Post-Test
How has the sustainability movement changed organizations' relations with their stakeholders?
A broader range of stakeholders is now considered, allowing for a more active role in shaping policies and goals.
The rewards create a conflict of interest and may encourage questionable business decisions. It is the role and duty of HR to support and model ethical behavior, in this case by presenting its assessment of the ethical issue to management. The organization's action in this case may not be illegal, but it is unethical. Customers who bought into this fund would most likely question who was receiving the primary benefit from the transaction if the details of the incentives were made known. Lowering the amount does not address the ethical and policy issues. A stock brokerage firm incents in-house brokers with trips if they generate more than $500,000 worth of sales in a particular fund that the firm currently owns 20% in. Management asks HR to comment on the program. What should HR recommend? A. Recommend that this unethical practice stop and discuss alternative incentive plans. B. Suggest lowering the dollar amount to mitigate risks of unethical behavior or revenue loss. C. Allow this practice to continue without comment as long as it has a positive effect on revenue. D. Require that this illegal practice stop to avoid potential risks of noncompliance.
A. Recommend that this unethical practice stops and discuss alternative incentive plans.
Which solution would best resolve a growing problem with absenteeism?
Administering the organization's attendance policy consistently
Which federal law or regulation has the largest jurisdiction as it relates to the number of employers required to follow its provisions?
Age Discrimination in Employment Act
Which should be the first step in creating an organization's philanthropic strategy as part of its corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategy?
Aligning philanthropic activities with strategy and values
An HR manager leads a three-person team that is designing new audit processes and tools. One member who is new to the organization argues forcefully for approaches that she used in her previous job. The other two team members complain off-line to the team leader, saying that the new member does not listen and just wants to do things in a familiar way. What should the team leader do?
Promptly and privately meet with the new member and discuss project goals and team ground rules.
A European employee travels to transfer company technology for a manufacturing process. The employee remains on home-country compensation and benefit plans while on assignment. Incentives include one trip home every 12 weeks to visit family that remained at home. What type of global assignee is this individual?
Short-term assignee
What is the difference between career management and career planning?
Career management focuses on the organization's needs; career planning focuses on the individual's needs.
Which initial step should an HR director recommend to best support a global pay-for-performance initiative?
Clear, meaningful, and challenging goal setting
A company is consistently having trouble hiring designers in its creative department, a critical team within marketing that produces all the graphic and visual art deliverables for clients. After several weeks, the recruiting team finds a strong candidate. The candidate requests working first as an independent contractor and then transitioning to permanent employment. After two weeks, things are going well, and the creative department manager is working with the HR manager to extend an employment offer. Company policy requires all new hire candidates to successfully pass a drug screen as a condition of employment, but the candidate tests positive for marijuana. The HR manager questions the candidate, who states that the drug was used only in a state where recreational use is legal. The creative manager asks the HR manager for help in recruiting designers since the department has had difficulty finding qualified applicants. How should the HR manager respond?
Collaborate with the creative manager on a social media recruiting effort
The HR department in a musical instrument company is struggling to support the company's rapid growth. The company, which started as the home business of a casual musician, logged $17 million in sales last year. The HR department has hired additional team members over the years but hasn't changed its structure since start-up. All HR team members currently function as generalists, doing whatever it takes to support the company. The organization now consists of multiple store franchises. Each store has a sales department, a service and repair department, and a department offering music lessons. This initial product and service offering was followed by instrument rentals and later the acquisition of a publishing company that specializes in learning guides for new musicians and music teachers. The company's newest effort, the production of their own brand of mandolin, is recognized by most of the senior leaders as a high-risk effort but with the potential for a profitable high-margin instrument being added to their product line. With the rapid growth and expansion, the CEO is becoming increasingly concerned about quality and has made it clear that the entire corporation is to prioritize quality and efficiency while maintaining focus on the strategic plan. What is the most critical step the HR director should take to determine if outsourcing a non-core function is more efficient than the current process?
Complete an analysis of current gaps in the process and evaluate this information in terms of the benefits of an outsourced model.
A publicly owned company has acquired a small privately owned company. The small company had grown too big for the former owners to manage. Prior to the acquisition, the owners were both heavily involved in the day-to-day decision making of the company, but they are not adept in effective management practices. Both former owners have signed contracts to remain with the company for two years post-acquisition to be a resource as the integration is completed. Policies and controls in the small company were nonexistent. The treatment of employees was not consistent, and employee morale is low, primarily due to the uncertainty in the acquisition and the fear of favoritism. The HR manager assigned to perform due diligence on merging the small company has found additional issues. There is a substantiated allegation that one of the owners of the small company was involved in a romantic affair with a female subordinate, and the HR/finance clerk was demoted for inappropriately allocating funds from the company to his personal bank account. Both of these issues were addressed and the matters closed without any further disciplinary action being taken with either of the individuals. The CEO of the acquiring company asks the HR manager to make the needed changes to ensure compliance with laws and policies, as soon as possible, without upsetting the former owners. The HR manager believes that the new company needs an HR manager on site. The former owners disagree and believe that the finance/HR clerk is sufficient. What is the first step the HR manager should take to resolve the difference of opinion?
