Communication
Which feedback message will be most useful to the feedback receiver?
"That was a good call. Don't forget the last step in customer service though. Follow up with our HR customers to explain the status of an issue." Rationale: Effective feedback should be clear about what behavior needs to be changed, and the feedback should be delivered in a timely manner. The best feedback statement is "Don't forget the last step in customer service...." It is specific about what should be done (follow up). It is timely, unlike the feedback based on an observation made a month ago. It is not a generalization, like "you never check back."
For much of a meeting, one team member is unofficially leading the discussion while several others are quietly listening. What should the manager leading the meeting do?
Ask the quiet participants for their reasons Rationale: Managers support and control discussion during their meetings. This may involve asking quieter participants for their reactions or protecting participants from difficult or abusive group members. Asserting that you are in charge is a poor way of providing support and control.
Active listening
Communication technique to increate the engagement between communicators and their audiences. It involves two-way communication and attention to nonverbal signs that indicate interest and reactions to the message and speaker.
Nonverbals
Components of a message apart from its words. This could include physical gestures and posture and vocal tones, volume, and speed.
In his initial meeting with the HR team, a newly hired HR director hears a number of concerns relating to talent acquisition, including the new hire selection process. The HR director believes these concerns, as he personally experienced several questionable actions during his own hiring process. In the current process, interviewers use an unstructured approach, where each candidate is asked different questions and interviewers use different criteria to evaluate responses. The HR director also learns that the company has a track record of poor hiring, inconsistent decision making, and lack of diversity in certain departments. The HR team is not confident that the organization is hiring the best people. However, that is not a concern the rest of the organization shares. Each department believes that its hiring approach is effective. Historically no department has shown an interest in trying a new approach. Which action should the HR director take to encourage department heads to use a new hiring process?
Conduct a benchmarking study to compare the organization's hiring outcomes (diversity, etc.) to those of similar organizations. Rationale: it uses metrics to demonstrate inefficiencies and support process improvement recommendations.
In his initial meeting with the HR team, a newly hired HR director hears a number of concerns relating to talent acquisition, including the new hire selection process. The HR director believes these concerns, as he personally experienced several questionable actions during his own hiring process. In the current process, interviewers use an unstructured approach, where each candidate is asked different questions and interviewers use different criteria to evaluate responses. The HR director also learns that the company has a track record of poor hiring, inconsistent decision making, and lack of diversity in certain departments. The HR team is not confident that the organization is hiring the best people. However, that is not a concern the rest of the organization shares. Each department believes that its hiring approach is effective. Historically no department has shown an interest in trying a new approach. The HR director wants to address his team's concerns soon. He also recognizes that the rest of the organization will need to be convinced to change. Which is the best immediate course of action he could take?
Create a structured interview process that standardizes the questions asked and the criteria for grading Rationale: It champions the HR function via the implementation of a new, standardized procedure based on an identified need for organizational change.
What is the best way to deliver negative feedback to a subordinate?
Create a work environment in which employees feel valued even when negative feedback is necessary. Rationale: Negative feedback is most effective when it occurs within a work context that makes employees feel valued. They see the negative feedback as opportunity to improve and contribute rather than as a personal failure.
An HR business partner for a mid-sized company has been asked to investigate root causes of high employee turnover. The CEO thinks that the turnover is the result of HR failing to set clear expectations for managers and has stated that there is a disparity in how managers lead their employees versus what employees think their managers should be doing. The CEO believes that this inconsistency in expectations is the reason for attrition. HR currently conducts annual employee engagement and morale surveys and presents the results to management. However, most of the management team has been with the company for many years and are resistant to change. Past efforts to guide the management team have been unsuccessful due to limited participation. For example, leadership skills training has been held in the past, but most of the management team have declined to attend. The CEO has requested that the HR manager provide a detailed plan to address the turnover by next quarter. Which action should the HR manager take to ensure the success of an initiative to improve employee engagement and retention?
Create employee-led committees to develop ideas and provide support for the initiative Rationale: By creating and supporting employee-led committees to develop retention ideas, the HR manager is demonstrating the Leadership and Navigation competency. When employees are involved in the process, they will be more likely to support it, which will drive success.
