Analytical Aptitude Flashcards
An HR function has recently acquired a business intelligence (BI) system. What is one danger that the leader of the function should be aware of?
Analytical projects with no strategic benefit
Because of its capabilities, BI may be used to create analyses that have little strategic benefit. They are analyses performed for the sake of analysis, because they are possible. All software must be maintained, especially for security. Additional time spent on analysis is not a bad thing if it is aligned with goals. There is no reason to a assume that BI systems will be more taxing on IT support functions than other applications, once HR users are trained.
An HR team has mined the enterprise resource planning (ERP) database for data related to implementation of the performance management system. What step must they complete before proceeding to analysis of the data?
Aggregation
Once the data has been acquired or collected, it must be aggregated (combined) and organized in a way that supports the goals of the analysis
Which action best communicates the importance of evidence-based decision making to HR staff?
Staff are assigned to research demographic data and report on its significance at meetings.
The action most in support of HR as a data advocate is assigning staff to gather and make use of demographic data. This data could affect the organization, its workforce, and HR programs in the future. This provides practical experience in data gathering and thoughtful analysis
Technique that progressively collects information from a group of anonymous respondents.
Delphi technique
Data-sorting technique in which group members add related ideas and indicate logical connections, eventually grouping similar ideas.
Mind mapping
Extent to which a measurement instrument provides consistent results
Reliability
Middle value in a range of values
Median
Average score or value
Mean
Statistical method that examines data from different points in time to determine if a variance is an isolated event or if it is part of a longer trend
Trend analysis
Average of data that adds factors to reflect the importance of different values
Weighted mean
Data-sorting technique in which a group categorizes and subcategorizes data until relationships are clearly drawn
Affinity diagramming
Technique in which participants each suggest ideas through a series of rounds and then discuss the items, eliminate redundancies and irrelevancies, and agree on the importance of the remaining items
Nominal group technique (NGT)
Distance of any data point from the center of a distribution when data is distributed in a “normal” or expected pattern
Standard deviation
Statistical method for identifying the degree of difference between planned and actual performance or outcomes
Variance analysis
Type of analysis that starts with a result and then works backward to identify fundamental cause
Root-case analysis
Objective measurements that can be verified and used in statistical analysis
Quantitative data
Raw average of data that gives equal weight to all values, with no regard for other factors
Unweighted mean
Statistical method used to test the possible effects of altering the details of a strategy to see if the likely outcome can be improved
Scenario/what-if analysis
Subjective evaluation of actions, feelings, or behaviors
Qualitative data
Small group of invited persons (typically six to twelve) who actively participate in a structured discussion, led by a facilitator, for the purpose of eliciting their input
Focus group
Extent to which a measurement instrument measures what it is intended to measure
Validity
Value that occurs most frequently in a set of data
Mode
Comparing the sizes of two variables to produce an index or percentage; commonly used to analyze financial statements
Ratio analysis
Statistical method used to determine whether a relationship exists between variables and the strength of the relationship
Regression analysis
The senior executive team in a rapidly growing health-care organization has launched a new three-year expansion plan. In the past, the recruiting manager has successfully found the right talent for positions. With the expected growth over the next three years, the senior team is concerned about having an adequate candidate pool to fill new food services, maintenance, and various critical skilled nursing positions.
The current labor pool is perceived as having a limited supply of qualified candidates, and the future labor supply is not expected to adequately accommodate future growth. There is a sizeable number of underutilized retirees and military veterans in the current geographic location. Some in the HR function believe that these underutilized groups have a huge potential and should be considered in the overall recruiting strategy, while others, including the HR manager, do not support this notion. In a recent team meeting, the recruiting manager and the HR manager became involved in a heated discussion regarding their differing perspectives.
Which action should the recruiting manager take to persuade the rest of the HR team to support hiring and utilizing retiree and military veteran candidates?
Implement a pilot program to show the initiative’s impact and future possibilities.