Conduct an audit of the HR department to determine effectiveness, capability, and historic compliance with organizational policies, laws, and regulations.
A publicly owned company has acquired a small privately owned company. The small company had grown too big for the former owners to manage. Prior to the acquisition, the owners were both heavily involved in the day-to-day decision making of the company, but they are not adept in effective management practices. Both former owners have signed contracts to remain with the company for two years post-acquisition to be a resource as the integration is completed. Policies and controls in the small company were nonexistent. The treatment of employees was not consistent, and employee morale is low, primarily due to the uncertainty in the acquisition and the fear of favoritism. The HR manager assigned to perform due diligence on merging the small company has found additional issues. There is a substantiated allegation that one of the owners of the small company was involved in a romantic affair with a female subordinate, and the HR/finance clerk was demoted for inappropriately allocating funds from the company to his personal bank account. Both of these issues were addressed and the matters closed without any further disciplinary action being taken with either of the individuals. The CEO of the acquiring company asks the HR manager to make the needed changes to ensure compliance with laws and policies, as soon as possible, without upsetting the former owners. In assessing the workplace culture of the smaller company, HR uncovers a significant degree of pro-union sentiment among its employees. What should the HR manager do with this knowledge?
Conduct employee meetings. Acknowledge that there have been shortcomings, and ask employees for an opportunity to make things better.
The shared service centers of a multinational technology company are concentrated in one country. They provide back-office operational support for the finance and accounting, procurement, and HR functions of the company. The local talent market for the back-office operations skills is very competitive. To date, the company has been successful in recruiting experienced professionals from its competitors. The main draw has been the generous compensation and benefits package and the general perception of an amiable and cooperative management team. While competitors' workforces have unionized in this country, this company's workforce has remained union-free. The annual planning process has kicked off. The process requires the global HR and finance teams to recommend the payroll increase budget for each country based on key economic indicators, company performance, affordability, and compensation market survey data. The teams recommend a salary increase budget of 18% for the country with the shared service centers. The country HR director is concerned that the recommended budget is too low and believes that, in order to remain competitive and compensate for inflation, the increase should be 30%. The country director brings her concerns and recommendations to the global VP of HR. In a discussion with the global VP of finance and the global functional leaders, the global VP of HR learns that the 18% increase budget is a stretch and that going any higher will have a negative bottom-line impact. Which is the best first step the VP of HR should take to address the opinions and concerns on the salary increase budget?
Conducting a quantitative analysis that would model risks, costs, and benefits in order to develop scenarios and a recommendation on the optimal solution
The leadership of a medium-sized technology company has determined that the most viable option to expand their product line is to merge with an existing, larger company. HR is part of the team conducting due diligence for the merger. One item that concerns HR is the different approaches the companies have to work/life balance. The employees of the old company feel that they are treated unfairly because pay, benefits, and working conditions are different within work groups. HR believes that the new company should have a blend of the cultures and the benefits of the two companies. HR is responsible for communicating the decision to the current employees and developing a timetable for the integration. Employees are excited to join the larger company, based on rumors of better pay and benefits with the new organization. The new company is ready to reduce redundancy in key leadership positions and develops a work group to identify positions for elimination. After identifying duplicate positions, managers must recommend individual employees for termination. The merger of the two companies is underway, and HR has been asked to develop organizational effectiveness measures to improve performance and productivity. HR has undertaken the OED process. One group has declined in performance, productivity, and profits. The leadership team has asked HR to review the situation and provide a recommendation. The manager of this group has a reputation of having an abrasive management style. Leadership has tasked HR with outlining an effective change management plan. What is the first thing HR should do to help manage the change in the organization?
Consult with the organization's leaders to identify potential gaps in culture and processes.
A VP of HR for a growing 1,500-employee high tech firm has received feedback regarding the lack of effectiveness of the HR team. The internal customers have not been pleased with the level of service and support that is being provided by HR. One of the biggest challenges cited is the recruiting process-specifically, opening a new requisition. The business leader is first required to contact a recruiter to open a requisition and then to contact the compensation and benefits team to determine the pay level for the role. Business leaders may have to contact a different recruiter each time a requisition must be opened. If the recruiter is unfamiliar with the business unit and the nuances of the culture as well as common skill sets, the business leader has to spend additional time to ensure that the recruiter has all the information needed. As a result, some business leaders have asked for one point of contact in HR for all recruiting needs. Given the feedback and the request for one point of contact, which action is best for the VP of HR to take?
