SHRM-CP Sectional Practice Questions

A business case to move to the cloud for information storage and enhanced web-based software has been approved.. This will represent a major cultural and process shift for the organization, and, to assist a transition plan has been communicated. The plan allows for a short period of transition, where paper files will continue alongside electronic files as use of the cloud software expands. The new technology also supports the ability for employees to work from home. Due to the nature of the work of the company , teams are an integral part of the culture. Leadership has assumed that teams will be able to work in the virtual world as easily as they do in person. The virtual world implementation is planned to begin following the successful implementation of the cloud storage procedures. To move to this future state, employees are told they cannot keep any company files or information on their own devices. In addition, employees are informed that they cannot take company information home in paper format. The organization leaves it to individual supervisors to communicate the changes to their direct reports. Six months after the implementation some employees continue to do the double work of maintaining both electronic and paper copies of documents and, in some cases, they are maintaining only paper files. The company has noticed a decrease in morale and missed deadlines. Which is the best recommendation HR should make to ensure legal compliance and network security for employees working from home?

Provide mandatory training for anyone who applies to work from home.

The CEO of a small local company has decided that the organization needs to embrace a model of corporate social responsibility (CSR). Despite a formal strategy not being in place, the organization has been using the principles of CSR in certain circumstances. The CEO wants the HR manager to help lead the corporate change. This change involves mindset, planning, and helping everyone embrace the change. HR is not viewed as a true partner to the organization currently, so this will be a challenge. The CEO is seeking to create a company known for treating people well, operating in a sustainable manner, and giving to worthy causes. This change will be more noticeable in some departments than in others. Because of this, the CEO would like to start with a word-of-mouth campaign prior to a large company-wide announcement. The CEO wants the HR manager to put together a plan within two to four weeks that creates this low-key way to work toward the CSR culture for the organization. HR and the CEO discuss that it will be a long-term process for change to be fully implemented. The CEO understands this but wants a plan no later than one month from the meeting. What action should the HR manager take to encourage employees to embrace this cultural change?

Provide values-based change management workshops that actively involve employees.

Which activity most effectively conveys HR's value as a strategic business partner?

Providing information to internal stakeholders which demonstrates HR's impact on the business operations

Which will be one of the most interesting applications of artificial intelligence (AI) in HR?

Providing more valuable observations about online job candidates

Which step is necessary in conducting an effective investigation of employee complaints that may lead to discipline?

Providing protection against retaliation

At a staffing agency, recruiters are facing a challenge in finding high-quality candidates. Additionally, the recruiters adhere to an unwritten rule that they should not contact candidates who have already worked with other recruiters within the agency. A new recruiter corresponds with a candidate who was previously in communication with a veteran recruiter. The two recruiters get into an argument, and the recruitment manager tries to intervene. The new recruiter claims not knowing about this unwritten rule and challenges the rule's efficacy. The veteran recruiter says that the unwritten rule is explained during the onboarding process. The recruitment manager approaches the HR manager for help with attracting high-quality candidates. What guidance should the HR manager provide?

Recommend evaluating the effectiveness of the agency's recruitment processes and tools.

A company of office workers has an informal culture of maintaining the status quo in that many employees adequately perform job tasks to satisfy the bare minimum requirements. If employees complete their tasks early, they often stay at their desks to give the impression of working but are actually engaging in non-work-related activities. Instead of collaborating across departments to improve the quality of work and increase knowledge sharing, employees focus on completing their own tasks. Some supervisors are aware of this behavior, but most supervisors do not work in close proximity to their employees and are primarily focused on results. One day, the HR manager notices the administrative assistant using a craft machine to work on a personal project during work hours. Some supervisors approach the HR manager to request help with cultivating a culture of proactivity in their employees. What guidance should the HR manager provide?

Recommend that supervisors engage more frequently with their employees.

The critical care unit (CCU) at a large, reputable hospital is understaffed for registered nurse positions. Traditionally, there is a series of career hurdles a nurse must overcome to assume a role in the hospital's CCU, but it's essential for the hospital to have these positions filled. The CCU's head nurse, who directs nursing service activities for unit patients, has approached the hospital's HR manager with these staffing concerns and needs. In addition to presenting the HR manager with the current staffing problem, the head nurse recommends a strategy to staff the unit. The strategy described by the head nurse includes creating a pilot program where internal nurses, working in other departments with translatable skill sets, can enroll in an accelerated critical care course. Once those nurses successfully complete the accelerated course, they will be offered positions in the hospital's CCU. The head nurse tells the HR manager that both the organization and nurses would benefit from a program like this because it is an opportunity for career development and fulfills an organizational need. Additionally, this would reduce the burden on current CCU nurses who are overworked and experiencing burnout. The head nurse wants to motivate employees who are feeling overworked. What should the HR manager do?

Recommend that the head nurse provide recognition to nurses for their hard work and achievements.

A company of office workers has an informal culture of maintaining the status quo in that many employees adequately perform job tasks to satisfy the bare minimum requirements. If employees complete their tasks early, they often stay at their desks to give the impression of working but are actually engaging in non-work-related activities. Instead of collaborating across departments to improve the quality of work and increase knowledge sharing, employees focus on completing their own tasks. Some supervisors are aware of this behavior, but most supervisors do not work in close proximity to their employees and are primarily focused on results. One day, the HR manager notices the administrative assistant using a craft machine to work on a personal project during work hours. The administrative assistant's supervisor tells the HR manager that there is no problem as long as job tasks are completed on time. How should the HR manager respond to the supervisor?

Recommend that the supervisor meet with the administrative assistant to identify career goals and create a job enrichment plan.

An employee's ex-husband waits outside her place of work. When she emerges, he begins yelling. She retreats inside the building. The husband attempts to follow but is prevented by a door that locks automatically behind the employee. An HR staff member observes the incident. What action should the staff member take?

Recommend that those involved debrief the incident.

Which feedback message will be most useful to the feedback receiver?

"That was a good call. Please make sure to always follow up with our HR customers to explain the status of an issue."

In 2015, Company X's turnover rate was 74%. The HR director would like to know if a new CSR program has impacted the retention rates for 2016 and 2018. Which formula should the HR director use?

(Employed employees for the entire measurement period/Number of employees at the start of the period) x 100

What is the general minimum eligibility requirement set by ERISA for employer-sponsored 401(k) plans?

21 years of age working at least 12 months

Under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act of 1988, a plant with over 100 employees must give what minimum number of days of advance written notice of a plant closure?

60 calendar days

An employee believes that he was laid off for filing charges that the plant managers were enforcing unsafe practices to save time. What is the maximum amount of time OSHA has to complete an investigation of charges of employer discrimination?

90 days

Which best demonstrates job enlargement?

A bank teller handles deposits and disbursements and also sells certificates of deposit.

A small division of a company lacks a formal compensation structure for employees. Due to recent recruitment and retention challenges, the division recognizes the need to review newly hired and existing employees' pay rates to ensure market competitiveness and internal equity among staff. For a number of years, the division has lacked human resources support and relied upon the general managers to determine initial pay rates for new hires as well as promotional rates for internal staff based on the amount of hours worked and the employee's attendance record. No pay ranges currently exist, and leaders have the discretion to pay whatever fits within their budget. On occasion, a human resources representative from another division has offered general advice on pay practices to the division's leadership. However, they have their own divisional responsibilities, and therefore there has been very little oversight. The divisional president is considering whether or not to bring in a contract human resources leader to research, design, and implement an appropriate pay structure for all positions. Why should the division president be concerned about having a compensation structure?

A compensation structure can help to reduce turnover by offering competitive salaries to attract new talent while promoting fair pay practices to retain tenured staff.

How will using a revenue-per-employee metric allow HR to demonstrate the impact of turnover on employee engagement?

A decrease in revenue per employee may correlate with lower employee engagement.

An HR manager for a trucking company is new to her profession, her job, and her community. She wants to build a professional network in her new community. Which external stakeholder would offer the most value to the HR manager at this point in her career?

A member of the state house committee on transportation

Which best describes HR's involvement in the strategic planning process of their organization?

Acting as a consultant to leadership and other functions on HR issues

Which action would be most important in building trust with colleagues?

Acting consistently in line with shared values

An HR director is tasked with the fiduciary duty for the organization's retirement plan. What action best describes this obligation?

Acting in the best interest of the employees who participate in the plan

The critical care unit (CCU) at a large, reputable hospital is understaffed for registered nurse positions. Traditionally, there is a series of career hurdles a nurse must overcome to assume a role in the hospital's CCU, but it's essential for the hospital to have these positions filled. The CCU's head nurse, who directs nursing service activities for unit patients, has approached the hospital's HR manager with these staffing concerns and needs. In addition to presenting the HR manager with the current staffing problem, the head nurse recommends a strategy to staff the unit. The strategy described by the head nurse includes creating a pilot program where internal nurses, working in other departments with translatable skill sets, can enroll in an accelerated critical care course. Once those nurses successfully complete the accelerated course, they will be offered positions in the hospital's CCU. The head nurse tells the HR manager that both the organization and nurses would benefit from a program like this because it is an opportunity for career development and fulfills an organizational need. Additionally, this would reduce the burden on current CCU nurses who are overworked and experiencing burnout. What should the HR manager do to investigate whether the lack of CCU nurses is impacting the quality of care?

Administer a patient satisfaction survey upon discharge to collect feedback about the care received in the CCU.

The owner of a small start-up company has highly compensated employees but no benefits package. As the organization and staff grows, the owner is pressured to implement a benefits package in addition to direct compensation. The owner is not knowledgeable about benefits, and has made the decision to hire an HR generalist to handle benefits and other HR functions. The HR generalist's first priority is to make recommendations about a benefits package that will attract and retain top talent while being fiscally responsible. The growth plan for the organization is to grow globally and engage in a global recruitment, selection, and hiring strategy. The HR generalist needs to create a total compensation package that will be relevant in all locations globally. The HR generalist has conducted a survey asking about the types of benefits employees want. The survey results indicate that employees are seeking ways to balance their work and home life. How should the HR generalist handle this feedback?

Align offered benefits with the organizational strategy, culture, and employee desires

The HR director wants to transition from paper-based record keeping to digital record keeping. Which factors should the director consider before engaging in a purchasing process for HR technology?

Alignment of user and departmental objectives

Which best demonstrates the outcome of zero-based budgeting in regard to HR's budget?

All expenditures will need to be justified when building the budget.

A small publishing firm feels they are too small to benefit from strategic planning. Which short-term benefit is the best choice for HR to influencing leaders to begin the strategic planning process?

Allocate resources more effectively

A CEO assigns employees to participate in fund-raising for a nonprofit school for students with learning disabilities. The company provides time off and covers the employees' expenses. Employee contributions and school accomplishments are communicated in newsletters and at annual meetings. How could this attempt at community involvement be improved?

Allow employees more voice in choosing the community involvement partner.

Senior management has determined that a reduction in force (RIF) is the only way it can address financial difficulties. Which action would best minimize the impact of the downsizing on the organization and employee morale?

Allow employees to volunteer to be separated.

What is meant by the term "residual risk"?

Amount of uncertainty remaining after all risk management efforts have been made

Which is the best example of authenticity in the workplace?

An HR manager serves as an ethical agent by calling out ethics issues to superiors and subordinates alike.

Which employee is considered a globalist?

An employee who moves from one international assignment to another.

Which organization is least likely to succeed in its strategic planning and management?

An organization that shares strategic plans with top management only to preserve its competitive edge

Which best describes a global organization?

An organization whose processes, actions, and decisions are firmly rooted in a carefully conceived global strategy

An HR specialist prepares a business case to support an initiative. The case includes descriptions of the project's goals, benefits, method, budget, and time line. Which information is required to complete the business case?

Analysis of the initiative's possible risks

The staffing plan turns analysis data and organizational objectives into reality. What type of analysis is most likely to be considered in the development of a global staffing plan?

Analysis to determine gaps between current and future staffing requirements

A clothing retail company in business for over three years has three locations in a popular beach resort area. There are similar retailers in the same area competing for both the customers and labor pool. Recently the company has had extensive growth due to a new clothing design, however, employees are leaving within 90 days of hire. This turnover is now affecting customer satisfaction and increasing the workload on the remaining staff. Most of the management staff started as sales floor employees and received little to no management training. One of the key criteria used in promoting staff is their success on the sales floor, leading to complaints of internal selection unfairness. Recent exit interviews suggest low morale, poor leadership, and lack of work/life balance as the top three reasons for leaving the company. Knowing that there are plans to launch two new product lines in the near future, the CEO has asked the HR director to find a new vendor to provide new employee orientation. Twenty companies have submitted proposals, and the CEO wants a short list in the next two days. Which action should the HR director take first to create a robust workforce plan that addresses the expected organizational growth?

Analyze current labor trends along with internal staffing metrics to ensure appropriate staffing levels to meet expected organizational growth

A long-time employee of a small, rural branch of a national bank dies unexpectedly. This employee held a position requiring extensive institutional knowledge. Fellow employees are deeply saddened by the loss of their colleague, but bank policy allows bereavement leave for only members of the immediate family. The branch was already understaffed in several mid-level positions due to a limited pool of qualified applicants. The loss leads to increased workloads for the other employees, who are struggling to complete tasks on time. The branch manager notices an increase in transaction errors in all employees and asks the HR manager to recommend a solution. When the HR manager asks about the errors, employees indicate they have too much work to double-check for mistakes. How should the HR manager respond?

Analyze data about error rates and types over the last month to develop targeted solutions.

The critical care unit (CCU) at a large, reputable hospital is understaffed for registered nurse positions. Traditionally, there is a series of career hurdles a nurse must overcome to assume a role in the hospital's CCU, but it's essential for the hospital to have these positions filled. The CCU's head nurse, who directs nursing service activities for unit patients, has approached the hospital's HR manager with these staffing concerns and needs. In addition to presenting the HR manager with the current staffing problem, the head nurse recommends a strategy to staff the unit. The strategy described by the head nurse includes creating a pilot program where internal nurses, working in other departments with translatable skill sets, can enroll in an accelerated critical care course. Once those nurses successfully complete the accelerated course, they will be offered positions in the hospital's CCU. The head nurse tells the HR manager that both the organization and nurses would benefit from a program like this because it is an opportunity for career development and fulfills an organizational need. Additionally, this would reduce the burden on current CCU nurses who are overworked and experiencing burnout. What should the HR manager do in response to the head nurse's staffing recommendation?

Analyze the impact a pilot program would have on staffing in other departments within the hospital.

A manufacturing organization is in the decline phase of its life cycle. The organization's largest customer has notified the CEO that it plans to withdraw its business over the next two years. The CEO and his staff must consider options to replace the lost revenue related to this customer account. The company's employees are nervous and uncertain about their future. Two options are quickly identified to replace the expected loss of revenue. Option 1 is to develop a new product that could be manufactured and delivered in one week while the competition delivers product in six weeks. To compete successfully with this approach, the company would also need to design an order entry system so customers could place orders online. This strategy requires engineering to design the product line. It also requires IT staff to design the software and customer portals, marketing and sales to develop sales literature and pricing models, manufacturing to prepare for production, and HR to develop the workforce plan. Option 2 would be to acquire a struggling competitor and quickly turn that company around. The CEO has asked the HR manager to assess possible HR issues for both of these options. Which would be the best strategic action for the HR manager to use to demonstrate HR's value in this new product venture?

Analyze the process throughput plan with the production manager, determine the staff levels needed, and conduct a job analysis for each position.

During a workforce planning session, HR identifies that within 5 years, 25% of the workforce will be nearing retirement age. The organization wants to ensure that there is steady recruitment of a new generation. Which activity during the benefits needs assessment is most relevant to the recruitment strategy?

Analyze the utilization data on all benefit plans.

Which method best determines recruiting effectiveness?

Analyzing yield ratios

How has the cloud repositioned HR software?

As a service to be consumed

An HR manager works at a manufacturing company that is hiring new assembly-line employees. The HR manager helped to design and implement the selection system that is used to make these hires. The system includes a physical abilities test, a structured interview, and a personality assessment. The company has evidence demonstrating that each part of the system is a valid predictor of performance. Passing the physical abilities test is the first hurdle in the hiring process. Any applicant who passes this hurdle is interviewed by a plant manager, who then rates the applicant on several competencies. Applicants are not given any information about the competencies or questions prior to the interview. Interview scores and personality assessment scores are combined to rank the applicants. Many plant managers have complained to HR that the test does not assess the level of physical abilities required on the job, and recent hires have not performed well as a result. The HR manager's supervisor meets with the HR manager to discuss these concerns. The HR manager's supervisor wants the HR manager to review the physical abilities test to determine if it can be made more realistic. What should the HR manager do?

Ask plant managers to specify what physical abilities are required.

An HR manager receives a memo from a department director for termination of a groundskeeping employee. The company's recreational vehicle resort is at the same location as company headquarters. The terminated employee works and lives at the resort, and has no prior record of performance issues in his 10 year career. . The memo states that the director terminated the employee yesterday for gross misconduct. The groundskeeper was working in the heat all morning and then informed the director he was going home for lunch. Later the groundskeeper radioed the director that he was running late in returning from lunch. Subsequent communications led to the director sending a student worker to the employee's trailer to pick him up and return to the office. Upon their return, the groundskeeper smelled of alcohol, and the student worker reported to the director that the intoxicated groundskeeper offered the under-aged student worker a beer, which was refused. The student worker stressed that she did not want to get the groundskeeper in any trouble; however, the groundskeeper insisted that he be allowed to drive the golf cart back to the office after drinking beer, which made the student feel uncomfortable. The day following the groundskeeper's termination, another resort employee calls the HR manager to state that the termination was too severe and that the groundskeeper made a mistake but has otherwise had a good employment record. How should the HR manager respond?

Ask the caller if he was a witness to the incident, and, if so, would he be willing to provide a written statement on what he saw and heard.

An employee who holds a critical position in the company sustains a back injury on the job and is temporarily unable to continue working. To avoid a loss of income, the employee uses all available personal leave, adding up to 12 weeks. After the 12 weeks of leave, the employee has only been cleared by a doctor to work with physical restrictions and will not be assessed again for three months. The employee makes an appointment with the HR manager to discuss options for returning to work. The HR manager receives an email from the employee's supervisor stating concern that the employee is not being honest about the extent of the injury. Which action should the HR manager take?

Ask the employee to provide a doctor's note to confirm the requirement for physical restrictions.

A renowned financial institution, a former leader in the financial market, is now facing decelerated growth. Its product portfolio lacks innovation compared to that of competitors. Although the institution was once a favorite place to work, recently HR has been facing issues attracting top talent, and time-to-hire metrics have deteriorated. A technology gap between the leadership and the employees is beginning to widen. The founder, who is very sales-oriented, is not an early adopter when it comes to technology. Since his client relationships all began with face-to-face contact, he is wary that technology removes the personal element. To create a more collaborative culture and social learning environment, the HR talent development lead (TDL) wants to foster a culture of learning and innovation. This will require a change in corporate culture and a significant investment in new technology. Despite a recent upgrade, the learning management system (LMS) still feels outdated, sluggish, and static. The TDL believes that a new LMS with more powerful social learning technologies will be critical for attracting and retaining top talent, capturing the attention of a broader and rapidly changing demographic, and meeting their demands. The workforce is around 40% Millennials, compared with 10% just five years ago. The TDL understands that cross-functional collaboration will be required to sort out the features needed to support the organization's learning management system. What is the best way to organize the right cross-functional team?

Assemble a team including senior functional leaders and younger managers with an interest in diversity and innovation.

The CEO of a fast-growing start-up company is worried that the company will not have the skilled workforce needed in the future to keep up with the dynamic needs of the business, and he asks the HR manager to anticipate and plan for the workforce gaps. The HR manager has been partnering with educational institutions, other businesses, and the local workforce development office to get more information about anticipated skill gaps and to develop an action plan. These resources have been supportive but are unsure of what skills might be needed and when these gaps will exist. The HR manager must navigate this uncertainty and provide a plan to the CEO. The HR manager has identified the most critical skills that will be needed. Which is the most effective approach to developing the workforce?

Assess current employees on these critical skills to identify gaps that exist.

Over the past 12 months, a global hotel franchise has been experiencing steady, significant growth, and needs to hire more employees at all levels. The leadership team asks the HR department to transition into a strategic business partner role to ensure that the franchise can meet current and future demands. However, some senior managers in the franchise believe that HR should focus only on administration of traditional HR activities such as recruiting, payroll, benefits, and these managers refuse to include HR in business conversations. As a result, many HR staff have adopted a strict policy enforcement role that has only made it more difficult for the HR department to make the transition. An HR manager is tasked with identifying ways to expand the role of the HR function in the organization and aligning it with business strategy. The HR manager is also charged with presenting an HR transformation plan to the executive leadership team. Which approach should the HR manager use to evaluate the success of the HR transformation plan?

Assess the extent of change in key HR performance metrics over time.

A manager has organized a team to assist with planning an event. At a meeting, one of the team members complained, dominated the discussion, and resisted each new suggestion. Which strategy should the manager use to control this behavior?

Assess the team member's behavior and follow up with him through discussion and coaching.

Which stage of the global assignment process should criteria for the ideal expatriate candidate be defined?

Assessment and selection

For some supervisory and managerial openings, recruiters use work samples of job situations that include individual and group activities, in-basket exercises, and work-related performance tests to evaluate a candidate's abilities. The results are reviewed by a panel of trained assessors. What is this assessment method called?

Assessment center

A manufacturing organization is in the decline phase of its life cycle. The organization's largest customer has notified the CEO that it plans to withdraw its business over the next two years. The CEO and his staff must consider options to replace the lost revenue related to this customer account. The company's employees are nervous and uncertain about their future. Two options are quickly identified to replace the expected loss of revenue. Option 1 is to develop a new product that could be manufactured and delivered in one week while the competition delivers product in six weeks. To compete successfully with this approach, the company would also need to design an order entry system so customers could place orders online. This strategy requires engineering to design the product line. It also requires IT staff to design the software and customer portals, marketing and sales to develop sales literature and pricing models, manufacturing to prepare for production, and HR to develop the workforce plan. Option 2 would be to acquire a struggling competitor and quickly turn that company around. The CEO has asked the HR manager to assess possible HR issues for both of these options. The CEO decides on option 1 to develop a new product. In this scenario, the engineering department would be understaffed. Which action should the HR manager recommend as a first step to assist the engineering manager?

Assist the engineering manager by researching engineering outsourcing firms and other short-term sourcing opportunities.

How often should an organization review the components of its enterprise risk management framework?

At an agreed-upon and regular interval

How can HR help prevent its organization from committing an unfair labor practice?

By training management on allowed speech

Over the past 12 months, a global hotel franchise has been experiencing steady, significant growth, and needs to hire more employees at all levels. The leadership team asks the HR department to transition into a strategic business partner role to ensure that the franchise can meet current and future demands. However, some senior managers in the franchise believe that HR should focus only on administration of traditional HR activities such as recruiting, payroll, benefits, and these managers refuse to include HR in business conversations. As a result, many HR staff have adopted a strict policy enforcement role that has only made it more difficult for the HR department to make the transition. An HR manager is tasked with identifying ways to expand the role of the HR function in the organization and aligning it with business strategy. The HR manager is also charged with presenting an HR transformation plan to the executive leadership team. Which action should the HR manager take to align the HR department's function with the organization's strategy?

Recommend to executive leadership that they invite HR staff to strategic planning meetings.

A VP of HR has responsibility for multiple manufacturing sites and is responsible for teams of HR managers and generalists that support each location. One evening, an HR generalist tells the VP of HR that when the HR generalist returned from dinner break, the HR office appeared to have been ransacked. The HR generalist reports that after checking camera footage, security personnel reached the conclusion that the site HR manager had done the damage before leaving the facility. The VP knows that the site HR manager has a volatile personality and has been counseled about it previously. What is the first step the VP should take before proceeding to the factory?

Call security to notify them of the VP's pending arrival and request to meet to review the surveillance coverage.

