

What statement about career development is true?

Career development is most effective when aligned with the needs of the organization.

At an employee development meeting, a retail employee discusses her desire to pursue a law degree. The company supports her by offering more flexible scheduling. She resigns at a follow-up review, saying that she wants to pursue her degree full-time. What does this example depict?

Career planning

Which should an HR director do to encourage continued high performance in a team showing high levels of productivity comprised of members with demonstrated self-direction and initiative?

Celebrate accomplishments and foster improvement.

A growing organization is reexamining its HR structure to ensure that it meets the organization's needs as the organization grows. The organization previously used a decentralized structure, resulting in a fairly large set of individuals spread through the organization with expertise gained through experience in various HR areas. If the organization decides to change from the decentralized structure, what would be the best option as it plans for continued growth?

Center of excellence

HR is charged with remediating customer service delays in an organization where cumbersome and redundant service tickets require multiple approvals by different divisions. Which structural characteristic will the team probably examine?

Chain of command

The eight aerospace engineers who comprise a design group are of different nationalities and races. There are six men and two women on the team. The team has been asked to think outside the box and come up with some creative ideas to optimize some conflicting objectives but has been failing. What might help this team the most?

Include a non-engineer on the design team to encourage thought diversity.

An organization's senior leadership wants to employ alternative dispute resolution to resolve conflicts between employees and their managers, with end goals of increasing the employees' receptiveness to solutions and potential discipline and maintaining a positive working relationship following the resolution of disputes. However, the organization is wary of relying on external parties to mediate these disputes due to potential associated costs. What option is the best choice for the organization?

Chosen officer

Which system of law is the most prevalent in the world?

Civil law

The VP of HR has created a Total Rewards team composed of HR managers from different divisions and countries. The team leader complains that the team is too "territorial", and members see their own approaches as "best practices". What would you advise?

Coach team members in listening and negotiation skills.

What type of document does HR need to create with other key leaders in the organization to help employees make correct decisions in dealing with ethical dilemmas?

Code of conduct

Which of the following conflict resolution modes can be seen as win/win conflict resolution?

Collaborate

What is one of HR's primary roles in managing technology?

Collect new employee data

Which formal employment branding tactic should HR suggest to enhance the employee value proposition at a technology services company without a corporate social responsibility program?

Communicate the brand through social media and community involvement.

Which action should the VP of HR take to be a strategic contributor to business decisions through the redesign of the sales incentive plan?

Communicate the vision of promoting ethical sales behaviors to achieve business goals.

The HR function is assessing a new HR information system (HRIS). Leaders are particularly concerned about the visibility and accessibility that the system will provide to mobile workers and external business partners (e.g., recruiters). What component of the HRIS options should they examine closely?

Communication tier

An organization is setting up operations in a new location in its home country. Which entity is most likely to cause the organization to change its relationship with the new workforce from how it interacts with the current workforce in the original location?

Community group

An organization has decided to make a significant shift in strategy. What does the director of HR need to do when preparing the HR budget for the upcoming year?

Compare current activities and budget allocations with what will be needed to support the new strategy.

Which action should the HR manager take to measure the effectiveness of the implemented engagement solutions?

Compare productivity and absenteeism metrics from before and after the solutions were implemented to see if productivity has increased.

Which is the best results-based comparative analysis for a company that has implemented an engagement strategy and action plan for reducing accidents on the job?

Compare the workers' compensation incident rate before and after implementing the engagement action plan.

If the input-process-output model were used to plan a project to increase diversity in recruiting, what would be a process?

Conduct a Brainstorming session with stakeholders to identify new sources

Which proactive step should the CHRO take first in order to initiate a smooth cultural integration once the decision is made? A. Conduct a cultural assessment of the legacy and acquired companies. B. Independently define the values for culture in the combined organization. C. Analyze gaps that exist between the legacy and acquired companies. D. Interview key leaders to determine the desired combined cultural traits.

Conduct a cultural assessment of the legacy and acquired companies

After resolving the concerns of the committee, the team arrives at the decision to implement the long-term solution with a focus on scalability. What should the team do to effectively gain support from the company as a whole?

Conduct a meeting of all employees to be impacted by the changes to resolve any expressed concerns.

New leadership is in place at a large retailer. All departments are undergoing detailed reviews of their support of organizational strategy and effectiveness. The benefits department has just completed its review, and leadership believes that benefit offerings are not reflective of the organization's total rewards philosophy. A gap analysis yields overlapping benefits. Which action should be taken to remedy the situation?

Conducting a review to identify gaps in benefits offerings versus utilization

When opening a new software facility in China, what first step should be accomplished as soon as possible to evaluate the labor market for the new facility?

Conducting a supply analysis of available employees

The VP of HR knows that for this project to be successful a plan needs to be developed. What should be the first step that the VP of HR takes?

Conducting an organizational SWOT analysis

Which is an example of a behavior a manager can exhibit to improve employee engagement?

Considering the consistency of a candidate's preferences with the organization's practices before offering employment

Which is a characteristic of activity-based budgeting?

Considering the cost and strategic significance of key tasks

What is the most effective course of action for the newly hired HR director to pursue to ensure that the captain's deadline is met?

Consult with the cruise line's guest relations officer to exchange ideas regarding industry best practices.

A newly implemented applicant selection program may inadvertently be noncompliant with equal opportunity laws. Which action should the HR director take?

Consult with the organization's attorney to ensure the program is compliant with all employment laws.

The corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiative team has reviewed all organization systems and procedures, interviewed all upper management personnel, and surveyed all employees as to current attitudes, concerns, and goals. Which item will complete the assessment phase of the CSR strategic process?

Consulting with external stakeholders

The president of an organization requests a monthly meeting with all department heads where they review and update the strategic plan to ensure that each department's activities contribute to the organization's goal. What critical success factor does this practice demonstrate?

Control of drift

An organization known primarily for manufacturing automobile tires uses its expertise to branch into manufacturing tires for airplanes. What type of strategy is this?

Corporate

Which is the best staffing arrangement for an HR team that needs short-term on-site support?

Cosourcing

Which type of third-party contract relationship is best for an organization that is hesitant to relinquish managerial control?

Cosourcing

Which phenomenon is occurring when many of a global organization's minority employees are avoiding other members of their minority group, adjusting their attire, matching grooming and mannerisms to the majority, and refraining from advocating for their minority group?

Covering

How can the HR director enhance the EVP, leveraging the relationships between the newly hired employees and those with longer service to the company?

Craft a comprehensive and effective hiring strategy promoting common factors of the EVP shared by all workers.

Which is the most effective strategy for incentivizing all employees to improve productivity based on a company wide goal?

Create a profit-sharing plan.

An organization has recently acquired or established overseas operations and offices in multiple countries. The CEO decides to attempt to leverage this new, diverse set of experiences and cultures to strengthen the organization. She asks HR to set up a program to rotate employees to different global locations. What is an important consideration for HR when initially setting up the plan?

Creating a system to track employees, including their immigration status and location

What communication tactic is most effective when an HR professional is leading a global team with no opportunities for face-to-face meetings?

Creating independent feedback channels, such as check-in calls, to ensure upward communication

Which is the most effective way for HR Management to influence an organization's value chain?

Creating universal training and development standards across the organization.

Which action should an HR director take to complete a project with a tight deadline?

Critical Path

A new HR director is reviewing retention rates and is concerned that the employee engagement plan that was implemented a year ago is ineffective. Which indicator should the director look to when beginning to assess if the employee engagement plan is working?