Coordinate in-person discussions with business leaders to better understand their experience and expectations.
Which recruitment metric can help to assess the economic value of filling an open position?
Cost per Hire
A nonprofit organization has had a history of employees who have enjoyed a long tenure with the company. However, turnover in recent years has been high among new hires. A downturn in the economy has resulted in reduced funding. Recently other nonprofits have entered the field and are vying for the same financial resources, resulting in employees working longer hours in a fierce competition to earn grants. Key areas in the most recent employee engagement survey dropped significantly, citing the long hours and pay inequities. In contrast, however, employees were quite pleased with the benefits that are offered, the positive work environment, and recognition for their corporate social responsibility (CSR) work. How should the HR director respond to the negative feedback from employees?
Create an employee engagement strategy and business case to present to the CEO and the board.
Which type of HR structure allows organizations with different strategies in multiple units to apply HR expertise to the strategic needs of each unit?
Dedicated
When designing training for any new technology system, which activities will have the greatest impact on knowledge retention
Demonstration and structured exercises
What data analysis tool should be used to show the relationship between employees' formal education and job performance ratings?
Scatter diagram
Understanding the business case for the initiative and minimizing impact on affected employees
Scheduling a meeting with the business leaders to understand business needs and goals for the future
The HR department in a musical instrument company is struggling to support the company's rapid growth. The company, which started as the home business of a casual musician, logged $17 million in sales last year. The HR department has hired additional team members over the years but hasn't changed its structure since start-up. All HR team members currently function as generalists, doing whatever it takes to support the company. The organization now consists of multiple store franchises. Each store has a sales department, a service and repair department, and a department offering music lessons. This initial product and service offering was followed by instrument rentals and later the acquisition of a publishing company that specializes in learning guides for new musicians and music teachers. The company's newest effort, the production of their own brand of mandolin, is recognized by most of the senior leaders as a high-risk effort but with the potential for a profitable high-margin instrument being added to their product line. With the rapid growth and expansion, the CEO is becoming increasingly concerned about quality and has made it clear that the entire corporation is to prioritize quality and efficiency while maintaining focus on the strategic plan. After careful research, the HR director learns that many similar organizations have successfully implemented a shared services model with focused HR business partners, centers of excellence, and a centralized HR service center. Which approach is best for the HR director to take to determine the viability of this option?
Develop a business case for the shared services model, including cost implications, and present it to the CEO.
While assisting a customer, a salesperson takes a personal phone call. Which is the best approach for the supervisor to take when providing feedback to the salesperson?
Discuss the incident with the salesperson immediately and in private, reminding them of policy on personal phone calls.
A large metropolitan hospital acquires a small community hospital, resulting in a total employee population of 1,000. As a result of the acquisition, the accounts receivable department from the small hospital, which has only five employees, is handling all outstanding patient accounts. During a management workforce planning session, the HR director questions the accounts receivable manager about staffing requests for the following year. The manager informs the HR director that the department is adequately staffed and will not need more employees. Later the HR director learns that the manager has confessed to other managers that he hopes to be promoted to vice president by saving the hospital money from not hiring additional personnel. Two accounts receivable employees terminate their hospital employment abruptly. When cleaning out the desks of these employees, the accounts receivable manager finds over 100 accounts that have not been processed; monies are still outstanding on these overdue accounts. The manager distributes these overdue invoices to the other three remaining department employees and tells them not to mention this to the controller. These employees come to the HR director in confidence to complain about the additional work, and they confide that they were instructed not to tell the controller about the incomplete work. Since the accounts receivable manager is resistant to adding staff, which workforce strategy should the HR director encourage the manager to take for developing the accounts receivable department?
Encourage the manager to "buy or build" new workforce approaches to help the department meet the organizational demands in the immediate future.
When administered in the same way in different countries, which assessment approach would provide the most consistent results in collecting information on job candidates?
Evaluation of work samples
A new competitor entered the market and attracted many of a manufacturing organization's employees with higher hourly wages. The organization's HR team has revised the staffing plan. Which data could alert HR to the need for further revisions?
Exit interviews
A company is consistently having trouble hiring designers in its creative department, a critical team within marketing that produces all the graphic and visual art deliverables for clients. After several weeks, the recruiting team finds a strong candidate. The candidate requests working first as an independent contractor and then transitioning to permanent employment. After two weeks, things are going well, and the creative department manager is working with the HR manager to extend an employment offer. Company policy requires all new hire candidates to successfully pass a drug screen as a condition of employment, but the candidate tests positive for marijuana. The HR manager questions the candidate, who states that the drug was used only in a state where recreational use is legal. The creative manager requests that the HR manager make an exception to the company policy and allow the hiring process to continue. How should the HR manager address the request?