The CEO of a sales company hires an HR consultant to assess the company's organizational structure, operating model, and culture due to declining sales, increasing expenses, and workforce environment challenges. The CEO asks the consultant to share the results with key stakeholders to gain support for the recommended changes. Because the company has little market competition, the CEO thinks the company's poor results stem from company-based issues and its inability to leverage its robust IT infrastructure. The HR consultant analyzes the company's financial statements and business processes and confidentially interviews every employee in the company to determine why the company is struggling. The consultant also works as an employee in every department in order to get a realistic understanding of how the company operates. The consultant's analysis reveals that the company has no mission statement, no company-wide or departmental goals, and no individual goals to hold employees accountable. Additionally, no formal recruitment, onboarding, or training procedures exist. The consultant thinks the poor results are caused by poorly trained sales representatives. Customer loyalty is strong; however, it is because of the low-cost products not easily found elsewhere. What is the critical first step the HR business consultant should do to determine the return on investment (ROI) of a new sales training program?

Call several vendors to gather more information regarding training outcomes, price, and schedule.

An HR manager receives a memo from a department director for termination of a groundskeeping employee. The company's recreational vehicle resort is at the same location as company headquarters. The terminated employee works and lives at the resort, and has no prior record of performance issues in his 10 year career. . The memo states that the director terminated the employee yesterday for gross misconduct. The groundskeeper was working in the heat all morning and then informed the director he was going home for lunch. Later the groundskeeper radioed the director that he was running late in returning from lunch. Subsequent communications led to the director sending a student worker to the employee's trailer to pick him up and return to the office. Upon their return, the groundskeeper smelled of alcohol, and the student worker reported to the director that the intoxicated groundskeeper offered the under-aged student worker a beer, which was refused. The student worker stressed that she did not want to get the groundskeeper in any trouble; however, the groundskeeper insisted that he be allowed to drive the golf cart back to the office after drinking beer, which made the student feel uncomfortable. The HR manager reviews the memo and decides to contact the director. Which approach should the HR manager pursue next?

Call the director and ask for details about what happened.

How can the hiring and recruitment process be designed to promote feelings of inclusion in candidates who do their first round of interviews using videoconferencing?

Candidates virtually meet with a wide range of people at the organization.

A restaurant chain located in multiple regions with thousands of employees makes a policy change in its payment procedures. The new policy requires servers at sit-down restaurants to take table orders from patrons and collect payment before the meal is brought to the table instead of after the food is served and consumed. A few months after implementation, several customers file complaints of unfair treatment, alleging that servers are being selective and not all guests are asked to pay for their meal immediately after the order is placed. An investigation by the VP of HR reveals that indeed not all employees are following the new protocol, resulting in different service experiences. The VP of HR identifies a critical, immediate need for training to mitigate risk related to any future allegations of unfair treatment of guests. The company's president is in agreement with the idea. However, she will support only a limited financial contribution for the training. The VP of HR shares the purpose of the training, the time line, and key deliverables during an HR team meeting. The team expresses concerns about the nonnegotiable, short time frame, the total number of employees to be trained, and the impact on other initiatives in progress. What is the best course of action for the VP of HR to take to ensure high employee engagement during the retraining?

Certify the HR managers to deliver the training.

Which best illustrates the principle of sustainability in the workplace?

Changes to a headquarters location are weighed against the effects on stakeholders.

A workplace survey reflects dissatisfaction with an organization's current mediation process since too many problems seem to be unresolved. Which approach will create more accountability and closure to the complaint process?

Chosen officer

An HR manager is training managers on team leadership. Which one of these tips will reduce unnecessary conflict within the managers' teams?

Clarify goals, expectations, and ground rules for team behavior.

Which is the most effective organizational policy on the use of social media?

Clarify prohibitions for social media behavior in the handbook or code of conduct.

A manufacturing organization is in the decline phase of its life cycle. The organization's largest customer has notified the CEO that it plans to withdraw its business over the next two years. The CEO and his staff must consider options to replace the lost revenue related to this customer account. The company's employees are nervous and uncertain about their future. Two options are quickly identified to replace the expected loss of revenue. Option 1 is to develop a new product that could be manufactured and delivered in one week while the competition delivers product in six weeks. To compete successfully with this approach, the company would also need to design an order entry system so customers could place orders online. This strategy requires engineering to design the product line. It also requires IT staff to design the software and customer portals, marketing and sales to develop sales literature and pricing models, manufacturing to prepare for production, and HR to develop the workforce plan. Option 2 would be to acquire a struggling competitor and quickly turn that company around. The CEO has asked the HR manager to assess possible HR issues for both of these options. During this time of change and uncertainty for the organization, what should the HR manager do to encourage retention of key employees?

Clearly communicate job expectations and ensure that employees have adequate resources to perform their work.

What has become a popular solution to the problem of the volume of data created by big data strategies?

Cloud computing

What document is a formal statement describing a company's principles and the business practices?-

Code of conduct

A strategic project meets the defined objectives but is unsuccessful in its impact to the strategy. Which action in the project planning process has the project manager overlooked?

Collaboration and agreement on how the project purpose supports the overall strategy

The owner of a small sales company approaches the HR manager to discuss annual promotion decisions. Due to the company's small size and limited budget, only a few employees are promoted to a supervisory role each year. Promotions result in employees receiving increased responsibility and increased salary. The owner tells the HR manager that the owner wants to promote an employee who was hired six months ago. The new employee has been performing at a high level, and the owner believes the employee has demonstrated leadership potential. However, the owner is concerned about accusations of favoritism because the owner has also become close friends with the new employee. This especially concerns the owner because other employees at the company would receive negative promotion decisions despite having more tenure with the company. The owner worries that more-tenured employees may decide to leave the company if they are not promoted. The owner wants the HR manager to decide whether to promote the employee who was hired six months ago. What should the HR manager do?

Collect 360-degree feedback on the new employee to ensure that the employee is a high performer.

If an organization has a culture that fits best with the transactional leadership model, which personal leadership quality will be the hardest to develop?

Comfort with risk taking

Which action can be taken by HR to help prevent industrial actions?

Communicating the perspective of employees to management

Which obstacles to accomplishing a successful change to a new enterprise management system are unique to a global firm?

Communication difficulties across borders and time zones

Several employees have contacted the HR department multiple times about the company's lack of environmentally sustainable practices. In particular, employees have suggested that the company use reusable containers and utensils at official company events instead of plastic bottles and cups. Employees have provided alternative solutions, such as a cost estimate of a reusable liquid container with the company logo. Each time, the HR specialists have politely thanked the employees for their input but have not taken any specific action to avoid having to change contracts with the long-term vendor of supplies. At a recent company meeting, plastic cups and plates were used to serve refreshments and snacks. One of the employees who had been contacting the HR department was at the meeting. Upon seeing the plastic materials, the employee became very upset, expressed criticism for the company not taking any action, and left the meeting. The HR manager is put in charge of looking into environmentally friendly practices as well as resolving the conflict with this employee. The HR manager wants to investigate whether the recommendations made by the employees are reasonable actions for the company. Which should the HR manager do?

Compare the long-term financial savings between purchasing reusable items versus disposable items.

A small division of a company lacks a formal compensation structure for employees. Due to recent recruitment and retention challenges, the division recognizes the need to review newly hired and existing employees' pay rates to ensure market competitiveness and internal equity among staff. For a number of years, the division has lacked human resources support and relied upon the general managers to determine initial pay rates for new hires as well as promotional rates for internal staff based on the amount of hours worked and the employee's attendance record. No pay ranges currently exist, and leaders have the discretion to pay whatever fits within their budget. On occasion, a human resources representative from another division has offered general advice on pay practices to the division's leadership. However, they have their own divisional responsibilities, and therefore there has been very little oversight. The divisional president is considering whether or not to bring in a contract human resources leader to research, design, and implement an appropriate pay structure for all positions. What should the human resources leader do to establish new pay ranges?

Compare, contrast, and analyze multiple different benchmark data sources to design a new wage structure that is best for the division.

During an accident investigation, an HR manager determines that the injured employee could not read the safety data sheet (SDS). The manager reviews the company's training database and discovers that 10% to 15% of the current employees possess poor reading comprehension and cannot read the lockout/tagout (LOTO) procedures for machinery or the MSDS for hazardous chemicals. Upon further investigation, the HR manager learns that these employees regularly ask coworkers for assistance with LOTO and MSDS. Fortunately the company has not had a major catastrophic injury or death related to these areas, although a review of historic data on employee injury rates indicates a high percentage of minor injuries involving chemical burns and skin abrasions. These injuries have resulted in a higher-than-average experience modification rate that has adversely impacted the company's workers' compensation insurance premiums. The HR manager decides to develop a reading literacy program to provide coaching and tutoring to raise the reading and comprehension levels for all employees, soliciting a local educational institution to develop these reading courses. Which criteria should the HR manager use to justify the proposed reading improvement program?

Comparison of on-the-job injury rates for employees whose reading levels are below the national average to the rates for employees at or above the national average.

Which best describes the situation most likely to use a narrow span of control?

Complexity of tasks

To attract talented university students, a public accounting firm offers an internship program to students who have completed 75% of their coursework. If a student is successful during the internship, the firm offers the student a position after graduation and provides opportunities for the student to study for the industry licensure exam. The firm pays for the exam and provides additional compensation once the student successfully completes the exam. For the past several years, the firm has seen an increasing rate of turnover among newly licensed employees. While it is common in the industry for employees to leave public accounting after they are licensed, the firm is losing many of its licensed employees to competitors. The high rate of turnover is negatively affecting the firm's performance. The HR manager has been charged with reducing the number of employees leaving for competitive firms as quickly and efficiently as possible. The accounting firm's leadership team requests information on the reasons employees stay. What should the HR manager do to respond to the leadership team's request?

Conduct a focus group with a random sample of employees to find out the reasons they stay with the organization.

The owner of a small start-up company has highly compensated employees but no benefits package. As the organization and staff grows, the owner is pressured to implement a benefits package in addition to direct compensation. The owner is not knowledgeable about benefits, and has made the decision to hire an HR generalist to handle benefits and other HR functions. The HR generalist's first priority is to make recommendations about a benefits package that will attract and retain top talent while being fiscally responsible. The growth plan for the organization is to grow globally and engage in a global recruitment, selection, and hiring strategy. The HR generalist needs to create a total compensation package that will be relevant in all locations globally. The benefits package was implemented 1 year ago and the HR generalist has been asked by the owner to provide feedback regarding the success of the package. Which is the best first step to provide this feedback?

Conduct a gap analysis and a utilization review

A clothing retail company in business for over three years has three locations in a popular beach resort area. There are similar retailers in the same area competing for both the customers and labor pool. Recently the company has had extensive growth due to a new clothing design, however, employees are leaving within 90 days of hire. This turnover is now affecting customer satisfaction and increasing the workload on the remaining staff. Most of the management staff started as sales floor employees and received little to no management training. One of the key criteria used in promoting staff is their success on the sales floor, leading to complaints of internal selection unfairness. Recent exit interviews suggest low morale, poor leadership, and lack of work/life balance as the top three reasons for leaving the company. Knowing that there are plans to launch two new product lines in the near future, the CEO has asked the HR director to find a new vendor to provide new employee orientation. Twenty companies have submitted proposals, and the CEO wants a short list in the next two days. Based on the current turnover and lack of management training, what should the HR director do first as part of a needs analysis?

Conduct a job analysis for all management positions to ensure that job descriptions and specifications are appropriate

A company's rapid growth is resulting in demand to hire new team members. Recognizing the need to ensure that the right talent is brought into the company, a newly hired HR director implements a more structured hiring process to assess applicants' skills, compensation needs, and culture fit. However, many managers do not support the new hiring process, claiming it slows down the hiring cycle. In addition, the managers believe that the initial salary and bonus recommendations resulting from HR's recently updated compensation structures are not reflective of market demand. The managers claim this situation is causing candidates to decline their offers of employment. How should the HR director address the managers' resistance to using a more structured hiring process?

Conduct a management training session to explain the business needs driving the process changes.

After the merger of two business entities, the new VP of HR would like the benefits manager to develop a plan to address six different post-merger vacation policies, each with slightly different criteria and provisions. Pressured by one of the business heads to prevent a power struggle among the new leadership, the benefits manager must decide if the organization should try to harmonize the policies from the merged entities or let them continue to coexist. The benefits manager decides to hold focus groups with employees currently covered by the different policies. What should the benefits manager do to ensure that this is a productive tactic?

Conduct mixed but balanced focus groups with a trained facilitator.

The owner of a small sales company approaches the HR manager to discuss annual promotion decisions. Due to the company's small size and limited budget, only a few employees are promoted to a supervisory role each year. Promotions result in employees receiving increased responsibility and increased salary. The owner tells the HR manager that the owner wants to promote an employee who was hired six months ago. The new employee has been performing at a high level, and the owner believes the employee has demonstrated leadership potential. However, the owner is concerned about accusations of favoritism because the owner has also become close friends with the new employee. This especially concerns the owner because other employees at the company would receive negative promotion decisions despite having more tenure with the company. The owner worries that more-tenured employees may decide to leave the company if they are not promoted. The owner asks the HR manager how to retain longer-tenured employees who do not get promoted. What should the HR manager recommend?

Conduct stay interviews to determine why longer-tenured employees have stayed at the company over time.

A department manager contacts HR to discuss a situation involving a schedule change that was initiated for an employee three months ago. The employee has a medical condition and possibly needs surgery, and he requested the a change to his schedule until a decision can be made by his health-care provider. HR was not involved in the initial request. Other staff members are now becoming upset as this accommodation is causing an issue in the department. With no end date set, the manager is not certain of the status of the medical condition. The manager does not believe that the employee has a plan and therefore wants to reassign or terminate the employee. HR has been contacted for guidance on how to handle this situation. How can HR best manage future requests for modified schedules due to medical needs?

Coordinate an interactive meeting with HR, the manager, and the employee to review the request.

An HR manager is asked by the Vice President of HR to define and implement a simulation-based assessment center that uses specially trained observers to rate each candidate's performance. The need is to assess which employees have potential for promotion into management. The VP of HR is familiar with this practice, having used the technique in a prior company, and she sees the assessment center as a best practice innovation. The VP of HR is new and comes from a large but entirely domestic organization with an aging workforce. Her new company is a global organization with eight operations located around the world. It is highly diverse in terms of ethnicity, and the average worker is probably 15 to 20 years younger than the VP of HR is used to. In researching methodologies, the HR manager stumbles onto an online assessment system that requires no trainers and raters, takes 75% less time to complete than the assessment center process, and has higher validity and reliability as an assessment technique. What should the HR manager do with the information they have uncovered?

Create a business case including cost-benefit analyses of both options.

To attract talented university students, a public accounting firm offers an internship program to students who have completed 75% of their coursework. If a student is successful during the internship, the firm offers the student a position after graduation and provides opportunities for the student to study for the industry licensure exam. The firm pays for the exam and provides additional compensation once the student successfully completes the exam. For the past several years, the firm has seen an increasing rate of turnover among newly licensed employees. While it is common in the industry for employees to leave public accounting after they are licensed, the firm is losing many of its licensed employees to competitors. The high rate of turnover is negatively affecting the firm's performance. The HR manager has been charged with reducing the number of employees leaving for competitive firms as quickly and efficiently as possible. What should the HR manager do to get buy-in from the accounting firm's leadership team to implement employee retention initiatives?

Create a business case that supports how the retention initiatives will reduce turnover.

The owner of a small sales company approaches the HR manager to discuss annual promotion decisions. Due to the company's small size and limited budget, only a few employees are promoted to a supervisory role each year. Promotions result in employees receiving increased responsibility and increased salary. The owner tells the HR manager that the owner wants to promote an employee who was hired six months ago. The new employee has been performing at a high level, and the owner believes the employee has demonstrated leadership potential. However, the owner is concerned about accusations of favoritism because the owner has also become close friends with the new employee. This especially concerns the owner because other employees at the company would receive negative promotion decisions despite having more tenure with the company. The owner worries that more-tenured employees may decide to leave the company if they are not promoted. Promotion decisions are currently made by the owner and are based on quarterly ratings of overall performance. What should the HR manager recommend to improve how promotion decisions are made?

Create a list of behavioral performance standards to evaluate promotion candidates.

A company has an outdated applicant tracking system, which upper management has been reluctant to replace. The HR department has had great difficulty managing the large number of applicants with this system. Many hiring-related tasks that the system is incapable of handling have been carried out manually. This has led to administrative errors, delay in application processing, and miscommunication for internal applicants. One day, the HR manager receives a call from an internal applicant who had applied for a position a month ago. This applicant immediately received an email from the HR department about scheduling next steps in the selection process but has not heard back since. During the phone call, the HR manager looks into the tracking system to find that this applicant had been screened out due to not being a good fit with the position, and the initial email had been sent due to an administrative error. The HR manager communicates this to the applicant. The HR manager wants to ensure that employees understand the application process and timeline. Which should the HR manager do?

Create a standardized response email for inquiries that outlines the application timeline from when internal applications are submitted.

The CEO of a sales company hires an HR consultant to assess the company's organizational structure, operating model, and culture due to declining sales, increasing expenses, and workforce environment challenges. The CEO asks the consultant to share the results with key stakeholders to gain support for the recommended changes. Because the company has little market competition, the CEO thinks the company's poor results stem from company-based issues and its inability to leverage its robust IT infrastructure. The HR consultant analyzes the company's financial statements and business processes and confidentially interviews every employee in the company to determine why the company is struggling. The consultant also works as an employee in every department in order to get a realistic understanding of how the company operates. The consultant's analysis reveals that the company has no mission statement, no company-wide or departmental goals, and no individual goals to hold employees accountable. Additionally, no formal recruitment, onboarding, or training procedures exist. The consultant thinks the poor results are caused by poorly trained sales representatives. Customer loyalty is strong; however, it is because of the low-cost products not easily found elsewhere. What course of action should the HR business consultant recommend that the CEO take when creating new goals for the company's employees?

Create detailed annual goals that are relevant to the company's mission and that can be aligned with the company's performance management system.

Which growth strategy is commonly used to accelerate the path to globalization?

Creating alliances

A clothing retail company in business for over three years has three locations in a popular beach resort area. There are similar retailers in the same area competing for both the customers and labor pool. Recently the company has had extensive growth due to a new clothing design, however, employees are leaving within 90 days of hire. This turnover is now affecting customer satisfaction and increasing the workload on the remaining staff. Most of the management staff started as sales floor employees and received little to no management training. One of the key criteria used in promoting staff is their success on the sales floor, leading to complaints of internal selection unfairness. Recent exit interviews suggest low morale, poor leadership, and lack of work/life balance as the top three reasons for leaving the company. Knowing that there are plans to launch two new product lines in the near future, the CEO has asked the HR director to find a new vendor to provide new employee orientation. Twenty companies have submitted proposals, and the CEO wants a short list in the next two days. Which steps should the HR director take to develop a short list of possible training vendors?

Determine, with the CEO, key criteria that should be considered, using this information to narrow the search

The critical care unit (CCU) at a large, reputable hospital is understaffed for registered nurse positions. Traditionally, there is a series of career hurdles a nurse must overcome to assume a role in the hospital's CCU, but it's essential for the hospital to have these positions filled. The CCU's head nurse, who directs nursing service activities for unit patients, has approached the hospital's HR manager with these staffing concerns and needs. In addition to presenting the HR manager with the current staffing problem, the head nurse recommends a strategy to staff the unit. The strategy described by the head nurse includes creating a pilot program where internal nurses, working in other departments with translatable skill sets, can enroll in an accelerated critical care course. Once those nurses successfully complete the accelerated course, they will be offered positions in the hospital's CCU. The head nurse tells the HR manager that both the organization and nurses would benefit from a program like this because it is an opportunity for career development and fulfills an organizational need. Additionally, this would reduce the burden on current CCU nurses who are overworked and experiencing burnout. While meeting with the HR manager, the head nurse mentions that there is a shortage of health-care professionals globally. Which action should the HR manager take to recruit and retain more competitively after learning this information?

Develop a long-term staffing plan for all health-care positions at the hospital.

A company has experienced a high degree of turnover during the past year. Senior leadership is concerned about the amount of turnover and worried that HR is not moving fast enough to fill these positions. The hiring managers say that the applicant pools have been weak lately and they have had trouble finding qualified applicants to hire from within the pools HR provides. HR has relied heavily on recruiting by word of mouth, which in the past has generated applicants that fit the company's culture. The award for referrals that result in hiring has also been popular with employees. What would be the most effective step to avoid unwanted turnover in the future?

Develop and administer an employee satisfaction survey that solicits candid feedback about employee perceptions.

An employee who holds a critical position in the company sustains a back injury on the job and is temporarily unable to continue working. To avoid a loss of income, the employee uses all available personal leave, adding up to 12 weeks. After the 12 weeks of leave, the employee has only been cleared by a doctor to work with physical restrictions and will not be assessed again for three months. The employee makes an appointment with the HR manager to discuss options for returning to work. The employee expresses concern about running out of personal leave and how this will impact the employee's income. How should the HR manager respond?

Discuss other available positions the employee could apply for with physical restrictions.

A mid-sized company has a strict attendance policy stating that any absence of three days or more without contact from the employee is considered job abandonment and the employee is subject to termination. The organization has experienced significant growth over the years, and the increase in the employee population has prompted stricter policies, which some staff view as unnecessarily controlling. One manager's best employee has been absent without contact for four days and calls in. The employee indicates he had some unexpected personal problems involving his teenage child. The employee did not call earlier due to being distraught, occupied with the situation, and also a bit embarrassed. According to the policy, the employee must be terminated, but the manager is reluctant to do so because this is the department's best employee. This is the first violation, and the serious family issues could escalate if the employee is terminated. Senior leadership has recently taken a tough stance on consistently adhering to company policies and practices due to complaints of favoritism. The manager is hesitant to go to HR for fear they will recommend termination. Instead the manager seeks counsel from a member of the senior leadership team who is a relative and who supports the decision to not terminate the employee. When the employee is not terminated, an anonymous complaint is filed via the employee hotline system. It alleges discrimination and favoritism; there is also a comment about too many new policies. The employee is named, and the complainant demands that other employees terminated under the no-call, no-show policy be reinstated. The protocol requires that HR review all discrimination complaints. Which next step should HR take to address the allegations that a member of senior leadership advised against following a company policy?

Discuss the claim directly with the President and provide an overview of the incident, with a recommendation for holding both the manager and the senior leader accountable.

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.

What is a key employer responsibility under the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Act?

Display the OSHA poster in a conspicuous place where it can be seen by all employees.

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.

A clothing retail company in business for over three years has three locations in a popular beach resort area. There are similar retailers in the same area competing for both the customers and labor pool. Recently the company has had extensive growth due to a new clothing design, however, employees are leaving within 90 days of hire. This turnover is now affecting customer satisfaction and increasing the workload on the remaining staff. Most of the management staff started as sales floor employees and received little to no management training. One of the key criteria used in promoting staff is their success on the sales floor, leading to complaints of internal selection unfairness. Recent exit interviews suggest low morale, poor leadership, and lack of work/life balance as the top three reasons for leaving the company. Knowing that there are plans to launch two new product lines in the near future, the CEO has asked the HR director to find a new vendor to provide new employee orientation. Twenty companies have submitted proposals, and the CEO wants a short list in the next two days. An applicant from a local competitor has offered to give the HR director information on the competitor's salary and benefits upon hire. Which action should the HR director take in response to this offer?

Do not hire the candidate, indicating that the company does not participate in unethical behavior

Which question would be most appropriate in an employee opinion survey?

Does your supervisor administer the overtime policy in a consistent manner?

An employer with a unionized workplace wants to offer employees gift cards for reporting on a recent union meeting. How should HR advise the employer?

Don't. This would be an unfair labor practice.

When are HR mission statements, goals, and objectives created?

During HR strategic planning

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.

Dynamic presentation that focuses only on key points

Which reward could create job dissatisfaction rather than job satisfaction?

Employee A can go to a training event, but only if Employee B succeeds in getting all of her people certified.

What does OSHA's General Duty Clause mandate?

Employers must provide a work environment free of recognized hazards to safety.

