What design structure allows an organization to capitalize on existing expertise across different departments as opposed to seeking external skilled resources?
Which is the best example of using strategic management to create a competitive advantage?
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?
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?
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?
What job evaluation approach should be used to determine the degree to which jobs being evaluated are composed of selected compensable factors?
A company wants to use artificial intelligence (AI) in its candidate selection process. Which next step should the HR director take to evaluate this decision?
A regional government office runs a media broadcasting station that is funded almost entirely by individual and corporate donations. An eight-person team is in charge of planning and coordinating the receipt of gifts including entertaining guests with the CEO and asking philanthropists for large contributions. The manager of the team is results-driven and has consistently led the team to achieve challenging goals for five years. The manager recently moved further away from the office to afford higher quality education. The manager sends an urgent email to the HR director indicating an immediate need to work remotely three days per week. The manager also wants to avoid commuting traffic and come into the office after 11 am. The office has a flexible schedule policy but it has not been reviewed in some time.
The regional government office has been slow to adopt new management approaches, which has made it difficult for the office to compete for top talent in the regional workforce. What should the HR director do to ensure buy-in from managers and executives regarding changes to the telework policy?
A global company plans to expand into two new international markets next year. Which is the first step the chief human resource officer should take to determine what training the new workforce will need for successful expansion?
At an organization positioned for substantial growth, the HR leader is evaluating whether to outsource several HR functions. Which question should the HR leader first consider in the evaluation process?
Which is a role of HR as it relates to complying with the International Labor Organization's unfair labor practices?
Which item should the HR director review when tasked with quickly identifying if the organization is meeting its mission?
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?
The original deadline for a project was shortened by two weeks. Subsequently, the project manager learns that the project schedule must be shortened by another two weeks. Which action by the manager would best motivate the team to take on the new schedule?
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.
How should the HR specialist address the manager's hostile behavior toward the employee?
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?
The HR and IT directors meet to discuss plans to purchase an applicant tracking system to support the continued growth of the organization. Which is the first step the directors should take?
Which method is most effective for detecting asset misappropriations, such as cash skimming and fraudulent disbursements, by employees in the workplace?
In a leadership team meeting, the HR director of a car manufacturing company suggests the company should collaborate with its competitors to provide financial support for research on renewable energy sources. Which business strategy for sustainability is best illustrated by this suggestion?
Which is a characteristic of an HRIS program that improves the value of an organization's data?
A newly hired chief human resource officer (CHRO) discovers a flaw in the time-keeping policy that allows senior executives to receive full salaries and benefits without working the expected full-time hours. The CHRO reviews corporate data and identifies three senior executives in the sales department who regularly worked half the expected full-time hours for the past two years. The CHRO also discovers that the sales department has the lowest levels of employee engagement and morale across the corporation. However, the CHRO knows these three senior executives have been with the corporation for over a decade and have established strong alliances with the CEO. The CHRO presents the issue to the CEO and learns the CEO was unaware of the flaw in the policy. The CHRO and CEO agree to discuss the issue during the next executive team meeting.
Prior to the executive team meeting, the three sales department senior executives confront the CHRO in person. The executives state that working less than the expected full-time hours is justified because the CEO has made them return early from vacation on multiple occasions. How should the CHRO respond?
An oil and gas company that operates globally signs an agreement to shift the operations part of the business to another organization. As a result, the company must lay off several employees. Some of the employees that must be laid off are working at headquarters while others are currently assigned to another country to support operations in the field. An HR director is tasked with developing a plan for communicating and executing the layoffs.
News about the layoffs is mistakenly revealed before an official announcement is made, leaving the employees feeling betrayed and distrustful of HR. At the upcoming all-employee meeting, what should the HR director focus on to rebuild employee trust?
Which recruitment method yields applicants that have the best understanding of the advertised job opening and what it entails?
Which initiative would have a long-term effect on increasing the number of women in executive positions?
Which recruitment metric is determined by examining communication effectiveness, ability to motivate others, leadership ability, cultural fit, and an individual's performance for two or three years?
When deciding whether an employee is eligible to work remotely, which factor should be considered first?
A rapidly growing technology start-up company with 200 employees forms a new team to handle recruitment for the company that is independent of the HR team. The recruitment team does not have any specific guidelines for hiring. The HR director wants to establish guidelines to prevent the theft of intellectual property and insists that the recruitment team begin conducting background checks to verify applicants' criminal histones. The recruitment director feels that background checks create unnecessary delays and that the multiple interviews used to make selection decisions serve the same purpose as a background check.
Despite the HR director’s insistence, the recruitment director continues to hire without conducting background checks. Which is the best action for the HR director to take to ensure that background checks are conducted?
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.
Some members of the leadership team provide the HRBP with a list of employees that they think would be good participants for the focus groups. These leaders are adamant that the HRBP should draw participants from the list. Which action should the HRBP take?
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?
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?