Effective Leadership Styles and Employee Motivation, Exams of Human Resource Management

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SHRM Certified Professional CP HR

Competencies Exam 2 Review Questions

with Answers and Rationales 100% Pass |

Graded A+

David Mungai [Date] [Course title]

SHRM Certified Professional CP HR

Competencies Exam 2 Review

Questions with Answers and Rationales

100% Pass | Graded A+

An HR director has been assigned to develop a program to support the opening of new retail stores. Which step in the ADDIE process identifies the behavioral results of the program? Design Development Assessment Evaluation - Answer>> Design Rationale The design phase identifies the behaviors participants will practice in at the end of the program. The goals state the purpose and intent of the program, while the objectives are the behavioral results expected from the program. Which statement exemplifies Hersey-Blanchard's situational leadership theory? *Over time individuals require a different type of direction and leadership. *Leaders need to be charismatic because employees dislike rigid controls and inherently want to accomplish something. *A team leader is one equally concerned with people and production (task) to the maximum degree. *Leaders don't need personal relationships with mentors to learn from them. - Answer>> Over time individuals require a different type of direction and leadership. Rationale

*Measure taken to reduce the probability or severity of a threat - Answer>> Measure taken to reduce the probability or severity of a threat Rationale In risk management terminology, the most inclusive answer here is that a risk control is any measure that modifies risk by decreasing the likelihood that a risk event will occur or the impact that the event would have on the organization. An organization has experienced significant turnover among its creative writers. During exit interviews, the writers have expressed dissatisfaction with rigid starting times, a lack of recognition for their work, and poor communication between managers and employees. How should the organization incorporate the social well-being aspect in its action plan to address the issue? Consider the overall health issues this has caused. Gauge the level of stress of the writers. Establish a work/life program that allows flexibility. Adjust the organizational culture to support these challenges. - Answer>> Establish a work/life program that allows flexibility. Rationale The social aspect of employee well-being focuses on work relationships, work/life balance, equity, respect, and connectedness. Which task is vital when assessing strategic objectives?

• Communicating the intent and purpose of the strategic initiatives
• Ensuring that there is control of drift in each business unit's strategy

• Comparing the outcome of strategic initiatives to outlined metrics *Obtaining stakeholder feedback to determine strategy success - Answer>> Comparing the outcome of strategic initiatives to outlined metrics Rationale During the evaluation phase of strategic planning, strategic objectives are assessed to determine if the results are in line with the metrics that were defined at the start of strategic planning. Control of drift is one of the critical success factors that organizations successful at strategy have mastered. Soliciting stakeholder feedback is a necessary task when communicating strategy. Depending upon the initiative, it may not be a requirement for evaluating strategy. During the implementation stage, translating intent to specific plans and communicating the value or purpose of initiatives are critical. Assessing or evaluating strategic objectives is the next phase of the process, in which outcomes are compared to defined metrics. Employees who are critical to an organization's success are the primary focus of which aspect of a talent management strategy? Succession planning Employee engagement Total rewards Career development - Answer>> Succession planning Rationale Succession planning is a strategy for identifying and fostering the development of high-potential employees who, over time, may move into leadership positions. The objective of succession planning is to ensure that a practice continues to operate successfully when individuals who have hard-to-replace competencies or who occupy critical positions depart.

A functional organization is organized according to a linear process, for example, design, supplies, procurement, manufacturing, sales and marketing, distribution, and customer service. A manager at a large company e-mails the HR director asking for assistance. An employee on the manager's team will soon undergo a gender transition, and the employee plans to continue working during the transition. The employee is highly valued in the information technology department and is co-leading a project with a specialized consultant. The consultant is one of only two in the country who specialize in the area of the project. In the e-mail to the HR director, the manager indicates that other members of the team are aware of the employee's upcoming gender transition. In private discussions with the manager, some team members, including the consultant, have expressed a high level of discomfort regarding the situation. The manager would like the HR director's advice on how to handle the situation. What action should the HR director recommend to the manager regarding the employees who have expressed discomfort abo - Answer>> B. Meet with each employee who expressed discomfort individually to review the company's policy on diversity and inclusion. Rationale B is correct. Reinforcing the organization's stance on diversity and inclusion is an important first step in making the transitioning employee feel comfortable in the workplace. A, C, and D are incorrect, as they would not be first steps. They may be subsequent steps in helping the transitioning employee and other employees become more comfortable with each other in the workplace. A manager at a large company e-mails the HR director asking for assistance. An employee on the manager's team will soon