A company sends a team of employees and one field supervisor to a customer's location for a week. Employees stay in hotel rooms, two employees per room, and receive a daily meal allowance that allows the purchase of one alcoholic beverage. At dinner one evening, the employees have a few alcoholic beverages, and then they return to the hotel, where one employee passes out in the parking lot. The other employees call an ambulance, and emergency personnel ask if the unconscious employee takes any medication. The employee who shares a room with the unconscious employee goes to the room and finds the employee's medication bottles. No one rides in the ambulance or follows it to the hospital. The field supervisor calls HR to report the incident. The HR manager asks if the employee's spouse has been called and which hospital the employee was admitted to. No one knows where the employee has been taken, nor has the employee been in contact with anyone. The field supervisor locates the employee, who is in serious condition. The employee remains unconscious; it is unknown if the employee will recover from the incident. Management wants to end the employment relationship with the employee. What can HR do to ensure that all employees understand the company's daily meal allowance policy?
Distribute the policy to employees and provide a venue to review it and answer questions. Rationale: This ensures that the communication is consistent and everyone is involved and has an opportunity to ask questions.
What would make for the most effective presentation to senior management to ask for the purchase of HRIS technology?
Dynamic presentation that focuses only on key points Rationale: Presentations to high-level decision makers need to be dynamic and focused on key points. Technical partners, such as IT, may need a more detailed presentation.
An HR business partner for a mid-sized company has been asked to investigate root causes of high employee turnover. The CEO thinks that the turnover is the result of HR failing to set clear expectations for managers and has stated that there is a disparity in how managers lead their employees versus what employees think their managers should be doing. The CEO believes that this inconsistency in expectations is the reason for attrition. HR currently conducts annual employee engagement and morale surveys and presents the results to management. However, most of the management team has been with the company for many years and are resistant to change. Past efforts to guide the management team have been unsuccessful due to limited participation. For example, leadership skills training has been held in the past, but most of the management team have declined to attend. The CEO has requested that the HR manager provide a detailed plan to address the turnover by next quarter. Which step should the HR manager take to identify the root causes of turnover?
Examine employee exit interview documentation for trends Rationale: When reviewing the employee exit interview data, the HR manager is demonstrating the Critical Evaluation competency. The HR manager can identify the reasons employees have left the organization and focus on consistent themes.
In his initial meeting with the HR team, a newly hired HR director hears a number of concerns relating to talent acquisition, including the new hire selection process. The HR director believes these concerns, as he personally experienced several questionable actions during his own hiring process. In the current process, interviewers use an unstructured approach, where each candidate is asked different questions and interviewers use different criteria to evaluate responses. The HR director also learns that the company has a track record of poor hiring, inconsistent decision making, and lack of diversity in certain departments. The HR team is not confident that the organization is hiring the best people. However, that is not a concern the rest of the organization shares. Each department believes that its hiring approach is effective. Historically no department has shown an interest in trying a new approach. The HR director confirms that absence of diversity is an issue in certain departments. Given the organization's lack of recognition, what is the next step he should take?
Explain to interviewers and managers why diversity among employees is good for business. Rationale: it provides an immediate first step to educating those directly involved in the process on the need for diversity.
What is a good way to signal acknowledgment but not necessarily comprehension or agreement in a face-to-face conversation?
Eye contact Rationale: Eye contact can be a form of acknowledgment, which is a signal that a message was received. It is a sign that you are paying attention.
HR issues a great deal of communications during the year. A new HR manager wants to assess whether these messages have been effective. What metric would be useful?
High levels of engagement throughout the organization Rationale: Employee engagement is a good surrogate metric for the effectiveness of communications, since employee satisfaction with communication is a significant ingredient in engagement.
An employee files a complaint alleging discrimination based on other employees creating an intimidating work environment, primarily by making insensitive and inappropriate comments. The alleged actions have made the employee uncomfortable in the workplace. The HR generalist begins to review the information submitted by the employee and, as part of the review, discovers that this is not the first discrimination allegation the employee has filed. All the other complaints were closed following a determination that the allegations were unfounded. When prompted for further information, the employee eventually lists the names of everyone who is being accused in the complaint. To the surprise of the HR generalist, it is the majority of the company's senior leadership team. Based on the employee's history of complaints and who is being accused this time, the HR generalist determines that an investigation is not warranted and immediately dismisses the employee's concerns. However, several weeks later, the employee presents documented proof of comments made by a number of employees, including some from the senior leadership team. Upon review, the HR generalist determines that this additional information could add merit to the complaint. Which is the most effective first step the HR manager should take to create an environment of inclusiveness?
Hold inclusiveness training for all employees at various points in the year. Rationale: this would demonstrate the company's commitment to inclusiveness and educate the employees on its importance. A training session will also help employees retain the information they've learned.
Noise
In communication, any factor that can disrupt the sending and receipt of a message. For example, physical factors such as a distinctive accent, or cognitive factors such as the use of unfamiliar jargon
Feedback loop
In communication, structuring a message to include opportunities for correction or clarification. This requires two-way communication.