The senior executive team in a rapidly growing health-care organization has launched a new three-year expansion plan. In the past, the recruiting manager has successfully found the right talent for positions. With the expected growth over the next three years, the senior team is concerned about having an adequate candidate pool to fill new food services, maintenance, and various critical skilled nursing positions.
The current labor pool is perceived as having a limited supply of qualified candidates, and the future labor supply is not expected to adequately accommodate future growth. There is a sizeable number of underutilized retirees and military veterans in the current geographic location. Some in the HR function believe that these underutilized groups have a huge potential and should be considered in the overall recruiting strategy, while others, including the HR manager, do not support this notion. In a recent team meeting, the recruiting manager and the HR manager became involved in a heated discussion regarding their differing perspectives.
Which step is the best for the recruiting manager to take in addressing the HR manager’s concerns?
Meet with the HR manager privately and share information on some qualified applicants.
The senior executive team in a rapidly growing health-care organization has launched a new three-year expansion plan. In the past, the recruiting manager has successfully found the right talent for positions. With the expected growth over the next three years, the senior team is concerned about having an adequate candidate pool to fill new food services, maintenance, and various critical skilled nursing positions.
The current labor pool is perceived as having a limited supply of qualified candidates, and the future labor supply is not expected to adequately accommodate future growth. There is a sizeable number of underutilized retirees and military veterans in the current geographic location. Some in the HR function believe that these underutilized groups have a huge potential and should be considered in the overall recruiting strategy, while others, including the HR manager, do not support this notion. In a recent team meeting, the recruiting manager and the HR manager became involved in a heated discussion regarding their differing perspectives.
Expanding the candidate pool to include retirees and military veterans would be a significant recruiting change. The recruiting manager’s skill in bringing the opposing perspectives together is essential. What should be the first step for mitigating this resistance?
Explore the HR manager’s concerns without bias, reviewing, researching, and identifying impacts to overall business strategy.
The HR director receives a call from the vice president of operations (VPO) requesting immediate termination of the local HR manager. While they are talking, the HR director can hear that the VPO is in the company’s cafeteria. The HR director requests that the VPO go to a less public area to call back. The VPO refuses, stating, “I don’t care who hears this conversation; I want the HR manager fired today.” The HR director insists that the VPO go to a more private location, and the VPO agrees and they finish their conversation, where the VPO describes the situation and reasons for requesting the termination. The HR director asks a few questions and quickly determines that the root cause appears to be a clash of personality and not a terminable offense.
The HR director then receives a call from the HR manager, who explains to the HR director that the HR manager was discussing the termination of an employee with the VPO, and the VPO became angry and began yelling at the HR manager, insulting the HR manager and angrily leaving the office.
The HR director must determine how to resolve the situation.
What is the best way for the HR director to handle the VPO’s request to terminate the HR manager?
Mediate a face-to-face discussion between the HR manager and the VPO to discuss the situation
The HR director receives a call from the vice president of operations (VPO) requesting immediate termination of the local HR manager. While they are talking, the HR director can hear that the VPO is in the company’s cafeteria. The HR director requests that the VPO go to a less public area to call back. The VPO refuses, stating, “I don’t care who hears this conversation; I want the HR manager fired today.” The HR director insists that the VPO go to a more private location, and the VPO agrees and they finish their conversation, where the VPO describes the situation and reasons for requesting the termination. The HR director asks a few questions and quickly determines that the root cause appears to be a clash of personality and not a terminable offense.
The HR director then receives a call from the HR manager, who explains to the HR director that the HR manager was discussing the termination of an employee with the VPO, and the VPO became angry and began yelling at the HR manager, insulting the HR manager and angrily leaving the office.
The HR director must determine how to resolve the situation.
How should the HR director address the VPO’s disregard for employee privacy?