Current turnover rate compared to previous years

The organization's employee onboarding process is being criticized by functional area managers who want access to their new employees sooner than the one-week onboarding process allows. The current process is acceptable in terms of employee engagement and retention rates but could be better. What might best address these issues?

Cut a day from the program but require that it be used for customized onboarding such as a functional area team-building workshop.

An organization wants to expand its diversity and inclusion strategy to include its supply chain. Which action should HR recommend that the organization take to influence supply chain management and relations?

Including diversity requirements in searches for vendors and suppliers and seeking out minority-owned vendors

Which of the following analytics features of an HRIS provide metrics that are configurable to user preferences and can be linked to organizational metrics?

Dashboards

Which HR structure is being used by a soft drink company that has bottling plants in Europe, Asia, and North America where HR controls its issues within each area but policy and strategy decisions are made at headquarters?

Decentralized

The latest diversity reports indicate that an organization has become more diverse than ever. However, employee surveys still indicate that there is a gap in the inclusion area of their diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) goals. The budget for additional DE&I initiatives is very small at this point in the year. What could the HR organization nevertheless take on to improve inclusion in this budget year?

Inclusive events calendars

A company expands its operations to deliver services outside its home country. The CEO decides to hire local workforces for the new offices and tasks the VP of HR with communicating this strategy to the organization. What benefit should the VP of HR emphasize?

Deeper understanding of new markets

Which sequence should HR advise the VP of operations to take in consolidating job functions?

Define strategically aligned project objectives; set the timeline; determine the budget; establish quality control; measure progress; evaluate project results.

Which action should the SVP and her team take initially to start to resolve problems?

Define what employee engagement and commitment mean for the newly merged organization to establish a basis for future actions.

Which option best describes the reason to develop a comprehensive organizational code of conduct policy?

Defining behavioral and judgment expectations for all employees

An HR department has had an unusual degree of turnover in its leadership in the past three years. What challenge is the function most likely to encounter in fulfilling strategic plans?

Inconsistent decision making

Which initiative enables processes of a newly acquired organization with several industry leading processes to be most cost-effectively shared with all employees?

Incorporating the manufacturing processes into the knowledge management system

An organization's college recruitment effort has been unsuccessful in attracting minority candidates. Which step should HR consider?

Increase college recruiting at universities who have large percentages of minority students and alumni

Which of the following recommendations should HR leadership offer for a service organization seeking to reduce expenses due to declining revenue?

Designing an organizational restructuring plan

An organization recently revised its strategic plan to enter a new vertical market. What is the MOST important thing the training department can do to support the initiative?

Determine how training can align with and support the strategy.

Which step should the SVP take first to resolve the differences in how leaders view the issues?

Develop a strong business case for an HR-focused engagement strategy aligned to the principles of the merged organization.

After the board and the senior administrator have reviewed, assessed, and prioritized the items that pose the highest risk to the organization's strategic goals, which is the next step in their process?

Develop an approach to assign ownership, manage, and monitor the risk.

An organization expands its operations internationally and asks HR to develop a list of potential global assignees. What is the first step HR must take in selecting the candidates?

Develop specific selection criteria and qualifications for the assignments.

A few employees approach the HR manager with concerns about identifying their specific roles and feeling like their areas of responsibility are encroached on by coworkers. Some employees complain to the HR manager about the consultant's lack of guidance during training. How should the HR manager respond?

Discuss employees' concerns about the training with the consultant.

The HR director also learns that the junior pilot had a pre-existing relationship with the pilot in charge, outside of work. Protocol requires all pilots to submit to drug tests immediately following an incident. The junior pilot does not do so until the next day. What action should the HR director take regarding the receptionist's lack of professionalism?

Discuss the service experience with the receptionist's supervisor.

Following the termination of an employee for making physical threats, which next step should an HR manager take in the evaluation phase of the risk management process?

Discuss the termination process with the affected team.

After a project failure how can an HR leader help the organization develop a more agile and risk-tolerant environment?

Discussing the failure as a learning opportunity

A global firm is planning to take a polycentric approach to its philanthropic programs. Which is the most likely outcome of taking this approach?

Donations will be more aligned to local community needs.

What steps should the HR representative take to support implementing an attendance policy that meets the owners' business strategy?

Download sample policies and tailor them to the company's culture/needs; comply with laws and get the owners' input.

Leaders of a new high tech organization are seeking HR's expertise in retaining their highly skilled workforce, especially as the organization expands. When should HR start the employee retention strategies and practices?

During the organization's branding and recruitment efforts

Several sales managers say that they do not have time to focus on implementing employee engagement solutions because they have too much other work. Which action should the HR manager take in response to this information?

Educate sales managers and discuss recent research on the tangible benefits of implementing employee engagement solutions.

Which best describes the primary action HR should take if the organization adopts a strategy of preventing industrial actions?

Educating managers on what is an unfair labor practice

To improve low yield rates, a talent acquisition team must take a proactive approach to recruiting. The team was trained on a new process for sourcing and screening applicants, but many say they don't have time for the additional tasks. What should their manager do first to address this?

Emphasize the benefits of the new process for the team members.

Which employee engagement practice considers the full employee life cycle?

Employee alumni network

An organization that has decided to sell a long-held subsidiary is considering potential buyers. What information should the HR leader provide to leadership in this phase?

Employee census for the subsidiary that includes current roles and total current compensation

An organization has had difficulty sustaining its diversity and inclusion effort during economic downturns and has experienced resistance from managers and employees alike. What might be recommended to help this organization?

Increased alignment between business strategy and diversity initiatives

How does a corporate social responsibility (CSR) program impact employee retention?

Increases brand image as an ethical and sustainable organization

A union employee is currently under investigation for a policy violation. The employee has brought along an attorney to assist during the investigatory interview. What step should the employer representative take next?

Inform the employee that the attorney may not attend the interview.

Senior leadership at an organization has been alerted to an upcoming vote at a satellite location where employees will determine whether to adopt a union or not. A leader proposes offering a one-time bonus to employees who vote against the union to prevent the adoption effort from succeeding. How should HR react to the proposal?

Inform the leader that this would constitute an unfair labor practice and the policy should not be enacted.

Which is a benefit of conducting stay interviews as opposed to exit interviews?

Information from stay interviews enables proactive HR steps.

The performance of new employees is an appropriate strategic metric to measure onboarding success. For example, information on new hires who are not performing up to expectations and whether they have been dealt with appropriately can improve time to productivity and engagement.

Information on the performance of new hires

A HR representative receives a complaint from an employee alleging that their manager has sexually harassed the employee. The day after the complaint, the manager writes the employee up for poor performance and requests that the employee be fired due to repeated write-ups, in line with the code of conduct. What action should the HR representative take?

Initiate an investigation into the sexual harassment complaint and write-ups.

Assuming that an organization's diversity and inclusion strategic initiative proves successful, which might prompt a major revision of tactics and strategy?

Initiative's own success

Which is an example of an action aimed at preventing the need for discipline?

Instituting an open-door policy

An organization is large and decentralized. It contains many operations that must communicate with each other. Leadership wants to be able to make more informed strategic decisions more quickly. Which issue is most directly related to these needs?

Integrated data access and analysis

The current HR structural model in a high-growth organization with multiple business units has resulted in HR talent management processes that are inconsistent, strain budgets, and produce poor-quality data. What is the most significant benefit the organization can expect from using a shared services model with a designated center that specializes in talent management?