Explain to the creative manager that this is a long-standing employment requirement.
A nonprofit organization has had a history of employees who have enjoyed a long tenure with the company. However, turnover in recent years has been high among new hires. A downturn in the economy has resulted in reduced funding. Recently other nonprofits have entered the field and are vying for the same financial resources, resulting in employees working longer hours in a fierce competition to earn grants. Key areas in the most recent employee engagement survey dropped significantly, citing the long hours and pay inequities. In contrast, however, employees were quite pleased with the benefits that are offered, the positive work environment, and recognition for their corporate social responsibility (CSR) work. How can the director leverage employees' commitment to their work and the recognition of that work by outside agencies?
Include this information in all employee branding and employee value proposition information and activities.
A manager has been assigned to lead a team of employees in organizing an upcoming community event. The manager knows that in order to meet event goals, she must make sure that the tasks and expectations are clear and that she provides plenty of direction. What leadership theory is the manager following?
Fiedler's contingency theory
Which of the following employment practices would an HR director recommend to increase employees' behavioral engagement levels?
Select applicants with an interest in solving problems and ensure challenging work.
Which statement best describes how HR can enhance its social media policies?
Gather information from throughout the organization about possible risks.
Which is the best example of indirect compensation?
Granting compensatory time off to a salaried employee for extra hours worked
Which activity best illustrates HR's strategic role in managing organizational risk?
HR conducts a workshop with other functions to identify potential upside and downside risks under the workforce management plan.
The leadership of a medium-sized technology company has determined that the most viable option to expand their product line is to merge with an existing, larger company. HR is part of the team conducting due diligence for the merger. One item that concerns HR is the different approaches the companies have to work/life balance. The employees of the old company feel that they are treated unfairly because pay, benefits, and working conditions are different within work groups. HR believes that the new company should have a blend of the cultures and the benefits of the two companies. HR is responsible for communicating the decision to the current employees and developing a timetable for the integration. Employees are excited to join the larger company, based on rumors of better pay and benefits with the new organization. The new company is ready to reduce redundancy in key leadership positions and develops a work group to identify positions for elimination. After identifying duplicate positions, managers must recommend individual employees for termination. The merger of the two companies is underway, and HR has been asked to develop organizational effectiveness measures to improve performance and productivity. HR has undertaken the OED process. One group has declined in performance, productivity, and profits. The leadership team has asked HR to review the situation and provide a recommendation. The manager of this group has a reputation of having an abrasive management style. What is the first step HR should take to ensure that all employees are treated fairly in regard to pay, benefits, and working conditions?
Hold focus groups to understand the issues and recommend any changes to the leadership team.
The HR department in a musical instrument company is struggling to support the company's rapid growth. The company, which started as the home business of a casual musician, logged $17 million in sales last year. The HR department has hired additional team members over the years but hasn't changed its structure since start-up. All HR team members currently function as generalists, doing whatever it takes to support the company. The organization now consists of multiple store franchises. Each store has a sales department, a service and repair department, and a department offering music lessons. This initial product and service offering was followed by instrument rentals and later the acquisition of a publishing company that specializes in learning guides for new musicians and music teachers. The company's newest effort, the production of their own brand of mandolin, is recognized by most of the senior leaders as a high-risk effort but with the potential for a profitable high-margin instrument being added to their product line. With the rapid growth and expansion, the CEO is becoming increasingly concerned about quality and has made it clear that the entire corporation is to prioritize quality and efficiency while maintaining focus on the strategic plan. What is the best course of action the HR leader should take to determine how to structure the HR department to support the needs of the growing business?
Initiate an assessment of the HR function to include internal and external considerations.
The shared service centers of a multinational technology company are concentrated in one country. They provide back-office operational support for the finance and accounting, procurement, and HR functions of the company. The local talent market for the back-office operations skills is very competitive. To date, the company has been successful in recruiting experienced professionals from its competitors. The main draw has been the generous compensation and benefits package and the general perception of an amiable and cooperative management team. While competitors' workforces have unionized in this country, this company's workforce has remained union-free. The annual planning process has kicked off. The process requires the global HR and finance teams to recommend the payroll increase budget for each country based on key economic indicators, company performance, affordability, and compensation market survey data. The teams recommend a salary increase budget of 18% for the country with the shared service centers. The country HR director is concerned that the recommended budget is too low and believes that, in order to remain competitive and compensate for inflation, the increase should be 30%. The country director brings her concerns and recommendations to the global VP of HR. In a discussion with the global VP of finance and the global functional leaders, the global VP of HR learns that the 18% increase budget is a stretch and that going any higher will have a negative bottom-line impact. Which action should the country HR director recommend that country leaders take that would proactively support a union avoidance strategy?