Schedule a meeting with the VPO to discuss the VPO’s attitude about employee privacy
The HR director receives a call from the vice president of operations (VPO) requesting immediate termination of the local HR manager. While they are talking, the HR director can hear that the VPO is in the company’s cafeteria. The HR director requests that the VPO go to a less public area to call back. The VPO refuses, stating, “I don’t care who hears this conversation; I want the HR manager fired today.” The HR director insists that the VPO go to a more private location, and the VPO agrees and they finish their conversation, where the VPO describes the situation and reasons for requesting the termination. The HR director asks a few questions and quickly determines that the root cause appears to be a clash of personality and not a terminable offense.
The HR director then receives a call from the HR manager, who explains to the HR director that the HR manager was discussing the termination of an employee with the VPO, and the VPO became angry and began yelling at the HR manager, insulting the HR manager and angrily leaving the office.
The HR director must determine how to resolve the situation.
The HR manager thinks leadership training is needed for senior leadership, as the HR manager has heard of numerous similar instances of senior leaders yelling at and verbally abusing subordinates. When proposing the training, how should the HR manager convince senior leadership that it is needed?
Present research that shows the importance of positive leadership practices
A company attracts entrepreneurial candidates with the desire to be highly compensated through an aggressive and competitive rewards program. Incentive pay is determined through a forced ranking system managed at each business unit through open group discussions about individual employee performance and contribution. The organization’s structure is relatively flat; therefore, business units are empowered to adjust the unit strategy and approach as needed.
The executive vice president (EVP) of the most productive business unit consistently states that managers are unnecessary as only leaders will advance and be rewarded. In this unit, employees are challenged to lead and to demonstrate innovation in all facets of the work. Employees who receive poor performance reviews often leave the organization, as they are ignored by leadership. Turnover is high in this unit, but there is always a steady flow of candidates ready to fill vacancies due to its success.
During the performance review period, a new VP in this unit becomes fearful of being categorized as a manager versus a leader and decides to speak with the HR director to obtain guidance. The HR director recognizes that similar concerns have been captured in exit interviews and the annual survey.
What should the HR director do first to address the concerns raised by the VP?
Quantify the impact of turnover and the impact of less-engaged employees on the unit’s productivity to review with the EVP
A company attracts entrepreneurial candidates with the desire to be highly compensated through an aggressive and competitive rewards program. Incentive pay is determined through a forced ranking system managed at each business unit through open group discussions about individual employee performance and contribution. The organization’s structure is relatively flat; therefore, business units are empowered to adjust the unit strategy and approach as needed.
The executive vice president (EVP) of the most productive business unit consistently states that managers are unnecessary as only leaders will advance and be rewarded. In this unit, employees are challenged to lead and to demonstrate innovation in all facets of the work. Employees who receive poor performance reviews often leave the organization, as they are ignored by leadership. Turnover is high in this unit, but there is always a steady flow of candidates ready to fill vacancies due to its success.
During the performance review period, a new VP in this unit becomes fearful of being categorized as a manager versus a leader and decides to speak with the HR director to obtain guidance. The HR director recognizes that similar concerns have been captured in exit interviews and the annual survey.
With the high turnover in the EVP’s business unit, the HR director is concerned about succession planning. Which action will best assist in succession planning efforts?
Analyze the risks of losing key strategic skills and develop a plan to address gaps through a buy-or-build approach
A company attracts entrepreneurial candidates with the desire to be highly compensated through an aggressive and competitive rewards program. Incentive pay is determined through a forced ranking system managed at each business unit through open group discussions about individual employee performance and contribution. The organization’s structure is relatively flat; therefore, business units are empowered to adjust the unit strategy and approach as needed.
The executive vice president (EVP) of the most productive business unit consistently states that managers are unnecessary as only leaders will advance and be rewarded. In this unit, employees are challenged to lead and to demonstrate innovation in all facets of the work. Employees who receive poor performance reviews often leave the organization, as they are ignored by leadership. Turnover is high in this unit, but there is always a steady flow of candidates ready to fill vacancies due to its success.
