HR Management Exam 2

Rebekah, who is pregnant, works for an organization with more than 100 employees. She lives 20 miles away from work. By federal law, she is entitled to __________ of unpaid leave after her child is born.

12 weeks

On average, out of every dollar spent by a company on employee compensation, more than ______ cents goes to employee benefits.

30

What is the minimum percent of employees in a bargaining unit who must sign authorization cards for the National Labor Relations Board to hold a union representation election?

30 percent

Which HRM practices help organizations achieve high performance ?

A performance management system measuring customer satisfaction and quality.

Is the limit in training's effectiveness that arises from the conditions within the organization.

A situational constraint

Which statement about apprenticeships is true?

An apprentice usually assists a certified tradesperson at the worksite.

Alan works for Mid-Town Bank Group. The company has introduced an activity challenge for all employees that provides rewards and incentives as participants log miles by walking or running. The purpose of the three-month long program is to help prevent health risks and encourage preventive health measures. What type of program has Alan's company introduced?

An employee wellness program

What is a similarity between unemployment insurance benefits and worker's compensation benefits?

Both of the programs' costs depend on the organization's experience ratings.

Compensation system can help create the conditions that contribute to high performance. Consequently, organizations can increase empowerment and job satisfaction by

Communicating the basis for decisions about pay.

Wade loses his job during a layoff at his company. He's worried about not having access to his health insurance benefits anymore. However, his company is required to offer him the same health insurance coverage for up to 36 months following the layoff. Which federal law applies in this scenario?

Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act

Which reference to the impact of unions on company performance, it can be said that companies wishing to become more competitive must

Continually monitor their labor relations strategy.

Which type of training allows trainees at difficult locations to attend programs online, using their computers to view lectures, participate in discussions, and share documents?

Distance learning

Mariah's company's management values hiring individuals who represent a variety of ages, races, genders, and ethnicities. Mariah's company places an emphasis on

Diversity

If at least 30 percent of an organization's employees sign an authorization card, the union may request that the employer voluntarily recognize the union.

False

Under incentive pay, merit pay is most suited for routine, standardized jobs with output that is easy to measure.

False

meditation is the most formal and least used method of conflict resolution.

False

According to the person analysis method, performance feedback is the only variable that can be affected by training.

False (check my work)

An organization can use downward moves as a source of job experience.

False (check my work)

The usual way to measure customer satisfaction in the course of an HRM audit is to interview sales and marketing people.

False (check my work)

The ____ usually provides the neutral third party used for the common alternatives to strikes

Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service

What is the drawback of stock ownership as a form of incentive pay?

Financial benefits mostly come when the employee leaves the organization.

Identify the correct statement about the trends in international union membership?

In Western Europe, it is common to have union coverage rates of 80 to 90 percent.

Which statement about the 360-degree feedback process is accurate?

It involves rating an individual in terms of work-related behaviors.

What is an accurate description of short term disability insurance?

It pays a portion of a disabled employee's salary as benefits for up to six months.

What is a characteristic of long-term disability insurance?

It pays about 50 to 70 percent of the employee's salary in case of disability.

The combination of relationships, problems, demands, tasks, and other features of an employee's jobs is referred to as

Job experiences

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) identifies individual's preferences for source of energy, means of information gathering, way of decision making, and

Lifestyle

When an employer excludes workers from a workplace until they meet certain conditions, it is known as a

Lockout

The ____ has the authority for certifying or decertifying a union through an election.

National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)

A logical place to begin selecting employee benefits is to establish____ for the benefits package.

Objectives

Which act requires companies with more 50 full-time employees to provide affordable health insurance or face a penalty?

Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act

According to the lifestyle dichotomy of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, individuals with a______ preference enjoy surprises and dislike deadlines.

Perceiving (P)

An employee's tolerance for uncertainty and the ability to get along with others are assessed with

Personality tests

What is an organization-level incentive plan that is intended to motivate employees to align their activities with the organization's goals?