Instilling a culture of trust and teamwork between employees and management.
A large metropolitan hospital acquires a small community hospital, resulting in a total employee population of 1,000. As a result of the acquisition, the accounts receivable department from the small hospital, which has only five employees, is handling all outstanding patient accounts. During a management workforce planning session, the HR director questions the accounts receivable manager about staffing requests for the following year. The manager informs the HR director that the department is adequately staffed and will not need more employees. Later the HR director learns that the manager has confessed to other managers that he hopes to be promoted to vice president by saving the hospital money from not hiring additional personnel. Two accounts receivable employees terminate their hospital employment abruptly. When cleaning out the desks of these employees, the accounts receivable manager finds over 100 accounts that have not been processed; monies are still outstanding on these overdue accounts. The manager distributes these overdue invoices to the other three remaining department employees and tells them not to mention this to the controller. These employees come to the HR director in confidence to complain about the additional work, and they confide that they were instructed not to tell the controller about the incomplete work. What should the HR director do about the accounts receivable that have not been processed?
Investigate, evaluate, document, and respond to the reports of the unethical behavior with the controller and the manager.
A publicly owned company has acquired a small privately owned company. The small company had grown too big for the former owners to manage. Prior to the acquisition, the owners were both heavily involved in the day-to-day decision making of the company, but they are not adept in effective management practices. Both former owners have signed contracts to remain with the company for two years post-acquisition to be a resource as the integration is completed. Policies and controls in the small company were nonexistent. The treatment of employees was not consistent, and employee morale is low, primarily due to the uncertainty in the acquisition and the fear of favoritism. The HR manager assigned to perform due diligence on merging the small company has found additional issues. There is a substantiated allegation that one of the owners of the small company was involved in a romantic affair with a female subordinate, and the HR/finance clerk was demoted for inappropriately allocating funds from the company to his personal bank account. Both of these issues were addressed and the matters closed without any further disciplinary action being taken with either of the individuals. The CEO of the acquiring company asks the HR manager to make the needed changes to ensure compliance with laws and policies, as soon as possible, without upsetting the former owners. What is the best first step the HR manager should take to create a positive working relationship with the former owners?
Involve the former owners along with representatives of the acquiring company in developing a plan for implementing policy changes.
A VP of HR for a growing 1,500-employee high tech firm has received feedback regarding the lack of effectiveness of the HR team. The internal customers have not been pleased with the level of service and support that is being provided by HR. One of the biggest challenges cited is the recruiting process-specifically, opening a new requisition. The business leader is first required to contact a recruiter to open a requisition and then to contact the compensation and benefits team to determine the pay level for the role. Business leaders may have to contact a different recruiter each time a requisition must be opened. If the recruiter is unfamiliar with the business unit and the nuances of the culture as well as common skill sets, the business leader has to spend additional time to ensure that the recruiter has all the information needed. As a result, some business leaders have asked for one point of contact in HR for all recruiting needs. Once the work flow is amended, which is the best way for the VP of HR to identify the measures of success and the impact on the organization?
Partner with the business unit leaders to outline meaningful measures and outcomes that demonstrate alignment with strategy.
Which is the best rationale for ensuring a new HR team member confirms with the manager that an employee issue has been resolved?
It reinforces HR's service and value to its internal business partners.
Which organizational initiative should HR recommend to resolve glass ceiling issues for women?
Leadership development & mentoring programs
An HR manager began a new job at an international school in another country. On her first day, she went to the main office to introduce herself to the school's long-time principal and his recently hired executive assistant. The HR manager noticed flowers on the assistant's desk and complimented them. The assistant nervously dismissed the compliment, frowned, and said they were from the principal and that they were his way of flirting with her. The HR manager knows this is against the school's corporate gift-giving policy, which prohibits using school funds to purchase gifts for individual employees. Later, the HR manager met with the principal to discuss HR priorities. Concerned by the assistant's comments, the HR manager asked about the flowers. The principal dismissed the concerns, saying that giving gifts to recognize employees is common in that country, and angrily remarked that he is entitled to spend his discretionary budget how he wishes. After the meeting, the HR manager felt concerned about the principal making an exception to the gift-giving policy and planned to speak to the school director about the incident. That evening, the HR manager receives a voice mail from the assistant, who frantically asks her not to say anything about the flowers because she needs to keep her job. The HR manager wants to demonstrate genuine interest in learning about the principal's approach to recognizing his employees. Which should the HR manager do to most effectively demonstrate this?
Listen actively to the principal as he describes his approach and rationale in person.
When designing a training program, which should a global HR professional consider first?