What purpose does paraphrasing serve in the communication model?
It serves as a feedback loop Rationale: Paraphrasing describes what the receiver has understood in a communication and in this way serves as a feedback loop to the communicator. The communicator can confirm that the message is understood or can try again if it has not been understood correctly. A paraphrase does not necessarily indicate that a listener has been paying attention; it could indicate lack of attention. It is not a response but a repetition of the message. It is not an amplification of the message (context, for example), but an incorrect paraphrase could lead the speaker to amplify the message in some way.
A company has developed a new performance evaluation tool that it plans to roll out within the next couple of months. Which stakeholder group should HR recommend to explain the detailed change to the employees?
Managers, since they will be implementing and sustaining the changes Rationale: The company's culture would dictate the best messenger, but studies have found that employees tend to trust information from their managers.
The largest customer of a small consulting firm demands that the project manager terminate an employee for poor performance or the customer will terminate its contract immediately. The account project manager has documented the employee's performance as meeting expectations, there is no documentation to support a termination, and there is no place to transfer the employee to. The HR manager conducts a comprehensive investigation and learns that the employee and the customer had a verbal disagreement about how the employee had classified specific expenses and how it affects the customer's budget. The confrontation was significant but did not involve any unacceptable language. In addition, the employee's classification was technically correct; however, a reclassification was also acceptable under generally accepted accounting principles. The project manager was unaware of this conflict. The HR manager concludes that the employee did not follow the policy that requires an employee to advise the supervisor of a client issue. Because such a conflict could significantly harm the company's business, the policy states that an employee can be disciplined up to and including termination for this violation. What steps can HR implement to ensure that this type of event does not recur with the company's current employees?
Meet with the entire project manager group to review policies, their job descriptions, and how to handle issues faced in day-to-day supervision. Rationale: This approach reviews the policies and job descriptions but also goes over some of the issues that project managers need to deal with on a day-to-day basis when supervising employees. Being aware of how to handle the problems before they happen will help the project managers be more effective.
What is a valuable insight that can be gained from studying the sender-receiver communication model (the basic communication model)?
People's perspectives have a strong impact on how messages are understood. Rationale: The model is commonly used to highlight people's perspectives and the things that can get in the way of understanding.
An HR business partner for a mid-sized company has been asked to investigate root causes of high employee turnover. The CEO thinks that the turnover is the result of HR failing to set clear expectations for managers and has stated that there is a disparity in how managers lead their employees versus what employees think their managers should be doing. The CEO believes that this inconsistency in expectations is the reason for attrition. HR currently conducts annual employee engagement and morale surveys and presents the results to management. However, most of the management team has been with the company for many years and are resistant to change. Past efforts to guide the management team have been unsuccessful due to limited participation. For example, leadership skills training has been held in the past, but most of the management team have declined to attend. The CEO has requested that the HR manager provide a detailed plan to address the turnover by next quarter. Which step should the HR manager take to ensure buy-in from the managers when implementing an initiative to address the turnover?
Present data to managers that shows how the high turnover has affected the company's profit. Rationale: HR is demonstrating the Critical Evaluation competency by showing the manager the correlation between turnover and profits. By seeing the negative impact on profits, managers will be more interested in working toward solutions.
Framing
Process of constructing a message so that an audience sees communicated facts in a certain way and is persuaded to take a certain action.
A company sends a team of employees and one field supervisor to a customer's location for a week. Employees stay in hotel rooms, two employees per room, and receive a daily meal allowance that allows the purchase of one alcoholic beverage. At dinner one evening, the employees have a few alcoholic beverages, and then they return to the hotel, where one employee passes out in the parking lot. The other employees call an ambulance, and emergency personnel ask if the unconscious employee takes any medication. The employee who shares a room with the unconscious employee goes to the room and finds the employee's medication bottles. No one rides in the ambulance or follows it to the hospital. The field supervisor calls HR to report the incident. The HR manager asks if the employee's spouse has been called and which hospital the employee was admitted to. No one knows where the employee has been taken, nor has the employee been in contact with anyone. The field supervisor locates the employee, who is in serious condition. The employee remains unconscious; it is unknown if the employee will recover from the incident. Management wants to end the employment relationship with the employee. Which action should the HR manager take first to ensure that field supervisors are prepared to handle emergency situations in the field?
Review company emergency protocols and conduct a needs assessment to identify gaps Rationale: Conducting a training needs assessment is a comprehensive approach to identifying training gaps that need to be addressed to improve organizational and individual performance.