Which is an advantage of using a chosen officer in alternative dispute resolution (ADR)?

Empowering employees

During a team meeting, one member is dominating the discussion while others are quietly listening. What should the manager leading the meeting do?

Encourage participation from less active team members by asking questions of those team members.

To reduce security concerns with increased internet use, which practice should HR enact?

Encrypting employee computers and network communications

A company's rapid growth is resulting in demand to hire new team members. Recognizing the need to ensure that the right talent is brought into the company, a newly hired HR director implements a more structured hiring process to assess applicants' skills, compensation needs, and culture fit. However, many managers do not support the new hiring process, claiming it slows down the hiring cycle. In addition, the managers believe that the initial salary and bonus recommendations resulting from HR's recently updated compensation structures are not reflective of market demand. The managers claim this situation is causing candidates to decline their offers of employment. Which action should the HR director take to best ensure that the company's compensation structures are competitive?

Engage a third-party consulting firm to do a full analysis of job types and associated compensation structures.

How should an HR leader best address HR as a cost center?

Ensure that HR services are aligned to the organizational strategy

What is a practical way to develop the credibility of HR staff as data advocates?

Ensure that the results of all HR activities are measured.

How should an HR professional best work with other leaders to achieve an employee-friendly, non-unionized workplace?

Ensure that two-way feedback mechanisms are encouraged.

Which is the best first step when conducting a preemployment background check?

Ensuring that there is a signed release from the candidate

A talented prospective employee who was impressed by the company website is surprised by disorganization and delays at the initial interview. Which is the likely impact to the employee value proposition?

Eroding credibility

It is estimated that one-third of Fortune 500 CEOs have remained in their positions fewer than three years. Which does this indicate about executive development?

Executives have the knowledge and intellect to succeed but lack the people skills to build teams or maintain productive relationships.0

A talent sourcing strategist at a retail corporation is charged with building and maintaining external relationships with colleges and universities to ensure that the corporation has a strong talent pipeline. To avoid conflicts of interest, corporate policy forbids talent sourcing strategists from having personal relationships with college or university staff. An HR specialist files a formal grievance stating that the talent sourcing strategist is engaged in a personal relationship with an admissions coordinator at a university. During the ongoing formal internal investigation, the HR director discovers that the admissions coordinator is employed by the university that provides the most recruits compared to all other academic partners. What should the HR director do to develop a more diversified recruitment strategy?

Expand relationships with new universities to broaden the university network.

A recent employee satisfaction survey indicated that 83% of respondents were satisfied with their jobs. The CEO believes that employee engagement initiatives have met expectations and that money budgeted for additional employee engagement efforts should be shifted to other projects. Which is the best way to respond?

Explain that employee engagement is about performance outcomes not always reflected in survey results, so initiatives should continue.

In his initial meeting with the HR team, a newly hired HR director hears several concerns relating to the organization's talent acquisition process including inconsistent questions, different decision-making criteria, and a lack of diversity across departments. The HR director believes these concerns, as he experienced several questionable actions during his own hiring. The HR team is not confident that the organization is hiring the best people, but each department believes its hiring approach is effective and show no interest in trying a new approach. After confirming that an absence of diversity is an issue in certain departments, which next step should the HR director take

Explain to interviewers and managers why diversity among employees is good for business.

An HR manager works for a large university. One day, an adult student comes in to claim sexual harassment by a married professor. A week later, another student comes in with a similar claim. Both students are currently in classes taught by the professor. University policy prohibits relationships between employees and students who they teach. Punishment for violation of the policy is determined by the dean of the academic division. While talking to the second student, the HR manager discovers that the students have coordinated their stories. The second student admits that both relationships were consensual and no sexual harassment occurred. Once it was discovered the professor was having multiple affairs, both of the students felt betrayed. The professor's spouse contacts the HR manager and requests that no adverse action be taken against the professor because the professor is in the country on a work visa sponsored by the university. How should the HR manager respond? Answers

Explain to the spouse that the HR manager is not at liberty to disclose information.

A company of office workers has an informal culture of maintaining the status quo in that many employees adequately perform job tasks to satisfy the bare minimum requirements. If employees complete their tasks early, they often stay at their desks to give the impression of working but are actually engaging in non-work-related activities. Instead of collaborating across departments to improve the quality of work and increase knowledge sharing, employees focus on completing their own tasks. Some supervisors are aware of this behavior, but most supervisors do not work in close proximity to their employees and are primarily focused on results. One day, the HR manager notices the administrative assistant using a craft machine to work on a personal project during work hours. The HR manager learns that the administrative assistant comes from a cultural background that differs from that of most other employees. Which step is most effective for the HR manager to take in conveying performance expectations to the administrative assistant?

Explain why the administrative assistant should not be working on a personal project during work hours.

The HR manager detected a higher number of employees leaving within the first 30 days. After conducting exit surveys, the HR manager determined that new hires weren't receiving sufficient training and did not feel part of the team. What action should the HR manager and supervisor take to improve retention?

Formal onboarding

What stage of the strategic planning process is a SWOT analysis performed?

Formulation

Which onboarding activity would be the best way to help a management new hire understand and navigate the cultural and political landscape of the organization during the first 90 days on the job?

Fostering organizational relationships and providing frequent opportunities for open discussions

A recently promoted HR manager is transferred to a remote facility, due to several complaints of inappropriate behavior and favoritism between the plant manager and the former HR manager. The complaints range from allegations of an affair between the two to poor performance and stealing company property. The head office leaders are highly sensitive to creating an ethical culture and have asked that the new HR manager report back on any discovered issues with the plant manager. This makes the HR manager uncomfortable, because she is trying her best to balance developing a relationship with the plant manager with trying to complete the investigation. The new HR manager begins an investigation and learns that the plant manager believes two female employees in the accounting department reported the theft and the affair. When the HR manager speaks with these employees, they share the belief that they are being retaliated against. Although they were rated as above-average performers, they have been given only minimal wage increases. The investigation identified theft of a number of items by the plant manager. The items are not expensive, but their value is not minor. Additionally, it was learned that the plant manager is actively undermining the new HR manager's authority by telling all managers to ignore any HR recommendations. What steps should the HR manager take to address the direction by the plant manager to ignore HR's recommendations?

Further investigate the statements to determine the full context of the situation before taking action.

An HR consultant wants to recommend implementing a quality-oriented strategy that will increase revenue for the organization. Which would be the best first step to implementing the strategy?

Gain management commitment to necessary investments and changes.

An organization is researching labor costs for similar operations and projections by a government labor agency on the availability of certain types of skilled employees. What stage of the workforce analysis process is the organization completing?

Gap

The owner of a small start-up company has highly compensated employees but no benefits package. As the organization and staff grows, the owner is pressured to implement a benefits package in addition to direct compensation. The owner is not knowledgeable about benefits, and has made the decision to hire an HR generalist to handle benefits and other HR functions. The HR generalist's first priority is to make recommendations about a benefits package that will attract and retain top talent while being fiscally responsible. The growth plan for the organization is to grow globally and engage in a global recruitment, selection, and hiring strategy. The HR generalist needs to create a total compensation package that will be relevant in all locations globally. The HR generalist is charged with recommending a benefits package that will attract and retain talent. How should they begin the process?

Gather data through a needs assessment to identify what benefits are needed and match them to the overall organizational strategy

At the request of senior management, an HR manager is assigned to solve a problem with a critical product development team. The manager has little information other than the fact that the team has fallen significantly behind schedule and the project leader is inexperienced. What should the HR manager do first?

Gather information through interviews and observation of the team at work.

Which statement characterizes globalization?

Global markets, economies, and technologies are increasingly interconnected

HR has defined key groups of employees who possess certain characteristics and abilities that are closely aligned with the organization's strategy. What effect will this have on the organization's staffing and compensation strategies?

Greater clarity in compensation decisions

Which is considered a "pull" factor in attracting organizations toward globalization?

Greater strategic control

What term refers to a company building a new global location from the ground up?

Greenfield operation

Which court case established the criteria for disparate impact?

Griggs v. Duke Power

A business partner is leading an employee committee tasked with developing a program of employee appreciation events. Two of the committee members are embroiled in what has become personal antagonism. The two committee members interrupt each other during meetings and are rude in front of the others. How could the business partner have best avoided this situation?

Ground rules for behavior in meetings should have been established at the first meeting.

A mid-sized company has a strict attendance policy stating that any absence of three days or more without contact from the employee is considered job abandonment and the employee is subject to termination. The organization has experienced significant growth over the years, and the increase in the employee population has prompted stricter policies, which some staff view as unnecessarily controlling. One manager's best employee has been absent without contact for four days and calls in. The employee indicates he had some unexpected personal problems involving his teenage child. The employee did not call earlier due to being distraught, occupied with the situation, and also a bit embarrassed. According to the policy, the employee must be terminated, but the manager is reluctant to do so because this is the department's best employee. This is the first violation, and the serious family issues could escalate if the employee is terminated. Senior leadership has recently taken a tough stance on consistently adhering to company policies and practices due to complaints of favoritism. The manager is hesitant to go to HR for fear they will recommend termination. Instead the manager seeks counsel from a member of the senior leadership team who is a relative and who supports the decision to not terminate the employee. When the employee is not terminated, an anonymous complaint is filed via the employee hotline system. It alleges discrimination and favoritism; there is also a comment about too many new policies. The employee is named, and the complainant demands that other employees terminated under the no-call, no-show policy be reinstated. The protocol requires that HR review all discrimination complaints. Which is the first course of action HR should take?

HR should inform the president of the issue and partner with her on the next steps for corrective action.

HR has been approved to expend financial and staffing resources for the upcoming fiscal year on a staffing plan. Who would likely be chosen to participate in the plan development and implementation?

HR staff member with 17 years' experience who has participated in job analyses for many of the jobs

Engagement drivers differ from country to country, making it important to understand cultural differences that may influence survey results. In a multinational organization, in which type of culture may employee surveys be less acceptable?

Hierarchical

During the yearly performance and sales review at an organization, an HR manager realizes that the sales goal and bonus structure could potentially incentivize individuals to move closings from one quarter to the next as needed to meet quarterly sales goals. Leadership, mid-level management, and the salespeople have different bonus structures-annually for leadership, quarterly for mid-level managers, and monthly for salespeople. This has created a disconnect between the different groups and created different motivations. The HR manager presents an analysis of the data to the CEO. The CEO determines that, while this bonus structure may have worked in the past, it needs to be changed and the bonus structure of the different groups needs to be aligned. She tasks the HR manager with crafting a new bonus structure and implementing it after she has approved it. What should the HR manager do first to create a bonus structure that is compatible with organizational goals and drives employee performance?

Hire an outside organization to conduct a remuneration survey of competitors and their bonus structure.

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.

An HR manager works for a large university. One day, an adult student comes in to claim sexual harassment by a married professor. A week later, another student comes in with a similar claim. Both students are currently in classes taught by the professor. University policy prohibits relationships between employees and students who they teach. Punishment for violation of the policy is determined by the dean of the academic division. While talking to the second student, the HR manager discovers that the students have coordinated their stories. The second student admits that both relationships were consensual and no sexual harassment occurred. Once it was discovered the professor was having multiple affairs, both of the students felt betrayed. Which action should the HR manager take to discourage inappropriate professor-student relationships in the future?

Hold regular faculty and staff training on sexual harassment and university policies.

Which can best be used in the evaluation of the outcomes of a compliance program?

How willing the participants are to report issues of noncompliance

Which metric would most accurately show the effect of the investment in an HR change initiative to increase employee productivity?

Human capital value added

At a staffing agency, recruiters are facing a challenge in finding high-quality candidates. Additionally, the recruiters adhere to an unwritten rule that they should not contact candidates who have already worked with other recruiters within the agency. A new recruiter corresponds with a candidate who was previously in communication with a veteran recruiter. The two recruiters get into an argument, and the recruitment manager tries to intervene. The new recruiter claims not knowing about this unwritten rule and challenges the rule's efficacy. The veteran recruiter says that the unwritten rule is explained during the onboarding process. The agency implements a new initiative to increase the quality of candidates. How should the HR manager evaluate the effectiveness of the initiative?

Identify the number of successful placements before and after the initiative.

A business case to move to the cloud for information storage and enhanced web-based software has been approved.. This will represent a major cultural and process shift for the organization, and, to assist a transition plan has been communicated. The plan allows for a short period of transition, where paper files will continue alongside electronic files as use of the cloud software expands. The new technology also supports the ability for employees to work from home. Due to the nature of the work of the company , teams are an integral part of the culture. Leadership has assumed that teams will be able to work in the virtual world as easily as they do in person. The virtual world implementation is planned to begin following the successful implementation of the cloud storage procedures. To move to this future state, employees are told they cannot keep any company files or information on their own devices. In addition, employees are informed that they cannot take company information home in paper format. The organization leaves it to individual supervisors to communicate the changes to their direct reports. Six months after the implementation some employees continue to do the double work of maintaining both electronic and paper copies of documents and, in some cases, they are maintaining only paper files. The company has noticed a decrease in morale and missed deadlines. What should HR do to help complete total migration to the cloud-based software?

Identify those employees who are still using paper and set up small group training sessions.

The annual loss ratio for a company's health plan is 158%. The CHRO has been asked by the CEO to propose changes to the plan that will lower costs while retaining as many of the current benefits as possible. A review reveals that the dental and prescription drug coverage account for 84% of the plan's claims and that 3 of their 91 employees account for 73% of the claims. After reviewing a series of benefit options, the CHRO decides that the best option is a plan that doubles the deductibles on the dental and prescription benefits while also lowering the maximum reimbursement coverage by 25%. The CHRO makes a presentation outlining this suggestion to the company's executive committee. After a brief discussion of the rationale and the merits, the COO mentions that the company should announce the plan's changes to employees immediately. The CHRO responds that doing so would defeat the purpose of the changes. Without further discussion, the executive committee proceeds to vote and accept the changes to become effective upon plan renewal the following month. Two months after the introduction of the new plan, it is discovered that two employees made bulk prescription purchases (a six-month supply) one week prior to the changes in the benefit plan going into effect. The CHRO suspects a leak of the confidential information. Which is the best reason the company should remain with the benefit provider?

If benefit entitlements remain similar, finding and using a new benefit provider would not address the root cause as measured by the loss ratio.

A global company benchmarks against similar companies that have recently faced costly and embarrassing cybersecurity breaches resulting in the loss of customer confidence. In response, the CEO directs the IT department with enhancing data accuracy, security, and privacy. Additionally, Risk management is tasked with implementing improved governance, compliance monitoring, and enforcement parameters. Finally, HR is charged with strengthening procedures around acquisition of staff, policy creation, the code of ethics, and communication. The three departments all agree that employees must possess a work ethic, motivation, and integrity. How can HR best incorporate protective measures for the organization based on the CEO's mandate?

Implement a robust pre-employment screening process that combines background checks, non-disclosure agreement, and employment verification for any position with access to sensitive information.

An organization works on empowerment, accountability, courage, and humility as cultural fundamentals in order to instill psychological safety in its employees. What effect can such a culture help prevent?

Impostor syndrome

What type of business problem is solved most appropriately by using Six Sigma tools?

Improving quality

The annual loss ratio for a company's health plan is 158%. The CHRO has been asked by the CEO to propose changes to the plan that will lower costs while retaining as many of the current benefits as possible. A review reveals that the dental and prescription drug coverage account for 84% of the plan's claims and that 3 of their 91 employees account for 73% of the claims. After reviewing a series of benefit options, the CHRO decides that the best option is a plan that doubles the deductibles on the dental and prescription benefits while also lowering the maximum reimbursement coverage by 25%. The CHRO makes a presentation outlining this suggestion to the company's executive committee. After a brief discussion of the rationale and the merits, the COO mentions that the company should announce the plan's changes to employees immediately. The CHRO responds that doing so would defeat the purpose of the changes. Without further discussion, the executive committee proceeds to vote and accept the changes to become effective upon plan renewal the following month. Two months after the introduction of the new plan, it is discovered that two employees made bulk prescription purchases (a six-month supply) one week prior to the changes in the benefit plan going into effect. The CHRO suspects a leak of the confidential information. Why would announcing plan changes to employees in this way be problematic?

Incentivizing use just prior to a change could increase the loss ratio even further, requiring even more funding adjustments to make the plan sustainable

A mid-sized company has a strict attendance policy stating that any absence of three days or more without contact from the employee is considered job abandonment and the employee is subject to termination. The organization has experienced significant growth over the years, and the increase in the employee population has prompted stricter policies, which some staff view as unnecessarily controlling. One manager's best employee has been absent without contact for four days and calls in. The employee indicates he had some unexpected personal problems involving his teenage child. The employee did not call earlier due to being distraught, occupied with the situation, and also a bit embarrassed. According to the policy, the employee must be terminated, but the manager is reluctant to do so because this is the department's best employee. This is the first violation, and the serious family issues could escalate if the employee is terminated. Senior leadership has recently taken a tough stance on consistently adhering to company policies and practices due to complaints of favoritism. The manager is hesitant to go to HR for fear they will recommend termination. Instead the manager seeks counsel from a member of the senior leadership team who is a relative and who supports the decision to not terminate the employee. When the employee is not terminated, an anonymous complaint is filed via the employee hotline system. It alleges discrimination and favoritism; there is also a comment about too many new policies. The employee is named, and the complainant demands that other employees terminated under the no-call, no-show policy be reinstated. The protocol requires that HR review all discrimination complaints. Which would be the best way for HR to address the anonymous complaint?

Inform the employee and the manager that a complaint has been lodged and that there will be an internal investigation.

A global company benchmarks against similar companies that have recently faced costly and embarrassing cybersecurity breaches resulting in the loss of customer confidence. In response, the CEO directs the IT department with enhancing data accuracy, security, and privacy. Additionally, Risk management is tasked with implementing improved governance, compliance monitoring, and enforcement parameters. Finally, HR is charged with strengthening procedures around acquisition of staff, policy creation, the code of ethics, and communication. The three departments all agree that employees must possess a work ethic, motivation, and integrity. Where should the HR manager look to find potential employees with skills in cybersecurity?

Recruit former military Internet workers who are attracted by a higher level of pay and flexibility.

The owner of a small sales company approaches the HR manager to discuss annual promotion decisions. Due to the company's small size and limited budget, only a few employees are promoted to a supervisory role each year. Promotions result in employees receiving increased responsibility and increased salary. The owner tells the HR manager that the owner wants to promote an employee who was hired six months ago. The new employee has been performing at a high level, and the owner believes the employee has demonstrated leadership potential. However, the owner is concerned about accusations of favoritism because the owner has also become close friends with the new employee. This especially concerns the owner because other employees at the company would receive negative promotion decisions despite having more tenure with the company. The owner worries that more-tenured employees may decide to leave the company if they are not promoted. The owner wants to begin hiring more sales employees. The owner asks the HR manager to develop a new job ad because the current ad is outdated and does not detail current job duties and responsibilities. What should the HR manager do first to write the job ad?

Interview current sales employees about their job tasks.

An HR professional receives an anonymous tip alleging unethical practices on the part of a top-performing sales professional. The organization takes ethical issues very seriously. Which action should the HR professional take with regard to the allegations?

Investigate to establish any available factual information related to the allegation.

A company designs and manufactures sophisticated and unique components for satellites. Its product development process can take a decade. It forecasts steady growth and demand for designers and technicians. What strategy is the company most likely to use to meet its workforce needs?

Investing in developing and retaining knowledgeable and skilled employees

A restaurant chain located in multiple regions with thousands of employees makes a policy change in its payment procedures. The new policy requires servers at sit-down restaurants to take table orders from patrons and collect payment before the meal is brought to the table instead of after the food is served and consumed. A few months after implementation, several customers file complaints of unfair treatment, alleging that servers are being selective and not all guests are asked to pay for their meal immediately after the order is placed. An investigation by the VP of HR reveals that indeed not all employees are following the new protocol, resulting in different service experiences. The VP of HR identifies a critical, immediate need for training to mitigate risk related to any future allegations of unfair treatment of guests. The company's president is in agreement with the idea. However, she will support only a limited financial contribution for the training. The VP of HR shares the purpose of the training, the time line, and key deliverables during an HR team meeting. The team expresses concerns about the nonnegotiable, short time frame, the total number of employees to be trained, and the impact on other initiatives in progress. How should the VP of HR ensure the effectiveness of the training?

Invite HR managers and randomly selected employees to a pilot class and make adjustments based on their feedback.

How does communicating the guiding principles behind employee pay support an effective compensation philosophy?

It creates a framework for transparency.

How does the Global Integration-Local Responsiveness matrix aid HR in developing policies and determining staffing needs?

It defines HR's role at headquarters and subsidiaries

Which best describes how an organization's focus on diversity is a benefit to its recruitment efforts?

It enhances the employment brand to attract talent.

Which best describes common law?

It evolves over time through judicial decisions.

What approach is most characteristic of succession planning?

It focuses on long-term global issues.

Why is cross-cultural training critical for international assignees and their families?

It reduces the risk of failed assignments.

Which technique is critical to being a more active listener?

Keeping an open mind, recognizing that she may think differently after the conversation.

Which technology has the primary mission of sharing information in meaningful ways to augment employee performance?

Knowledge management systems

HR works with IT to develop policies and procedures for Internet use and social media posts on the organization's network. Which best describes the impact of this policy?

Limiting legal liability and ensuring data security

How can management best establish a culture that values career development in an individual development plan (IDP)?

Link career development to business objectives.

A global company benchmarks against similar companies that have recently faced costly and embarrassing cybersecurity breaches resulting in the loss of customer confidence. In response, the CEO directs the IT department with enhancing data accuracy, security, and privacy. Additionally, Risk management is tasked with implementing improved governance, compliance monitoring, and enforcement parameters. Finally, HR is charged with strengthening procedures around acquisition of staff, policy creation, the code of ethics, and communication. The three departments all agree that employees must possess a work ethic, motivation, and integrity. In order to determine the full scope of enterprise risk that exists, which areas should HR review in an IT audit?

Links between business and information strategy and business continuity

What is a key benefit of using a balanced scorecard at an organization?

Links short-term activities to long-term objectives

What describes a culture that prefers training activities that spell out details and use direct and logical communication?

Low-context

A company decides to lower payroll costs by hiring an organization to assume full responsibility for its IT department. What is this process called?

Managed services

A hospital director wants to identify the best candidate for head nurse among currently employed nurses. Which type of assessment would be most effective in evaluating candidates?

Manager assessment

Which work relationships are most closely tied to creating and sustaining employee engagement?

Manager-employee relationships

An elder care service organization is challenged with retention of staff. Recently the service director left the organization with little notice. HR wants to prepare for future unplanned vacancies to avoid any disruption in client services. What is the best way for HR to mitigate this risk?

Managers can cross-train a subordinate.

Which best identifies the impact of cognitive barriers on risk management?

Managers perceive risks in an outdated manner.

Which is the best method for an HR compensation manager to use to evaluate the jobs and salary ranges of the organization's key positions compared to those of its competitors?

Market-based evaluation to establish the worth of positions

What core business function is best suited in identifying competitive threats and revenue producing opportunities for a SWOT analysis?

Marketing and Sales

What skill could most improve an HR function's ability to manage change?

Mastery of complex communication means

An organization's HR department receives pressure from multiple different areas in the organization. Which HR structural alternative would work best for this organization?

Matrix

A company has reached a point of stability in its internal processes and ways of doing business. What stage of the life cycle characterizes this company?

Maturity

Which motivation theory appeals to an employee's need for achievement?

McClelland

During the yearly performance and sales review at an organization, an HR manager realizes that the sales goal and bonus structure could potentially incentivize individuals to move closings from one quarter to the next as needed to meet quarterly sales goals. Leadership, mid-level management, and the salespeople have different bonus structures-annually for leadership, quarterly for mid-level managers, and monthly for salespeople. This has created a disconnect between the different groups and created different motivations. The HR manager presents an analysis of the data to the CEO. The CEO determines that, while this bonus structure may have worked in the past, it needs to be changed and the bonus structure of the different groups needs to be aligned. She tasks the HR manager with crafting a new bonus structure and implementing it after she has approved it. Which would be the most effective way to communicate the new plan?

