A large retail company opens a distribution center directly across the street from a small competing firm's distribution center and posts a sign advertising open entry-level positions. The plant manager of the small firm notices that the sign indicates the advertised salary is higher than what the firm pays its entry-level employees. The plant manager is concerned employees will leave the firm to seek work at the competing company. The plant manager notifies the HR manager of the pay differences and requests immediate pay matching for all entry-level employees. The HR manager sets up a meeting with the plant manager, compensation manager, and HR business partner to discuss the issue. They decide to increase base pay to match the competitor's base pay but only for a subset of entry-level roles identified as critical. They also decide to put the pay increase into effect immediately, and the HR manager agrees to monitor the situation over the next three months.
How should the HR manager communicate the new pay increase to current entry-level employees?
A start-up technology company is growing rapidly, and senior leadership would like the company to be publicly traded in the near future. The company regularly exceeds its financial goals, but outside analysts express concerns about the inconsistent practices and procedures within the company. The company values innovation, and very little attention is paid to documenting or standardizing work processes. This provides employees with a great deal of freedom to experiment in their roles, but it also leads to confusion about individual assignments and areas of responsibility. In preparation for a public offering, the company's leadership asks the HR director to gather information on best work practices in every functional area and create the required documentation.
Many team managers do not believe that documentation is necessary and they do not want to spend time creating it. How can the HR director convince them that this initiative is worthwhile?
During a workforce audit, an HR mobility leader discovers several expatriates who are not part of the organization's global mobility program. Which is the first step the HR leader should take in response to this discovery?
The marketing department at a large financial services company chooses five high-performing staff members every year to receive a performance award, which includes a monetary reward and recognition at an end-of-year meeting. Employees are chosen by managers in the marketing department. Each manager nominates two direct reports, and then all managers meet as a group to discuss nominees until a consensus is reached. The names of the winners are given to HR for final approval. The marketing department is preparing to begin this year's nomination process. There have been repeat winners in each of the last three years. A marketing employee files a complaint with the HR director about favoritism in the award process. Additionally, the employee points out that newer employees rarely win the award, which lowers their morale. New employees tend not to win because they spend a couple of years training and shadowing experienced employees before receiving tasks to perform independently.
How should the HR director minimize the perception of favoritism in the selection process?
According to the Equal Pay Act of 1963, which working condition requires equal pay?
The executive leadership team at a global IT company with over 300,000 employees in 140 countries decides they want more information about the state of the talent at the organization. They are concerned that they do not have enough insight about the talent pool across the organization. This has prevented HR from identifying and planning for retention risks and has caused delays in filling critical positions. Additionally, leaders across the organization lack an effective way to identify the best staff for their teams and must rely on recommendations from others. The VP of HR is asked to identify a talent management software solution and oversee its companywide implementation.
After the talent management software is implemented which action should the VP of HR take to assess whether it is helping leaders identify needed talent?
An HR director is preparing to meet with the company president because one of the top executives has been accused of gross misconduct. Which is the best recommendation the HR director can give the president to ensure a complete and credible investigation process?
At a regional power company, managers are in charge of assigning training and development opportunities to their employees. These opportunities are sponsored by the company, and employees are entitled to their regular pay while attending training and development sessions. Recently, there has been a growing number of complaints that managers were engaging in favoritism by only assigning these training and development opportunities to their favorite employees. Favoritism violates company policy, which states that all employees must be given equal opportunities. The HR director aims to address this issue.
Senior leaders at the company express a desire to eliminate training and development opportunities because they have become too costly for the company. What should the HR director do?
Which activity expands an employee's job by providing more control responsibility, and discretion?
A nonprofit health care facility conducts an engagement and culture survey, and the results indicate that employees throughout the organization believe leadership engages in favoritism by providing unequal opportunities for staff. General perceptions of the company's culture are poor, and many employees report intentions to leave their jobs. Several additional concerning findings are isolated to the philanthropic department, which is responsible for acquiring donors and securing charitable partnerships. Employees from this department report poor working relationships among staff, including gossiping and bullying among co-workers. Although the leadership team is aware of the poor working relationships in the philanthropic department, they have not asked the department director to address the issues because of the department's outstanding performance in recent years. However, after considering the recent survey results the leadership team decides to initiate a project to address the culture issues at the facility overall and within the philanthropy department specifically. The operations VP will oversee the project and ask an HR business partner (HRBP) to lead the project. The VP of operations requests that the HRBP collect additional survey data and conduct focus groups during the first phase of the project.