A company sends a team of employees and one field supervisor to a customer's location for a week. Employees stay in hotel rooms, two employees per room, and receive a daily meal allowance that allows the purchase of one alcoholic beverage. At dinner one evening, the employees have a few alcoholic beverages, and then they return to the hotel, where one employee passes out in the parking lot. The other employees call an ambulance, and emergency personnel ask if the unconscious employee takes any medication. The employee who shares a room with the unconscious employee goes to the room and finds the employee's medication bottles. No one rides in the ambulance or follows it to the hospital. The field supervisor calls HR to report the incident. The HR manager asks if the employee's spouse has been called and which hospital the employee was admitted to. No one knows where the employee has been taken, nor has the employee been in contact with anyone. The field supervisor locates the employee, who is in serious condition. The employee remains unconscious; it is unknown if the employee will recover from the incident. Management wants to end the employment relationship with the employee. The leadership team wants to implement a policy that prohibits sending employees who have medical conditions out of town on business. How should HR handle this request?
Schedule a meeting with the leadership team to address their request and offer other options that are focused on the best interests of the business. Rationale: This provides an opportunity to hear all points of view and reach a conclusion that is legal and nondiscriminatory and meets the organization's needs.
An employee files a complaint alleging discrimination based on other employees creating an intimidating work environment, primarily by making insensitive and inappropriate comments. The alleged actions have made the employee uncomfortable in the workplace. The HR generalist begins to review the information submitted by the employee and, as part of the review, discovers that this is not the first discrimination allegation the employee has filed. All the other complaints were closed following a determination that the allegations were unfounded. When prompted for further information, the employee eventually lists the names of everyone who is being accused in the complaint. To the surprise of the HR generalist, it is the majority of the company's senior leadership team. Based on the employee's history of complaints and who is being accused this time, the HR generalist determines that an investigation is not warranted and immediately dismisses the employee's concerns. However, several weeks later, the employee presents documented proof of comments made by a number of employees, including some from the senior leadership team. Upon review, the HR generalist determines that this additional information could add merit to the complaint. What is the best course of action the HR generalist could take at this point?
Set up a formal meeting with the employee to gather additional details, assess whether an investigation is needed, and propose a plan to the HR manager. Rationale: The HR generalist should take every complaint seriously. As such, a meeting should be conducted to gather additional information in order to determine whether an investigation is needed. The HR generalist should then propose a course of action to the HR manager.
What communications medium has a high risk of becoming a source of noise for some function team members because many communications seem urgent even when they are not important?
Short messaging Rationale: Messaging or texting can be distracting if it is used too much. This can create noise in the form of the important messages being overlooked.
Which is the best reason to use social media channels for corporate communication?
Social media channels provide instantaneous feedback to leaders about employee responses. Rationale: Although social media make communication more complex and challenging, they also make it easier to assess reaction to the communication.
What action would best support a group creativity session?
Start thinking of responses only after listening to what each person has to say. Rationale: Active listening requires turning away from oneself-one's preconceptions about the speaker, concerns about what's being said, one's own needs, possible responses-and focusing instead on the speaker.
The largest customer of a small consulting firm demands that the project manager terminate an employee for poor performance or the customer will terminate its contract immediately. The account project manager has documented the employee's performance as meeting expectations, there is no documentation to support a termination, and there is no place to transfer the employee to. The HR manager conducts a comprehensive investigation and learns that the employee and the customer had a verbal disagreement about how the employee had classified specific expenses and how it affects the customer's budget. The confrontation was significant but did not involve any unacceptable language. In addition, the employee's classification was technically correct; however, a reclassification was also acceptable under generally accepted accounting principles. The project manager was unaware of this conflict. The HR manager concludes that the employee did not follow the policy that requires an employee to advise the supervisor of a client issue. Because such a conflict could significantly harm the company's business, the policy states that an employee can be disciplined up to and including termination for this violation. The HR manager and the project manager prepare to meet with the employee. They consider their options. Which is the most effective option that will honor the company's policy, yet maintain the relationship with the company's customer?
Terminate the employee for violation of the company policy Rationale: Considering the business conditions and that the policy states that a violation is subject to termination, this is the best response. Jeopardizing the relationship with the company's largest customer could bring extreme financial hardship to the company. Since there is not another project to transfer the employee to, termination is the best option.