undergo a gender transition, and the employee plans to continue working during the transition. The employee is highly valued in the information technology department and is co-leading a project with a specialized consultant. The consultant is one of only two in the country who specialize in the area of the project. In the e-mail to the HR director, the manager indicates that other members of the team are aware of the employee's upcoming gender transition. In private discussions with the manager, some team members, including the consultant, have expressed a high level of discomfort regarding the situation. The manager would like the HR director's advice on how to handle the situation. Several employees approach the HR director to express concerns about which bathroom the transitioning employee should - Answer>> D. Tell the transitioning employee to use whichever bathroom is preferable to the employee. Rationale D is correct. Support for transitioning employees is best demonstrated by normalizing the gender they are presenting as. A simple way to do this is to encourage the use of the bathroom that matches their gender expression. A and B are incorrect, as not all organizations have a gender- neutral or private bathroom. C is incorrect, as it would not be reasonable to encourage employees to use the restrooms of an opposite gender. A manager at a large company e-mails the HR director asking for assistance. An employee on the manager's team will soon undergo a gender transition, and the employee plans to continue working during the transition. The employee is highly valued in the information technology department and is co-leading a project with a specialized consultant. The consultant is one of only two in the country who specialize in the area of the project. In the e-mail to the HR director, the manager indicates that other members of the team are aware of the employee's upcoming gender

A group of employees approaches the HR director to present a detailed plan for a company-wide campaign focused on sup - Answer>> C. Meet with senior executives to find out if they would be supportive of such a campaign. Rationale C is correct. The HR director has a great opportunity to work with the leadership team to support this employee-led initiative to create an inclusionary environment. This not only demonstrates support for the employees considering and/or undergoing transition; it also sends a clear message welcoming diversity in the organization. A and B are incorrect. Employees are already supportive of the transitioning employees. Including additional employee perspectives to support an inclusionary environment would not be useful, as it is an organizational decision to take this stance. D is incorrect, as it is inconsequential what other organizations do. The choice is the organization's to make to support an inclusionary environment. Scenario A highly matrixed, decentralized international company has six business units in various locations. Although there's a corporate human resources team with all HR functions represented, each business unit also has its own HR department that functions independently. All operate in a polycentric fashion; only the vice presidents of HR, who report to the senior vice president of HR, interact on a periodic basis. A downturn in the economy has impacted the company and has led corporate HR to explore the possibility of using a new centralized service model to combine one or more of the HR functions into corporate. Other reasons for this include a reduction in practitioners, cost savings, improved consistency, and elevated expertise.

A human resources manager who has been with one business unit for the last seven years has been asked to join a team pulled together by corporate HR to design and implement an appropriate servic - Answer>> C. By determining a structure that will align with the company's strategic plan and objectives Rationale C is the best response, as HR's function is to serve the strategy of the overall organization and the company's strategic plan should guide all decisions, including the HR structure and delivery model. A is incorrect, as the financial results are only one small measure and do not necessarily create the foundation for the team to be successful. B is incorrect, as the best practices of other organizations may not meet the company's mission, vision, or business needs. Researching the best practices of other organizations is helpful; however, it is not the only action to take in determining an HR structure. D is incorrect, as this is the beginning stage of the process to review the structure and determine the service delivery model and it would be too early to begin speaking to employees. While this step is important, it happens much later in the process. A highly matrixed, decentralized international company has six business units in various locations. Although there's a corporate human resources team with all HR functions represented, each business unit also has its own HR department that functions independently. All operate in a polycentric fashion; only the vice presidents of HR, who report to the senior vice president of HR, interact on a periodic basis. A downturn in the economy has impacted the company and has led corporate HR to explore the possibility of using a new centralized service model to combine one or more of the HR functions into corporate. Other reasons for this include a reduction