Local differentiation and stakeholder support
An HR manager began a new job at an international school in another country. On her first day, she went to the main office to introduce herself to the school's long-time principal and his recently hired executive assistant. The HR manager noticed flowers on the assistant's desk and complimented them. The assistant nervously dismissed the compliment, frowned, and said they were from the principal and that they were his way of flirting with her. The HR manager knows this is against the school's corporate gift-giving policy, which prohibits using school funds to purchase gifts for individual employees. Later, the HR manager met with the principal to discuss HR priorities. Concerned by the assistant's comments, the HR manager asked about the flowers. The principal dismissed the concerns, saying that giving gifts to recognize employees is common in that country, and angrily remarked that he is entitled to spend his discretionary budget how he wishes. After the meeting, the HR manager felt concerned about the principal making an exception to the gift-giving policy and planned to speak to the school director about the incident. That evening, the HR manager receives a voice mail from the assistant, who frantically asks her not to say anything about the flowers because she needs to keep her job. How should the HR manager give feedback to the principal to help him more appropriately recognize employee contributions?
Maintain control of the conversation with the principal, ensuring that the message is delivered without misinterpretation.
How should an HR manager address an employee's concern about pay equity between his job and the job of another employee with a similar role?
Perform a job evaluation of the employee's position.
Which example illustrates strategic drift?
Managers continue to perpetuate old ways of doing things and fail to address changing external forces
A company is consistently having trouble hiring designers in its creative department, a critical team within marketing that produces all the graphic and visual art deliverables for clients. After several weeks, the recruiting team finds a strong candidate. The candidate requests working first as an independent contractor and then transitioning to permanent employment. After two weeks, things are going well, and the creative department manager is working with the HR manager to extend an employment offer. Company policy requires all new hire candidates to successfully pass a drug screen as a condition of employment, but the candidate tests positive for marijuana. The HR manager questions the candidate, who states that the drug was used only in a state where recreational use is legal. The CEO requests that the HR manager research industry trends regarding hiring policies and drug use that takes place during personal time. How should the HR manager gather the information?
Meet with the executive board to determine their specific goals for this research regarding drug use during personal time.
An HR manager began a new job at an international school in another country. On her first day, she went to the main office to introduce herself to the school's long-time principal and his recently hired executive assistant. The HR manager noticed flowers on the assistant's desk and complimented them. The assistant nervously dismissed the compliment, frowned, and said they were from the principal and that they were his way of flirting with her. The HR manager knows this is against the school's corporate gift-giving policy, which prohibits using school funds to purchase gifts for individual employees. Later, the HR manager met with the principal to discuss HR priorities. Concerned by the assistant's comments, the HR manager asked about the flowers. The principal dismissed the concerns, saying that giving gifts to recognize employees is common in that country, and angrily remarked that he is entitled to spend his discretionary budget how he wishes. After the meeting, the HR manager felt concerned about the principal making an exception to the gift-giving policy and planned to speak to the school director about the incident. That evening, the HR manager receives a voice mail from the assistant, who frantically asks her not to say anything about the flowers because she needs to keep her job. Which should be the HR manager's first step to ensure the local adoption of the school's gift-giving policy?
Meet with the principal to go over the school's give-giving policy in detail.
How can HR support an organization's technological challenges during an acquisition?
Perform due diligence on HR information systems used in the acquired company.
The shared service centers of a multinational technology company are concentrated in one country. They provide back-office operational support for the finance and accounting, procurement, and HR functions of the company. The local talent market for the back-office operations skills is very competitive. To date, the company has been successful in recruiting experienced professionals from its competitors. The main draw has been the generous compensation and benefits package and the general perception of an amiable and cooperative management team. While competitors' workforces have unionized in this country, this company's workforce has remained union-free. The annual planning process has kicked off. The process requires the global HR and finance teams to recommend the payroll increase budget for each country based on key economic indicators, company performance, affordability, and compensation market survey data. The teams recommend a salary increase budget of 18% for the country with the shared service centers. The country HR director is concerned that the recommended budget is too low and believes that, in order to remain competitive and compensate for inflation, the increase should be 30%. The country director brings her concerns and recommendations to the global VP of HR. In a discussion with the global VP of finance and the global functional leaders, the global VP of HR learns that the 18% increase budget is a stretch and that going any higher will have a negative bottom-line impact. The VP of HR has completed the analysis and developed recommendations for resolving the short- and long-term workforce cost issues in this country. Which is the best step that the VP of HR should take at this point in time?
Meeting with key stakeholders individually, before the group meeting, to familiarize them with the recommendations and gather support.
The vice president of human resources wants to develop a strong organizational commitment to ethical standards. Which is the best way to communicate this commitment?
Modeling of ethical behavior by leaders, managers, and supervisors
A Taiwanese manufacturer for major global brands has production locations in several countries, including Vietnam, Turkey, Mexico, and the United States. What offshoring trend does this exemplify?