Integrated processes across the organization

Which is the primary reason an HR manager should check with legal counsel before concluding that a situation constitutes an unlawful conflict of interest?

Interpretation of a conflict of interest can vary significantly depending on jurisdiction.

A small marketing company with a single location is looking to enhance organizational success while creating shared value. Where should it focus efforts in order to be most successful in that pursuit?

Investing in the local cluster to strengthen local businesses and infrastructure

What is the first action the HR director should take to address the operations manager's concern about the recruiting and hiring procedures?

Invite the operations manager to a meeting with HR to create an action plan to address the recruiting and hiring challenges.

The vice president of HR has determined that the policy on the use of overtime for nonexempt employees must be updated to bring it into compliance with the labor code. Which approach is the best way to implement this policy change?

Involve management in the process and provide training on policy changes.

What is the impact of internal pay equity on an organization?

It allows organizations to fairly compensate unique jobs.

A position's median salary is $58,000. The industry wage survey indicates a salary range of $50,000 to $70,000. How does the salary compare with its industry competitors?

It lags the competition.

A top performer routinely arrives late to work. When questioned, rather than providing an explanation, she just says that she'll take a shorter lunch hour. Because of her performance, her manager allows this behavior to continue. Which risk does the manager take by failing to apply policy consistently?

It may provide grounds for a legal finding of unjust dismissal by people who are fired for tardiness.

What must be true about an employee value proposition in order for it to be successful?

It must be aligned with the organization's strategic plan.

Which is the most significant impact of the triple bottom line?

It serves as the foundation for measurement and reporting of sustainability performance.

Which information should the HR director share to best influence the leadership team to support offering a stock ownership incentive plan to all employees?

It would give employees a stake in the company and enhance employee productivity and organizational performance.

An organization is looking to use internal recruiting methods to help forecast which jobs they may be able to easily fill with internal candidates if they open up in the future. Which internal recruiting method would be most helpful?

Job bidding

Which is the best method an HR manager of a small engineering firm should use to strategically evaluate all positions within the firm to create a formal hierarchical structure?

Job ranking

Which of the following is a consistent driver of employee engagement globally?

Job role that encompasses opportunities for professional and career growth

An HR VP is looking to implement a program to enhance career development in the organization's employee base. Feedback in a recent employee survey indicated that employees don't know very much about the function of other positions within the company, which limits the ability of employees to explore career paths that are not immediately related to their current position. Which program should the HR VP implement?

Job rotation

An organization has been analyzing annual employee surveys to understand how to better retain workers given career development trends showing that more and more employees expect to change careers multiple times. Which would be the best program to incentivize employees interested in future career changes to stay with the organization for a longer period of time?

Job rotation

What job posting element most describes the applicant's necessary experience, education, training, licenses, and certifications?

Job specifications

Which model is being used by an HR director who analyzes reports from the past and the present to determine future staffing needs?

Judgmental forecasts

The director of HR has created a training program that allows learners to participate in a live crisis management simulation. Which adult learning style does this support?

Kinesthetic

Which is the best first step a retailer should take to make sure that its products have been ethically produced?

Know the provenance of every component of every product.

A job analysis looks at the knowledge, skills, and abilities required for a person to have a reasonable chance of successfully performing the job.

Knowledge, skills, and abilities

Why should an organization document monitoring of the enforcement of its code of conduct?

Lack of monitoring or inconsistent monitoring can have legal implications.

Which type of organization would benefit most from broadbanding?

Large organizations that want to consolidate multiple layers of management

In the contingency theory of leadership, which factors make a situation more favorable (i.e., more likely to produce positive outcomes)?

Leader-member relations, clarity in tasks and roles, empowered leader

A mentor advises a new HR professional to spend some time simply observing how people interact. Why?

Leaders need to understand the informal centers of power in an organization.

A small organization does not have the time or resources to administer benefits programs, payroll, or employee records. Which flexible staffing alternative is an option for them?

Leasing employees from a professional employer organization

An HR manager leads a team charged with revising job descriptions. Each meeting ends in disagreements. No progress is being made toward the looming deadline. What type of power should the HR manager use in this situation?

Legitimate

HR has identified the need to increase staffing efficiency in order to meet the needs of the organization as it continues to grow. HR particularly wants to reduce search time and time to fill and improve the analysis of the quality of the candidates. Which is the best way to achieve the targets set by HR?

Leverage predictive analytics to analyze and place candidates more accurately.

Which is the best method for HR to use when marketing the company's EVP?

Leverage technology that appeals to and is used by multi-generation candidates to ensure maximum exposure.

Which item identifies a structural barrier to risk management?

Likelihood that business units will value operational needs

What actions should the HR director take to demonstrate an understanding of the priorities of both the sales function and the organization?

Listen to the VP's needs and thoughts, and then offer ideas to create the appropriate sales structure.

An organization has committed to sustainable business practices, focusing on reducing energy use, waste, and pollution. What community action would be a logical extension of this value?

Lobbying for better bus service to the organization's facility

Which best describes a company with a polycentric approach to globalization?

Local cultural norms are understood and implemented locally.

Why would HR direct an organization to be involved in philanthropy efforts at the local level?

Local government officials may be influenced by organizational efforts.

A senior HR professional is making the case for more diversity in the sales force as the organization expands overseas, saying that diversity will provide a strategic benefit to the bottom line. The sales executive is skeptical and says that the current sales force is top notch. What can the senior HR professional say to help convince the executive?

Local salespersons would know what sales pitches are bound to fail with their local audience.

Which trait is not desirable in a leader in any culture?

Loner

Which injury must be reported to the OSHA?

Loss of consciousness

A manager has to leave work in the middle of the day because of a sick child. The employer does not have a paid time off policy. The manager notes a deduction equivalent to a half-day of salary in his next paycheck. What is a possible outcome?

Loss of the overtime exemption

An employee on FMLA leave fails to return to work upon the completion of her leave. The manager tells the HR business partner he wants her employment terminated. What should the next step be?

Make concerted, documented, attempts to contact the employee, requesting an update and her plans to return to work.

The HR manager recommends implementing a technical training program and proposes organizational restructuring. A supervisor requests support from HR to develop a knowledge transfer plan for a senior-level employee who is retiring in six months. What should the HR manager recommend? A. Ask the retiring employee to designate a junior employee to mentor. B. Make sure that this position is assessed in the planned job evaluation. C. Ask if the retiring employee is amenable to returning to the company after retirement to train new employees. D. Hold informal information-sharing meetings with the retiring employee and other interested coworkers.

Make sure that this position is assessed in the planned job evaluation.

How does workforce planning affect the organization?

Makes the organization more competitive

Which appraisal method would be most effective to reinforce trust in an organization?

Management by objectives (MBO)

Which approach provides a qualitative understanding of current skills after the organization has installed new technologies?

Manager interviews

An organization posts jobs internally before advertising them externally. This increases the time it takes to fill open jobs. To what problem does this point within the organization?

Managers do not understand the benefits of providing a fair and equitable system of job posting, promotions, and lateral moves.

What should leaders understand about managing change?

Managing change involves employees' cognition, emotions, and behavior.

An organization wants to increase its workforce. As part of the analysis, what macroeconomic information might be a red flag regarding this strategy?

Market prices for the organization's products are high now but are projected to fall.

Which process best assists management and union negotiators to keep bargaining discussions moving toward resolution?

Mediation

The HR manager is uncertain about how to represent HR's needs on the committee. What should the manager do?

Meet with members of the HR team who will use the system.

This statement indicates the minimum knowledge required to perform the job satisfactorily, an example of a minimum qualification.