The largest customer of a small consulting firm demands that the project manager terminate an employee for poor performance or the customer will terminate its contract immediately. The account project manager has documented the employee's performance as meeting expectations, there is no documentation to support a termination, and there is no place to transfer the employee to. The HR manager conducts a comprehensive investigation and learns that the employee and the customer had a verbal disagreement about how the employee had classified specific expenses and how it affects the customer's budget. The confrontation was significant but did not involve any unacceptable language. In addition, the employee's classification was technically correct; however, a reclassification was also acceptable under generally accepted accounting principles. The project manager was unaware of this conflict. The HR manager concludes that the employee did not follow the policy that requires an employee to advise the supervisor of a client issue. Because such a conflict could significantly harm the company's business, the policy states that an employee can be disciplined up to and including termination for this violation. What steps should the company take with the customer to improve communication and ensure that all employees are aligned with how information should be communicated going forward?
The HR manager and the project manager should meet with the customer to define what effective communication should be, and they then should share the new communication plan during an all-employee meeting. Rationale: it clarifies expectations on both sides, which will decrease the chances for future misunderstandings and conflict. The comprehensive communication plan explains the process to the affected employees.
An employee who has been in the department for only a month asks his supervisor for feedback. The supervisor lists three ways in which the employee's performance is inadequate. How is the employee likely to react?
The employee will be discouraged and ask someone else for an assessment of his performance Rationale: The critical information here is that the employee is fairly new and probably does not feel that he has a valued place in the organization yet. In these cases, the employee is likely to disregard the negative feedback and try to find some other source of positive feedback.
A manager instructs a staff member how to perform the task. The staff member nods to indicate agreement. The task is performed incorrectly. How could active listening have helped prevent this?
The manager could have made this a real conversation by asking the staff member an open question Rationale: By asking questions to draw the staff member into the discussion, the manager would change the communication from one-way to two-way. This would create an opportunity for the manager to assess whether the staff member understands and feels confident in performing the task.
The largest customer of a small consulting firm demands that the project manager terminate an employee for poor performance or the customer will terminate its contract immediately. The account project manager has documented the employee's performance as meeting expectations, there is no documentation to support a termination, and there is no place to transfer the employee to. The HR manager conducts a comprehensive investigation and learns that the employee and the customer had a verbal disagreement about how the employee had classified specific expenses and how it affects the customer's budget. The confrontation was significant but did not involve any unacceptable language. In addition, the employee's classification was technically correct; however, a reclassification was also acceptable under generally accepted accounting principles. The project manager was unaware of this conflict. The HR manager concludes that the employee did not follow the policy that requires an employee to advise the supervisor of a client issue. Because such a conflict could significantly harm the company's business, the policy states that an employee can be disciplined up to and including termination for this violation. What can management do to improve the communication between the project manager and the project manager's employees so that this type of event does not recur?
The manager's supervisor should meet with the project manager for coaching on the responsibilities of day-to-day supervision and communication with employees and the customer. Rationale: The customer was dissatisfied with the employee's performance to the extent that there was a significant conflict. Neither the project manager nor management was aware of this conflict. Had the project manager been more involved with both the employee and the customer, the situation would not have progressed without the company being aware of the customer's dissatisfaction.
A company sends a team of employees and one field supervisor to a customer's location for a week. Employees stay in hotel rooms, two employees per room, and receive a daily meal allowance that allows the purchase of one alcoholic beverage. At dinner one evening, the employees have a few alcoholic beverages, and then they return to the hotel, where one employee passes out in the parking lot. The other employees call an ambulance, and emergency personnel ask if the unconscious employee takes any medication. The employee who shares a room with the unconscious employee goes to the room and finds the employee's medication bottles. No one rides in the ambulance or follows it to the hospital. The field supervisor calls HR to report the incident. The HR manager asks if the employee's spouse has been called and which hospital the employee was admitted to. No one knows where the employee has been taken, nor has the employee been in contact with anyone. The field supervisor locates the employee, who is in serious condition. The employee remains unconscious; it is unknown if the employee will recover from the incident. Management wants to end the employment relationship with the employee. Which action should HR take to ensure that supervisors act appropriately in emergency situations without fear of violating employee privacy?
Use a collaborative approach with leaders to create and communicate a company-wide protocol that outlines steps to take in an emergency situation Rationale: Collaboration provides all stakeholders with the opportunity to provide input, resulting in better buy-in and understanding of the need for training.
Top management recently agreed on major organizational changes. HR has been tasked with developing a plan for communicating the changes to the employees. Which is the most effective way to communicate the changes?
Use multiple channels of communication so the changes are shared in many ways. Rationale: Change-related information should be communicated to employees through multiple channels and from multiple sources. In impactful communication, information is communicated in multiple frameworks so the message is better understood and received by a varied audience.