Profit sharing

A(n) ____ career frequently changes based on changes in a person's interests, abilities, and values and in the work environment.

Protean

A human resource executive emphasizes to her staff that the department should focus on serving its "customer" the company's employees. Which activity best expresses treatment of employees as customers?

Providing employees with the training they need to succeed at work.

Ensuring that employees are ready for training in terms of their attitudes, motivation, basic skills, and work environment is the _____ step of the instructional design process.

Second

Sabrina, the engineering manager at Robin Tech, takes an eight-week unpaid leave to go on a tour to promote a book she wrote. She does so in accordance with Robin Tech's policy for leaves without pay. In what sense could this unpaid leave be an employee benefit for Sabrina?

She retains her seniority and benefits during the leave.

Which statement is true of using stock options as incentive pay?

Stock options are rewarding for employees who exercise their option when the company's stock value has risen.

Collective bargaining differs from one situation to another in terms of the range of employees and employers covered by the contact- in other words, the bargaining

Structure

Which law permits states to pass right-to-work laws?

Taft-Hartley Act

Which law regulates unions' actions with reference to their members, including financial disclosure and the conduct of elections?

The Landrum-Griffin Act

What is the typical outcome when employers or unions violate the NLRA?

The employer or union is ordered to stop unfair labor practices.

Which statement about the relationship between training and development is accurate?

The goal of training is preparation for the current job, while the goal of development is preparation for future job opportunities.

What is a characteristic of a cash balance plan?

The money earns interest at a predetermined rate, such as the rate paid on U.S. Treasury bills.

What is a business indicator for the success of the compensation system defined by the HR department of an organization?

The ratio of average salary offers to the average salary in the community

What is a key element of high-performance work systems?

The right people

What is an accurate description of right-to-work laws?

They are state laws that make union shops, maintenance of membership, and agency shops illegal.

A major problem with ESOPs is that

They carry a significant risk for employees

Which statement about simulators used in training is true?

They must have elements identical to those found in the work environment.

What is an accurate description of sick leave programs?

They pay employees for days not worked due to illness.

What should employees typically do to earn bonuses under the Scanlon plan?

They should keep labor costs to a minimum and produce as much as possible with that amount of labor.

which statement about high performance work systems is accurate?

To develop a high-performance work system, organizations need to determine what kinds of people fit their needs and then locate, train, and motivate those people.

A____ pension plan allows pension benefits for key employees, such as highly paid managers, to extend a government- specified share of total pension benefits.

Top-heavy

Benefits packages are more complex than pay structures, which makes it more difficult for employees to appreciate the benefits offered.

True

Cooperation between labor and management may feature employee involvement in decision making and self-managing employer teams.

True

Courts generally avoid reviewing arbitrators' decisions and focus only on whether the grievance involved an issue that is subject to arbitration under the contract.

True

During a strike, the employer loses production unless it can hire replacement workers, and even then, productivity may be reduced.

True

Employees are most likely to benefit from a flexible spending account if they have predictable health care expenses, such as insurance premiums.

True

In the process of organizing, a stipulation election is used when the parties cannot agree on terms and the NLRB dictates time, place, ballot choices, and method of determining eligibility.

True

Research suggests that assessment center ratings are valid for predicting performance, salary level, and career advancement.

True

The addition of creative benefits packages for employees provides employers a competitive edge in acquiring and retaining talented employees in their organization.

True

A performance appraisal process must identify causes of an employee's performance discrepancy and develop plans for improving his or her performance.

True (check my work)

A popular way to empower employees is to design work so that it can be performed by each individual, thus allowing employees to bring together various skills and experiences to produce goods or provide services without conflict.

True (check my work)

A risk of diversity training programs that focus on attitudes toward minority groups is that they may alienate minorities.

True (check my work)

An organization's HR department makes the decisions about organizational structure and employee grouping.

True (check my work)

Coaches are peers or managers who work with other employees to motivate them, help them develop their skills, and provide them with reinforcement and feedback.

True (check my work)

For on-the-job training (OJT) programs to be effective, an organization should review OJT practices at companies in similar industries.