Meet first with managers and then with individual teams to discuss the new plan and its benefits.

The CEO of a small local company has decided that the organization needs to embrace a model of corporate social responsibility (CSR). Despite a formal strategy not being in place, the organization has been using the principles of CSR in certain circumstances. The CEO wants the HR manager to help lead the corporate change. This change involves mindset, planning, and helping everyone embrace the change. HR is not viewed as a true partner to the organization currently, so this will be a challenge. The CEO is seeking to create a company known for treating people well, operating in a sustainable manner, and giving to worthy causes. This change will be more noticeable in some departments than in others. Because of this, the CEO would like to start with a word-of-mouth campaign prior to a large company-wide announcement. The CEO wants the HR manager to put together a plan within two to four weeks that creates this low-key way to work toward the CSR culture for the organization. HR and the CEO discuss that it will be a long-term process for change to be fully implemented. The CEO understands this but wants a plan no later than one month from the meeting. What action should the HR manager take to influence the CEO about the difficulty in meeting the timeline?

Meet with the CEO to review essential portions of the project and the time line challenges.

A company has an outdated applicant tracking system, which upper management has been reluctant to replace. The HR department has had great difficulty managing the large number of applicants with this system. Many hiring-related tasks that the system is incapable of handling have been carried out manually. This has led to administrative errors, delay in application processing, and miscommunication for internal applicants. One day, the HR manager receives a call from an internal applicant who had applied for a position a month ago. This applicant immediately received an email from the HR department about scheduling next steps in the selection process but has not heard back since. During the phone call, the HR manager looks into the tracking system to find that this applicant had been screened out due to not being a good fit with the position, and the initial email had been sent due to an administrative error. The HR manager communicates this to the applicant. The HR manager discovers that the administrative error was caused by one of the company's HR specialists. What should the HR manager do to motivate the HR specialist to be more attentive when processing hiring-related tasks to prevent similar mistakes in the future?

Meet with the HR specialist to determine the root cause of the administrative error.

A VP of HR has responsibility for multiple manufacturing sites and is responsible for teams of HR managers and generalists that support each location. One evening, an HR generalist tells the VP of HR that when the HR generalist returned from dinner break, the HR office appeared to have been ransacked. The HR generalist reports that after checking camera footage, security personnel reached the conclusion that the site HR manager had done the damage before leaving the facility. The VP knows that the site HR manager has a volatile personality and has been counseled about it previously. The following day, other members of the HR team contact the VPof HR with concerns about the incident. Which action should the VP take address the concerns of the HR team?

Meet with the HR team as a group, discussing what happened and listening to concerns they have.

Several employees have contacted the HR department multiple times about the company's lack of environmentally sustainable practices. In particular, employees have suggested that the company use reusable containers and utensils at official company events instead of plastic bottles and cups. Employees have provided alternative solutions, such as a cost estimate of a reusable liquid container with the company logo. Each time, the HR specialists have politely thanked the employees for their input but have not taken any specific action to avoid having to change contracts with the long-term vendor of supplies. At a recent company meeting, plastic cups and plates were used to serve refreshments and snacks. One of the employees who had been contacting the HR department was at the meeting. Upon seeing the plastic materials, the employee became very upset, expressed criticism for the company not taking any action, and left the meeting. The HR manager is put in charge of looking into environmentally friendly practices as well as resolving the conflict with this employee. How should the HR manager respond to the employee who left the meeting?

Meet with the employee to acknowledge the employee's frustration and explain that the company is reviewing environmentally friendly options.

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.

A talent sourcing strategist at a retail corporation is charged with building and maintaining external relationships with colleges and universities to ensure that the corporation has a strong talent pipeline. To avoid conflicts of interest, corporate policy forbids talent sourcing strategists from having personal relationships with college or university staff. An HR specialist files a formal grievance stating that the talent sourcing strategist is engaged in a personal relationship with an admissions coordinator at a university. During the ongoing formal internal investigation, the HR director discovers that the admissions coordinator is employed by the university that provides the most recruits compared to all other academic partners. The HR director is concerned that the corporate partnership with the university could be negatively impacted by the alleged relationship between the talent sourcing strategist and the admissions coordinator. What should the HR director do to maintain the partnership with the university?

Meet with the leadership of the university and the corporation to discuss the alleged relationship.

An employee who holds a critical position in the company sustains a back injury on the job and is temporarily unable to continue working. To avoid a loss of income, the employee uses all available personal leave, adding up to 12 weeks. After the 12 weeks of leave, the employee has only been cleared by a doctor to work with physical restrictions and will not be assessed again for three months. The employee makes an appointment with the HR manager to discuss options for returning to work. The employee's supervisor is desperate to fill the vacancy left by the injured employee but cannot hire a replacement while the injured employee is still employed by the company. Which should the HR manager do?

Meet with the supervisor to explain the company's policy regarding injured employees returning to work to identify viable options.

Management has requested that HR conduct a focus group to better understand the results of a recent compensation survey. Which is the most important factor HR will want to consider when forming the focus groups?

Members should be a representative sample of the employee population.

Which type of program promotes ongoing career development support, repatriation assistance, and advice for international assignees?

Mentoring

A domestic organization has staff dispersed throughout multiple states. There is a compliance requirement for a conflict of interest course that everyone must take. What is the best solution for the internal delivery of this course?

Mobile learning

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

Which best identifies the reason why many organizational effectiveness and development (OED) programs begin with data collection?

Multiple perspectives that allow for a deeper understanding of the issue are provided

An expatriate, recently transferred to a new country for a temporary assignment, assumes that colleagues in the host country will value timeliness just as much as colleagues in the home country do. The expatriate experiences frustration with slow response to e-mails and requests, inhibiting collaboration and the development of relationships among the new team. This example indicates a lack of understanding and exploration of what type of culture?

National culture

In pursuit of cost savings, a western European company decides to partner with an organization in central Europe. In addition to a lower cost base, the company chose this partner over a Chinese prospect because of reduced geographical, cultural, and linguistic differences. Which outsourcing arrangement does this describe?

Near-shoring

A recruiter made an offer to a candidate of an annual salary that was below the candidate's minimum desired compensation. After discussing additional benefits (for example, an extra week of paid vacation), both parties came to an agreement. What is this process called?

Negotiation

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

What best describes the population of the employee workforce that is protected under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA)?

Nonsupervisory

Which human behavior occurs when an organization accepts a problem to the extent that it no longer appears to be a problem?

Normalization of deviance

Despite the fact that an employee's team is scheduled to work from 9:00am - 5:00pm each day, the employee consistently stays out late for lunch and makes up the time at the end of the day. A new manager has recently taken over the department and notices this pattern of behavior. During an informal conversation, the manager mentions to the employee that the individual is taking extended lunches. The employee responds with, "What does it matter? I stay and make up the time." The manager is concerned that the behavior was previously allowed and wants to start documenting the tardiness. Additionally, the manager worries that the morale of the team is suffering, as three team members have approached her about the situation since she was hired. If the employee agrees to stop returning from lunch late, which action should the HR generalist suggest to the manager?

Note the date and time the employee agrees to the policy and send a recap e-mail to the employee regarding the acknowledgment and expectations.

When communicating with neurodiverse persons, what should an HR professional be prepared to do?

Notice when their social cues may be signaling a miscommunication.

Which identifies a direct cost of turnover?

Recruitment cost

Which change might a corporation make in the way it does business to create a sustainability sweet spot?

Redesigning products so that components are made locally from recycled materials, thereby reducing production costs

A restaurant chain located in multiple regions with thousands of employees makes a policy change in its payment procedures. The new policy requires servers at sit-down restaurants to take table orders from patrons and collect payment before the meal is brought to the table instead of after the food is served and consumed. A few months after implementation, several customers file complaints of unfair treatment, alleging that servers are being selective and not all guests are asked to pay for their meal immediately after the order is placed. An investigation by the VP of HR reveals that indeed not all employees are following the new protocol, resulting in different service experiences. The VP of HR identifies a critical, immediate need for training to mitigate risk related to any future allegations of unfair treatment of guests. The company's president is in agreement with the idea. However, she will support only a limited financial contribution for the training. The VP of HR shares the purpose of the training, the time line, and key deliverables during an HR team meeting. The team expresses concerns about the nonnegotiable, short time frame, the total number of employees to be trained, and the impact on other initiatives in progress. Which metrics should the VP of HR share to demonstrate the impact of the training on company goals?

Number of complaints received

Which would be the most effective quantitative measurement of customer service?

Numerical ratings on a customer satisfaction survey

Which specific and measurable strategic aspect serves as the basis for implementation decisions?

Objectives

A department manager contacts HR to discuss a situation involving a schedule change that was initiated for an employee three months ago. The employee has a medical condition and possibly needs surgery, and he requested the a change to his schedule until a decision can be made by his health-care provider. HR was not involved in the initial request. Other staff members are now becoming upset as this accommodation is causing an issue in the department. With no end date set, the manager is not certain of the status of the medical condition. The manager does not believe that the employee has a plan and therefore wants to reassign or terminate the employee. HR has been contacted for guidance on how to handle this situation. What is the most effective action the HR director should take to resolve the questions arising from the employee's accommodation?

Obtaining more information about the employee's limitations to determine if the current schedule adjustment is appropriate

Which government body requires organizations to electronically submit illness and injury data?

Occupational Safety and Health Administration

A project manager says to a sponsor, "Let's get a lot of young people on this team, since we really need to think outside the box on this project." What is a risk once the project is started?

Older team members may not be solicited for their innovative ideas.

Which term describes the strategic process for integrating a new employee into a company and its culture?

Onboarding

A talent acquisition specialist needs to provide an analysis that explores hiring and turnover trends across demographics, performance levels, and promotion histories. Which is the best tool to obtain this information?

Online analytical processing (OLAP)

A sales manufacturing company has traditionally used paper versions of its employee engagement survey. With a recent expansion to other states, the company has found the paper survey process to be difficult to manage. Which survey method would be most effective for the company in the future?

Online surveys

An organization has transitioned to a model where most employees work from home. Several smaller regional offices are being planned, and the headquarters lease will be allowed to expire. What does HR need to update to ensure a smooth flow of business after the changes?

Organizational charts

HR acts to develop a team in order to improve customer service, efficiency, and processes. What activity does this illustrate?

Organizational development

Which best describes the process where training or educational activities occur at multiple levels?

Organizational learning

A company with a history of tolerating low-performing employees has recently gained new leadership. The new executive team has brought in an HR director with a mandate to resolve multiple issues. The new HR director is well aware of the history of the company. In addition to the low-performance issue, the HR director has uncovered a poor record of compliance with the ADA, the FMLA, and workers' compensation. This lack of compliance has allowed several employees to take advantage of the system to their own benefit. The HR director has been tasked with correcting these issues with a new performance management system. Additionally, the HR director will need to improve the HR department's understanding and compliance with legal requirements so that the company is less likely to be taken advantage of in the future. Which method should the HR director use to educate the HR staff on legal requirements?

Organize training for HR staff related to legal requirements, compliance, and performance management.

Which process initially helps an employee become familiar with a new job, department, and coworkers?

Orientation

How does the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) amend the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA)?

PPACA requires coverage of an employee's adult children up to age 26.

In addition to salary, health benefits, and welfare benefits, which item should be included in an individualized total compensation statement?

Paid time off

A company's rapid growth is resulting in demand to hire new team members. Recognizing the need to ensure that the right talent is brought into the company, a newly hired HR director implements a more structured hiring process to assess applicants' skills, compensation needs, and culture fit. However, many managers do not support the new hiring process, claiming it slows down the hiring cycle. In addition, the managers believe that the initial salary and bonus recommendations resulting from HR's recently updated compensation structures are not reflective of market demand. The managers claim this situation is causing candidates to decline their offers of employment. As the business continues to expand in support of the company's strategic direction, how should the HR director address longer-term hiring needs?

Participate in strategic planning sessions to help align HR talent practices with the future business direction.

Which best demonstrates HR's role in managing organizational risk?

Participating in the identification and management of threats and opportunities across the organization

Which primary role does HR play in supporting global strategic management?

Partner to create the organization's global strategy

The CEO of a small local company has decided that the organization needs to embrace a model of corporate social responsibility (CSR). Despite a formal strategy not being in place, the organization has been using the principles of CSR in certain circumstances. The CEO wants the HR manager to help lead the corporate change. This change involves mindset, planning, and helping everyone embrace the change. HR is not viewed as a true partner to the organization currently, so this will be a challenge. The CEO is seeking to create a company known for treating people well, operating in a sustainable manner, and giving to worthy causes. This change will be more noticeable in some departments than in others. Because of this, the CEO would like to start with a word-of-mouth campaign prior to a large company-wide announcement. The CEO wants the HR manager to put together a plan within two to four weeks that creates this low-key way to work toward the CSR culture for the organization. HR and the CEO discuss that it will be a long-term process for change to be fully implemented. The CEO understands this but wants a plan no later than one month from the meeting. What action should the HR manager take first to begin creating a culture that embraces CSR?

Partner with the heads of each department of the organization to review their current practices around CSR.

Despite the fact that an employee's team is scheduled to work from 9:00am - 5:00pm each day, the employee consistently stays out late for lunch and makes up the time at the end of the day. A new manager has recently taken over the department and notices this pattern of behavior. During an informal conversation, the manager mentions to the employee that the individual is taking extended lunches. The employee responds with, "What does it matter? I stay and make up the time." The manager is concerned that the behavior was previously allowed and wants to start documenting the tardiness. Additionally, the manager worries that the morale of the team is suffering, as three team members have approached her about the situation since she was hired. How should the HR generalist advise the manager if she insists on documenting the employee behavior?

Partner with the manager and her supervisor to gain effective buy-in that expectations must be reset before documentation can commence.

An organization implements changes to its pay structure, resulting in new hires now being started at the same wage as workers who have been on the job for two years. What type of pay variation will most likely be created?

Pay compression

Which is a disadvantage of a time-based pay system?

Pay levels may be raised over time regardless of performance.

A company has experienced a high degree of turnover during the past year. Senior leadership is concerned about the amount of turnover and worried that HR is not moving fast enough to fill these positions. The hiring managers say that the applicant pools have been weak lately and they have had trouble finding qualified applicants to hire from within the pools HR provides. HR has relied heavily on recruiting by word of mouth, which in the past has generated applicants that fit the company's culture. The award for referrals that result in hiring has also been popular with employees. What would be the best way for HR to bring in more qualified applicants?

Post job openings on Internet job sites and examine the effect on the applicant pool.

A company has an outdated applicant tracking system, which upper management has been reluctant to replace. The HR department has had great difficulty managing the large number of applicants with this system. Many hiring-related tasks that the system is incapable of handling have been carried out manually. This has led to administrative errors, delay in application processing, and miscommunication for internal applicants. One day, the HR manager receives a call from an internal applicant who had applied for a position a month ago. This applicant immediately received an email from the HR department about scheduling next steps in the selection process but has not heard back since. During the phone call, the HR manager looks into the tracking system to find that this applicant had been screened out due to not being a good fit with the position, and the initial email had been sent due to an administrative error. The HR manager communicates this to the applicant. What should the HR manager do to convince management to replace the applicant tracking system?

Present to management a comparison of the capabilities of the company's current applicant tracking system to alternatives.

What are three key reasons why diversity and inclusion (D&I) initiatives require full-fledged, organization-wide efforts?

Priority, complexity, resistance

HR has been tasked with examining structures and processes to make the organization more agile and quick to respond to threats and opportunities. What type of intervention is this?

Proactive

What factors does the risk equation use to determine level of risk?

Probability of occurrence and magnitude of impact

Which is the best example of a regulation?

Process by which the Department of Labor clarifies the exempt status of employees

A company has separate divisions for distinct types of products. Each division has its own marketing, sales, manufacturing, and finance functions. What type of organizational structure does this illustrate?

Product

A recently promoted HR manager is transferred to a remote facility, due to several complaints of inappropriate behavior and favoritism between the plant manager and the former HR manager. The complaints range from allegations of an affair between the two to poor performance and stealing company property. The head office leaders are highly sensitive to creating an ethical culture and have asked that the new HR manager report back on any discovered issues with the plant manager. This makes the HR manager uncomfortable, because she is trying her best to balance developing a relationship with the plant manager with trying to complete the investigation. The new HR manager begins an investigation and learns that the plant manager believes two female employees in the accounting department reported the theft and the affair. When the HR manager speaks with these employees, they share the belief that they are being retaliated against. Although they were rated as above-average performers, they have been given only minimal wage increases. The investigation identified theft of a number of items by the plant manager. The items are not expensive, but their value is not minor. Additionally, it was learned that the plant manager is actively undermining the new HR manager's authority by telling all managers to ignore any HR recommendations. How should the HR manager handle the evidence of theft by the plant manager?

Provide a summary of the investigation including the evidence collected back to headquarters.

Several employees have contacted the HR department multiple times about the company's lack of environmentally sustainable practices. In particular, employees have suggested that the company use reusable containers and utensils at official company events instead of plastic bottles and cups. Employees have provided alternative solutions, such as a cost estimate of a reusable liquid container with the company logo. Each time, the HR specialists have politely thanked the employees for their input but have not taken any specific action to avoid having to change contracts with the long-term vendor of supplies. At a recent company meeting, plastic cups and plates were used to serve refreshments and snacks. One of the employees who had been contacting the HR department was at the meeting. Upon seeing the plastic materials, the employee became very upset, expressed criticism for the company not taking any action, and left the meeting. The HR manager is put in charge of looking into environmentally friendly practices as well as resolving the conflict with this employee. The HR manager learns that the company's long-term vendor does not offer environmentally friendly options. How should the HR manager move forward with procuring such products?

Request that the long-term vendor offer environmentally sustainable products.

Which function has the highest potential to increase future revenue?

Research and development

An assignee returning to the United States after several years in Asia says he feels like an alien at home and at work. What is the assignee experiencing?

Reverse culture shock

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.

A small division of a company lacks a formal compensation structure for employees. Due to recent recruitment and retention challenges, the division recognizes the need to review newly hired and existing employees' pay rates to ensure market competitiveness and internal equity among staff. For a number of years, the division has lacked human resources support and relied upon the general managers to determine initial pay rates for new hires as well as promotional rates for internal staff based on the amount of hours worked and the employee's attendance record. No pay ranges currently exist, and leaders have the discretion to pay whatever fits within their budget. On occasion, a human resources representative from another division has offered general advice on pay practices to the division's leadership. However, they have their own divisional responsibilities, and therefore there has been very little oversight. The divisional president is considering whether or not to bring in a contract human resources leader to research, design, and implement an appropriate pay structure for all positions. How should the HR leader approach analyzing internal equity among the employee population as part of the compensation structure project?

Review employees' rates of pay to determine if they are appropriately positioned within the range.

A plant manager informs the HR manager that employees are leaving due to limited advancement opportunities. What is the first step the HR manager should take?

Review exit interview data to see if it reflects limited promotional opportunities leading to employees leaving the organization.

To attract talented university students, a public accounting firm offers an internship program to students who have completed 75% of their coursework. If a student is successful during the internship, the firm offers the student a position after graduation and provides opportunities for the student to study for the industry licensure exam. The firm pays for the exam and provides additional compensation once the student successfully completes the exam. For the past several years, the firm has seen an increasing rate of turnover among newly licensed employees. While it is common in the industry for employees to leave public accounting after they are licensed, the firm is losing many of its licensed employees to competitors. The high rate of turnover is negatively affecting the firm's performance. The HR manager has been charged with reducing the number of employees leaving for competitive firms as quickly and efficiently as possible. Which action should the HR manager take to identify the reasons employees are leaving for the competition?

Review exit interview feedback from employees who left to work for competitors.

Which practice should have the best potential to decrease talent acquisition costs and increase an organization's ability to compete for skilled employees?

Staying current with labor market and economic trends

Which is a primary business benefit associated with implementation of an employee volunteerism program?

Strengthening the company's brand and reputation

Which part of the SWOT analysis identifies the core competencies of an organization?

Strengths and weaknesses

What are the primary categories of barriers to effective risk management?

Structural, cognitive, and cultural

Most of the supervisory and management staff in a start-up company have limited interviewing experience. Which interview technique will best mitigate this inexperience?

Structured interview

A three-year-old company has achieved excellent results through perceptive market timing and aggressive marketing. Which type of strategy is the company following?

Successful differentiation strategy

A company of office workers has an informal culture of maintaining the status quo in that many employees adequately perform job tasks to satisfy the bare minimum requirements. If employees complete their tasks early, they often stay at their desks to give the impression of working but are actually engaging in non-work-related activities. Instead of collaborating across departments to improve the quality of work and increase knowledge sharing, employees focus on completing their own tasks. Some supervisors are aware of this behavior, but most supervisors do not work in close proximity to their employees and are primarily focused on results. One day, the HR manager notices the administrative assistant using a craft machine to work on a personal project during work hours. How should the HR manager increase collaboration and knowledge sharing across departments?

Suggest a job rotation program so employees become familiar with other departments.

At a staffing agency, recruiters are facing a challenge in finding high-quality candidates. Additionally, the recruiters adhere to an unwritten rule that they should not contact candidates who have already worked with other recruiters within the agency. A new recruiter corresponds with a candidate who was previously in communication with a veteran recruiter. The two recruiters get into an argument, and the recruitment manager tries to intervene. The new recruiter claims not knowing about this unwritten rule and challenges the rule's efficacy. The veteran recruiter says that the unwritten rule is explained during the onboarding process. The recruitment manager asks the HR manager to discipline the new recruiter. How should the HR manager respond?

Suggest adding the unwritten rule to the policy to avoid this situation in the future.

As part of a software company's corporate social responsibility (CSR) program, during non-working hours employees volunteer time and expertise helping low-income people build their own small businesses. Participation has been consistent but at a very low level. What recommendation should HR make to assist the company in increasing employee involvement?

Support employee participation with paid time off.

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.

An organization's job descriptions have not been reviewed and revised for the past five years. What part of the organizational model can this negatively impact?

Systems

Which is a good practice for implementing a code of conduct?

Talk with members of the organization to better understand ethical challenges and compliance requirements.

The HR director at a large university has been on the job for six months when the university hires a new president. The new president decides that the staff development and advancement program is nonessential and orders the HR director to eliminate the 15 positions associated with the program within the week. How should the HR director communicate the reduction in force to affected employees?

Tell each impacted employee individually and explain his or her options.

A company has an outdated applicant tracking system, which upper management has been reluctant to replace. The HR department has had great difficulty managing the large number of applicants with this system. Many hiring-related tasks that the system is incapable of handling have been carried out manually. This has led to administrative errors, delay in application processing, and miscommunication for internal applicants. One day, the HR manager receives a call from an internal applicant who had applied for a position a month ago. This applicant immediately received an email from the HR department about scheduling next steps in the selection process but has not heard back since. During the phone call, the HR manager looks into the tracking system to find that this applicant had been screened out due to not being a good fit with the position, and the initial email had been sent due to an administrative error. The HR manager communicates this to the applicant. The applicant becomes furious about being misinformed and starts swearing at the HR manager over the phone. How should the HR manager respond?

Tell the applicant that HR understands why the applicant is upset about the error.

An HR manager works at a manufacturing company that is hiring new assembly-line employees. The HR manager helped to design and implement the selection system that is used to make these hires. The system includes a physical abilities test, a structured interview, and a personality assessment. The company has evidence demonstrating that each part of the system is a valid predictor of performance. Passing the physical abilities test is the first hurdle in the hiring process. Any applicant who passes this hurdle is interviewed by a plant manager, who then rates the applicant on several competencies. Applicants are not given any information about the competencies or questions prior to the interview. Interview scores and personality assessment scores are combined to rank the applicants. Many plant managers have complained to HR that the test does not assess the level of physical abilities required on the job, and recent hires have not performed well as a result. The HR manager's supervisor meets with the HR manager to discuss these concerns. A plant manager admits to not following the structured interview protocol when interviewing recent applicants, and the HR manager's supervisor asks the HR manager to talk to the plant manager about the issue. What should the HR manager do?