During the performance review period, a new VP in this unit becomes fearful of being categorized as a manager versus a leader and decides to speak with the HR director to obtain guidance. The HR director recognizes that similar concerns have been captured in exit interviews and the annual survey.
How best should the HR director acknowledge the new VP’s concern?
Listen carefully, document the VP’s concern, and accurately paraphrase understanding of the concern during the conversation
After a recent employee engagement survey was distributed and the results were collected, the director of sales identified low employee engagement scores on the sales team. The sales department is known to have high rates of absenteeism and substandard productivity, and the director of sales believes that low engagement is contributing to both issues.
The combination of high rates of absenteeism and low productivity has created additional work for the managers in the sales department. The director approaches the HR manager with a plan to form a group of sales managers to identify potential solutions. The group of sales managers will be responsible for implementing solutions and announcing these efforts to the sales team. The director wants the HR manager to monitor the success of the program.
The group of sales managers suggests starting with the employee engagement solutions that are easiest to implement. How should the HR manager respond?
Propose that the group of sales managers review the employee engagement results to determine the root cause of low engagement
After a recent employee engagement survey was distributed and the results were collected, the director of sales identified low employee engagement scores on the sales team. The sales department is known to have high rates of absenteeism and substandard productivity, and the director of sales believes that low engagement is contributing to both issues.
The combination of high rates of absenteeism and low productivity has created additional work for the managers in the sales department. The director approaches the HR manager with a plan to form a group of sales managers to identify potential solutions. The group of sales managers will be responsible for implementing solutions and announcing these efforts to the sales team. The director wants the HR manager to monitor the success of the program.
Several sales managers say that they do not have time to focus on implementing employee engagement solutions because they have too much other work. Which action should the HR manager take in response to this information?
Educate sales managers and discuss recent research on the tangible benefits of implementing employee engagement solutions
After a recent employee engagement survey was distributed and the results were collected, the director of sales identified low employee engagement scores on the sales team. The sales department is known to have high rates of absenteeism and substandard productivity, and the director of sales believes that low engagement is contributing to both issues.
The combination of high rates of absenteeism and low productivity has created additional work for the managers in the sales department. The director approaches the HR manager with a plan to form a group of sales managers to identify potential solutions. The group of sales managers will be responsible for implementing solutions and announcing these efforts to the sales team. The director wants the HR manager to monitor the success of the program.
One of the reasons for low employee engagement is lack of opportunities for training and development of new skills. What can the HR manager do to increase these opportunities without significantly increasing the training budget?
Implement a cross-training program for employees to learn other roles in the sales department
An HR leader is proposing to senior management that HR be provided with the time and resources to conduct a full compensation structure analysis. The HR leader chooses two cases to show the effects of misaligned compensation. The compensation is well over market rates in one instance and well below market value in the other. (The rates are derived from a national compensation survey.) What does this proposal demonstrate?
Belief that decisions should be based on evidence
The HR leader’s approach shows a commitment to evidence-based decision making. This requires gathering and analyzing data, but the purpose is to make better business decisions. The cases are logically chosen, and the benchmark data comes from an unbiased source
An electronics/aerospace manufacturing organization specializing in drone development for the movie industry has been in business for 15 plus years. The company has just over 1,500 employees. It has sustained double-digit growth for the past four years and owns 80% of this specialized market. Based on this growth, employees have received on average a 6% increase, exceeding local wage increase rates.
Over the past year, the employee turnover rate has increased. A majority of employees who voluntarily exited the company had received exceptional performance reviews. While there is a new competitor in the market, the competitor’s starting pay rates are very similar.
A recently hired HR manager reviews the exit interview data. The review identifies a perceived inequity in how disputes are resolved and the distribution of privileges, job duties, and performance rewards. Additionally, decreased attendance at company events indicates low engagement. The CEO believes strongly that good performers are leaving because competitors are “stealing” them; the CEO does not believe that employees are leaving because of poor engagement. The CEO states that decreasing unwanted turnover is an immediate priority and directs the HR manager to increase entry salary rates to increase competitiveness.
