Practice Test

Which is the best example of a benchmarked job? A position serving as the basis of the salary structure A position requiring unusual knowledge, skills, and experience A unique and important position shown on the career paths of many employees A position found on the organizational charts of a variety of organizations

A position found on the organizational charts of a variety of organizations

Which transaction is not likely to be performed with a manager self-service tool? Complete performance appraisal documentation for direct reports. View information and create reports on subordinates. Endorse promotion decisions and authorize pay raises. Access and maintain an employee's personal HR data.

Access and maintain an employee's personal HR data.

Which action best supports compensation plans to ensure equal pay? Conduct a job evaluation to provide objective justification. Designate a point factor system for pay grades and ranges. Review annual performance appraisals that are directly tied to performance. Describe explanation of benefits and opportunities for bonuses.

Designate a point factor system for pay grades and ranges.

Which action will best enable HR leaders to contribute to their organization's strategic planning process? Form relationships with internal and external stakeholders. Develop competency models for critical organizational positions. Align compensation and benefits with business goals. Establish programs to recognize and reward key talent.

Form relationships with internal and external stakeholders.

Which type of conflict improves a group's performance? Intragroup Functional Dysfunctional Dyadic

Functional

Which phase of the HRIS system development life cycle involves identifying new needs and defining the system's scope? Short-range operational planning Functional analysis Business process reengineering Long-term maintenance

Functional Analysis

An employee returns from lunch smelling of alcohol and co-workers complain to HR that the employee is staggering around the office. Which action should the HR Manager immediately take? Meet with the employee to assess the situation and discuss relevant policies. Ask the employee's direct supervisor to drive the employee home. Implement an immediate random drug and alcohol testing policy. Ask the employee's supervisor to corroborate the complaint.

Meet with the employee to assess the situation and discuss relevant policies.

What information is likely to have the most significant effect on the demand analysis step of workforce planning? Estimates of the amount of time it takes to fill open positions Projections of the return on investment from a high potential employee development program Forecasts of revenues and expenditures associated with a new product line Classifications of staff members by demographic category

Projections of the return on investment from a high potential employee development program

Which practice helps to avoid problems with pay compression? Providing the same raises to all employees Paying high performers larger raises than other employees Paying new hires higher starting salaries Capping the top salary for each job category

Providing the same raises to all employees

What characteristic distinguishes software as a service from in-house software? Higher initial acquisition costs Easily customized functions Services may be scaled according to need Maintenance costs are covered by the employer

Services may be scaled according to need

A global investment bank is implementing a new, centralized HR management system across all of the 25 countries in which it operates. What is a crucial step in successfully implementing the system? Set global standards and implement locally. Set global standards and implement globally. Set local standards and implement locally. Set local standards and implement globally.

Set global standards and implement locally.

Which type of interview is most likely to include a question that asks an applicant to describe a project that was successfully completed despite the project manager's immediate resignation two weeks prior to implementation? Biographical Stress Situational Behavioral

Situational

What is one of the most common criticisms of the 360-degree feedback system? It is difficult to use for all positions in an organization. It is difficult to use the instruments to create a developmental plan. The feedback comes from a number of individuals so it is difficult to validate. Raters are not likely to be honest if they feel their comments may be used to punish the person being rated.

The feedback comes from a number of individuals so it is difficult to validate.

Which is the key strategic purpose of a performance management system? To give the employee adequate feedback on performance To accurately measure employees' outcomes To align employee activities with the organizational goals To fairly link compensation increases to performance

To align employee activities with the organizational goals

When reviewing key HR metrics, which compensation metric should be used to inform how to better manage a business enterprise? Cost per hire Percentage of employees participating in tuition reimbursement Total cost for training Payroll as a percentage of operating expenses

Total cost for training

A company wants to use integrative bargaining strategies during upcoming labor contract negotiations. What should the company's HR manager aim to do when planning for these negotiations? Start negotiations with an extensive list of requests because some will be removed during bargaining. Enforce limits on the available budget for new wages and benefits. Verify the union understands what the company is trying to achieve during negotiations. Ensure the labor negotiations remain noncompetitive in nature.

Verify the union understands what the company is trying to achieve during negotiations.

Which scenario is an example of benchmarking? An airline studies car racing pit crews to determine how to improve gate turnarounds. A copier company discovers its competition is selling copiers in its market. A casino researches ways to reduce employee theft. A manufacturing facility asks employees for suggestions to improve product quality.