Tell the plant manager that inconsistent use of the protocol is unfair to applicants.

An HR manager works at a manufacturing company that is hiring new assembly-line employees. The HR manager helped to design and implement the selection system that is used to make these hires. The system includes a physical abilities test, a structured interview, and a personality assessment. The company has evidence demonstrating that each part of the system is a valid predictor of performance. Passing the physical abilities test is the first hurdle in the hiring process. Any applicant who passes this hurdle is interviewed by a plant manager, who then rates the applicant on several competencies. Applicants are not given any information about the competencies or questions prior to the interview. Interview scores and personality assessment scores are combined to rank the applicants. Many plant managers have complained to HR that the test does not assess the level of physical abilities required on the job, and recent hires have not performed well as a result. The HR manager's supervisor meets with the HR manager to discuss these concerns. The HR manager's supervisor mentions that a relative is planning on applying for an assembly-line position at the company. The supervisor is concerned that the relative will not perform well in the interview and asks the HR manager for help. What should the HR manager do?

Tell the supervisor that all applicants must be treated the same.

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.

An HR manager receives a memo from a department director for termination of a groundskeeping employee. The company's recreational vehicle resort is at the same location as company headquarters. The terminated employee works and lives at the resort, and has no prior record of performance issues in his 10 year career. . The memo states that the director terminated the employee yesterday for gross misconduct. The groundskeeper was working in the heat all morning and then informed the director he was going home for lunch. Later the groundskeeper radioed the director that he was running late in returning from lunch. Subsequent communications led to the director sending a student worker to the employee's trailer to pick him up and return to the office. Upon their return, the groundskeeper smelled of alcohol, and the student worker reported to the director that the intoxicated groundskeeper offered the under-aged student worker a beer, which was refused. The student worker stressed that she did not want to get the groundskeeper in any trouble; however, the groundskeeper insisted that he be allowed to drive the golf cart back to the office after drinking beer, which made the student feel uncomfortable. The HR manager reviews the documentation and is concerned about the director's actions. Had the director contacted HR first before terminating the groundskeeper's employment, which recommended action would the HR manager have suggested?

Thank the student worker for raising her concern and drive the groundskeeper for a drug/alcohol test to be taken immediately.

A bona fide occupational qualification (BFOQ) is a job criterion that employers can use to hire a foreign national. To use the BFOQ defense, what must employers prove?

That local employees cannot perform the key duties required by the job

Recently, a visibly upset employee came to the employee relations (ER) manager. The manager invited the employee to sit down and waited patiently while the employee calmed down and explained what was wrong. The ER manager then explained what action would be taken to remedy the situation. How could the ER manager's response have been improved?

The ER manager could have included the employee in problem solving.

An HR manager is asked by the Vice President of HR to define and implement a simulation-based assessment center that uses specially trained observers to rate each candidate's performance. The need is to assess which employees have potential for promotion into management. The VP of HR is familiar with this practice, having used the technique in a prior company, and she sees the assessment center as a best practice innovation. The VP of HR is new and comes from a large but entirely domestic organization with an aging workforce. Her new company is a global organization with eight operations located around the world. It is highly diverse in terms of ethnicity, and the average worker is probably 15 to 20 years younger than the VP of HR is used to. In researching methodologies, the HR manager stumbles onto an online assessment system that requires no trainers and raters, takes 75% less time to complete than the assessment center process, and has higher validity and reliability as an assessment technique. The VP of HR has already indicated a preference for the assessment center approach, what would be the most effective way to reopen the options for this project?

The HR manager should emphasize business needs met by the online assessment option that are not provided by the traditional method.

A global company benchmarks against similar companies that have recently faced costly and embarrassing cybersecurity breaches resulting in the loss of customer confidence. In response, the CEO directs the IT department with enhancing data accuracy, security, and privacy. Additionally, Risk management is tasked with implementing improved governance, compliance monitoring, and enforcement parameters. Finally, HR is charged with strengthening procedures around acquisition of staff, policy creation, the code of ethics, and communication. The three departments all agree that employees must possess a work ethic, motivation, and integrity. Which technology policies should the HR manager recommend that the company implement?

The company can review all charges and information on a company-provided device.

During an accident investigation, an HR manager determines that the injured employee could not read the safety data sheet (SDS). The manager reviews the company's training database and discovers that 10% to 15% of the current employees possess poor reading comprehension and cannot read the lockout/tagout (LOTO) procedures for machinery or the MSDS for hazardous chemicals. Upon further investigation, the HR manager learns that these employees regularly ask coworkers for assistance with LOTO and MSDS. Fortunately the company has not had a major catastrophic injury or death related to these areas, although a review of historic data on employee injury rates indicates a high percentage of minor injuries involving chemical burns and skin abrasions. These injuries have resulted in a higher-than-average experience modification rate that has adversely impacted the company's workers' compensation insurance premiums. The HR manager decides to develop a reading literacy program to provide coaching and tutoring to raise the reading and comprehension levels for all employees, soliciting a local educational institution to develop these reading courses. Which additional benefit could the company gain from successful implementation of the reading program?

The company could use this initiative to improve its employee brand and corporate social responsibility.

A mid-sized company has a strict attendance policy stating that any absence of three days or more without contact from the employee is considered job abandonment and the employee is subject to termination. The organization has experienced significant growth over the years, and the increase in the employee population has prompted stricter policies, which some staff view as unnecessarily controlling. One manager's best employee has been absent without contact for four days and calls in. The employee indicates he had some unexpected personal problems involving his teenage child. The employee did not call earlier due to being distraught, occupied with the situation, and also a bit embarrassed. According to the policy, the employee must be terminated, but the manager is reluctant to do so because this is the department's best employee. This is the first violation, and the serious family issues could escalate if the employee is terminated. Senior leadership has recently taken a tough stance on consistently adhering to company policies and practices due to complaints of favoritism. The manager is hesitant to go to HR for fear they will recommend termination. Instead the manager seeks counsel from a member of the senior leadership team who is a relative and who supports the decision to not terminate the employee. When the employee is not terminated, an anonymous complaint is filed via the employee hotline system. It alleges discrimination and favoritism; there is also a comment about too many new policies. The employee is named, and the complainant demands that other employees terminated under the no-call, no-show policy be reinstated. The protocol requires that HR review all discrimination complaints. Which is the appropriate outcome for the attendance policy violation?

The employee should be terminated per the company policy, to reinforce a consistent focus on policies that have been adopted and put in place.

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.

Management allows employees to decorate their offices and provides tools for this. Standing on a step ladder, an employee causes a tall bookcase to fall over on himself. The employee suffers several fractures. Which aspect of this situation represents the most likely liability for the employer from an OSHA perspective?

The employer had feasible means available to eliminate or reduce the possibility of injury.

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.

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.

The CEO of a small local company has decided that the organization needs to embrace a model of corporate social responsibility (CSR). Despite a formal strategy not being in place, the organization has been using the principles of CSR in certain circumstances. The CEO wants the HR manager to help lead the corporate change. This change involves mindset, planning, and helping everyone embrace the change. HR is not viewed as a true partner to the organization currently, so this will be a challenge. The CEO is seeking to create a company known for treating people well, operating in a sustainable manner, and giving to worthy causes. This change will be more noticeable in some departments than in others. Because of this, the CEO would like to start with a word-of-mouth campaign prior to a large company-wide announcement. The CEO wants the HR manager to put together a plan within two to four weeks that creates this low-key way to work toward the CSR culture for the organization. HR and the CEO discuss that it will be a long-term process for change to be fully implemented. The CEO understands this but wants a plan no later than one month from the meeting. What action should the HR manager recommend to measure the acceptance of the new culture after it's announced and implemented?

Use both process and outcomes evaluations to determine the effectiveness of the program.

How can HR ensure that the relative value of a position in a global organization is the same regardless of where the work is done?

Use global job classifications.

How can HR best partner with managers to implement a newly developed performance management tool?

Use input from the managers to create a best practices guide and meet with them individually to offer support or answer questions.

HR is tasked with developing a plan to communicate major organizational changes to employees. Which is the most effective way to communicate the changes?

Use multiple channels of communication so the changes are shared in a variety of platforms.

Which approach is most effective for promoting diversity and inclusion globally?

Using a wide range of measures of success beyond demographics.

An HR manager is asked by the Vice President of HR to define and implement a simulation-based assessment center that uses specially trained observers to rate each candidate's performance. The need is to assess which employees have potential for promotion into management. The VP of HR is familiar with this practice, having used the technique in a prior company, and she sees the assessment center as a best practice innovation. The VP of HR is new and comes from a large but entirely domestic organization with an aging workforce. Her new company is a global organization with eight operations located around the world. It is highly diverse in terms of ethnicity, and the average worker is probably 15 to 20 years younger than the VP of HR is used to. In researching methodologies, the HR manager stumbles onto an online assessment system that requires no trainers and raters, takes 75% less time to complete than the assessment center process, and has higher validity and reliability as an assessment technique. What would be the best criteria to use in deciding whether to implement either or both assessment alternatives?

Validity in predicting success and accessibility to all qualified employees.

How have corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategies evolved in corporations?

Values and goals have been redefined based on CSR principles.

Which practice supports a strategic decision toward global assignments?

Viewing assignments as leadership and career development opportunities

What is an unfair labor practice?

Violation of a labor law by an employer or a union

What communication method can help promote a feeling of leadership visibility and accessibility by providing opportunities for engagement and may help reduce the discomfort some people feel about contributing in a public situation?

Virtual town hall meeting

HR is looking for ways to increase the organization's brand while developing the employees. How can this be achieved?

Volunteering

The annual loss ratio for a company's health plan is 158%. The CHRO has been asked by the CEO to propose changes to the plan that will lower costs while retaining as many of the current benefits as possible. A review reveals that the dental and prescription drug coverage account for 84% of the plan's claims and that 3 of their 91 employees account for 73% of the claims. After reviewing a series of benefit options, the CHRO decides that the best option is a plan that doubles the deductibles on the dental and prescription benefits while also lowering the maximum reimbursement coverage by 25%. The CHRO makes a presentation outlining this suggestion to the company's executive committee. After a brief discussion of the rationale and the merits, the COO mentions that the company should announce the plan's changes to employees immediately. The CHRO responds that doing so would defeat the purpose of the changes. Without further discussion, the executive committee proceeds to vote and accept the changes to become effective upon plan renewal the following month. Two months after the introduction of the new plan, it is discovered that two employees made bulk prescription purchases (a six-month supply) one week prior to the changes in the benefit plan going into effect. The CHRO suspects a leak of the confidential information. How should the company react to the employees who are using the benefits excessively?

Wait until the plan changes are in effect and then hold a company-wide meeting using aggregated data to explain why the changes are necessary

Soon after a new HR manager begins working at a manufacturing plant, an employee stops by the HR manager's office inviting the HR manager to participate in the plant's monthly lottery. The HR manager is uncomfortable participating because it might violate the company's anti-gambling policy and politely declines. Later, the HR manager reviews the corporate policy on gambling and finds that it is not clear. The HR manager consults with the corporate HR director, who tells the HR manager that local laws about gambling are ambiguous and a new policy prohibiting gambling at the plant should be adopted. The HR manager informs the plant manager of the new policy, who advises the HR manager that it is a long-standing tradition that boosts employee morale that should be allowed to continue until the end of the year given the ambiguous local laws. How should the HR manager best develop and maintain mutual trust and respect with the employees who are upset with the HR manager about the new policy?

Walk around the plant to talk to employees and get to know them better personally and not in a formal setting.

A new HR professional wants to understand how to gain credibility in his organization. Which activity would help the most?

Watching how people react to other team members in team discussions

A company has achieved excellent results through perceptive market timing and aggressive marketing but still has problems with back orders. Slow shipments and errors are largely due to interdepartmental communication gaps. How would this finding be classified in a SWOT analysis?

Weakness

When creating a benefits program, which key legal factor does the HR benefits leader need to keep in mind?

What government-regulated programs are provided

An organization finds that, without consciously meaning to, it is rewarding behaviors that violate its values. As it returns to the beginning of the total rewards strategy process, what factor should the organization be sure to include in its assessment of its total rewards needs?

What leaders are willing to tolerate in high performers

During an interview, when is it appropriate to ask a candidate about prior project outcomes that were unsuccessful?

When assessing the candidate's ability to learn from previous experiences

Under which circumstances should ignoring conflict be used as a conflict management strategy?

When the issue will resolve itself without damaging the team processes and relationships

When might it be the best choice to take an assertive or competitive approach to a negotiation?

When the other party will adopt only a hard negotiation style

HR does everything correctly in regard to an ethics investigation that it takes the lead on, yet it arrives at an incorrect conclusion because the person deemed less credible was actually the one telling the truth and the person deemed more credible was actually lying. Which is a risk in this scenario?

Work relationships become strained or teams become fractured.

The director of the HR department is taking personal leave for three weeks and assigns an HR employee to work with a consulting firm to conduct a strategic planning process for the company. The consulting firm conducts interviews with 10% of the employees, but none of the interviews is with line staff. The HR employee feels that the consulting firm's approach did not fully capture the information required to support the strategic planning process, so the HR employee decides to conduct a separate data collection. The HR employee develops a company-wide survey, gains buy-in from key leaders, and presents the survey to the executive team. Once approved by the executive team, the employee administers the survey and achieves a 77% response rate. The company's CEO shares the survey results with the consulting firm so it can implement the next phase of the strategic planning process. The employee wants to be recognized for doing a good job solving the data collection issue, but did not communicate the survey to the HR director in a reasonable time frame. How should the HR employee approach this situation?

Work with the HR director to leverage the successful data collection as a win for the entire HR department.

After the merger of two business entities, the new VP of HR would like the benefits manager to develop a plan to address six different post-merger vacation policies, each with slightly different criteria and provisions. Pressured by one of the business heads to prevent a power struggle among the new leadership, the benefits manager must decide if the organization should try to harmonize the policies from the merged entities or let them continue to coexist. A member of the HR team informs the benefits manager that one of the business heads is pressuring the HR team to support leaving the vacation policies of one of the merged entities intact. What should the benefits manager do about the business head's pressure to leave its current policies intact?

Work with the business head to understand the reason for the request.

A VP of HR has responsibility for multiple manufacturing sites and is responsible for teams of HR managers and generalists that support each location. One evening, an HR generalist tells the VP of HR that when the HR generalist returned from dinner break, the HR office appeared to have been ransacked. The HR generalist reports that after checking camera footage, security personnel reached the conclusion that the site HR manager had done the damage before leaving the facility. The VP knows that the site HR manager has a volatile personality and has been counseled about it previously. What steps should the VP of HR take to address the condition of the HR office?

Work with the second shift HR generalist to clean up the damage and destruction of the HR office.

Which best exemplifies a risk mitigation approach?

Workers operating dangerous machinery cannot exceed a set shift length.

Which is a challenge when following a best-of-breed HRIS purchasing strategy?

Working with multiple vendors

Soon after a new HR manager begins working at a manufacturing plant, an employee stops by the HR manager's office inviting the HR manager to participate in the plant's monthly lottery. The HR manager is uncomfortable participating because it might violate the company's anti-gambling policy and politely declines. Later, the HR manager reviews the corporate policy on gambling and finds that it is not clear. The HR manager consults with the corporate HR director, who tells the HR manager that local laws about gambling are ambiguous and a new policy prohibiting gambling at the plant should be adopted. The HR manager informs the plant manager of the new policy, who advises the HR manager that it is a long-standing tradition that boosts employee morale that should be allowed to continue until the end of the year given the ambiguous local laws. How should the HR manager best encourage compliance with the new policy?

Write an article in the company newsletter outlining the reasons why the policy is beneficial.

An organization is entering the decline phase of its growth, and leaders are uncertain about its future. Still, all departments must continue to fulfill their tasks, now with a steadily decreasing head count. HR would like to purchase new technology that would support required productivity levels without new hiring. Would a software as a service (SaaS) technology meet this organization's needs?

Yes, because the service can be scaled to the organization's changing needs.

Which budgeting method is being used by a manager who begins with no allocated budget and must justify allocations based on how the function will contribute to the organization's strategic goals?

Zero-based budgeting

The HR director at a large university has been on the job for six months when the university hires a new president. The new president decides that the staff development and advancement program is nonessential and orders the HR director to eliminate the 15 positions associated with the program within the week. Which action should the HR director take to reduce the negative effects the reduction in force will have on morale?

chedule one-on-one meetings with department employees to address their questions and concerns.

A recently promoted HR manager is transferred to a remote facility, due to several complaints of inappropriate behavior and favoritism between the plant manager and the former HR manager. The complaints range from allegations of an affair between the two to poor performance and stealing company property. The head office leaders are highly sensitive to creating an ethical culture and have asked that the new HR manager report back on any discovered issues with the plant manager. This makes the HR manager uncomfortable, because she is trying her best to balance developing a relationship with the plant manager with trying to complete the investigation. The new HR manager begins an investigation and learns that the plant manager believes two female employees in the accounting department reported the theft and the affair. When the HR manager speaks with these employees, they share the belief that they are being retaliated against. Although they were rated as above-average performers, they have been given only minimal wage increases. The investigation identified theft of a number of items by the plant manager. The items are not expensive, but their value is not minor. Additionally, it was learned that the plant manager is actively undermining the new HR manager's authority by telling all managers to ignore any HR recommendations. The HR manager studies the performance reviews and wage increases for all employees and finds inconsistencies that support the accounting employees' claims of retaliation. Given the HR manager's knowledge of the plant manager's behavior, what is the appropriate next step for the HR manager to take?

Review the process for setting wage increases for the accounting department with the company's controller.

A mature organization has relied on stable processes that supported its current success. One of these processes is succession planning. This HR team has followed a strategy of identifying effective higher-level managers and grooming them for leadership positions. If you were a new HR manager assigned to lead this team, what would you advise?

Review the succession planning strategy to ensure alignment with current business conditions.

A mining company has had a safety program in place for over ten years. It has been effective in decreasing accidents and injuries. What should HR recommend?

Review the technology used in the program to see if newer, more effective technology is now available.

An organization needs to get a group to come to consensus on goals and organizational desires while also gathering facts about the organization's current status and determining how it will know when these goals have been achieved. Which tool can provide these benefits?

SOAR analysis

Which is a reason why a survey sent out to all of the sales force regarding their own skill levels in various parts of the sales pipeline should be compared to quantitative performance data compiled for the salespersons?

Salespersons could be biased.

Soon after a new HR manager begins working at a manufacturing plant, an employee stops by the HR manager's office inviting the HR manager to participate in the plant's monthly lottery. The HR manager is uncomfortable participating because it might violate the company's anti-gambling policy and politely declines. Later, the HR manager reviews the corporate policy on gambling and finds that it is not clear. The HR manager consults with the corporate HR director, who tells the HR manager that local laws about gambling are ambiguous and a new policy prohibiting gambling at the plant should be adopted. The HR manager informs the plant manager of the new policy, who advises the HR manager that it is a long-standing tradition that boosts employee morale that should be allowed to continue until the end of the year given the ambiguous local laws. How should the HR manager respond to the plant manager's suggestion?

Schedule a meeting with the corporate HR director and the plant manager to discuss the issue.

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.

The HR director at a large university has been on the job for six months when the university hires a new president. The new president decides that the staff development and advancement program is nonessential and orders the HR director to eliminate the 15 positions associated with the program within the week. Which action should the HR director take to influence the president to reconsider eliminating these positions?

Schedule a meeting with the president to discuss the importance of investing in employee development and advancement.

When seeking out new allies at an organization, what is a key to working with diverse types of individuals?

Seek out what motivates them.

A restaurant chain located in multiple regions with thousands of employees makes a policy change in its payment procedures. The new policy requires servers at sit-down restaurants to take table orders from patrons and collect payment before the meal is brought to the table instead of after the food is served and consumed. A few months after implementation, several customers file complaints of unfair treatment, alleging that servers are being selective and not all guests are asked to pay for their meal immediately after the order is placed. An investigation by the VP of HR reveals that indeed not all employees are following the new protocol, resulting in different service experiences. The VP of HR identifies a critical, immediate need for training to mitigate risk related to any future allegations of unfair treatment of guests. The company's president is in agreement with the idea. However, she will support only a limited financial contribution for the training. The VP of HR shares the purpose of the training, the time line, and key deliverables during an HR team meeting. The team expresses concerns about the nonnegotiable, short time frame, the total number of employees to be trained, and the impact on other initiatives in progress. What step should the VP of HR take to communicate the reason for the training?

Send a video to employees from the president explaining the revised policy and the training.

At a staffing agency, recruiters are facing a challenge in finding high-quality candidates. Additionally, the recruiters adhere to an unwritten rule that they should not contact candidates who have already worked with other recruiters within the agency. A new recruiter corresponds with a candidate who was previously in communication with a veteran recruiter. The two recruiters get into an argument, and the recruitment manager tries to intervene. The new recruiter claims not knowing about this unwritten rule and challenges the rule's efficacy. The veteran recruiter says that the unwritten rule is explained during the onboarding process. The HR manager wants to evaluate the benefits of the unwritten rule about contacting candidates. Which step is most effective for the HR manager to take to obtain feedback?

Send an anonymous survey to all recruiters in the company to obtain feedback on the benefits of the unwritten rule.

An HR manager works at a manufacturing company that is hiring new assembly-line employees. The HR manager helped to design and implement the selection system that is used to make these hires. The system includes a physical abilities test, a structured interview, and a personality assessment. The company has evidence demonstrating that each part of the system is a valid predictor of performance. Passing the physical abilities test is the first hurdle in the hiring process. Any applicant who passes this hurdle is interviewed by a plant manager, who then rates the applicant on several competencies. Applicants are not given any information about the competencies or questions prior to the interview. Interview scores and personality assessment scores are combined to rank the applicants. Many plant managers have complained to HR that the test does not assess the level of physical abilities required on the job, and recent hires have not performed well as a result. The HR manager's supervisor meets with the HR manager to discuss these concerns. A plant manager is accused of behaving in a culturally insensitive manner toward an applicant during an interview. This is the first time the plant manager has been accused of this behavior, and the HR manager's supervisor asks the HR manager for advice. What should the HR manager recommend?

Send the plant manager to a diversity training session.

Which scenario illustrates a geocentric global orientation as described by Perlmutter?

Senior management from all countries are considered to be part of a single global resource pool

An organization provides HR research services under government contracts. Their internal HR department needs to be continually innovating in areas such as diversity, equity, and inclusion in order to be not only compliant but also a role model. The HR department needs a highly collaborative staff who can innovate while carefully considering the impact of any changes. For this reason, the department is allowed to be more resource-intensive and can take more time to produce results if needed. What leadership style would work well for the leader of HR at this organization?

Servant leadership

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.

A renowned financial institution, a former leader in the financial market, is now facing decelerated growth. Its product portfolio lacks innovation compared to that of competitors. Although the institution was once a favorite place to work, recently HR has been facing issues attracting top talent, and time-to-hire metrics have deteriorated. A technology gap between the leadership and the employees is beginning to widen. The founder, who is very sales-oriented, is not an early adopter when it comes to technology. Since his client relationships all began with face-to-face contact, he is wary that technology removes the personal element. To create a more collaborative culture and social learning environment, the HR talent development lead (TDL) wants to foster a culture of learning and innovation. This will require a change in corporate culture and a significant investment in new technology. Despite a recent upgrade, the learning management system (LMS) still feels outdated, sluggish, and static. The TDL believes that a new LMS with more powerful social learning technologies will be critical for attracting and retaining top talent, capturing the attention of a broader and rapidly changing demographic, and meeting their demands. The workforce is around 40% Millennials, compared with 10% just five years ago. The TDL knows that championing creativity and innovation in a risk-averse industry is a challenge because this behavior is usually not promoted or rewarded. How should the talent development lead position the proposed LMS to gain leadership commitment for investing in this new technology?

Show how the LMS can effectively use technology, trends, and innovations to support the organizational strategy.

