Test 1

Organization

1. Which activity most effectively conveys HR’s value as a strategic business partner?

a. Providing information to internal stakeholders which demonstrates HR’s impact on the

business operations
b. Ensuring that all employee background checks are conducted as required by law
c. Presenting HR’s training initiatives to the company’s executive team
d. Conveying how the company’s marketing strategy could be adjusted to further penetrate
its targeted market

2. 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?

a. Administrative
b. Transformational
c. Strategic
d. Operational

3. 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?

a. Poor management of the extended effects of an organizational change

b. Natural elimination of redundant positions
c. Weak organizational communication
d. Strategic workforce management

4. Which best describes HR’s involvement in the strategic planning process of their
organization?

a. Assuming sole responsibility for making decisions on matters related to HR

b. Acting as a consultant to leadership and other functions on HR issues
c. Focusing on accurately representing the needs of the HR department to management
d. Critiquing and assessing the input and contributions of strategic planning participants

5. Which is the best first step in preparing for an HR audit?

 a. Develop the audit questionnaire.
b. Secure top management support.
c. Determine the type of audit.
d. Establish the audit budget.

6. Which is the best rationale for ensuring a new HR team member confirms with the manager
that an employee issue has been resolved?

a. It ensures a request is not officially closed until notification is confirmed.

b. It provides a second check that the request was successfully handled.
c. It reinforces HR’s service and value to its internal business partners.
d. It allows the manager a chance to monitor the team member’s performance.

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

a. Ensuring compliance with laws and regulations

b. Reconciling benefits
c. Creating career development plans
d. Conducting interviews

8. 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?

a. Customer satisfaction
b. Promotion pattern
c. Human capital ROI
d. Success ratio

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

a. By recruiting other personnel to take part in the process

b. By critiquing the finished plan for alignment with corporate goals
c. By serving as the facilitator for the planning sessions
d. By identifying the HR implications of the company’s strategy

10. An organization has a resource-intensive project that requires specialized expertise not
currently available. The organization needs to monitor work closely and continuously to meet
quality requirements. Which staffing strategy would meet the organization’s needs?

a. Shared services
b. Offshoring
 c. Outsourcing
d. Cosourcing

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

a. Task
b. Individual
c. Organizational
d. Functional

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

a. Efficiency metrics are established at the beginning of the intervention.

b. Intervention objectives link outcomes to organizational goals.
c. Organizational effectiveness and development processes are continually improved.
d. Interventions are completed on time and within budget.

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

a. It is likely to have low skill diversity.

b. It is likely to have high skill diversity.
c. It is likely to have high permanence.
d. It is likely to have low authority dispersion.

14. 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?

a. Force-field analysis
b. RACI matrix
c. Delphi technique
d. SWOT analysis

15. 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?

a. Add a consultant to the team who is expert in group facilitation.

 b. Gather information through interviews and observation of the team at work.
c. Implement conflict resolution skills for the entire team immediately.
d. Arrange for the project leader to be coached in project management skills.

16. 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?

a. Manage the risk now and replace the team member quickly.
b. Give the team time to develop its roles and relationships.
c. At the next meeting, make a point of correcting the socializing behavior.
d. Coach the individual privately on more professional conduct.

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

a. Onboarding
b. Strategic planning
c. Organizational development
d. Gap analysis

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

a. Increasing the budget for training and development activities

b. Involving managers in the development of training activities
c. Reducing learning time for mastery of critical skills
d. Connecting the organization’s strategy and the intervention activities

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

a. Consensus on key cultural issues

b. Number of cultural assessments collected
c. Summarized focus group data for management
d. Fewer product returns due to quality issues

20. Which is the best way to demonstrate the impact of an employee training and development
initiative?

a. Monitoring social media activity related to the initiative

 b. Surveying employee attitudes toward the initiative
c. Measuring change over the course of the initiative
d. Tying the initiative to employee survey results

21. The determination that 20 new employees are needed to achieve the organizational strategy
for growth in global markets is included in which phase of the workforce analysis process?

a. Supply analysis
b. Solution analysis
c. Demand analysis
d. Gap analysis

22. 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?

a. Demand analysis
b. Gap analysis
c. Supply analysis
d. Solution analysis

23. What emotional challenge can HR help retained employees confront after a mass reduction in
workforce?

a. Diminished job security

b. Reduced self-esteem
c. Decreased workload
d. Increased job ambiguity

24. How does replacement planning differ from succession planning?

a. Replacement planning is based on an ever-evolving organization; succession planning is

focused on short-term organizational needs.
b. Replacement planning focuses primarily on lower-level positions; succession planning
focuses on mission-critical positions and senior-level leaders only.
c. Replacement planning is a systematic approach carried out across all lines of business;
succession planning is more important to organizational continuity.
d. Replacement planning ensures the continuity of business operations; succession planning
provides deep bench strength throughout the organization.

25. A company decides to lower payroll costs by hiring an organization to assume full
responsibility for its IT department. What is this process called?
 a. Temp-to-lease
b. Professional employer organization
c. Managed services
d. Payrolling

26. Workforce planning is a technique used to help an organization reach its short- and long-term
goals and objectives. The workforce analysis process consists of six steps. What is the first step?

a. Strategic focus
b. Solution analysis
c. Gap analysis
d. Demand analysis

27. 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?

a. HR can notify all related clients of an impending workforce interruption.

b. HR can plan and execute the memorial celebrations for the employees’ families.
c. HR can fill in or supplement workforce gaps with the best qualified employees.
d. HR can write the press release and speak to the local media.

28. 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?

a. Interns
b. Temporary employees
c. Finite temporary help
d. Seasonal workers

29. Which statement best describes a productive knowledge management system?

a. Implementing changes and committing to employee development

b. Sharing of organizational learning and reducing knowledge loss
c. Acquiring knowledge from outside sources to solve problems
d. Supporting new product development and creation of organizational policies

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

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

term needs.
b. Replacement planning is optional; succession planning is mandatory in order for an
organization to achieve results.
c. Replacement planning focuses on long-term success; succession planning focuses on
short-term success.
d. Replacement planning is designed for individual countries; succession planning is
designed to serve corporate headquarters.