Minimum qualification

The CEO of an organization is concerned that both customer and employee opinions of the organization are slipping following a high-profile product recall. HR is tasked with gaining an understanding of how the recall has affected both groups' opinions. Which option listed would be the best way to determine what the two groups' opinions are?

Monitor social media comments.

What is the benefit of determining your BATNA, or best alternative to a negotiated agreement, before beginning a negotiation?

More accurate sense of the value you need

A number of new employees have left an organization after less than six months. Exit interviews indicate that these employees had trouble understanding the organizational culture despite standard interview processes encouraging the candidates to ask questions about the organization prior to final candidate selection. The organization is looking to improve engagement levels in new employees. Which action would best assist the organization in better informing candidates about the organizational culture prior to being hired?

Move job postings from Internet job boards to a company website featuring descriptions of the organization and testimonials from current employees.

An employee receiving a demotion following corrective disciplinary action exemplifies what aspect of B.F. Skinner's behaviorist theory?

Negative punishment

Which is the most likely outcome should HR leadership expect on human capital for an organization shifting from service oriented retail sales transactions to a technologically integrated enterprise sales model?

New staffing model for sales staff

In the sender-receiver communications model, what is it called when things get in the way of the communication exchange?

Noise

How would a bank teller who works 38 hours per week and is paid $36,000 per year be classified under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)?

Nonexempt employee

What should the HR director do to establish credibility with the employee on behalf of the global HR team? A. Contact the on-site HR manager to gather more facts about the employee's allegations. B. Contact the senior leaders at the operations center to report the employee's allegations. C. Notify the employee that HR will take all appropriate actions to resolve the complaint quickly. D. Schedule interviews with other staff at the operations center to obtain feedback about the employee's performance.

Notify the employee that HR will take all appropriate actions to resolve the complaint quickly.

HR at a professional services organization needs to assess employee interest in a possible new benefit quickly. Which is the best vehicle HR should use?

Online survey

Management decides that training supervisors to identify and prevent bullying is not necessary, and they do not fund a program budget. Which aspect of risk management does this illustrate?

Organization's risk tolerance

Which process allows a new hire to become familiar with departmental processes and specific job tasks and tools?

Orientation

A small organization is using a legacy system to run their HR functions. The HR vice president is preparing a proposal for moving to a newer system to present to the CEO. What would be one of the prime factors the HR VP should use in the proposal?

Overall cost savings and efficiencies a new system will provide

What should the HR director propose to fix the weak performance metrics and standards? A. Partner only with the CEO, revaluate what the organization's mission is, and build strong performance metrics that are properly aligned with the organization's goals. B. Partner with the head of each department and work with only them on developing metrics. C. Partner with CEO and the head of each department to create strong performance metrics that are aligned with the organization's mission. D. Analyze the company's mission and independently create strong performance metrics.

Partner with CEO and the head of each department to create strong performance metrics that are aligned with the organization's mission.

An organization has entered the market as a new player and decided to be a pay leader. This may prove to be risky if demand for the company's services doesn't reach expectations. What may have led to the company's decision to choose this pay approach?

Paying a premium to attract high-quality employees optimizes the risk and eliminates uncertainty.

An international organization is creating a new position that will be implemented simultaneously in several countries. The HR VP wants to make sure that the organization is able to attract talented, qualified individuals in every location. What can the HR VP do to help ensure that they are able to do so?

Perform a compensation study to ensure that the salary meets market expectations in each location.

How can HR ensure that its labor suppliers conform to local laws and labor standards?

Perform due diligence

What can be used as an input to a SWOT analysis to uncover organizational strengths and weaknesses?

Performance management systems

Which launch strategy for a new HR technology will build employee acceptance across the organization most quickly and completely?

Piloting a test launch to a small group of well-networked leaders in the business

Which option is an example of what leaders should do to establish a culture that fosters career development?

Place value on and reward managers and supervisors who help employees with career planning.

During what stage of the corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategic process does HR create a scorecard of HR responsibilities, objectives, priorities, and metrics?

Plan implementation

HR works with a committee of managers to identify and assign points to pertinent compensable factors for various jobs. These points are totaled to come up with an overall point value for each job. The relative worth of each job can then be compared to the others based on their point values. This is an example of what type of job evaluation?

Point-factor system

Which is a demonstration of cultural synergy in an organization with offices around the world?

Policies for each office are written to reflect local work customs and laws.

An HR task force has determined that inclement weather that could interfere with the ability of critical personnel to reach work occurs with moderate frequency in a particular region. Forecasting has become much better at providing accurate advanced warning. The group is using a PAPA model to decide appropriate risk management strategies. Which evaluation approach is best to take for this risk?

Prepare

Which is the most effective means of communicating the results of a strategic management initiative?

Prepare a summarized conclusion which is supported by data.

Knowing that the leadership team doesn't see the value in employee surveys, how should the HR director handle the next employee survey cycle?

Prepare the survey, outline each section's benefits to the organization, and ask the leadership team for feedback before sending the survey to employees.

Which action should the HR manager take to convince leadership at the university to approve offering permanent positions with higher salaries for the IT department?

Present a comparison of the cost of offering permanent positions with higher salaries to the cost of continuing to fill temporary positions at the current rate.

What is the first step the new HR director should take after discovering the issues that are affecting the organization? A. Proactively take charge and unilaterally make the necessary changes. B. Present the issues to the CEO and provide solutions on how to best move forward. C. Ask the head of each department to present the issues to the CEO. D. Empower the heads of the departments to unilaterally select which employees should be eliminated based on their personal opinions.

Present the issues to the CEO and provide solutions on how to best move forward.

If a company wants to reinforce the importance of safety, which factors should it use as a link to the employees' annual bonuses?

Preventive safety steps reporting on potential risks or hazards

What are key reasons for approaching diversity and inclusion as a comprehensive, organization-wide strategic initiative?

Prioritizing to allow for its complexity and addressing organizational resistance to change

After confirming the undermining behavior is occurring, which action should the SVP take to address her direct report's behavior?

Privately explain how cooperation and collaboration will benefit the organization whereas discord will harm it.

Marketing and IT are collaborating on a new system that will allow employees to access and change customer accounts. Which would be HR's most valuable contribution to this effort?

Process training for users

Why should a firm require its supply chain to mirror its code of conduct?

Producing better products supports the growth of business.

Which business strategy is being used when a global furniture company varies its sofa fabrics and dimensions to fit local market tastes while using standardized manufacturing methods?

Product differentiation

Which is an example of reverse innovation?

Product made by or for an emerging economy that is then sold in developed economies

An organization is designing a leader development program. Which would be the most important experience to include?

Project assignment that is difficult and has some risk of failure

The VP of HR is pleased that the numbers of women acting as senior account managers in the organization has increased, but at regional sales meetings the VP notes that all of the regional sales managers and their assistants are men. How should the VP of HR proceed?

Promote diversity in succession plans for the sales division to senior management.

Which recommendation should an HR professional offer to help ensure the company's safety program is sustainable?

Promote safety quality assurance and continuous improvement.

The group of sales managers suggests starting with the employee engagement solutions that are easiest to implement. How should the HR manager respond?

Propose that the group of sales managers review the employee engagement results to determine the root cause of low engagement.

A United States organization is having trouble staffing its international department, which is causing revenue growth to fall below expectations. The VP of HR wants to hire an expatriate from a country in a key growth market. What must the organization do before hiring an expatriate for the role?