How should the HR manager approach analyzing the internal equity concerns discovered from the exit interviews?
Analyze exit interview information and summarize it for senior management.
An electronics/aerospace manufacturing organization specializing in drone development for the movie industry has been in business for 15 plus years. The company has just over 1,500 employees. It has sustained double-digit growth for the past four years and owns 80% of this specialized market. Based on this growth, employees have received on average a 6% increase, exceeding local wage increase rates.
Over the past year, the employee turnover rate has increased. A majority of employees who voluntarily exited the company had received exceptional performance reviews. While there is a new competitor in the market, the competitor’s starting pay rates are very similar.
A recently hired HR manager reviews the exit interview data. The review identifies a perceived inequity in how disputes are resolved and the distribution of privileges, job duties, and performance rewards. Additionally, decreased attendance at company events indicates low engagement. The CEO believes strongly that good performers are leaving because competitors are “stealing” them; the CEO does not believe that employees are leaving because of poor engagement. The CEO states that decreasing unwanted turnover is an immediate priority and directs the HR manager to increase entry salary rates to increase competitiveness.
The HR manager should take which additional action to identify conditions that are creating the unwanted turnover?
Conduct one-to-one interviews with strategically selected high-performing employees
An electronics/aerospace manufacturing organization specializing in drone development for the movie industry has been in business for 15 plus years. The company has just over 1,500 employees. It has sustained double-digit growth for the past four years and owns 80% of this specialized market. Based on this growth, employees have received on average a 6% increase, exceeding local wage increase rates.
Over the past year, the employee turnover rate has increased. A majority of employees who voluntarily exited the company had received exceptional performance reviews. While there is a new competitor in the market, the competitor’s starting pay rates are very similar.
A recently hired HR manager reviews the exit interview data. The review identifies a perceived inequity in how disputes are resolved and the distribution of privileges, job duties, and performance rewards. Additionally, decreased attendance at company events indicates low engagement. The CEO believes strongly that good performers are leaving because competitors are “stealing” them; the CEO does not believe that employees are leaving because of poor engagement. The CEO states that decreasing unwanted turnover is an immediate priority and directs the HR manager to increase entry salary rates to increase competitiveness.
Despite being presented with objective data to the contrary, the CEO still believes that the new competitor is stealing employees. Which is the HR manager’s best next step in garnering support to explore alternative root causes for the unwanted turnover?
Meet individually with key leadership stakeholders, starting with the CEO’s direct reports and other designated leaders
An HR director is overseeing an effort to outsource recruiting efforts to a staffing organization. For continuity’s sake, the company will maintain a small in-house team of corporate recruiters who will work with the staffing organization. The HR director must facilitate the integration of the staffing organization team with full-time personnel from the organization.
The staffing organization recruiters manage the intake of open positions from the hiring managers. The in-house corporate recruiters assess open positions for fulfillment. The corporate recruiters often bypass the staffing organization manager to give direction to the staffing organization recruiters and sourcing professionals directly. This practice does not follow the work flow that was created in the standard operating procedures, resulting in delays. The staffing organization team becomes confused because they receive differing directions from both the corporate recruiters and the staffing organization manager.
The staffing organization manager is frustrated by the lack of transparency as to the status of open positions. There is disagreement between the corporate recruiters and the staffing organization team about who should manage the relationship with organizational hiring managers when position openings are submitted. This results in harmful competition between the two groups, resulting in an overall decline in productivity.
Which should the HR director do to address the work flow challenges facing the staffing organization initiative?
Review the current recruiting process and reporting structure with the implementation team to clarify roles and responsibilities
An HR director is overseeing an effort to outsource recruiting efforts to a staffing organization. For continuity’s sake, the company will maintain a small in-house team of corporate recruiters who will work with the staffing organization. The HR director must facilitate the integration of the staffing organization team with full-time personnel from the organization.