The philanthropy department director confides in the HRBP that behavioral issues with specific employees have not been addressed because the director prefers to avoid interpersonal confrontation. Which action should the HRBP take?
A company prepares to implement a system that requires employees to use their mobile phones to submit hours worked. Before implementing the system, which should the HR team consider first?
A company is looking to launch an employee volunteer program as a creative recruiting tool. Which benefit should the HR director stress when creating a business case for this program?
Due to a global health crisis a manufacturing company halts operations for an indefinite time period. The HR manager reviews the company's crisis response plan but does not find information about paying employees. Which element was most likely skipped during the crisis planning stage?
In one of the warehouses of a retail company, several international employees complain to HR that the warehouse manager has forbidden them from speaking in their native language in the workplace. The HR manager speaks with the warehouse manager, who says there have been several reports that the international employees only interact with each other and they have difficulty conversing with the local employees due to language barriers. The HR manager also learns that the international employees can speak the primary language used in the company well enough to understand instructions from their supervisors. Fortunately, there have been no incidents of safety issues where language has been a barrier between local and international employees. However, senior management believes there is a lack of rapport between local and international employees and instructs the HR manager to resolve the issue.
Senior management asks the HR manager to investigate whether other warehouse locations face similar issues between local and international employees. Which approach should the HR manager take to gather the most accurate information?
Which process should the HR manager use to identify employees’ developmental needs and readiness for future roles?
A large retail company opens a distribution center directly across the street from a small competing firm's distribution center and posts a sign advertising open entry-level positions. The plant manager of the small firm notices that the sign indicates the advertised salary is higher than what the firm pays its entry-level employees. The plant manager is concerned employees will leave the firm to seek work at the competing company. The plant manager notifies the HR manager of the pay differences and requests immediate pay matching for all entry-level employees. The HR manager sets up a meeting with the plant manager, compensation manager, and HR business partner to discuss the issue. They decide to increase base pay to match the competitor's base pay but only for a subset of entry-level roles identified as critical. They also decide to put the pay increase into effect immediately, and the HR manager agrees to monitor the situation over the next three months.
How should the HR manager analyze the impact of the pay increase on entry-level employees over the three-month period?
The president of a large company is planning to retire soon. The president has been with the company for 40 years, the longest tenure of any employee in the company, and has been president for the last 10 years. In addition to replacing its top leader, the company is also in the midst of conducting strategic planning for the next three years. The HR director has been placed in charge of overseeing the selection and transition process for the new president and has organized a search committee consisting of external board members. The search committee has identified three internal candidates for the position and must move forward with the process of selecting one to be president.
Senior leaders at the company have learned of the upcoming transition and the identity of the candidates. What should the HR director do to ensure the senior leaders stay with the company even if their favored candidate is not selected for the job?
A firm is experiencing an increase in behaviors that violate its code of ethics. Which recommendation should the VP of HR take first to reduce these incidents?
Which HR strategy should have the greatest impact on promoting a culture that embraces corporate social responsibility (CSR) and corporate philanthropy?
When designing a compensation bonus structure for an international company, it is most important for the VP of HR to analyze which cultural values in each region?
The HR VP of a firm is leading an effort to implement a risk management plan and establishes an internal team to assess the risks involved in the event there is a disruption in the supply chain. What should be the team’s first step in confidently evaluating this risk?
A global manufacturing organization is dealing with a high level of attrition among machine operators as well as difficulty recruiting machine operators at a recently acquired factory. The HR director is attempting to address the issue. During exit interviews, multiple employees mention they are leaving to take higher-paying jobs at other companies in the area. The HR director of the factory in that country believes that the company needs to raise the salaries of the machine operators to address this. The HR director contacts the chief human resource officer (CHRO) to discuss the need for a salary adjustment. The CHRO is located in another country and has never been to the country where the factory is located. The CHRO reviews the most recent salary study for the region and indicates that the salaries the company is paying are competitive with other companies in the region. The CHRO also says that due to recent increases in operating expenses and declines in revenue, it would be financially irresponsible to provide raises.
The HR director feels that the executive team located in another country, does not understand the nuances of the local culture and the way the factory operates. What should the HR director do?
Which demand forecasting methodology best supports a workforce management strategy regardless of industry?
Which is a fundamental characteristic of knowledge management in a learning organization?
The global mobility team contacts an expatriate on assignment and advises that a new position has opened in the home country and a repatriation process will be initiated in two weeks. What is the most effective way to manage the repatriation process in this situation?