Prove that all current employees cannot perform the key duties and responsibilities required by the job description.

Following a very strong return rate of more than 80%, the vice president of HR distributes the new employee engagement survey results for each department to the department directors for sharing and action planning with their teams. What should the vice president instruct the department heads to do next?

Provide a template that each department head can use that will identify the top three prioritized action items for each department and the number-one area of concern employees feel the CEO must address.

How can an organization ensure a smooth repatriation of an employee after an international assignment?

Provide assurance that skills and experience attained during the assignment will be used as part of a new assignment.

Which aspect of a total rewards strategy should a small, family-oriented company implement to increase employee security?

Provide entitlement-oriented benefits.

How can HR best support the adoption of new workplace policies throughout all departments in an organization?

Provide training to departmental managers on how to communicate and enforce the new policies.

Which strategic initiative is an example of creating shared value?

Providing an incentive for opting out of paper statements

Which is the next step after a governmental agency drafts proposed changes in existing workplace safety requirements?

Public comment on the changes will be sought.

The chief human resources officer at a nonprofit organization that provides support animals to disabled veterans is tasked with assessing the organization's level of operational effectiveness. Which metric can be used to report the organization's efficiency in fulfilling its mission?

Ratio of donations spent on programs versus fund-raising

HR has created instant feedback surveys to gauge employees' responses to a set of diversity awareness training sessions. Which type of measure do these represent?

Reaction

The vice president is presenting the new employee engagement survey at the leadership team meeting. Within three minutes of beginning the presentation, the chief information officer (CIO) interrupts and says, "I wasn't even here four years ago. Why do we care about the old results now?" How should the vice president respond?

Recognize the CIO's feedback as valid and provide the percentage of people who were not with the organization four years ago. Indicate that because it is the same company, the data of four years ago is a valid baseline for comparison.

Which approach should the HR director have taken when joining the cross-functional team to maximize the chances that the team will be successful?

Recommend establishing a team purpose and charter to foster alignment across the team members.

Given a solid business case for an initiative to improve workforce diversity, what should an HR director do next?

Recruit allies for the business case.

What is the advantage of an integrated information system?

Reduced work and errors

A leader tries to influence her staff's satisfaction and productivity by being friendly and asking questions about their non-work lives. What type of power is she using?

Referent

Which of Perlmutter's orientations will allow HR to standardize talent staffing plans for an MNC where there is a strong business lead?

Regiocentric

An HR manager wants to detect a correlation between possession of a certain type of degree and job performance ratings. What type of analysis would help?

Regression analysis

The new CEO feels that, for engagement to increase, employees must be united around a new, compelling strategy. The CEO has the basic idea of what the new strategy should be. How should the HR director advise the CEO to move forward?

Relate the provided statistics to specific organizational situations and their outcomes.

During a nonwork group lunch, an HR manager overhears an HR staff member discussing a recent new hire's previous job experiences with another staff member. The information is not sensitive, nor was the intention malicious. What should the HR person do?

Remind the colleague later that it is not ethical to divulge confidential information.

The HR director asks the department head about the allegation of the relationship with the junior consultant and the department head denies it happened. What should the HR director do?

Remind the department head of the consequences of violating the organization's policy on relationships among employees.

Which states the purpose of an organizational effectiveness intervention?

Removing design, structural, or cultural obstacles to success

Which situation is most likely to cause reverse culture shock?

Repatriation without enough notice

Which talent management strategy identifies candidates who are ready to assume a position immediately?

Replacement planning

An HR director completes the monthly head count report and sends it to the Chief Human Resource Officer (CHRO). After review and approval, the CHRO submits the report to the finance team for review. Which tool should be used to convey responsibility for this essential job function?

Responsibility assignment matrix

Which is a reasonable approach to a company-wide social media policy?

Restrict the use of social media on company time and with company devices.

As part of a larger project on pay structure, an HR head directs a team to update job descriptions by observing and interviewing employees. The manager in charge of finalizing the job descriptions reports that he cannot finalize the descriptions because the data for any one individual position varies so much. What is the likely problem?

Results are not reliable, because data was gathered in an inconsistent manner.

What is a measure of the business impact of an organizational effectiveness and development (OED) initiative?

Retention rate for high-value employees

Which metric best emphasizes the effectiveness of an organization's total rewards strategy?

Return on investment

What should the global HR director do to determine the extent to which cultural differences are contributing to the problem? A. Conduct interviews with the on-site HR manager and the employee to discuss their personal ethical value systems. B. Review information about the dominant cultural values of the region in which the operations center is located. C. Interview the employee's coworkers to determine if situational factors justify the on-site HR manager's behavior. D. Review employment laws for the country in which the operations center is located.

Review information about the dominant cultural values of the region in which the operations center is located.

Which actions should the SVP of HR take first to respond to the news about the threatened work actions?

Review the business continuity plan with leaders and develop a short-term staffing plan.

What actions should the VP of HR take to ensure that the implementation plan stays on course to meet its objectives?

Reviewing and sharing measurable performance indicators

Which action best ensures compliance under the Equal Pay Act?

Reviewing salaries for factors other than gender

How should the HR manager address stagnant employee performance?

Revise the employee evaluation process to encourage higher performance standards.

Because change is constant and brings new risks, HR is reviewing the current context for risk management. Which assessment will provide information on changing internal and external risk elements?

SWOT analysis

An HR manager decides to test the theory that a decline in the training of account managers is directly related to a decline in sales revenues. What technique will be most valuable in helping the HR manager visualize the correlation between training and revenues?

Scatter diagram

How should the SVP communicate the importance of open, honest feedback from the survey to the broader HR team?

Select a direct report to lead the communication plan while including other HR team members to participate.

After review of the survey results, what is the best action the CHRO should take to better understand the themes uncovered?

Select a sample group of managers and employees to meet and review the results and to develop preliminary actions.

Based on HR user input, the HR manager has decided which system to support. What is the most transparent and collaborative approach the HR manager can use to present the decision to the committee?

Send a summary of HR user comments to the committee members before the next full meeting.

Which provides a strong legal basis for dismissing an employee in most countries?

Serious misconduct

How can the new manager assigned to the HRIS project support his confused team members?

Set up a briefing session to go back over the basics and clarify all of the tasks for the entire team

Management is concerned about employees' efforts to unionize. The CEO has requested that HR initiate a response plan. Which option would be the best approach for HR to recommend?

Set up a meeting to explain to workers why management dislikes unions and how unionization might affect the company.

Which key task should an HR leader focus on first in implementing a corporate social responsibility strategy?

Setting priorities and objectives.

What is the role of an informal knowledge management system in an organization?

Sharing critical information and experiences from an individuals' networks

An organization conducts a confidential survey of employees to assess workplace satisfaction. After analyzing the responses management immediately requires mandatory retraining of all supervisors. What important step has the organization omitted?

Sharing feedback with stakeholders

Which of the following leadership assessment tools offer the highest usefulness and validity at the lowest cost?

Situation judgment tests

What part of the McKinsey 7-S Framework should be analyzed in the context of supply chain management to ensure that the organization focuses its change efforts on its core competency areas?

Skills

Which is the first step a new chief HR director should take to implement a new performance management system?

Solicit leadership support to align business goals with individual employee goals.

An HR director is leading an HR team charged with finding reasons why front-line managers complain that they do not have the time to support a new strategic initiative. Which organizational characteristic may be contributing to this problem?

Span of control that is too large

Which step is most critical for the HR director to take when assisting the executive team with integration and realignment?