An airline studies car racing pit crews to determine how to improve gate turnarounds.

A company wants to permanently relocate its research and development unit to the United States. Which worker will have the easiest time getting permanent resident status authorization to work? A manager who holds an advanced degree A skilled worker with several years of job experience in the position A worker in a key job category, such as a computer programmer An outstanding researcher with several published papers and an advanced degree

An outstanding researcher with several published papers and an advanced degree

A succession planning program is best supported by which performance management system? Forced ranking system that identifies the top performer in each work team by comparing level of goal achievement Cascading goals system that identifies the top performer at each level based on goal achievement at the next level Continuous feedback process using two-way communication to identify top performers based on specific goals Trait-based system combined with broad goals established throughout the performance management cycle

Continuous feedback process using two-way communication to identify top performers based on specific goals

A mediator's role in a dispute includes reviewing the process, ground rules, and expectations with the employees involved, and reminding everyone of their responsibility to listen to the issues raised by others. Which is another role of a mediator? Determining the appropriate discipline for the situation Establishing an environment in which open and respectful communication can exist Providing potential solutions once both employees have stated their positions Setting goals for the employees to work on when they are not in mediation

Establishing an environment in which open and respectful communication can exist

Rewarding desired behavior is a strategy based on which motivational theory? McGregor's Theory X and Theory Y Vroom's expectancy theory Skinner's reinforcement theory McClelland's theory

Skinner's reinforcement theory

Which role represents a common function for business partners of HR charged with supporting effective transitions from one organizational structure to another? Change agent Strategic partner Employee champion Administrative expert

Strategic partner

How do succession planning and workforce planning compare in terms of the targeted employee groups? Succession planning focuses on middle- and upper-level management. Both planning methods focus on all employees. Succession planning focuses on exempt employees. Both planning methods focus on exempt employees.

Succession planning focuses on middle- and upper-level management.

Who has the primary responsibility for ensuring a company's commitment to sustainability and ethics? Board of directors and investors CEO and leadership team HR department State regulators overseeing the company's headquarter location

CEO and leadership team

In reward management practice, which is considered a relational reward? Profit sharing Educational reimbursement Career coaching Contingent pay

Career coaching

When providing training on intercultural competence, which set of components is best to consider? Culture and social skills Uneasiness, prejudice, and sensitivity Cognitive, emotional, and behavioral Knowledge, skills, and abilities

Cognitive, emotional, and behavioral

Which step is first when developing an effective learning initiative? Create a learning environment. Choose the appropriate learning method. Conduct a needs assessment. Determine readiness for learning.

Conduct a needs assessment.

Which condition is an advantage of decentralized HR services? Customization to specific business units Consistency of support provided Improved efficiency and functionality Reduction of communication requirements

Customization to specific business units

An HR manager finalizes a report for an employee opinion survey for a midsized manufacturing company and presents the findings to the leadership of the organization. The company is in the growth phase of the organizational life cycle and the leadership team is eager to hear from their associates. There are many valuable insights from the data and the leadership team is very interested in understanding the results. In particular, the leaders want to understand the various levels of employee engagement across the organization. As part of the presentation, the HR manager shares a few exemplar comments from one of the open-ended questions that asked about employees' perceptions of a recent merger that occurred in the company. The HR manager shares items with both positive and negative valence.At this point, one of the members of the leadership team asks if the HR manager could identify from which department one of the critical comments came. The HR manager questions the intent in knowing this information and receives an adequate response: that leadership wants to devote additional resources to alleviate the situation within that department. The HR manager is capable of identifying which department the comment came from, but has never been asked for this type of information in the past. Further, the confidentiality statement issued to the employees is vague and only states that individual responses would not be shared. Upon reviewing the data, the HR manager notices that the department from which the comment originated only consists of four people. What other data collection method could be used to gather employee attitudes and opinions regarding the organization? Benchmarking Literature review Focus groups Observation

Focus groups

Which action should an HR manager take in response to a new employee requesting accommodations for religious practice during work? Create, update, and maintain employee manuals regarding religious accommodations. Train supervisors to be more lenient regarding the employee's religious practice at work. Establish procedures for more stringent evaluation of religious accommodation requests. Deny the request as it was not disclosed during the hiring process.

Train supervisors to be more lenient regarding the employee's religious practice at work.