Multidirectional shift in the flow of offshoring jobs to and from developed and emerging economies
A scientist is hired to perform research for a new product at a pharmaceutical company. Which clause is most critical to include in the employment contract?
Non-disclosure of trade secrets and other confidential information
An organization with unionized and non-unionized workers negotiates a union contract that includes early retirement benefits and a 10% reduction in starting wages for new employees. Which should the organization likely expect as a result?
Non-unionized workers will expect similar terms.
A VP of HR for a growing 1,500-employee high tech firm has received feedback regarding the lack of effectiveness of the HR team. The internal customers have not been pleased with the level of service and support that is being provided by HR. One of the biggest challenges cited is the recruiting process-specifically, opening a new requisition. The business leader is first required to contact a recruiter to open a requisition and then to contact the compensation and benefits team to determine the pay level for the role. Business leaders may have to contact a different recruiter each time a requisition must be opened. If the recruiter is unfamiliar with the business unit and the nuances of the culture as well as common skill sets, the business leader has to spend additional time to ensure that the recruiter has all the information needed. As a result, some business leaders have asked for one point of contact in HR for all recruiting needs. Which next step should the VP of HR take to send a clear message to business leaders that HR has heard the concerns and is working to improve the customer experience?
Outline a plan of action to address customer concerns and communicate with business leaders on an ongoing basis.
A nonprofit organization has had a history of employees who have enjoyed a long tenure with the company. However, turnover in recent years has been high among new hires. A downturn in the economy has resulted in reduced funding. Recently other nonprofits have entered the field and are vying for the same financial resources, resulting in employees working longer hours in a fierce competition to earn grants. Key areas in the most recent employee engagement survey dropped significantly, citing the long hours and pay inequities. In contrast, however, employees were quite pleased with the benefits that are offered, the positive work environment, and recognition for their corporate social responsibility (CSR) work. How should the director build upon the organization's strengths in employee engagement?
Outline a strategy to capitalize on them
Which is the best way for an HR professional to persuade a function to embrace changes in work processes that are part of an organizational effectiveness intervention?
Presenting the changes as necessary to maintaining competitiveness
An HR manager observes a staff member spending considerable time following up on compliance questions from line managers and supervisors. How should the manager respond?
Provide positive feedback to motivate this type of behavior.
A nonprofit organization has had a history of employees who have enjoyed a long tenure with the company. However, turnover in recent years has been high among new hires. A downturn in the economy has resulted in reduced funding. Recently other nonprofits have entered the field and are vying for the same financial resources, resulting in employees working longer hours in a fierce competition to earn grants. Key areas in the most recent employee engagement survey dropped significantly, citing the long hours and pay inequities. In contrast, however, employees were quite pleased with the benefits that are offered, the positive work environment, and recognition for their corporate social responsibility (CSR) work. How should the HR director manage the threat of key employees being recruited by the competition?
Recommend that the CEO meet with mission-critical employees individually to reiterate their value and commitment to organizational and individual success.
An organization has experienced rapid growth, hampering its ability to respond quickly to competitive threats. Which form of restructuring will offer the best opportunity to minimize response times?
Redistributing decision-making authority
The leadership of a medium-sized technology company has determined that the most viable option to expand their product line is to merge with an existing, larger company. HR is part of the team conducting due diligence for the merger. One item that concerns HR is the different approaches the companies have to work/life balance. The employees of the old company feel that they are treated unfairly because pay, benefits, and working conditions are different within work groups. HR believes that the new company should have a blend of the cultures and the benefits of the two companies. HR is responsible for communicating the decision to the current employees and developing a timetable for the integration. Employees are excited to join the larger company, based on rumors of better pay and benefits with the new organization. The new company is ready to reduce redundancy in key leadership positions and develops a work group to identify positions for elimination. After identifying duplicate positions, managers must recommend individual employees for termination. The merger of the two companies is underway, and HR has been asked to develop organizational effectiveness measures to improve performance and productivity. HR has undertaken the OED process. One group has declined in performance, productivity, and profits. The leadership team has asked HR to review the situation and provide a recommendation. The manager of this group has a reputation of having an abrasive management style. Which is the best and most objective way for HR to support the company's position of blending both cultures and convince leadership to move forward with the recommendation?
Research evidence-based practices that support the recommendation from HR
Support training to help HR staff make full use of available technology.
Reservation
A multinational corporation known for its big, premium-priced ultrasound scanners) introduces a cheaper and portable version in emerging markets. The portable scanner creates new markets in small hospitals and for immobile patients. Which globalization force does this exemplify?
Reverse innovation
In a midsummer strategy session, a company determines that it will close its West Coast manufacturing unit and move the entire manufacturing effort to the East Coast head office. To bring the East Coast office fully online, 100 new positions will have to be filled. The work is going to migrate to the East Coast over a 90-day period that will begin September 1. HR has been asked for advice and support. What is the first action for HR to take to begin to support this business initiative?