centralized service model to combine one or more of the HR functions into corporate. Other reasons for this include a reduction in practitioners, cost savings, improved consistency, and elevated expertise. A human resources manager who has been with one business unit for the last seven years has been asked to join a team pulled together by corporate HR to design and implement an appropriate servic - Answer>> D. The team should develop a business case outlining its recommendations to present to the leadership team. Rationale D is the best response. A business case is the best tool for formulating and communicating recommendations to decision makers, as it provides a well-rounded, business-focused guide to share the recommendations and their advantages and disadvantages. A is incorrect. Gaining buy-in would be critical in this situation, as the recommendations would have a company-wide impact. B is incorrect. While the organization may be aware of the project team's work, it will not necessarily be aware of the decisions and recommendations that the team is making or that the senior leaders of the organization need to make. C is incorrect, as the purpose for creating the team is to evaluate and recommend the most appropriate H A highly matrixed, decentralized international company has six business units in various locations. Although there's a corporate human resources team with all HR functions represented, each business unit also has its own HR department that functions independently. All operate in a polycentric fashion; only the vice presidents of HR, who report to the senior vice president of HR, interact on a periodic basis. A downturn in the economy has impacted the company and has led corporate HR to explore the possibility of using a new centralized service model to combine one or more of the HR

functions into corporate. Other reasons for this include a reduction in practitioners, cost savings, improved consistency, and elevated expertise. A human resources manager who has been with one business unit for the last seven years has been asked to join a team pulled together by corporate HR to design and implement an appropriate servic - Answer>> C. Develop an impactful communication plan outlining the team's purpose, the need for change, and a high- level overview of the upcoming changes. Rationale C is the best response, as communication is at the core of all successful change initiatives. The plan will outline the best times to communicate and what the message will be. A is incorrect, as it is never too early to start the communication plan. B is incorrect, as it would be too late at the point of implementation to create a communication plan. Doing so could jeopardize the success of the implementation of a new structure and HR delivery model. D is incorrect, as it would be important for the team to communicate with employees in a formal manner and provide accurate information. For the past several years, a company has experienced frequent turnover in the CFO position due to poor performance. After the first CFO was terminated, the VP of HR and the CEO reviewed the job description. A selection committee was formed to perform interviews with candidates, and a single interview was held with each candidate using knowledge-based questions. After three months a candidate was hired. One year later the candidate was released due to poor performance. The same recruiting process was used with a limited selection of candidates. A third CFO was hired three months later. The

A. Training cost B. Cost of hire and cost of turnover C. Regression analysis D. Compa-ratio - Answer>> B. Cost of hire and cost of turnover Rationale B is the best answer. This metric best indicates that a bad hire can have a negative impact on the bottom line. A is incorrect. The training cost does not impact the recruiting process. C is incorrect. This could help facilitate an analysis of multiple variables related to hiring, but it does not serve as a metric. D is incorrect. Although the compa-ratio is important for determining salary, it does not impact the recruiting process. A young learning and development specialist, having recently completed graduate studies in adult education and training, is hired into an HR department that has a strong history of management and employee training programs. For now, the specialist's assignment is to undertake scheduled revisions of specific elements in the learning and development system. The programs have been well-attended and well-received by the organization, so there has been little need to change the learning approach. The specialist soon realizes that, while the course content is well-designed, built on sound practices, and engaging for participants, it offers little support or direction for transferring learning to the job environment. It is missing a major opportunity for improving job performance. She also notes a lack of competency-based learning that can be used by participants and their managers as performance standards to make it easier - Answer>> C. Focus on developing relationships with HR's internal customers in this area, the functional managers.