True (check my work)

Mentoring programs tend to be very successful when they are compulsory.

True (check my work)

The last step in the instructional design process involves choosing a training method.

True (check my work)

Training programs use business games to develop employees' management skills.

True (check my work)

Training programs are more likely to meet their objectives of they are linked to performance management and have the full support of management.

True ?

Employees of Health Trends Inc. have been working to organize a union. The company's managers wish to maintain nonunion operations, because they believe the union's demands for more generous benefits would hurt profits. What evidence could the employees point to in support of the idea that unions are good for business?

Unions can reduce turnover by giving employees a way to resolve problems.

Using job experiences for development assumes that development is most likely to occur

When an employee's skills do not fully match the skills required.

What is characteristic of benefits required by the Social Security Act?

Workers are compensated according to their past earnings and retirement age.

Which statement accurately describes an avatar?

a computer depiction of employees that can be manipulated in an online role-play

Which work setting is most likely to benefit from team training?

a military brigade

The decision-making dimension of the Myers-Briggs Type indicator relates to the

amount of consideration given to others' feelings when making a decision.

Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, which employer is most likely to face legal challenges?

an employer who switches to a risk-based policy after hiring a disabled employee

The process of collecting information and providing feedback to employees about their behavior, communication style, or skills is known as

assessment

In the context of an HRM audit, average unemployment compensation payment primarily serves as a vital business indicator for activities related to

benefits

Benefit plans that permit employees to choose the types and amounts of benefits they want from a set of alternatives are called

cafeteria-style plans.

Which term refers to a detailed description of a situation that trainees analyze and discuss and is designed to develop higher-order thinking skills?

case study

Which factor has been found to have the greatest influence on whether an employee completes a foreign assignment?

comfort of employee's spouse and family

Nathan is a successful senior employee at his company. He has five years of experience in the company and is well recognized for his contributions. The vice president of human resources tells Nathan about Therese, an employee hired for her keen intelligence. According to the vice president, Therese is struggling to make an impact because she does not speak up assertively or understand who to talk to when she has questions. The vice president asks Nathan to serve as a mentor to Therese. What would this role involve?

developing Therese through coaching, sponsorship, and challenging assignments

The four general approaches that companies use for employee development include

formal education, assessment, job experiences, and interpersonal relationships.

What is a component of a basic career management system?

goal setting

Which factor has been associated with the decline in Union membership?

high regulation in such areas as workplace safety and equal employment opportunity

Under the Older Workers Benefit Protection Act of 1990, which guideline must employers follow when asking employees to sign early-retirement waivers?

inform employees that they may consult with a lawyer before signing

Job rotation involves

moving an employee through a series of job assignments in one or more functional areas of the company.

Which term refers to the way in which an organization groups its people into useful divisions, departments, and reporting relationships?

organizational structure

Which form of training prepares employees to perform their jobs effectively, learn about the organization, and establish work relationships?

orientation

For assessment to support development, an employee must be

provided suggestions to improve his or her weak skills.

What guideline should be followed by a supervisor to discourage unions?

report any direct or indirect signs of union activity to a core management group

A firm that manufactures mobile phones has seen a major improvement in cost reduction since it instituted a three-week training program for all its new recruits. During the training program, the new employees are constantly encouraged to express their thoughts and ideas. Good ideas are rewarded immediately by the trainers, thereby encouraging active participation. Which factor most likely explains the success of the training?

social support

Needs assessment is best described as

the process of evaluating the organization, individual employees, and employees' tasks to determine what kinds of training are necessary

What is the main objective of diversity training programs that focus on behavior?

to change organizational policies and individual conduct that inhibit employees' personal growth and productivity

______ requires that employees actually learn the content of the training program and that the necessary conditions are in place for employees to apply what they learned.

transfer of training

people experience occupational intimacy when they love their work, when they and their coworkers care about one another, and when they find their work meaningful.

true

The simplest approach to evaluating training is to

use only a posttest.