Speak openly with the team on what to expect next

How does an understanding of Perlmutter's orientations provide HR with a blueprint for developing effective global staffing strategies?

Staffing strategies need to include an understanding of the relationship between headquarters and subsidiaries.

When using statistics, what would you use to analyze the distribution of pay rates for a given position throughout the organization?

Standard deviation

The CEO of a midsized organization is concerned that the organization is suffering from idea stagnation and the workforce isn't as driven as it could be. She asks HR for assistance in solving the issue. Which of the following would be the best choice for HR to recommend?

Start an internship program.

Which market practice benefits should be offered to attract or entice executives to join a global organization?

Stock options, performance grants, and incentives

Which term best describes organizational compatibility with external and internal environments related to the goals and values the organization chooses and the resources and capabilities that can be deployed?

Strategic fit

After losing an important contract with an overseas client, a negotiator learns the counterpart felt rushed during the process. Which approach would allow the negotiator to improve cross-cultural negotiation skills?

Study the context and the person on the opposite side of the bargaining table.

Which internal recruiting strategy should an organization struggling to retain employees and fill senior-level positions with external candidates use?

Succession planning

What business case would an organization's diversity council use to align with its supply chain policies?

Suppliers that embody diversity strengthen ties to a diverse customer base and strengthen recruitment/retention efforts.

Which practice best illustrates the principle of transparency?

Supporting promotions with specific examples of commendable performance

Which is the first step the CHRO should take in order to develop a more global mindset in the organization? A. Develop training on diversity and inclusion and deliver it to the full workforce. B. Evaluate employees' performance reviews on diversity and inclusion metrics. C. Survey the employees to gain understanding of current viewpoints and thoughts. D. Shuffle the workforce by assigning employees to new roles and relocating them.

Survey the employees to gain understanding of current viewpoints and thoughts.

The HR team of a global operation implemented an employee self-service system with 24/7 access. The new system was rolled out with social media and a video presentation on the organization's intranet. Soon after the launch, the HR team finds that they are spending their time returning voice mails and emails from employees reporting errors in their data profiles. The experience is eroding HR's image as a service provider. What should the HR VP do?

Suspend the organization-wide launch and conduct a beta test in the home office.

A division implemented a new structure a year ago. In general, things seem to be going well. Productivity has already reached pre-change levels. Employee satisfaction metrics have met expectations. HR has been asked if further action is needed. What would you advise?

Take no further action.

How has the changing shape of globalization affected the type of international assignments HR manages?

Talent can be assigned in more flexible ways.

A task-level needs analysis compares job duty and task requirements to employee knowledge and skills to identify areas requiring improvement.

Task

Given the lack of trust in members of the HR team, which step should the CHRO take to best improve the perception of team members?

Task the HR business partners with facilitating interactions between stakeholders and other HR team members.

An organization receives reports of poor performance that do not appear to be related to gaps in individual employees' qualifications. There are also reports of frequent conflicts in meetings, offices, and even hallways. Which intervention should HR use to identify and better these problems?

Team building

The HR manager needs to alert the HR director about a potentially serious employee complaint. Since the HR director is always busy and it is difficult to find a private moment to discuss the issue, the manager sends an e-mail. Which is the most likely outcome?

The HR director will not receive this crucial information about an organizational risk.

What is the relationship between an organization's code of conduct and its specific policies and procedures?

The code of conduct can be used as the basis for detailed policies and procedures specific to the organization's regulatory requirements and risks.

Which is the most likely advantage of starting a greenfield operation?

The company can start fresh with new technology, workforces, and practices.

What needs to happen with a new hire selection procedure that may have an adverse impact on persons based on their gender identity or sexual orientation?

The organization needs to justify the procedure in accordance with federal law, if possible.

The HR director wants to provide the potential candidate with this necessary information during the interview so the candidate can make an informed decision whether to accept the offer. The HR director is concerned that there is potential risk for not following the organizational staffing and selection policy and the absence of transparency. The president is adamant about maintaining the confidentiality of the retirement/restructuring. The HR director reminds the president that moving forward without full disclosure is not in line with the organization's values and culture. Rather than relocating a candidate from another region, what alternative can the HR director offer that has minimal disruption for the organization?

The president could be counseled on the advantages of hiring a local temporary employee who does not require relocation.

Which would be true about the technology needs of a small but growing organization and an established global enterprise?

The smaller organization may need more scalable technology.

An HR leader is very collaborative with staff members and very generous in giving praise. The leader doesn't ask staff about their lives outside work or talk about her own personal life. She does not like conflict or drama but is always polite and respectful. How would you assess this HR leader's team leadership?

The team may function adequately but may not have a sense of trust in the leader that is useful in challenging times.

The employee relations manager informs the vice president of HR that they have run demographic reports and have found that almost half of the current workforce has less than four years of service, which raises the question of whether the old survey will be a valid baseline. What would be the most effective response?

The vice president should thank the employee relations manager for the information, point out that a majority of the workforce was here then, and proceed with the survey

Which is a key benefit of defining an organization's values?

They guide employee behavior and decision making.

An organization's diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) initiatives have resulted in significant success in achieving its targeted levels of workforce diversity. What should the organization do in terms of DE&I initiatives now?

They should evolve the program to find a more nuanced set of issues to tackle.

Which approach to conflict management includes peer reviews to advise the organization on disciplinary cases?

Third-party resolution

Why is it important for HR leaders to identify and measure HR key performance indicators (KPIs)?

To align HR team performance with the organization's mission and goals

A global organization that employs many people on international assignments has developed a crisis management plan related to potential terrorist attacks. How can HR evaluate plan effectiveness?

Train, test, and conduct drills.

The HR manager is informed that budget constraints have led to an organization-wide hiring freeze and to plan for at least one major round of workforce reductions. Which would be a reasonable objective for the business plan for HR?

Training all HR personnel in the termination process

A staff member regularly stays late and expresses a strong commitment to her employer. Yet, the staff member's professional network is small and when her team lists its members, they often forget to include her. What might this signify to the HR leader?

Transactional engagement

What could provide insight into the challenge of retaining women managers in an organization?

Turnover statistics for men and women in various business units

Which category of risk applies to Nassim Taleb's "black swan" theory?

Unknown unknowns

A manager in a learning organization wants to discipline an employee who failed to secure a new account using an unproven sales methodology. What coaching should the HR leader provide the manager?

Use the failure as a growth opportunity to reinforce employee learning, and acknowledge that failure is not wrong.

A project leader asks HR for help with managing the team aspects of a challenging project. The team was tasked with prototyping a new consumer electronics product. Due to various supplier problems, the team has missed several milestones. To meet the deadline, another team has been diverted from its less critical project and added to the delayed project. The project leader needs things to go as smoothly as possible with this new merged team so that no more time is lost. What should HR focus on?

Using a RACI matrix to define new team roles and responsibilities

Which is an example of how managers can best leverage the social sharing of knowledge?

Using coaching and mentoring programs to transfer knowledge throughout the organization

On what is a code of conduct based?

Values

An ULP is a violation of a country's (not international) labor laws. The violation can be committed by employees, employers, and unions. A complaint about a work condition is a grievance. A sympathy strike is considered one type of unfair labor practice in many countries, however it is not a complete description of the term.

Violation of a country's labor laws by employees, employers, or unions

One of the symptoms of the low engagement is that employees do not work the requisite number of hours, often coming in late and leaving early. Managers are not sure what to do, as they are afraid that punishing the employees will further hurt engagement. What should the HR director do?