Rationale The best answer is to try to create relationships with potential allies who can eventually support the change. The logical place to start is with the functional leaders, who may be experiencing the effects of poor transfer of learning (if it is, in fact, occurring). A is wrong because it shows a lack of leadership and problem solving. B is wrong because disregarding the colleagues and going to the HR head may appear disloyal and self-serving to the colleagues and permanently damage this relationship. D will probably not be effective since the specialist is new, unknown, and unsupported in the function. A young learning and development specialist, having recently completed graduate studies in adult education and training, is hired into an HR department that has a strong history of management and employee training programs. For now, the specialist's assignment is to undertake scheduled revisions of specific elements in the learning and development system. The programs have been well-attended and well-received by the organization, so there has been little need to change the learning approach. The specialist soon realizes that, while the course content is well-designed, built on sound practices, and engaging for participants, it offers little support or direction for transferring learning to the job environment. It is missing a major opportunity for improving job performance. She also notes a lack of competency-based learning that can be used by participants and their managers as performance standards to make it easier - Answer>> A. Provide research about strategically based competencies and, for a to-be-revised course, compare objectives with business competencies. Rationale A is the best answer. Providing sound research is the best choice for persuading colleagues who share common goals. This is

A company has been giving its employees automatic pay increases annually. Recently, however, production has decreased, resulting in less profit. The president tasks HR with implementing a new goal-oriented pay plan to incentivize employees to increase production. HR designs a pay-for-performance plan and trains supervisors. HR also sends an e-mail to all employees explaining the change, referring employees with questions to their supervisor. As part of the new program, goal development is handled by supervisors. However, some supervisors feel that the change in pay philosophy is unnecessary and tell employees that the new pay plan will not work. Twelve months pass, and, upon review of performance evaluations, HR finds that some appraisals lack goals and do not objectively measure employees' work performance. The results are recommended pay increases that are subjective and unsubstantiated by metrics. Rumors that pay - Answer>> C. Analyze data related to the organization's mission, strategy, goals, size, industry, and location and on talent availability. Rationale C is the correct answer, because it considers the key factors critical to pay strategy development in the company's market and helps the company decide whether to lead, match, or lag its competitors. Incentive pay should align the employees' achievements with the organization's targeted objectives. A, B, and D are incorrect, as they include factors that are irrelevant to developing a pay strategy and may lack all the factors needed to appropriately analyze whether or not to implement incentive pay. A company has been giving its employees automatic pay increases annually. Recently, however, production has decreased, resulting in less profit. The president tasks HR with

implementing a new goal-oriented pay plan to incentivize employees to increase production. HR designs a pay-for-performance plan and trains supervisors. HR also sends an e-mail to all employees explaining the change, referring employees with questions to their supervisor. As part of the new program, goal development is handled by supervisors. However, some supervisors feel that the change in pay philosophy is unnecessary and tell employees that the new pay plan will not work. Twelve months pass, and, upon review of performance evaluations, HR finds that some appraisals lack goals and do not objectively measure employees' work performance. The results are recommended pay increases that are subjective and unsubstantiated by metrics. Rumors that pay - Answer>> D. Identify organizational and departmental goals, specific employee performance and behaviors, and meaningful metrics. Rationale D is the correct answer, because it considers all aspects of the pay system and ties individual performance to organizational goals. A and B are incorrect. Although these components may be included in a pay system, many other items should be included. C is incorrect. Not all companies include merit increases as part of the pay system, and there are many other items that should be included in the plan related to employee performance and behaviors. The company president comes to the HR director and expresses considerable concern about customer complaints of poor service. Although the customer service manager has been with the company for five years, she is new to supervising and leading staff. The president has heard rumors that the department is in