An organization employs remote teams spread across a country. What strategy can HR use to help build engagement, trust, and alignment with the organization's goals?

Site visits

What is the correct formula to calculate the monthly voluntary turnover rate?

(Number of voluntary separations during the month/Average number of employees during the month) x 100

Although the founder of an organization is very competent, she has alienated nearly everyone in the organization. Colleagues have tried to share their concerns; however, she does not believe there to be an issue. Rather she believes she merely has a direct approach. Which assessment tool is best suited to display how her directness is impacting others?

360-degree assessments

A new HR manager is eager to win support for her idea for a new employee benefit. Which colleague would be a good ally in this situation?

A new HR manager is eager to win support for her idea for a new employee benefit. Which colleague would be a good ally in this situation?

Which best defines the concept of moral hazard?

A person engages in risky behavior knowing that someone else will absorb any losses.

How does the issue of allegiance in global assignments affect the processes of global assignment selection and assignee management?

A priority should be placed on the support needed for assignee's unique needs.

To reinforce the importance of safety, employees' annual bonuses are linked to the aggregate safety key performance indicators (KPIs). Which effect is this likely to have on the rate of accidents?

Accidents will increase due to under-reporting.

A competency-based pay approach works best in an environment that fosters which of the following?

Acquiring knowledge and skill that enhances employee performance and satisfaction

To reduce its manual workload, an HR department implements a system that allows employees access to information related to earnings, taxes, benefits, and vacation leave balances. The system also allows employees to update information for their tax withholding, direct deposits, and retirement fund allocations. What aspect of HR's role will be reduced?

Administrative

An HR manager receives a memo from a department director for termination of a groundskeeping employee. The company's recreational vehicle resort is at the same location as company headquarters. The terminated employee works and lives at the resort, and has no prior record of performance issues in his 10 year career. . The memo states that the director terminated the employee yesterday for gross misconduct. The groundskeeper was working in the heat all morning and then informed the director he was going home for lunch. Later the groundskeeper radioed the director that he was running late in returning from lunch. Subsequent communications led to the director sending a student worker to the employee's trailer to pick him up and return to the office. Upon their return, the groundskeeper smelled of alcohol, and the student worker reported to the director that the intoxicated groundskeeper offered the under-aged student worker a beer, which was refused. The student worker stressed that she did not want to get the groundskeeper in any trouble; however, the groundskeeper insisted that he be allowed to drive the golf cart back to the office after drinking beer, which made the student feel uncomfortable. Two weeks after discharge, the groundskeeper contacts the HR manager and claims he was discriminated against due to his age and presumptions that he could not meet that the physical demands of the job, particularly during the summer heat. He points out that this is why the director hired much younger college students. How should the HR manager respond?

Advise the groundskeeper that the HR manager can schedule a time and day for him to come in to the office to discuss the situation.

Despite the fact that an employee's team is scheduled to work from 9:00am - 5:00pm each day, the employee consistently stays out late for lunch and makes up the time at the end of the day. A new manager has recently taken over the department and notices this pattern of behavior. During an informal conversation, the manager mentions to the employee that the individual is taking extended lunches. The employee responds with, "What does it matter? I stay and make up the time." The manager is concerned that the behavior was previously allowed and wants to start documenting the tardiness. Additionally, the manager worries that the morale of the team is suffering, as three team members have approached her about the situation since she was hired. After a discussion with the manager, which recommendation should the HR generalist provide?

Advise the manager to individually reset expectations with the employee in person.

What best describes an employee resource group?

Affinity group that can serve as a social and professional network for employees

After the merger of two business entities, the new VP of HR would like the benefits manager to develop a plan to address six different post-merger vacation policies, each with slightly different criteria and provisions. Pressured by one of the business heads to prevent a power struggle among the new leadership, the benefits manager must decide if the organization should try to harmonize the policies from the merged entities or let them continue to coexist. Given the sensitive nature of the merger, which approach should HR implement to communicate changes to the vacation policy?

After leadership approval, directly communicate to all stakeholders the decision and the impact on them and the business.

Several employees were hurt in an accident in the manufacturing department. To evaluate the effectiveness of the organization's risk controls, HR conducted a meeting with the department supervisor. Which document would provide the best information for this meeting?

After-action debrief report

A compensation and benefits specialist conducted a salary data survey last year but did not have time to benchmark the results to the organization's pay structure. What action should the specialist take at this point in time?

Age the data to make it current.

A manager of a new restaurant is having difficulty with her chef's interaction with servers as well as the quality of food he is preparing. After consulting with her HR partner, they plan to develop a performance management system. What is most critical to the effectiveness of the performance management system?

Aligned individual contributions that drive organizational results

What is a business case?

Analysis of a problem and possible solutions

An organization is opening a new factory in the United States. Due to availability issues, the factory will be temporarily unable to comply with an OSHA standard regarding required safety equipment. What should the organization do?

Apply to OSHA for a temporary variance from the standard due to the unavailability of required equipment.

The HR director and union representatives are unable to resolve a formal grievance at either the local or national level. What is the next step in the formal grievance process?

Arbitration

What cultural layer is exemplified by the pasta dishes that are unique to Italy?

Artifacts and products

What driver of restructuring can cause organizations to focus on up-skilling and re-skilling employees?

Artificial intelligence and robotics

During the year-end performance appraisal, an HR team member expresses surprise at her "does not meet expectations" rating. The HR manager had rated her as "exceeding expectations" in each of the last three years. How should the HR manager respond?

Ask the employee if and how she disagrees with specific performance criteria assessments.

A long-time employee of a small, rural branch of a national bank dies unexpectedly. This employee held a position requiring extensive institutional knowledge. Fellow employees are deeply saddened by the loss of their colleague, but bank policy allows bereavement leave for only members of the immediate family. The branch was already understaffed in several mid-level positions due to a limited pool of qualified applicants. The loss leads to increased workloads for the other employees, who are struggling to complete tasks on time. The branch manager wants to initiate succession planning for the recently vacated position in the future. How should the HR manager proceed?

Assess the knowledge, skills, and abilities that need to be learned on the job.

What is the first step in an HRIS implementation?

Assessing organizational needs

The owner of a small start-up company has highly compensated employees but no benefits package. As the organization and staff grows, the owner is pressured to implement a benefits package in addition to direct compensation. The owner is not knowledgeable about benefits, and has made the decision to hire an HR generalist to handle benefits and other HR functions. The HR generalist's first priority is to make recommendations about a benefits package that will attract and retain top talent while being fiscally responsible. The growth plan for the organization is to grow globally and engage in a global recruitment, selection, and hiring strategy. The HR generalist needs to create a total compensation package that will be relevant in all locations globally. A newly hired employee who is not married but has a domestic partner has requested that the partner be covered through the organization's health insurance. Currently, the organization's health insurance covers spouses but not domestic partners. How should the HR generalist handle the request?

Audit the current policy for fairness and present a business case to the owner to change the rule

What method of conflict resolution is a manager using when they separately ask each person involved about the status of the activity?

Avoid

A technical recruiter receives a job description from a hiring manager. One of the requirements listed by the manager states that the position is not ideal for single parents. Which risk management strategy should the technical recruiter use to avoid similar situations in the future?

Avoid the risk by training hiring managers and reviewing all job descriptions before use.

Which critical role must HR assume in light of globalization?

Balance an organization's global strategy with policy localization to reflect national cultures and laws

Which recommendation would you make to a new HR practitioner concerning investigating workplace complaints?

Become familiar with the requirements of labor contracts and local laws.

An HR manager is contacted via telephone by an employee concerned about the need for the replacement of protective equipment currently being used. The employee indicates that the equipment is damaged upon reporting to the supervisor, the concerns have not been addressed. Compliance with industry safety standards is reported publicly on an ongoing basis. During the conversation, the spouse of the employee can be heard speaking loudly in the background expressing dissatisfaction and posts comments on social media. The HR manager and the public relations department have been notified of the postings. The HR manager contacts the employee to request the posts be removed which further incites the spouse and additional comments are posted. The spouse requests to meet with the leadership of the firm to discuss. What practices could the HR manager implement to protect the reputation of the organization?

Begin the investigation of the safety concern, monitor future postings, and make no further requests to remove the comments.

An HR manager is recruiting to fill several customer service representative positions in a high-volume call center. Which interview method should the HR manager use to understand the candidates' customer service experience and predict their future performance?

Behavioral interview

Which best describes the impact of having senior leaders directly involved in a diversity council?

Being a catalyst for change that aligns functions and responsibilities and creates greater commitment, efficiency, effectiveness, and productivity

Which factor/s most contribute to basing laws on religion?

Beliefs and conventions

A small division of a company lacks a formal compensation structure for employees. Due to recent recruitment and retention challenges, the division recognizes the need to review newly hired and existing employees' pay rates to ensure market competitiveness and internal equity among staff. For a number of years, the division has lacked human resources support and relied upon the general managers to determine initial pay rates for new hires as well as promotional rates for internal staff based on the amount of hours worked and the employee's attendance record. No pay ranges currently exist, and leaders have the discretion to pay whatever fits within their budget. On occasion, a human resources representative from another division has offered general advice on pay practices to the division's leadership. However, they have their own divisional responsibilities, and therefore there has been very little oversight. The divisional president is considering whether or not to bring in a contract human resources leader to research, design, and implement an appropriate pay structure for all positions. How should the HR leader address the information uncovered in relation to promotional pay practices?

Benchmark multiple data sources and recommend a comprehensive structure for all positions.

Which tasks should an HR department outsource in order to focus on strategic activities?

Benefits and payroll administration

An organization is concerned that its current approach to onboarding is not supporting their diversity and inclusion goals. What type of audit could help the organization set specific targets for improvement?

Best practices

A fitness organization requires its employees to wear technology that tracks wellness bio-data. What challenges to this technology are likely to emerge?

Biohacking and DNA privacy

The CEO of a sales company hires an HR consultant to assess the company's organizational structure, operating model, and culture due to declining sales, increasing expenses, and workforce environment challenges. The CEO asks the consultant to share the results with key stakeholders to gain support for the recommended changes. Because the company has little market competition, the CEO thinks the company's poor results stem from company-based issues and its inability to leverage its robust IT infrastructure. The HR consultant analyzes the company's financial statements and business processes and confidentially interviews every employee in the company to determine why the company is struggling. The consultant also works as an employee in every department in order to get a realistic understanding of how the company operates. The consultant's analysis reveals that the company has no mission statement, no company-wide or departmental goals, and no individual goals to hold employees accountable. Additionally, no formal recruitment, onboarding, or training procedures exist. The consultant thinks the poor results are caused by poorly trained sales representatives. Customer loyalty is strong; however, it is because of the low-cost products not easily found elsewhere. Which action should the HR business consultant take to gain the support of the key stakeholders in order to implement recommended changes?

Build strong relationships with key stakeholders and transparently share the benefits and risks of the changes.

An economic comparison of options for a new applicant tracking system shows that the cost of the system best suited to meet the organization's long-term goals exceeds the amount management has budgeted. What should the HR manager present to management to support the purchase of the more expensive system?

Business case

An HR data analyst uses internal and external data and translates it into meaningful information to support an operations decision to relocate a distribution center to another state. What term best describes the data analyst's activity?

Business intelligence

An organization gains many benefits from its employees volunteering in the community. How can volunteering help the employees?

By building skills

How can HR best engage employees in developing the performance standards for a new performance management system?

By communicating performance expectations

How can internal social networks benefit an organization?

By fostering a desired workplace culture

A supplier offers to provide an employee with tickets to a professional athletic event. How should the code of ethics support the employee?

By guiding decision making and behavior

How does the demographic dichotomy bring new attention to generational differences?

By identifying educational skills and deficits between emerging and developed economies

How can HR add the most value in the strategic planning process?

By identifying the HR implications of the company's strategy

How does an Internet recruiting approach provide the greatest benefit to a global organization?

By increasing the volume of applicants for positions under tight time frames

How should an HR professional make a strong business case for incorporating a diversity and inclusion strategy in an organization?

By linking it directly to the organization's mission, vision, and business objectives

In the kaizen methodology, how does one know where to best make improvements?

By observing what is happening at all levels to find where value is added

How do the three spheres of sustainability support an effective corporate social responsibility (CSR) program?

By offering an all-encompassing view of how an organization should function

How do robust orientation and onboarding activities contribute to a new hire's engagement?

By providing employees with tools and strategies to be successful

Leadership has requested HR to design a program to allow employees to telecommute. How will this advance the organization's sustainability?

By reducing organization's carbon footprint

An organization is sending salespeople into a new territory where bribery is common. How can HR support the code of ethics in this environment?

By reviewing current ethical guidelines and creating specific guidelines on bribery if necessary

What is the relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainability?

CSR encompasses sustainability.

Which would be an accurate statement about the forces that are shaping organizations' corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategies?

CSR has increased individuals' rights to privacy.

Which is the best action an HR business partner should take when receiving an e-mail from the director of finance, that they have never communicated with before, asking for an employee's tax documents for an urgent mortgage verification request?

Call the director of finance's office and offer assistance.

How do career planning and career management differ?

Career planning identifies personal abilities, while career management focuses on organizational staffing needs.

The 70-20-10 model created by the Center for Creative Leadership identifies three clusters of experiences to develop people. Which type of experience does the 70 in the model represent?

Challenging assignments

Which factor has the greatest impact on maintaining peak performance?

Challenging assignments

An organization is projecting future employee flow based on past transition rates. Which potential outcome is most likely from this approach?

Change can diminish the accuracy of the flow projection.

An HR manager is contacted via telephone by an employee concerned about the need for the replacement of protective equipment currently being used. The employee indicates that the equipment is damaged upon reporting to the supervisor, the concerns have not been addressed. Compliance with industry safety standards is reported publicly on an ongoing basis. During the conversation, the spouse of the employee can be heard speaking loudly in the background expressing dissatisfaction and posts comments on social media. The HR manager and the public relations department have been notified of the postings. The HR manager contacts the employee to request the posts be removed which further incites the spouse and additional comments are posted. The spouse requests to meet with the leadership of the firm to discuss. What approach can the HR manager take to address the request for a meeting with the leadership team?

Clearly explain to the employee why a meeting with the spouse will not be necessary to resolve the concern submitted.

What is the key to ensuring that projects have the highest chance of being effective?

Clearly relating the project purpose to the organization's strategy

Fulfilling which psychological needs would be most likely to result in better employee engagement and wellness?

Competence, autonomy, and relatedness

When developing a pay structure, which data set should the HR practitioner use during the development process?

Compiled job analysis, job documentation, and job evaluation

In his initial meeting with the HR team, a newly hired HR director hears several concerns relating to the organization's talent acquisition process including inconsistent questions, different decision-making criteria, and a lack of diversity across departments. The HR director believes these concerns, as he experienced several questionable actions during his own hiring. The HR team is not confident that the organization is hiring the best people, but each department believes its hiring approach is effective and show no 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.

A company with a history of tolerating low-performing employees has recently gained new leadership. The new executive team has brought in an HR director with a mandate to resolve multiple issues. The new HR director is well aware of the history of the company. In addition to the low-performance issue, the HR director has uncovered a poor record of compliance with the ADA, the FMLA, and workers' compensation. This lack of compliance has allowed several employees to take advantage of the system to their own benefit. The HR director has been tasked with correcting these issues with a new performance management system. Additionally, the HR director will need to improve the HR department's understanding and compliance with legal requirements so that the company is less likely to be taken advantage of in the future. Which is the best strategy for the HR director to take when developing new protocols concerning the ADA, the FMLA, and workers' compensation?

Conduct a meeting with the company's legal counsel to ensure that new protocols are fully compliant with the law.

HR has undertaken a review of the company's talent management plan in order to make recommendations for possible improvements. Which action should HR take first?

Conduct a thorough review of the organization's strategic plan and goals.

A manufacturing organization is in the decline phase of its life cycle. The organization's largest customer has notified the CEO that it plans to withdraw its business over the next two years. The CEO and his staff must consider options to replace the lost revenue related to this customer account. The company's employees are nervous and uncertain about their future. Two options are quickly identified to replace the expected loss of revenue. Option 1 is to develop a new product that could be manufactured and delivered in one week while the competition delivers product in six weeks. To compete successfully with this approach, the company would also need to design an order entry system so customers could place orders online. This strategy requires engineering to design the product line. It also requires IT staff to design the software and customer portals, marketing and sales to develop sales literature and pricing models, manufacturing to prepare for production, and HR to develop the workforce plan. Option 2 would be to acquire a struggling competitor and quickly turn that company around. The CEO has asked the HR manager to assess possible HR issues for both of these options. Six months after deciding to pursue option 1, the CEO also decides to acquire another company. Which is the best first step for the HR manager to take as part of HR's due diligence?

Conduct an HR audit of the new company's HR department for current and potential employment-related issues.

A company with a history of tolerating low-performing employees has recently gained new leadership. The new executive team has brought in an HR director with a mandate to resolve multiple issues. The new HR director is well aware of the history of the company. In addition to the low-performance issue, the HR director has uncovered a poor record of compliance with the ADA, the FMLA, and workers' compensation. This lack of compliance has allowed several employees to take advantage of the system to their own benefit. The HR director has been tasked with correcting these issues with a new performance management system. Additionally, the HR director will need to improve the HR department's understanding and compliance with legal requirements so that the company is less likely to be taken advantage of in the future. Because the HR director is new to the company, which is the best way to connect with and collect information from company managers?

Conduct individual meetings with company managers to develop relationships.

The HR business partner (HRBP) of a large retail chain has compiled an annual report on turnover and shared it with the director of sales (DOS) and the district manager (DM) for one of the chain's retail districts. The DOS and the DM are pleased with the results, since the overall retention rate meets the requirement for them to be eligible for a bonus. However, the HRBP looks more deeply into the data and determines that several stores are extreme outliers and have high turnover rates. The HRBP informs the DOS and the DM. They tell the HRBP to not worry about it, as the overall number is fine. They have enough to deal with; it is not necessary to go looking for problems. The HRBP believes that the results that have been uncovered are a cause for concern in these stores. Which is the best approach for the HRBP to use to determine the root cause of the high rate of turnover?

Conduct stay interviews with employees to determine what challenges they are experiencing.

A talent sourcing strategist at a retail corporation is charged with building and maintaining external relationships with colleges and universities to ensure that the corporation has a strong talent pipeline. To avoid conflicts of interest, corporate policy forbids talent sourcing strategists from having personal relationships with college or university staff. An HR specialist files a formal grievance stating that the talent sourcing strategist is engaged in a personal relationship with an admissions coordinator at a university. During the ongoing formal internal investigation, the HR director discovers that the admissions coordinator is employed by the university that provides the most recruits compared to all other academic partners. What should the HR director do to increase the likelihood that employees will adhere to the company's policy concerning personal relationships with college and university staff?

Conduct training with talent sourcing strategists on ethical relationships with university partners.

Which evaluation method is best for an emergency response plan?

Conducting a crisis drill

New leadership is in place at a large retailer, resulting in a business unit undergoing a detailed review of its support of the organizational strategy. It has been identified that the benefit offerings are not reflective of the organization's total rewards philosophy and that many benefits overlap, creating inefficiencies. Which action should be taken first by HR take to remedy the situation?

Conducting a utilization review of all benefits

Which responsibilities are usually charged to a safety committee?

Conducting area safety inspections and evaluating hazards

Which training method is best used for training employees on an emergency response plan?

Conducting drills and role plays

A business case to move to the cloud for information storage and enhanced web-based software has been approved.. This will represent a major cultural and process shift for the organization, and, to assist a transition plan has been communicated. The plan allows for a short period of transition, where paper files will continue alongside electronic files as use of the cloud software expands. The new technology also supports the ability for employees to work from home. Due to the nature of the work of the company , teams are an integral part of the culture. Leadership has assumed that teams will be able to work in the virtual world as easily as they do in person. The virtual world implementation is planned to begin following the successful implementation of the cloud storage procedures. To move to this future state, employees are told they cannot keep any company files or information on their own devices. In addition, employees are informed that they cannot take company information home in paper format. The organization leaves it to individual supervisors to communicate the changes to their direct reports. Six months after the implementation some employees continue to do the double work of maintaining both electronic and paper copies of documents and, in some cases, they are maintaining only paper files. The company has noticed a decrease in morale and missed deadlines. What action should HR have taken prior to implementation of the virtual world to support the sustainability of the virtual environment?

Conducting training for team members on how to work in a virtual environment

The annual loss ratio for a company's health plan is 158%. The CHRO has been asked by the CEO to propose changes to the plan that will lower costs while retaining as many of the current benefits as possible. A review reveals that the dental and prescription drug coverage account for 84% of the plan's claims and that 3 of their 91 employees account for 73% of the claims. After reviewing a series of benefit options, the CHRO decides that the best option is a plan that doubles the deductibles on the dental and prescription benefits while also lowering the maximum reimbursement coverage by 25%. The CHRO makes a presentation outlining this suggestion to the company's executive committee. After a brief discussion of the rationale and the merits, the COO mentions that the company should announce the plan's changes to employees immediately. The CHRO responds that doing so would defeat the purpose of the changes. Without further discussion, the executive committee proceeds to vote and accept the changes to become effective upon plan renewal the following month. Two months after the introduction of the new plan, it is discovered that two employees made bulk prescription purchases (a six-month supply) one week prior to the changes in the benefit plan going into effect. The CHRO suspects a leak of the confidential information. Which is the first step the CHRO should take to handle the suspected leak of confidential information?

Confidentially interview the employees who used the benefits just prior to the changes to assess their rationale

Which is a key aspect of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) as evidenced by its inclusion as a component of the SHRM Empathy Index?

Conflict management

An office manager is tasked with contracting with a third party to clean the office building at night. The manager hires his family-owned cleaning business without undergoing a request-for-proposal process. What risk factor does this illustrate?

Conflict of interest

An HR Director is responsible for evaluating employee benefit requirements for various municipalities in regions across the country. What legal concept does this situation represent?

Conflict of laws

What is the best approach HR can take to align organizational effectiveness and development (OED) with the goals of the organization?

Connecting the organization's strategy and the intervention activities

Strategic management refers to the actions that leaders take to move their organization toward strategic goals and create value for stakeholders. Which benefit of strategic management is likely?

Consistent decision making

Which policy ideally gives employees an opportunity to understand expectations and change their behaviors?

Constructive discipline

A line manager approaches HR to explore ways to increase cross-training among her employees. How can HR meet the manager's need while increasing employee engagement?

Consult with the manager to understand which duties of the specific role incorporate higher levels of decision making.

How has technology affected the HR function?

Consumer-like applications will allow manager self-service.

An HR manager is contacted via telephone by an employee concerned about the need for the replacement of protective equipment currently being used. The employee indicates that the equipment is damaged upon reporting to the supervisor, the concerns have not been addressed. Compliance with industry safety standards is reported publicly on an ongoing basis. During the conversation, the spouse of the employee can be heard speaking loudly in the background expressing dissatisfaction and posts comments on social media. The HR manager and the public relations department have been notified of the postings. The HR manager contacts the employee to request the posts be removed which further incites the spouse and additional comments are posted. The spouse requests to meet with the leadership of the firm to discuss. What action can the HR manager take to demonstrate that the employee's concerns are being taken seriously?

Coordinate an inspection of the equipment and inform the employee that any immediate safety issues will be addressed.

Which method should HR employ to support an international assignee during their assignment?

Coordinate communication and visits to their home country

Which HR task is usually associated with a multidomestic corporation?

Coordinating HR activities between the home and host countries

Which action best characterizes an organization that approaches global assignments from a strategic-systematic perspective?

Coordinating critical functions among the home office and foreign locations

Which three generic strategies for success are identified in Michael Porter's model?

Cost leadership, differentiation, focus

In his initial meeting with the HR team, a newly hired HR director hears several concerns relating to the organization's talent acquisition process including inconsistent questions, different decision-making criteria, and a lack of diversity across departments. The HR director believes these concerns, as he experienced several questionable actions during his own hiring. The HR team is not confident that the organization is hiring the best people, but each department believes its hiring approach is effective and show no interest in trying a new approach. Which is the best immediate course of action the HR director could take to address organizations talent acquisition issues?