Visit with any such employees one-on-one to discuss the reason for their behavior and set goals for improvement.

A company has implemented a new employee engagement program with a goal of reducing employee resignations. Which metric should the HR manager use to measure the effectiveness of the action plan?

Voluntary turnover rate

An organization wants to encourage its employees to improve their health and fitness. How could technology increase employee involvement in this goal?

Wearable technology that gathers and uploads data to the cloud

What step mitigates the possibility of covering in an organization?

What step mitigates the possibility of covering in an organization?

At which stage of the employee life cycle should HR begin documenting compliance with employer record-keeping requirements?

When a candidate applies for a position

When should an organization communicate its strategy to employees?

When a new employee joins the organization or existing employees change their positions

Which factor should an HR practitioner analyze when considering whether to modify an organization's compensation philosophy?

Whether the philosophy continues to support the organization's strategic initiatives

During an exit interview, a woman who has put in her notice says that she is leaving for work/life balance issues. However, a few of her other answers make it clear that she feels that her views have not been given credibility even though some of them were later enacted after being suggested by someone else. What might be an underlying cause for this employee's departure that should be explored more?

Whether the systemic culture of the organization unconsciously has gender-based discrimination bias

What is one of the three considerations for understanding global forces?

While the effects of a given global force are also global, their impact may be felt uniquely by different cultures, industries, and organizations.

An HR practitioner would need to justify the use of which job analysis method since it could make the process of translating data into information more difficult?

Work diary or log for a task- or process-oriented job

How should the HR director go about preparing employees of the acquired company for the forthcoming cultural changes?

Work with company executives and senior leaders to establish a common understanding of the change efforts needed.

The senior HR leader is concerned about the increase in the number of complaints. Which is the best initial course of action to begin addressing the issues?

Work with her direct reports and stakeholders to brainstorm options and the best approach to resolve the issues.

Employees report to work and produce work, but output decreases sharply. What type of industrial action is this?

Work-to-rule

What is true of the differences in generational impacts on globalization?

Younger generations of workers may embrace globalization more readily than older generations.

An HR employee under your supervision is eager to get a project started and has developed a project charter that has yet to be signed. What should you ensure has been done prior to signing the charter?

A wide enough set of stakeholders should be consulted to ensure strategic alignment of the project.

How would Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner label a culture in which individuals express their emotions freely?

Affective

How can a balanced scorecard assessment help an organization with a clear strategic plan to meet its objectives?

By identifying key performance areas where the strategy may be ineffective

What tool uses in-basket tests, role plays, and psychological inventories to gauge the abilities of a company's leadership team?

Assessment centers

Which action best demonstrates HR's understanding of an organization's decision to adapt a differentiation strategy based upon innovative product design?

Analysis of the skill set of employees in product development to benchmark current and future needs

An HR function has recently acquired a business intelligence (BI) system. What is one danger that the leader of the function should be aware of?

Analytical projects with no strategic benefit

How should human resources work collaboratively with internal legal counsel in developing the RIF plan?

Analyze legal issues and concerns associated with the layoffs and incorporate legal recommendations into the workforce reduction plan.

Which is the likely view of employees in an individualist culture?

Anyone can be financially successful if they work hard and demonstrate achievement of goals and objectives.

Which risk factor is being sought by an HR director at a retail store chain who meets with senior leadership to discuss the amount of uncertainty the organization is willing to accept regarding wage and hour practices?

Appetite

How do the International Labour Organization's legally binding conventions impact the practice of HR?

By influencing standards that create employment legislation in member states

A company is ready to begin a major change initiative. Which is the most important role HR can play?

Ensuring regular and ongoing communication with employees

An organization is looking to become an employer of choice and achieve increased success in its current markets. To accomplish this, there has been a greater desire to incorporate a CSR strategy. How best should HR support this change?

By redefining stakeholders

How does the self-service component of an HRIS shift the focus of HR from transactional to transformational?

By shifting benefit profiles and option updates to managers and employees

How can HR most contribute to an organization's strategy in developing a new product line for its largest customer base?

By stabilizing the research and development workforce through technology recruiting and retention policies.

How can an organization with a global presence ensure that it selects the best job candidates?

By using multiple tools that include a cultural assessment component

Which action shows how HR can be involved in social sustainability in relation to the triple bottom line?

By working with leadership to ensure that bribery and corruption are not taking place

Once the overall strategy and long-term objectives have been identified, how should HR plan to be involved in this strategic initiative?

By working with the leadership team to identify appropriate short-term objectives, develop action plans, and allocate resources for the project

A manager asks the HR manager to help with retaining a high-potential employee. Which of the following recommendations would best address this request?

Conduct a stay interview with the employee to identify job satisfiers and dissatisfiers that can be addressed.

Which is the critical first step HR should take in reviewing a talent management plan?

Conduct a thorough review of the organization's strategic plan and goals.

Which is the best way to gather training needs information about customer service problems in an onshoring location?

Conduct a series of focus groups with customer service representatives.

HR has been asked to identify ways to improve recruitment and retention efforts through community engagement. Which of the following steps should HR take first?

Conduct a social audit.

After much discussion about whether the company should adopt a standardized approach or a localized approach to compliance, they agree to a balanced, "glocalized" approach. The CEO tasks the CHRO with leading the efforts of moving toward this agreed-upon approach. How should the CHRO begin the process of developing relationships with global stakeholders?

Conduct a stakeholder analysis to determine the relevant information needed by and the impact to each stakeholder.

Which steps should the CHRO take first to effectively communicate the changes in HR strategy and structure that are being considered to the organization?

Develop a detailed communication plan, and review it with the senior leadership team.

What are the typical goals that drive the operations part of an organization?

Efficiency and quality

An assessment indicates that data entry employees are making too many input errors and handling data improperly. How can HR best add value to a review of the data entry policies and procedures?

Determine if the data entry policies and procedures effectively provide employees with specific, clear instructions.

Which should be the first step an HR director takes to resolve the issue when having difficulty hiring engineers?

Determine when the data was gathered and adjust it accordingly.

What is a key responsibility of the operations function in an organization?

Determining the ability of the company to meet product demand

What recommendation should the HR director make to influence the VP to focus on the retention of key salespeople?

Develop a bonus system to align with the mission, vision, and core values of the organization.

What actions should the HR manager take to influence the production manager to support a more comprehensive organizational effectiveness and development (OED) intervention?

Develop a business case proposal for a comprehensive integrated solution that includes costs, benefits, risks, anticipated timeline, and projected ROI.

In developing a total rewards strategy for an organization, what should be the first step in the process?

Develop a compensation philosophy.

Which step should the HR director advise the staffing organization manager to take to build credibility with the hiring managers?

Develop a dashboard of recruiting metrics that can be used to provide routine updates for the hiring managers of the staffing organization team's results.

A new construction company is growing rapidly and hires its first HR director. To date, the construction company's hiring managers have been basing salary offers on candidates' salary demands. Therefore, the company does not have a salary structure in place, and large pay disparities are emerging among employees in the same positions. The new HR director is concerned about the inconsistencies in compensation and worries that the company's current pay practices may be discriminatory. Additionally, the HR director fears the situation will eventually result in both negative relations among current employees as well as future recruiting challenges. What is the best approach for the HR director to take to communicate concerns about the salary structure to senior leadership? A. Draft a report that provides detailed evidence supporting the implementation of a salary structure. B. Deliver a presentation outlining potential steps to address the issues and ask for leadership's input. C. Meet first with one member of the leadership team to get buy-in on ideas before meeting with the entire team. D. Send an e-mail to leadership explaining the potential for legal concerns with the current practices.