Review all of the job descriptions, current salaries and benefits, and existing policies to support the initiative.
A company identifies a training need on workplace harassment for all supervisors. Which best describes the organizational impact of this activity?
Risk will be mitigated because supervisors will be equipped to recognize, and report potential workplace harassment.
An HR manager is negotiating a new contract with a recruiter. The HR manager is responsible for meeting organizational diversity and budget goals. The HR manager also has demanding internal clients who do not understand delays in filling vacant positions. In the past, HR has always worked with a designated liaison, but the recruiter does not want to commit to that. In this scenario, what would be considered a "want" rather than a "need?"
Single liaison
Technology automates many HR tasks, shrinking the HR department. Yet, as HR evolves from transactional to transformational work, the workload may increase and become more complex. Staff may complain about being overloaded. Which is the best way to solve this problem?
Support training to help HR staff make full use of available technology.
A large metropolitan hospital acquires a small community hospital, resulting in a total employee population of 1,000. As a result of the acquisition, the accounts receivable department from the small hospital, which has only five employees, is handling all outstanding patient accounts. During a management workforce planning session, the HR director questions the accounts receivable manager about staffing requests for the following year. The manager informs the HR director that the department is adequately staffed and will not need more employees. Later the HR director learns that the manager has confessed to other managers that he hopes to be promoted to vice president by saving the hospital money from not hiring additional personnel. Two accounts receivable employees terminate their hospital employment abruptly. When cleaning out the desks of these employees, the accounts receivable manager finds over 100 accounts that have not been processed; monies are still outstanding on these overdue accounts. The manager distributes these overdue invoices to the other three remaining department employees and tells them not to mention this to the controller. These employees come to the HR director in confidence to complain about the additional work, and they confide that they were instructed not to tell the controller about the incomplete work. Which information should the director of HR present to the controller and the accounts receivable manager during the next discussion of workforce planning?
The HR director should present critical information about the exit interviews of accounts receivable staff and benchmark data on the staffing plans of large hospitals.
Which of the following is the primary reason to conduct stay interviews with employees?
To address issues that affect engagement and retention
Which is the most appropriate reason for an HR professional to create a business case?
To secure budget and resources for a proposed project.
How is a growth-share matrix used in a large organization?
To understand the competitive position and value of each sector of the business
Which is the most advantageous outcome of employers treating employees with care and respect during termination of employment?
The employees may return to the organization, and they will require little training.
An HR director is creating a talent acquisition strategy. What should the director do first to incorporate risk management into the plan?
Understand the organization's risk appetite and tolerance.
In a midsummer strategy session, a company determines that it will close its West Coast manufacturing unit and move the entire manufacturing effort to the East Coast head office. To bring the East Coast office fully online, 100 new positions will have to be filled. The work is going to migrate to the East Coast over a 90-day period that will begin September 1. HR has been asked for advice and support. In the planning and implementation processes, what is the most important ethical concern for HR?
Understanding the business case for the initiative and minimizing impact on affected employees
Which is an advantage of having job descriptions in a global environment?
They expedite forecasting of current and projected staffing.
An HR manager began a new job at an international school in another country. On her first day, she went to the main office to introduce herself to the school's long-time principal and his recently hired executive assistant. The HR manager noticed flowers on the assistant's desk and complimented them. The assistant nervously dismissed the compliment, frowned, and said they were from the principal and that they were his way of flirting with her. The HR manager knows this is against the school's corporate gift-giving policy, which prohibits using school funds to purchase gifts for individual employees. Later, the HR manager met with the principal to discuss HR priorities. Concerned by the assistant's comments, the HR manager asked about the flowers. The principal dismissed the concerns, saying that giving gifts to recognize employees is common in that country, and angrily remarked that he is entitled to spend his discretionary budget how he wishes. After the meeting, the HR manager felt concerned about the principal making an exception to the gift-giving policy and planned to speak to the school director about the incident. That evening, the HR manager receives a voice mail from the assistant, who frantically asks her not to say anything about the flowers because she needs to keep her job. Which strategy should the HR manager use to reconcile the locally accepted practice of giving gifts to employees with the school's corporate gift-giving policy?
Use existing staff meetings to review the policy while acknowledging comments about the local practice of giving employees gifts.
Which aspect of communication is a primary focus in low-context cultures?
Verbal language
An HR manager is preparing a risk management plan for a manufacturing floor. The manager has reviewed accident records from the past five years and talked with an insurer. Which approach to obtain additional useful information is best?
Walk through the area and observe conditions during work operations.
How does the Weingarten ruling apply to nonunion employees?
Weingarten does not require that nonunion employees be allowed union representation during investigatory interviews.