Create a structured interview process that standardizes the questions asked and the criteria for grading.

A renowned financial institution, a former leader in the financial market, is now facing decelerated growth. Its product portfolio lacks innovation compared to that of competitors. Although the institution was once a favorite place to work, recently HR has been facing issues attracting top talent, and time-to-hire metrics have deteriorated. A technology gap between the leadership and the employees is beginning to widen. The founder, who is very sales-oriented, is not an early adopter when it comes to technology. Since his client relationships all began with face-to-face contact, he is wary that technology removes the personal element. To create a more collaborative culture and social learning environment, the HR talent development lead (TDL) wants to foster a culture of learning and innovation. This will require a change in corporate culture and a significant investment in new technology. Despite a recent upgrade, the learning management system (LMS) still feels outdated, sluggish, and static. The TDL believes that a new LMS with more powerful social learning technologies will be critical for attracting and retaining top talent, capturing the attention of a broader and rapidly changing demographic, and meeting their demands. The workforce is around 40% Millennials, compared with 10% just five years ago. How can the TDL ensure that the LMS is consistently and widely used and supports the cost of investment?

Create an effective communication plan so employees are aware of the benefits the new LMS offers and implement incentives for using the LMS.

An HR director recognizes the need to work with a preferred staffing vendor to address the organization's short- and long-term staffing needs and to help streamline recruiting for specialized positions in several departments. This approach falls into which category of the organization's talent acquisition strategy?

Creating a talent pipeline

Which is an example of a cultural factor that poses potential risk when evaluating an organization for a merger or acquisition?

Creation of a workforce with a large number of workers who speak different languages

A global organization implements a clothing policy that sets general guidelines for a neat appearance and safety in the workplace. The policy also allows regional management to issue appropriate expectations for the local operations. Which does this action illustrate?

Cultural relativism

Which two tendencies are critical in developing a global mindset?

Curiosity and change acceptance

Which is an example of a "push" factor in globalization?

Current home-country market saturation

Which HR metric would best inform HR leadership as to whether the rest of the organization feels that HR does an adequate job supporting hiring processes throughout other departments?

Customer satisfaction

Which performance management method or tool would be most likely to increase employee engagement?

Customizing dashboards to focus on the employee's circle of influence

Which is a significant factor that an HR professional must consider when using a website to recruit for a global enterprise?

Data privacy regulations

Which is the chief information officer likely most concerned about?

Database Security

A project manager must form a cross-departmental team to implement a new program. Which steps should be taken first to ensure that the project is completed on time and in scope?

Define tasks, communicate expectations, assign tasks, and monitor progress.

While attending a training class on conscious versus unconscious bias, a straight white male employee expresses a microaggression, indicating angrily that the organization promotes those who have shown the most merit and it isn't his fault who is in the promotion pipeline. How should the instructor respond?

Defuse this defensive behavior by indicating that all persons have such biases and there is no stigma for being in an ingroup.

Which approach describes the form of data gathering in which experts take turns presenting their assumptions and refining a composite answer but never meet face-to-face?

Delphi technique

Which stage in the workforce analysis process considers the business challenges an organization faces when creating a forecast of the organization's future workforce composition?

Demand analysis

What guidance from HR is useful to an organization that has decided to pursue a greenfield operation?

Demographic characteristics of the new location

Why is it important for an HR director to establish internal partnerships with the managers of each business unit?

Demonstrate how HR can provide business unit value

Several employees have contacted the HR department multiple times about the company's lack of environmentally sustainable practices. In particular, employees have suggested that the company use reusable containers and utensils at official company events instead of plastic bottles and cups. Employees have provided alternative solutions, such as a cost estimate of a reusable liquid container with the company logo. Each time, the HR specialists have politely thanked the employees for their input but have not taken any specific action to avoid having to change contracts with the long-term vendor of supplies. At a recent company meeting, plastic cups and plates were used to serve refreshments and snacks. One of the employees who had been contacting the HR department was at the meeting. Upon seeing the plastic materials, the employee became very upset, expressed criticism for the company not taking any action, and left the meeting. The HR manager is put in charge of looking into environmentally friendly practices as well as resolving the conflict with this employee. Which should the HR manager do to persuade top management to adopt green initiatives?

Demonstrate the relationship between environmentally sustainable practices and company core values.

Which managerial competency would best support the relationship between the well-being and engagement of employees?

Demonstrating interest in employees as individuals and contributors

Which method would be most effective when training a new receptionist to operate the phone system?

Demonstrating the system

Which protocol should HR use when converting from paper to electronic record storage?

Department of Labor's "Final Rules"

What term describes how work groups are related in an organization?

Departmentalization

According to the "pull" model, which approach should be used to develop an outside sales force's knowledge, skills, and abilities in relationship management in order to increase sales revenue in the shortest amount of time?

Design a series of webcasts that review the latest techniques in relationship building.

Despite the fact that an employee's team is scheduled to work from 9:00am - 5:00pm each day, the employee consistently stays out late for lunch and makes up the time at the end of the day. A new manager has recently taken over the department and notices this pattern of behavior. During an informal conversation, the manager mentions to the employee that the individual is taking extended lunches. The employee responds with, "What does it matter? I stay and make up the time." The manager is concerned that the behavior was previously allowed and wants to start documenting the tardiness. Additionally, the manager worries that the morale of the team is suffering, as three team members have approached her about the situation since she was hired. How can the HR generalist effectively assess whether to update the policy?

Determine when the last update was and partner with the HR manager to determine necessary updates.

To approach global assignments from a strategic-systematic perspective, which action should HR take?

Develop future executives with essential global perspectives.

HR is asked to advise on ways to help a development team become fully functional as quickly as possible. The team is dispersed geographically and faces very short deadlines. What team-building solution would you prioritize?

Development of a roles and responsibilities chart

Which best describes the type of activities aimed at preparing for long-term, future job responsibilities as well as increasing skills for performing the current job?

Developmental

Which best identifies the difference between training and developmental activities?

Developmental activities have a long-term focus; training activities mitigate current skill gaps.

What is a key aspect of diversity that spurs innovation and so should not be considered a negative?

Discomfort

Which does not count toward the regular rate of pay for overtime calculations?

Discretionary bonuses

After conducting a reference background check, HR discovers that a leading candidate misrepresented dates of previous employment on both the résumé and the job application. What is the most probable outcome of learning this information?

Do not extend an offer of employment.

What advice would you give an HR colleague facing an employee grievance in a unionized environment?

Document all grievance meetings and take notes.

Which evidence provides the best defense if a candidate challenges the organization's selection decision based on a preemployment assessment?

Documentation of the test's validity

Which is a characteristic of alternative dispute resolution (ADR)?

Does not preclude litigation

Which program gives technical workers the ability to earn as much as they would in a management position?

Dual career ladder

Which best describes the benefit of using an employee resource group (ERG) for an organization looking to expand global market share?

ERGs provide valuable insights into the needs of the organization's diverse markets.

Which option best defines risk?

Effect of uncertainty on the ability to meet organizational objectives

A hiring manager is concerned with the number of resumes received compared to the number of qualified candidates selected for interviews. What area should the hiring manager discuss with the recruiter?

Effectiveness of recruiting methods

A new HR leader would like to assess the level of employee engagement in the organization. His focus will be on behavioral engagement. Which of the following characteristics should the HR leader look for?

Effort employees put into their jobs

Which program best allows HR to support long-term employee engagement and retention?

Employee assistance

Workplace accidents have increased over the past few years. Which type of survey would best gather employee ideas that could improve overall safety in the workplace?

Employee opinion survey

A technology company's competitive strategy requires that it have highly trained employees with unique knowledge and skills. What HR activities should have a primary focus in HR's strategic plan?

Employee retention and succession planning

The turnover rate among recent hires has increased. Exit interview feedback shows that employees' expectations of the company's culture, vision, and mission have not been fulfilled. What should the company reassess based on these trends?

Employee value proposition

An organization is moving from employees working in silos to a team environment. Which corporate social responsibility activity best supports this initiative?

Employee volunteerism

Which is a provision of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)?

Employees are entitled to return to a similar job with the same pay and status.

What positive outcome will result from coaching high-potential employees?

Employees will contribute more effectively to the organization.

A long-time employee of a small, rural branch of a national bank dies unexpectedly. This employee held a position requiring extensive institutional knowledge. Fellow employees are deeply saddened by the loss of their colleague, but bank policy allows bereavement leave for only members of the immediate family. The branch was already understaffed in several mid-level positions due to a limited pool of qualified applicants. The loss leads to increased workloads for the other employees, who are struggling to complete tasks on time. Which action should the HR manager take to address the emotional well-being of employees?

Engage a grief counselor to discuss coping mechanisms with employees as a group.

Which is an appropriate action for HR during an investigation into charges of discriminatory employment practices?

Ensure confidentiality as much as possible.

Which PESTLE force has caused a change to corporate branding?

Environmental concerns

For an organization to be considered sustainable, what areas of practice are examined?

Environmental, economic, social

What is the role of HR when it comes to whistleblowing?

Establishing a communication process that allows direct access to upper-level decision makers and protecting whistleblowers from retaliation

Which activity is considered a strategic HR responsibility?

Establishing common goals of an organization's core business functions

Why is ethics an intrinsic part of a corporate social responsibility program?

Ethics dictates behavioral guidelines for an organization.

The director of a company's main office reported a colleague from the company's overseas office to HR for dressing inappropriately during the company's annual conference. The colleague, who was hosting the international delegation at the conference, had dressed in her country's traditional attire. What trait did the director display?

Ethnocentrism

To meet a safety goal, an organization provided training to employees. The number of injuries, however, has not decreased over the last three years. What should the HR training manager do?

Evaluate and adjust the training.

An HR consultant is contacted by the chief financial officer (CFO) of a mid-sized family-owned manufacturing company. The CFO states that the company's turnover is nearing 100% in the operations department. Employees are staying an average of 60 to 90 days before leaving. Exit interviews indicate that the high turnover has occurred because there is very little training. The CFO doesn't understand this data, because all new employees participate in a one-day orientation and an onboarding program. The HR consultant also learns from the CFO that the manager of the operations department has a reputation for being aggressive and direct. This manager directly reports to the CEO, has been with the company for ten years, and is a good friend of the owners. The CFO admits that the operations manager can be difficult to deal with sometimes, but nobody says anything because of the operations manager's strong relationship with the family. The CFO says morale is low in the operations department, but an employee survey hasn't been done in the two years that the CFO has been at the company. The CFO and the HR consultant discuss various options, including training, coaching, and an employee engagement survey. The CFO provides the HR consultant with a small budget to determine which tasks are necessary and to complete them. What solution should the HR consultant suggest to improve training for new hires?

Evaluate and enhance the company's orientation and onboarding program.

Which factor is essential for the success of a diversity and inclusion initiative?

Executive commitment

What type of diversity is likely to be the most significant between identical twins who have been raised in the same household and who have the same level of education?

Experiential diversity

An HR manager derives his authority from his extensive background in HRM. What type of power is he using?

Expert

What form of equity is an HR function assuring when it conducts annual surveys of compensation practices in its labor markets?

External

A talent sourcing strategist at a retail corporation is charged with building and maintaining external relationships with colleges and universities to ensure that the corporation has a strong talent pipeline. To avoid conflicts of interest, corporate policy forbids talent sourcing strategists from having personal relationships with college or university staff. An HR specialist files a formal grievance stating that the talent sourcing strategist is engaged in a personal relationship with an admissions coordinator at a university. During the ongoing formal internal investigation, the HR director discovers that the admissions coordinator is employed by the university that provides the most recruits compared to all other academic partners. The HR director observes the talent sourcing strategist and the HR specialist having frequent verbal conflicts for several days in a row. What should the HR director do to resolve the conflict?

Facilitate a meeting between the talent sourcing strategist and the HR specialist to discuss the conflict.

Marketing and IT are collaborating on a new system that will allow customer service representatives to access and change customer accounts directly. Which action should HR take to create value for this effort?

Facilitating process training for all users

An engineering company aspires to have a culture that supports a family-friendly environment. What work/life program would support such a culture?

Family assistance program

Which activity is critical to ensure that strategy is implemented effectively?

Feedback on strategic initiatives is obtained on a regular basis from all parts of the organization.

What would indicate a cultural shift as a result of an organization and employee development change initiative?

Fewer product returns due to quality issues

To better meet the growing need for new parents to balance work with family, which program should HR include as part of the organization's employee benefits?

Flexible work schedules

For which position and in which situation would a stress interview be most appropriate?

For emergency room nurses, where behaviors can have life or death consequences

During an accident investigation, an HR manager determines that the injured employee could not read the safety data sheet (SDS). The manager reviews the company's training database and discovers that 10% to 15% of the current employees possess poor reading comprehension and cannot read the lockout/tagout (LOTO) procedures for machinery or the MSDS for hazardous chemicals. Upon further investigation, the HR manager learns that these employees regularly ask coworkers for assistance with LOTO and MSDS. Fortunately the company has not had a major catastrophic injury or death related to these areas, although a review of historic data on employee injury rates indicates a high percentage of minor injuries involving chemical burns and skin abrasions. These injuries have resulted in a higher-than-average experience modification rate that has adversely impacted the company's workers' compensation insurance premiums. The HR manager decides to develop a reading literacy program to provide coaching and tutoring to raise the reading and comprehension levels for all employees, soliciting a local educational institution to develop these reading courses. After consideration and budget approval from the CEO and the CFO, what is the first step the HR manager should take to introduce the reading program to company employees?

Form a small pilot group of employees, including employees with a reading level below the national average, and test the program.

What is the correct term for the right of an individual worker to unite with other workers to promote desired employment conditions as a group?

Freedom of association

Which statement best describes how organizations have evolved in their definition of diversity?

From a defensive, compliance-based view to that of a strategic asset.

How has the HR professional role evolved?

From operational to strategic

Which statement demonstrates effective leadership?

Fulfilling promises and commitments

HR generalists, who may be located within divisions or other locales, implement policies, adapt them as needed, and interact with employees. Which type of HR structure is this?

Functional

An HR consultant is contacted by the chief financial officer (CFO) of a mid-sized family-owned manufacturing company. The CFO states that the company's turnover is nearing 100% in the operations department. Employees are staying an average of 60 to 90 days before leaving. Exit interviews indicate that the high turnover has occurred because there is very little training. The CFO doesn't understand this data, because all new employees participate in a one-day orientation and an onboarding program. The HR consultant also learns from the CFO that the manager of the operations department has a reputation for being aggressive and direct. This manager directly reports to the CEO, has been with the company for ten years, and is a good friend of the owners. The CFO admits that the operations manager can be difficult to deal with sometimes, but nobody says anything because of the operations manager's strong relationship with the family. The CFO says morale is low in the operations department, but an employee survey hasn't been done in the two years that the CFO has been at the company. The CFO and the HR consultant discuss various options, including training, coaching, and an employee engagement survey. The CFO provides the HR consultant with a small budget to determine which tasks are necessary and to complete them. What should the HR consultant do to determine the true cause of the turnover as soon as possible?

Further analyze exit interview information.

A supervisor overhears an employee talking on the phone about a test for a hereditary form of breast cancer, and the supervisor subsequently denies the colleague a promotion based on this information. Which legislation does this action violate?

GINA

HR has been charged with benchmarking the organization's sustainability performance against that of its global competitors. Which resource will best help HR accomplish this?

GRI Sustainability Reporting Standards

Which action should HR take in order to fully realize the benefits of workplace data analytics?

Gather good-quality data to make relevant decisions.

Which best describes the process of sourcing?

Generating a pool of qualified applicants

Which is an example of a demographic factor examined during an environmental scan?

Generational differences

A team leader comes to HR for advice. The team is meeting its first milestone goals, but the team leader is worried about the effect on future productivity of one team member. This person spends more time socializing at meetings than talking about the task at hand. What should the HR professional recommend?

Give the team time to develop its roles and relationships.

What constitutes bribery?

Giving or receiving something of value to influence a transaction

A cosmetics company that denounces animal testing as a primary part of its branding was recently reported to be working with suppliers that routinely test on animals. Which aspect of the corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategy is misaligned?

Governance

What type of system does HR help develop that puts rules and processes in place for the organization to go by?

Governance

Which term describes a system of rules and processes put in place to ensure compliance with local and international laws, accounting rules, ethical norms, and environmental and social codes of conduct?

Governance

Which is the best example of indirect compensation?

Granting compensatory time off to a salaried employee for extra hours worked

What is the implication to the HR function of the increased use of applicant tracking systems (ATS)?

Greater ease in measuring the effectiveness and efficiency of the recruitment process

What is the primary obstacle that must be avoided during the norming phase of team formation?

Groupthink

An organizational crisis is rapidly unfolding as several key employees have been killed in a car accident. How can HR best contribute to rapid recovery of operations?

HR can fill in or supplement workforce gaps with the best qualified employees.

HR is interviewing candidates who will have to think on their feet and keep calm in high-pressure, high-stakes, and emotionally charged situations. Which leadership development method is best suited to develop this skill?

Hardship testing

Which is an example of a job specification for a line supervisor?

Has five years of experience

How can HR involve employees in supporting their organization's goals and mission?

Have employees and departments work together to develop goals that link to those of the company

Which risk category would include the risk posed by infectious disease?

Hazard

What is the value to HR in implementing a pre-employment assessment in the hiring process?

Helps HR gain insight on job-related candidate information

What best describes the appearance of a distribution curve in a data set with a low standard deviation (SD)?

High and narrow

The HR generalist at a regional bank informs managers when fully qualified candidates apply for jobs. Although there may not be any current openings, HR and position-specific managers will screen candidates and determine next steps. How can HR reliably predict when an opening is likely to occur?

Historical data of movement

An HR manager works for a large university. One day, an adult student comes in to claim sexual harassment by a married professor. A week later, another student comes in with a similar claim. Both students are currently in classes taught by the professor. University policy prohibits relationships between employees and students who they teach. Punishment for violation of the policy is determined by the dean of the academic division. While talking to the second student, the HR manager discovers that the students have coordinated their stories. The second student admits that both relationships were consensual and no sexual harassment occurred. Once it was discovered the professor was having multiple affairs, both of the students felt betrayed. Which action should the HR manager take to convince the students that claiming sexual harassment is inappropriate?

Host one-on-one discussions with each student explaining sexual harassment and answering their questions.

HR is asked to evaluate the organization's overall retention. Which would be the best information for HR to assess first?

How the current turnover rate compares to the industry average

An HR function has purchased applicant tracking software that allows external recruiters to access certain areas of the organization's information system. Throughout the purchasing process, HR has excluded the IT function. What is a possible outcome?

IT refuses to allow the software to be loaded into the system.

Which is the most desired outcome of an HR audit?

Identification of areas of the function where performance could be improved

The HR director at a large university has been on the job for six months when the university hires a new president. The new president decides that the staff development and advancement program is nonessential and orders the HR director to eliminate the 15 positions associated with the program within the week. The HR director wants to reassign, rather than terminate, employees who will be displaced. Which action should the HR director take to make job reassignments most effectively?

Identify positions requiring similar knowledge, skills, and abilities as the employees' current positions.

After a company lays off 40% of its workforce, organizational output decreases by 20%. In order to better understand these changes, the HR director tasks the HR manager with improving the employee attitude survey response rate by 15% in the next quarter. What should the HR manager do first?

Identify the survey response rates before the layoff to note any trends.

Which represents the best use of the balanced scorecard in strategic planning?

Identifying significant strategic objectives

Which level of learner participation offers the best opportunity for retention?

Immediate use

How does HR support strategic management in a global organization?

Implement processes to increase integration and knowledge exchange

During what phase of the strategic planning process does motivating employees to work toward organizational goals take place?

Implementation

During which stage of strategic planning do managers develop action plans and assign projects?

Implementation

An organization has implemented a recruitment and hiring program to increase the diversity of its workforce, but the retention rate for new hires is low. What step would offer the most help in correcting this problem?

Implementation of employee resource groups

Which is the most appropriate example of risk mitigation?

Implementing an emergency communication system for assignees

In an employee survey, the question is asked, "Do you believe all employees, even those with special needs, have a career path at the organization?" What is this question designed to measure?

Inclusion

A global company with a dedicated HR structure has locations on several continents. A new labor law in one of these locations impacts the company's overtime rules. What should HR in that location do first to address this change?

Inform corporate HR of the new law.

The HR director learns that an employee who has already met the sales goal for the month is keeping extra sales secret. The employee is moving the extra sales to the next month in order to ensure that future goals are met. Which should the HR director do first?

Inform the employee's manager and coach the manager on how to address the issue with the employee.

At which point in the corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategic process should a global organization decide on using local leadership?

Infrastructure creation

What practice can help end rumors that an organization's pay equity initiative is all talk and no action?

Institute pay transparency.

Which metric related to benefits provides feedback on the quality and value of the benefit and helps evaluate the competitiveness of the total compensation strategy?

Insurance participation rate

Which technology has the biggest impact on benefits administration?

Internet access

Which type of flexible staff benefits the organization by bringing new ideas and energy into the workplace and potentially builds a pipeline for future full-time employees?

Interns

HR is in the process of creating clearly defined, consistent job descriptions for a global environment. Which common challenge should HR anticipate?

Interpretations of job functions may vary.

How does HR ensure organizational effectiveness and development (OED) interventions deliver value?

Intervention objectives link outcomes to organizational goals.

The CEO of a fast-growing start-up company is worried that the company will not have the skilled workforce needed in the future to keep up with the dynamic needs of the business, and he asks the HR manager to anticipate and plan for the workforce gaps. The HR manager has been partnering with educational institutions, other businesses, and the local workforce development office to get more information about anticipated skill gaps and to develop an action plan. These resources have been supportive but are unsure of what skills might be needed and when these gaps will exist. The HR manager must navigate this uncertainty and provide a plan to the CEO. The HR manager learns that other businesses in the same industry are sourcing candidates who have a rare, highly technical skill set because it was recently promoted in the press. What step should the HR manager take first after learning this?

Interview managers at the company to obtain their perceptions about the need for this skill set.

An HR manager works for a large university. One day, an adult student comes in to claim sexual harassment by a married professor. A week later, another student comes in with a similar claim. Both students are currently in classes taught by the professor. University policy prohibits relationships between employees and students who they teach. Punishment for violation of the policy is determined by the dean of the academic division. While talking to the second student, the HR manager discovers that the students have coordinated their stories. The second student admits that both relationships were consensual and no sexual harassment occurred. Once it was discovered the professor was having multiple affairs, both of the students felt betrayed. Which action should the HR manager take first based on the information provided by the students?

Interview the professor about the allegations.

A manufacturing organization's office employees are arriving late to work on a consistent basis. A focus group is conducted, and it is discovered that the employees' morning commute has changed significantly due to highway construction. Which of the following should HR recommend the organization implement to support the temporary needs of employees?

Introduce a flextime policy with bandwidth hours.

What is the first step in developing a knowledge management system?

Inventorying knowledge assets

What does the term "tripartism" mean in the context of union relations?

Involvement of national governments in the bargaining process

When considering major changes in the performance appraisal process, which approach would be most helpful in obtaining commitment from managers?

Involving managers in determining what changes should be made

An employee is selected for an international assignment lasting two to three years and involving full relocation. Why is a well-crafted global letter of assignment a key part of the assignment plan?

It addresses the terms and conditions of the assignment.

How does the Weingarten case apply to an investigatory meeting to obtain information that is the basis for disciplinary action?

It allows a union representative to be present during the meeting.

Which is the primary advantage of using a balanced scorecard approach to measure organizational performance?

It allows organizations to assess intangibles.

What is likely to be true of the team structure for a project team to launch a new product?

It is likely to have high skill diversity.

What is true of a lead-lag market competition pay strategy?

It leads the market during the first half of the fiscal year and lags the market during the second half.

What characterizes a learning organization?

It manages change and adapts to its environment.

What is the purpose of observation as a tool for use in a job analysis?

It provides a realistic view of short-cycle jobs, from which needed knowledge, skills, and abilities are inferred.