Deliver a presentation outlining potential steps to address the issues and ask for leadership's input.

Which is the best example of a core competency that an organization could focus on when creating a strategic plan?

Expansive organizational knowledge of cutting-edge software development tools

IT managers are concerned about the effects of turnover on morale. The managers ask the HR manager to lead a meeting with all IT department staff. Which action should the HR manager take for this meeting?

Explain to the IT department staff the efforts that the HR staff is making to reduce turnover in the IT department.

An organization previously competed on the basis of innovation. Its employees were rewarded for independent decision making and risk taking. As the market has matured, however, competition has forced leaders to shift to a strategy that increases management control over decisions and relies on processes to resolve the minor but embarrassing quality problems that have always been associated with its products. The leaders look to HR to help support this strategy. What first step should HR suggest?

Explain to the leaders that the new strategy will require changes in structure, policies, processes, and culture.

A company has chosen a growth strategy that entails buying existing brands in different countries. Which structure should the HR director recommend to group its jobs and align its efforts in local markets?

Geographic

What term describes a web of interconnectedness or the movement of people (labor) and knowledge (technology) across borders?

Globalization

An employee informs his supervisor that he feels unmotivated and is unsure of his contribution to the team. The supervisor consults with the HR manager, who recommends increasing the employee's motivation by providing him with specific objectives so he can assess his achievement. What motivational theory is the HR manager recommending?

Goal-setting theory

An organization recently acquired a Swiss firm. The CEO wants to immediately start aligning processes and systems between the two countries. He assigns the head of IT to the Switzerland office for the next six months. Why will the CEO's actions potentially jeopardize the success of the assignment?

He did not consider all the dimensions of the assignment.

In which way do Herzberg's motivational hygiene theory and Maslow's basic needs theory differ?

Herzberg's theory focuses on only job-related needs, while Maslow's theory includes basic survival needs.

The organization's employees are frustrated with these events, and the HR manager believes that they are starting to lose motivation. What should the HR manager do to motivate employees?

Hold a town hall meeting to debrief employees about the events.

The senior leader wants to track the manager's progress toward the goals outlined in the PIP. Which action should the HR manager recommend to the senior leader?

Hold a weekly meeting with the manager to touch base about the manager's progress.

The HR director is worried that implementing administrative action against the department head will reflect poorly on the organization, but failing to address the incident will negatively impact HR's reputation. Which action should the HR director take?

Implement administrative action consistent with the organization's policies on employee relationships.

An organization raises the minimum pay of its salary ranges. Which is the best technique an HR manager should consider that will correct the compression issue that may occur between new hires and long-term employees?

Implement an aggressive merit pay program.

The senior leader considers not offering a PIP to the manager and going ahead with the demotion. How should HR approach this consideration?

Inform the senior leader that the demotion without supporting evidence and documentation would open the company up to legal consequences.

Which of the following is a legal consideration that is associated with using social media for recruiting?

Inadvertently discovering information that is illegal to use when considering an applicant

When creating an executive compensation plan, which factor should the HR leader consider as critical?

Incentives to meet business objectives

An HR organization has committed resources to implementing a manager self-service portal. To measure the effectiveness of the initiative, the HR director created a dashboard that tracked the number of transactions managers completed without assistance and hours HR spent in support. Seeing this data, management proposes decreasing HR headcount. This would seriously disrupt the director's strategic vision for HR. How might this have been avoided?

Include measures showing the impact of redirecting HR staff time from transactions to consultation

An organization has announced that no salary increases above 1.5% will be allowed and budgets should be set accordingly. What would be a likely impact on HR's budget?

Increased budget for additional benefit programs

Which benefit is most likely realized when an organization implements effective risk management techniques?

Increased confidence among internal and external stakeholders

A small printing organization is looking to increase its sustainability. The organization lacks the ability to allocate large amounts of financial resources to sustainability and does not have the clout to drive major changes with overseas business partners. Which option is the best way for the organization to increase sustainability?

Partner with other local businesses to drive sustainability initiatives in the local area.

An organization buys a new subsidiary overseas. What should HR do with regard to the disciplinary system the organization uses?

Partner with overseas representatives to ensure that the disciplinary system is culturally appropriate in the new location.

The HR manager examines the job specifications of the outreach team and notices that the higher-paid jobs require higher levels of education, more experience, and bilingualism. The HR manager also notices that the job specifications have changed over the years, and the job now includes qualifications that the coordinator does not possess. The HR manager notices a lack of qualified candidates proficient in a particular language that has recently become higher in demand. Which step should the HR manager take to increase the candidate pool?

Partner with professional and social organizations whose membership is proficient in the target language to post the job.

As part of the organization's new strategy to compete on the basis of on-time, error-free delivery of services, the VP of HR has implemented new recruitment criteria and onboarding/training programs that focus on quality, continuous improvement, and customer focus. What should the VP do next?

Report to senior management on changes in key quality metrics.

The HR manager learns that the HR employee in charge of reference checks was not able to verify the references provided by the executive director but did not tell anyone. What should the HR manager do?

Report to the board that the references for the executive director had not been verified.

The IT function wants to implement a new technology policy as a result of improper technology use. Senior leaders are hesitant about supporting another policy. Which recommendation should HR make to encourage support of a technology use policy?

Reputation risk will be reduced while productivity will increase.

How should HR approach the challenge of complying with employment laws in states in which the organization has expanded to?

Research laws in new locations to determine which laws benefit the employee more.

What should the HR director do about the benefits manager and the compensation manager who do not get along?

Talk with both managers and define acceptable behavior. Ask for feedback until everyone agrees on a way to work together.

The HR director determines that the HRIS project has insufficient resources and approves hiring additional staff. The two more-tenured managers want to give preference to a job candidate who has ties to the HR director and whose hiring would please the HR director. How should the new manager respond to pressure received from the other managers?

Tell his colleagues that they all should evaluate the candidates based on their experience.

The nurse's manager, who initially reported the incident to HR, wants to know if there are any updates about the incident. Based on the physicians' statements, the HR representative did not take further action. How should the HR director respond?

Thank the nurse's manager and explain that HR conducted the investigation and resolved the issue.

In the final round of hiring, an employer invites candidates to spend half a day working alongside an employee and an hour with HR reviewing total rewards and company policies. The employees who work with the candidates are chosen because of their tenure with the company and their strong performance ratings. The employees may or may not be performing the job that is being filled. This practice has not increased retention levels. What might be wrong?

The job preview may not be realistic.

A manager observes his employee violate company policy by not wearing personal protective equipment (PPE). Records show the employee received training. Which action should the manager take to address the violation?

The manager prepares a performance correction incident report and meets with the employee as soon as possible.

Which is an impact of an ethnocentric approach to policy implementation at the global level?

The policies may not be fair for all employees.

How is the Delphi technique used to perform a judgmental forecast?

The preselected group does not meet, and each person makes and submits an independent forecast.

During an investigative interview of a union employee, a union representative is present. The union representative interrupts to ask clarifying questions and tells the employee how to answer questions. The union representative also seeks to enter information into the record regarding the circumstances of the incident. What is true regarding the conduct of the union representative?

The union representative is not allowed to tell the employee how to answer questions.

An HR director wants resources to purchase new technology. The IT director is an obvious choice for an ally, but the finance director seems very enthusiastic and eager to help. How should the HR director approach this situation?

Think more about what the finance director might want from this alliance.