An HR business partner (HRBP) in a large organization has recently been dealing with various issues with the chief human resource officer (CHRO). The HRBP reports to the CHRO. The CHRO does not consistently and clearly communicate information regarding business and strategic issues to the HRBP. The lack of communication has been presenting problems, as the HRBP's internal clients look to the HRBP for information and guidance on all HR topics and initiatives. As a result, the HRBP is often uninformed and unable to assist the clients. The lack of communication and transparency by the CHRO has been negatively impacting the HRBP and the HRBP's clients. The HRBP spends a lot of time trying to get information and often is unprepared to address client issues. In some cases, clients have received HR-related information ahead of the HRBP. Unfortunately, the CHRO has operated in this manner for years, with HR employees often feeling isolated from information and not feeling like they are part of a coherent unit. Despite this, the CHRO has expressed to the HRBP a belief that they have a very effective working relationship with one another.
The HRBP recognizes that internal clients are frustrated by the HRBP's inability to assist with issues. The HRBP is concerned internal clients are losing trust in the HR function. What should the HRBP do to address this, given that the HRBP is still trying to address the CHRO’s poor communication?
A start-up company specializing in technology is acquired by a larger international organization located in a foreign country. Following the acquisition, a manager from the international company schedules a virtual social hour so employees on the manager's team can bond outside of work hours. During the virtual social hour, employees from the start-up experience difficulties understanding the international employees due to language barriers. An employee from the start-up writes an inappropriate comment making fun of how the international employees speak intending to send it to a co-worker but accidentally sends the message to the whole team. The manager reports the employee's behavior to an HR specialist, who documents the incident. A few weeks later the HR specialist receives an email from the employee who sent the message indicating that the employee's manager is acting hostile toward the employee, and the employee's manager mentioned that the international company should never have acquired the start-up.
The HR specialist is concerned the manager's negative comment about the acquisition will lead to other employees having negative opinions about the acquisition. Which action should the HR specialist take to address this concern?
When deciding whether an employee is eligible to work remotely, which factor should be considered first?
An HR business partner (HRBP) in a large organization has recently been dealing with various issues with the chief human resource officer (CHRO). The HRBP reports to the CHRO. The CHRO does not consistently and clearly communicate information regarding business and strategic issues to the HRBP. The lack of communication has been presenting problems, as the HRBP's internal clients look to the HRBP for information and guidance on all HR topics and initiatives. As a result, the HRBP is often uninformed and unable to assist the clients. The lack of communication and transparency by the CHRO has been negatively impacting the HRBP and the HRBP's clients. The HRBP spends a lot of time trying to get information and often is unprepared to address client issues. In some cases, clients have received HR-related information ahead of the HRBP. Unfortunately, the CHRO has operated in this manner for years, with HR employees often feeling isolated from information and not feeling like they are part of a coherent unit. Despite this, the CHRO has expressed to the HRBP a belief that they have a very effective working relationship with one another.
The HRBP wants to provide suggestions to the organization’s executives about how to improve communication within the company, but the CHRO does not include the HRBP in strategic discussions that the CHRO has with other executives. What should the HRBP do?
A new HR director is hired into the HR department of one at a midsize, engineering company. The HR director immediately notices that, unlike all other major departments, HR is never invited to any important meetings, or involved in strategic discussions. The president of the company sees the sole use of an HR department as meeting legal requirements and the core duties of the HR director are to onboard new employees, help them complete their paperwork and address employee complaints. The HR director sees several areas where HR can add value to the company such as improving employee engagement, automating various HR systems, and introducing a performance review process. The HR director recognizes that the company needs one to two additional HR employees to truly be able to implement these important initiatives. When the HR director asks the president about the possibility of hiring two new HR employees, the president laughs and replies that one HR employee is costing the company more than enough.
A recently hired female engineer submits an HR complaint saying that she is not given the most visible opportunities despite her being one of the most experienced engineers at the company. After confirming that this is happening what should the HR director do in response?
The executive leadership team at a global IT company with over 300,000 employees in 140 countries decides they want more information about the state of the talent at the organization. They are concerned that they do not have enough insight about the talent pool across the organization. This has prevented HR from identifying and planning for retention risks and has caused delays in filling critical positions. Additionally, leaders across the organization lack an effective way to identify the best staff for their teams and must rely on recommendations from others. The VP of HR is asked to identify a talent management software solution and oversee its companywide implementation.
A talent management software package has been selected. Which action should the VP of HR take to create an effective implementation project team?
TESTED 18 Oct 2024