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.

What is the purpose of paraphrasing in the communication model?

It serves as a feedback loop.

An organization is in the process of updating its compensation system and has started the task of evaluating jobs and grouping those with similar duties together. Which documents would be most useful for this purpose?

Job descriptions

A supervisor wants to improve job satisfaction and motivate employees by giving them more independence in their work and the opportunity to self-review and evaluate. Which is the best tactic to use for this?

Job enrichment

Factory workers from the assembly department are assigned to the shipping department every other week. Which type of career development program are these workers participating in?

Job rotation

Which alternative staffing arrangement meets the needs of an organization that is experiencing turnover in professional service positions due to employees desiring to work fewer hours?

Job sharing

What part of job documentation provides a written statement of the necessary qualifications of the job incumbent?

Job specification

After meetings with different departments dealing with downsizing, the HR professional authors a document identifying affected individuals based on each departments recommendations. A longtime friend of the HR professional will be impacted. How should the HR professional handle this situation?

Keep the workforce reduction information confidential.

A union has been accused of an unfair labor practice (ULP). What body has the authority to listen to the ULP charge?

Labor board

Which is a primary barrier to transfer of training?

Lack of reinforcement

Which organizational initiative should HR recommend to resolve glass ceiling issues for women?

Leadership development and mentoring programs

Which should be included in manager training for an organization's diversity and inclusion strategic initiative?

Leading diverse teams effectively and fostering an inclusive work environment

What type of organization embraces change, tolerates risk, and views failures as an opportunity to learn?

Learning organization

Which is a disadvantage of instructor-led training?

Less effective for large groups

Which is an advantage of blended learning over only instructor-led training?

Less expensive to deliver

Which is the most low-risk strategy for global market expansion?

Licensing

Which component of a total rewards system should an organization consider as an indirect benefit to employees?

Life insurance

Which best demonstrates chain of command?

Line of authority within an organization

When designing a training program, which should a global HR professional consider first?

Local differentiation and stakeholder support

Where is a plaintiff more likely to file a legal suit when jurisdiction shopping?

Locale that historically provides the desired results

Which component in an information system enables operations?

Logic tier

Which reason best describes why an organization may decide to keep records for longer than the mandatory record retention requirements specify?

Longer statutes of limitations for certain common-law claims

As part of new hire orientation, each new employee is assigned to a more experienced employee as an onboarding "buddy." What should be the primary role of the buddy?

Making the new employee feel welcome, answering questions, and helping navigate the organization's culture

What is the primary function of executive management?

Manage core business functions and their effect on the organization's performance

The employee relations (ER) manager has been tasked with hosting a company event so employees can meet coworkers in other parts of the company. How should the ER manager approach this task?

Meet with functional managers throughout the company to gather ideas.

Over the past 12 months, a global hotel franchise has been experiencing steady, significant growth, and needs to hire more employees at all levels. The leadership team asks the HR department to transition into a strategic business partner role to ensure that the franchise can meet current and future demands. However, some senior managers in the franchise believe that HR should focus only on administration of traditional HR activities such as recruiting, payroll, benefits, and these managers refuse to include HR in business conversations. As a result, many HR staff have adopted a strict policy enforcement role that has only made it more difficult for the HR department to make the transition. An HR manager is tasked with identifying ways to expand the role of the HR function in the organization and aligning it with business strategy. The HR manager is also charged with presenting an HR transformation plan to the executive leadership team. Which action should the HR manager take to identify opportunities for the HR department to expand its role in the company?

Meet with senior managers to discuss ways the HR department can improve its services.

The CEO of a fast-growing start-up company is worried that the company will not have the skilled workforce needed in the future to keep up with the dynamic needs of the business, and he asks the HR manager to anticipate and plan for the workforce gaps. The HR manager has been partnering with educational institutions, other businesses, and the local workforce development office to get more information about anticipated skill gaps and to develop an action plan. These resources have been supportive but are unsure of what skills might be needed and when these gaps will exist. The HR manager must navigate this uncertainty and provide a plan to the CEO. What action should the HR manager take to define the scope of the workforce needs?

Meet with the CEO to discuss the company's goals for the future.

The HR business partner (HRBP) of a large retail chain has compiled an annual report on turnover and shared it with the director of sales (DOS) and the district manager (DM) for one of the chain's retail districts. The DOS and the DM are pleased with the results, since the overall retention rate meets the requirement for them to be eligible for a bonus. However, the HRBP looks more deeply into the data and determines that several stores are extreme outliers and have high turnover rates. The HRBP informs the DOS and the DM. They tell the HRBP to not worry about it, as the overall number is fine. They have enough to deal with; it is not necessary to go looking for problems. The HRBP believes that the results that have been uncovered are a cause for concern in these stores. What is the best way for the HRBP to persuade the DOS and the DM that the outlier stores need further attention?

Meet with the DOS and the DM to explain the costs of turnover and the need to investigate causes in these locations.

An HR business partner (HRBP) knows that HR is struggling to improve its relationship with the operations function. The HRBP receives an e-mail from an operations supervisor who refuses to implement a disciplinary action that the HRBP has recommended. What should the HRBP do?

Meet with the supervisor and explain the rationale for taking disciplinary action.

A manager has come to HR because an employee cannot meet production standards. After further investigation, it is discovered that several other employees cannot meet production standards. Records show that all employees have been properly trained and certified. Which action should HR recommend to resolve the issue?

Meeting with each employee to determine the obstacles to production

The Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) prohibits discrimination against job applicants on the basis of what?

National origin or citizenship

Which of the following is a "push" factor for global expansion?

Need for new markets

A new division manager wants to terminate a new employee for borrowing work equipment for personal use, an act specifically prohibited in the employee handbook. This has happened before, but, in that case, the employee was not terminated. Which action should HR recommend the manager take?

Not proceeding with the termination because it may not be defensible

Which best demonstrates an attorney work product?

Notes from interviews done at the attorney's request

A company has established an internal procedure to improve communication between workers and management. According to company policy, managers are available to meet with any employee who wishes to discuss an issue. What form of dispute resolution is being used?

Open-door policy

To capitalize on innovation and collaboration, HR must balance certain issues. Which are the most challenging?

Openness and security

Which part of a SWOT analysis reflects the external environment?

Opportunities and threats

In Maslow's hierarchy of needs, how are the needs of self-actualization exemplified?

Opportunities for development, problem solving, and creativity

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

Organization's risk tolerance

Based on an analysis of future skills needed, an organization implements two new training courses. What type of intervention is this?

Organizational

After the merger of two business entities, the new VP of HR would like the benefits manager to develop a plan to address six different post-merger vacation policies, each with slightly different criteria and provisions. Pressured by one of the business heads to prevent a power struggle among the new leadership, the benefits manager must decide if the organization should try to harmonize the policies from the merged entities or let them continue to coexist. Which critical first step should the benefits managers take to begin the harmonization process?

Perform a risk assessment of the two options: harmonize or coexist.

An hourly employee is at the maximum level of a pay range. There are no job openings in the next pay range. Which is the best approach to reward the employee for exceptional performance without adjusting the base wage rate?

Performance bonus

Staff have been reluctant to share on-the-job experiences with coworkers. HR wants to update all job descriptions to reflect the expectation that this should take place. How can HR assess that this change has been successfully implemented?

Performance evaluations

Which should be the first step in solving an organization's problems with a sharp increase in back orders of shipments?

Performing a process analysis

Which U.S. Supreme Court case found the practice of hiring a male with preschool-aged children over a woman with preschool-aged children to be in violation of Title VII?

Phillips v. Martin Marietta Corporation

What is the first step in evidence-based decision making (EBDM)?

Phrasing the problem in the form of a question to be answered

What is a broad statement that reflects an organization's philosophy, objectives, or standards?

Policy

What potential outcome is associated with the decision to offshore jobs from a developed country?

Political fallout

According to Perlmutter's headquarter orientations, what structural strategy describes a company where host-country nationals usually staff and manage the local subsidiary?

Polycentric

HR management creates a shared services center for career development counseling. Several months later, management notes high turnover in HR offices throughout the organization. Which is the most likely reason for this outcome?

Poor management of the extended effects of an organizational change

Which conditions encourage a higher retention rate for adult learners?

Practicing what they have learned

What is the first step in the negotiation process?

Preparation

Which situation that leads to workplace violence can be controlled by an organization?

Pressure for increased productivity

Which tools are used in building an employment brand?

Principles of marketing

An executive team in the middle of refining an organization's strategic plan is in the implementation phase. Which activity should occur during this phase?

Provide clear communication of objectives to teams and coordinating their efforts

What is one thing an organization can do to help ensure a global assignment's success for both the individual and the organization?

Provide well-planned, ongoing training and support.

Which of the following is an advantage of external recruiting?

Provides cross-industry insights

Which is an advantage of using the point-factor method in job evaluation?

Provides documentation and an audit trail

What is the usefulness of a key risk indicator (KRI)?

Provides early warning of organizational risk emergence

In the balanced scorecard approach to strategic management, which action does the customer value most?

Providing quality goods and services

An HR manager wants to make the organization's learning opportunities more accessible and convenient for employees. What type of framework would meet these goals?

Pull model

An HR manager recommends that, as a way to closely monitor engagement, briefer, more frequent surveys are given to specific segments of the workforce. This describes what type of survey?

Pulse

A HR professional has been assigned to help a new product development team that has had difficulty achieving smooth collaboration. The members keep accusing each other of not doing what they're supposed to be doing and instead interfering in each other's work. What tool could help the HR professional and the product team in this situation?

RACI matrix

Which is diversity's greatest value to an organization?

Range of perspectives and modes of thinking

How has big data revolutionized the way HR adds value to the organization?

Real-time processing provides up-to-date information.

Which administrative task should an HR manager delegate to an HR assistant?

Reconciling benefits

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

Which action would be considered an unfair labor practice (ULP)?

Refusing to bargain with a legally recognized union

Which type of rules or orders that have the force of law are issued by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency?

Regulations

The HR department monitors the emergency response plans and updates them as needed, at least annually. Which is the best way to evaluate the plan as part of the annual review?

Rehearsing drills of the plan

A group of applicants is given the same assessment at the same time across three consecutive days. Which statistical strength of the assessment is being measured with this method?

Reliability

Which type of survey should an HR professional use to collect information on base pay, incentive plans, and benefits?

Remuneration

What best describes the difference between replacement planning and succession planning?

Replacement planning focuses on short-term needs; succession planning focuses on long-term needs.

What is a direct result of HR's evolving strategic role?

Required competence to develop talent through career development and succession planning

Which characteristic typically distinguishes a job function as essential?

Requirements for highly specialized skills

An organization is measuring its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) by asking how well surveys were conducted, what levels of participation were seen, and what changes should be made to future DE&I metrics. What is a key area of measurement that is missing?

Results measures

Which factor differentiates successful training programs from unsuccessful programs?

Results showing transfer of learning

A consulting company knows that its primary advantage lies in the expertise and commitment of its people. Which practice should HR recommend that leaders focus on?

Retention

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

What first step should HR take when assessing a recent trend that shows an increase in telecommuting in the industry?

Review current functions to determine which are conducive to a flexible work arrangement.

An employee who holds a critical position in the company sustains a back injury on the job and is temporarily unable to continue working. To avoid a loss of income, the employee uses all available personal leave, adding up to 12 weeks. After the 12 weeks of leave, the employee has only been cleared by a doctor to work with physical restrictions and will not be assessed again for three months. The employee makes an appointment with the HR manager to discuss options for returning to work. Which step should the HR manager take first to help the employee?

Review the employee's current job description to identify potential accommodations.

What phase of risk management is represented in the acronym MECE, which stands for "mutually exclusive and comprehensively exhaustive"?

Risk identification

What is the appropriate role for an HR manager in an investigatory interview for a dischargeable offense?

Risk manager for the organization

The HR department is instructed to fill a critical management position as quickly as possible. Using multiple agencies will produce more candidates more quickly but will increase the cost by several times. Which critical input should HR seek before deciding how to proceed?

Risk tolerance of the organization

Which of the following factors influence an organization to expand globally?

Saturated market demand at home

An HR strategic planning team wants to see what the effects on payroll will be if management realigns production capacity using different strategies. What analytical tool should HR use?

Scenario analysis

An assembly operation has completely redesigned its work floor and added new machines. What would be the best way for HR to fulfill its duty of care to the operation's employees?

Schedule a walk-through of the redesigned area during a work shift.

Which is considered a flexible staffing strategy?

Seasonal contracting

Which is the best option to help an international assignee rapidly acclimate to the new country's culture?

Secure a specialized third-party vendor to provide the assignee with a customized settling-in program.

Which should be a primary concern for employers regarding the "bring your own device" (BYOD) technology approach?

Security and data integrity threats

An HR manager is contacted via telephone by an employee concerned about the need for the replacement of protective equipment currently being used. The employee indicates that the equipment is damaged upon reporting to the supervisor, the concerns have not been addressed. Compliance with industry safety standards is reported publicly on an ongoing basis. During the conversation, the spouse of the employee can be heard speaking loudly in the background expressing dissatisfaction and posts comments on social media. The HR manager and the public relations department have been notified of the postings. The HR manager contacts the employee to request the posts be removed which further incites the spouse and additional comments are posted. The spouse requests to meet with the leadership of the firm to discuss. What is the best route for the HR manager to take to decrease the current level of anxiety for the employee and the spouse?

Set the employee's expectation as to what the immediate next steps will be and provide a preliminary idea of the timing of the process.

What can an organization do to help it succeed in its pursuit of external pay equity?

Share salary ranges in internal and external job postings.

An organization recently changed its employee benefits package and has decided to measure employee satisfaction in response to this change by administering a survey. To ensure that the survey delivers its promised benefits, which action should the employer take before administering the survey?

Share the purpose of the survey.

Which type of model establishes units with specialized expertise that develop policies and resources for all units to utilize?

Shared services

How is culture generally characterized?

Shared system of values, beliefs, and attitudes

Which statement best describes a productive knowledge management system?

Sharing of organizational learning and reducing knowledge loss

Which best describes the impact when an organization's values are effectively paired with goal setting?

Shows employees how their individual efforts contribute to the success of the organization's strategy

Which is the best reason to use social media channels for corporate communication?

Social media channels provide instantaneous feedback to leaders through employee responses.

Which is a likely outcome of a series of well-run knowledge cafés?

Some people form unexpected new relationships with coworkers.

A risk scorecard provides a weighted number for each event or threat and the probability of that threat occurring. Which other factors are needed to complete a threat ranking index?

Speed of onset, existing mitigation, and severity of impact

Which is the difference between a strategic alliance and a joint venture?

Strategic alliances do not involve equity; joint ventures require that both partners contribute equity.

Which activity is HR likely to perform at the corporate level using an upstream/downstream model?

Strategic planning

An employee life cycle describes all of the activities associated with an employee's tenure in the organization. What is the impact of HR's understanding of the employee life cycle on the organization?

Supporting employee performance and engagement

In an e-learning environment, what type of learning is being used when participants gather for discussion online at a specific time?

Synchronous learning

In an effort to enrich jobs, management wants employees working at one of three assembly stations to complete the entire assembly job and put their names on the finished product. About half of the employees are resisting the change. Which is the best course of action that HR should recommend to address the resistance?

Talking with employees opposed to the change to understand their concerns

Which term is best described as traditionally higher-level leadership responsibilities being transferred to leaders at lower levels?

Task migration

Travel, training, and transfers are three of four tools, often referred to as the 4 Ts, used to develop a global mindset and influence managerial practices. What is the fourth tool, and what is its purpose?

Teams. Working on global teams and international projects helps executives develop cross-cultural management skills.

A company has experienced a high degree of turnover during the past year. Senior leadership is concerned about the amount of turnover and worried that HR is not moving fast enough to fill these positions. The hiring managers say that the applicant pools have been weak lately and they have had trouble finding qualified applicants to hire from within the pools HR provides. HR has relied heavily on recruiting by word of mouth, which in the past has generated applicants that fit the company's culture. The award for referrals that result in hiring has also been popular with employees. What would be the best way for HR to address the senior leaders' concerns about turnover?

Tell senior management that HR will do an analysis of the current turnover rate across fiscal years to determine if the turnover rate has changed drastically.

According to the Hersey-Blanchard theory, which is generally the most suitable situational leadership approach for entry-level employees?

Telling

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.

Which factor is most important to consider when an organization is seeking to globalize its leadership development program?

The culture in each country as it affects how leaders emerge

Which is a trend in career development that an HR team leader must consider before engaging in career planning with team members?

The employee is expected to assume greater individual responsibility for career development.

Which of the following is considered a criterion for effective employee resource groups (ERGs) as established by DiversityInc.?

The group has a formal charter.

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 conversation by asking the staff member an open question to ensure understanding.

Which indicates that an organization is using strategic planning and management?

The organization's structure, resources, and policies are aligned to meet the agreed-upon goals

As the result of a reorganization, an employer is laying off 20% of its sales employees. Which existing practice will help ensure that the company retains the knowledge of the departing employees?

The sales department maintains a customer database.

A technician in a diagnostic lab has filed a complaint with HR accusing a supervisor of selectively enforcing policies. Which action would constitute workplace retaliation?

The supervisor reassigns the technician from bench work to physically difficult duties.

Which would constitute an unfair labor practice (ULP)?

The union fines a member for criticizing union actions.

An employee refuses to follow a supervisor's job instructions. The supervisor discharges the employee on the spot for insubordination. Which best describes the handling of this case?

There was insufficient due process.

A business providing cloud computing services intends to distribute its server centers in different time zones around the world to protect against risks of local outages and to save energy by moving the bulk of processing to centers operating at night. Which best describes the impact to the organization's human capital planning?

There will be an increased need for diversity training.

Which is an advantage of having job descriptions in a global environment?

They expedite forecasting of current and projected staffing.

What is the advantage of nonqualified deferred compensation plans?

They provide incentives for key executives to stay with the organization.

A new HR staff member wants to win support for her idea for a new employee benefit. The HR director has agreed to meet with her to discuss the idea briefly. How should the HR staff member prepare?

Think about what might be motivating the HR director in his job.

An organization has become dysfunctional: Morale is low, reports of discipline-worthy offenses and conflicts with supervisors are increasing, and productivity is down. Which initial step would HR take to gain more information about possible causes?

Third-party-administered survey

Which type of social sharing of knowledge can allow an organization to increase its brand perception with the general public?

Thought leadership

How should an HR leader evaluate an organization's return on labor expenses?

Through a well-crafted pay-for-performance program that measures performance compared to goals

How does hyperconnectivity assist an organization in achieving its strategic goals?

Through the digital interconnection of people and things at any time and any place

Workplace harassment is a violation of which legislation?

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964

Which is a primary purpose of conducting a training and development needs assessment?

To align organizational effectiveness and development initiatives and corporate goals

Which is a goal of a transnational organization?

To build strong local and global identities

Which is the most important reason for a global organization to have a values-based corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategy?

To create a foundation to make ethical decisions

How are local cluster developments used in corporate social responsibility?

To create shared value

A small but growing organization is just beginning to build its corporate social responsibility (CSR) program. Which objective would be most appropriate for the organization at this stage?

To develop a CSR program that is aligned with the organization's business strategy

Which is the primary goal of an organization's diversity and inclusion efforts?

To develop diverse perspectives

An HR business partner is conducting a focus group to examine possible causes for recent low engagement survey scores. What is the business partner's primary role in this meeting?

To encourage full discussion and participation

What is the role of an HR professional attending a meeting in a work unit that is struggling to implement recent changes?

To engage the group in solving issues that have arisen

Which identifies the primary purpose of employer branding?

To establish the organization as an employer of choice

What is the purpose of an HR compliance checklist?

To help ensure that the organization fulfills the requirements of HR laws and regulations

How should an HR professional use trend analysis?

To plan possible responses to changes in labor supply

Which is a primary goal during supply analysis?

To provide a snapshot of an organization's current pool of talent

Which is the most appropriate reason for an HR professional to create a business case?

To secure budget and resources for a proposed project.

Which is the primary purpose of creating and communicating training program objectives?

To support measurement of the acquisition of learning

How is a growth-share matrix used in a large organization?

To understand the competitive position and value of each sector of the business

During an accident investigation, an HR manager determines that the injured employee could not read the safety data sheet (SDS). The manager reviews the company's training database and discovers that 10% to 15% of the current employees possess poor reading comprehension and cannot read the lockout/tagout (LOTO) procedures for machinery or the MSDS for hazardous chemicals. Upon further investigation, the HR manager learns that these employees regularly ask coworkers for assistance with LOTO and MSDS. Fortunately the company has not had a major catastrophic injury or death related to these areas, although a review of historic data on employee injury rates indicates a high percentage of minor injuries involving chemical burns and skin abrasions. These injuries have resulted in a higher-than-average experience modification rate that has adversely impacted the company's workers' compensation insurance premiums. The HR manager decides to develop a reading literacy program to provide coaching and tutoring to raise the reading and comprehension levels for all employees, soliciting a local educational institution to develop these reading courses. How should the HR manager evaluate the effectiveness of the program?

Track the quarterly accident reports to see if they have decreased since the training began.

A long-time employee of a small, rural branch of a national bank dies unexpectedly. This employee held a position requiring extensive institutional knowledge. Fellow employees are deeply saddened by the loss of their colleague, but bank policy allows bereavement leave for only members of the immediate family. The branch was already understaffed in several mid-level positions due to a limited pool of qualified applicants. The loss leads to increased workloads for the other employees, who are struggling to complete tasks on time. Which action should the HR manager take to address the hiring needs of the branch?

Train current employees to promote from within so less-skilled positions can be filled more easily.

A company with a history of tolerating low-performing employees has recently gained new leadership. The new executive team has brought in an HR director with a mandate to resolve multiple issues. The new HR director is well aware of the history of the company. In addition to the low-performance issue, the HR director has uncovered a poor record of compliance with the ADA, the FMLA, and workers' compensation. This lack of compliance has allowed several employees to take advantage of the system to their own benefit. The HR director has been tasked with correcting these issues with a new performance management system. Additionally, the HR director will need to improve the HR department's understanding and compliance with legal requirements so that the company is less likely to be taken advantage of in the future. The HR director has been tasked by the executive team to address the low performance of employees. Which is the best way for the HR director to handle this situation?

Train employees and supervisors on the new performance management process and expectations.

An organization uses the ADDIE model to develop employee learning programs, but training for advanced IT issues keeps running into problems with materials being poorly received by one group of stakeholders or another. What could the organization do to improve the chances that future training in this area will be well received?

Transition to the successive approximation model (SAM).

A global corporation is engaging in negotiation with a partner organization in a country outside of headquarters. How should the HR manager prepare for negotiation discussions to create win-win outcomes?

Understand the values and negotiation styles of the other country

Which is critical when considering forces for globalization?

Understand which forces are significant to the organization

Which must be permitted when conducting an investigative interview of a union employee?

Union representative adding information supporting the employee's case

An operations manager wants to hire additional full-time employees. The HR business partner knows that the need for additional resources will probably be temporary, based on historical data. What would be the best way to persuade the operations manager that using temporary workers would be a better strategy?

Use data. Show the manager the resource trend charts for the past several years.

What is the best description of an information system portal?

User's point of access to system data and applications

Technological forces have had which critical effect on today's corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices?

Using analytical capabilities has made CSR impacts more demonstrable.

How are the concepts of value and the value chain related to strategy?

Value chain analysis identifies areas critical to strategic success.

What is the most accurate characterization of business value?

Value may be defined differently between organizations.

An organization examines the level of probability for all types of losses to which it may be exposed. What aspect of risk is the organization studying?

Vulnerability

What type of strike occurs without the knowledge or approval of union leadership?

Wildcat strikes

Which metric should an organization look to when evaluating an employee engagement strategy that is focused on safety?

Workers' compensation incident rate

HR has been asked to target and identify how the organization's strategic plans can be realized over a three-year scope. This will necessitate examining current organizational competencies against those needed in the future and reconciling the differences. Which process should HR recommend to assist the organization in making these determinations?

Workforce analysis