The staffing organization recruiters manage the intake of open positions from the hiring managers. The in-house corporate recruiters assess open positions for fulfillment. The corporate recruiters often bypass the staffing organization manager to give direction to the staffing organization recruiters and sourcing professionals directly. This practice does not follow the work flow that was created in the standard operating procedures, resulting in delays. The staffing organization team becomes confused because they receive differing directions from both the corporate recruiters and the staffing organization manager.
The staffing organization manager is frustrated by the lack of transparency as to the status of open positions. There is disagreement between the corporate recruiters and the staffing organization team about who should manage the relationship with organizational hiring managers when position openings are submitted. This results in harmful competition between the two groups, resulting in an overall decline in productivity.
Which step should the HR director advise the staffing organization manager to take to build credibility with the hiring managers?
Develop a dashboard of recruiting metrics that can be used to provide routine updates for the hiring managers of the staffing organization team’s results
An HR director is overseeing an effort to outsource recruiting efforts to a staffing organization. For continuity’s sake, the company will maintain a small in-house team of corporate recruiters who will work with the staffing organization. The HR director must facilitate the integration of the staffing organization team with full-time personnel from the organization.
The staffing organization recruiters manage the intake of open positions from the hiring managers. The in-house corporate recruiters assess open positions for fulfillment. The corporate recruiters often bypass the staffing organization manager to give direction to the staffing organization recruiters and sourcing professionals directly. This practice does not follow the work flow that was created in the standard operating procedures, resulting in delays. The staffing organization team becomes confused because they receive differing directions from both the corporate recruiters and the staffing organization manager.
The staffing organization manager is frustrated by the lack of transparency as to the status of open positions. There is disagreement between the corporate recruiters and the staffing organization team about who should manage the relationship with organizational hiring managers when position openings are submitted. This results in harmful competition between the two groups, resulting in an overall decline in productivity.
Which could the HR director have done differently during the implementation to ensure that roles and responsibilities were clearly defined?
Further qualify the reason why the hiring managers wanted to retain the corporate recruiters and consider the impact on the project goals
The CEO of a financial firm asks HR to benchmark the organization’s turnover. In a well-known publication, the HR manager identifies a turnover benchmark from the education industry. When evaluating the validity of the data, which key concept should the HR manager consider?
Whether data about trends in one industry will apply to all industries
In order to avoid issues created by challenges associated with using interviews as a data source, what action must be taken?
Controlling for and avoiding the effects of bias
One of the most significant challenges associated with using interviews as a data source is the effect of bias in the questions or on behalf of the interviewer, affecting the answers given by the interviewee. Carefully controlling for and avoiding the effects bias is thus very important when utilizing interviews.
Which is the best way for HR to ensure that a work/life balance focus group is successful in brainstorming potential ideas and solutions for improvement?
Confirm that participants in the focus groups are representative of the workplace.
A focus group is intended to provide a microcosm of the population being studied. Participants must, therefore, adequately represent that population to ensure accurate, representative information.
How is the Delphi technique used to perform a judgmental forecast?
The preselected group does not meet, and each person makes and submits an independent forecast.
Management has asked the HR director for help in identifying a benefit plan that manages increased costs without sacrificing employee morale. Which is the best action for the HR director to take?
Conduct several representative focus groups
The best advice would be to conduct several focus groups representative of employees in different areas and with different lengths of tenure. Groups could brainstorm a list of wants and preferences or react to ideas. This approach would also involve employees and contribute to employee engagement.
A vice president and the HR director observe an employee focus group facilitated by HR staff. Both take notes, but their perceptions of employees’ priorities and the strength of employee feelings on certain topics differ enough that both are reluctant to act on the group responses. What would be the best solution that the HR director could propose?
Ask focus group participants to complete an anonymous survey that calls for numerical response to specific questions.
The best strategy would be to clarify participants attitudes in a way that can be analyzed objectively. The responses in the focus group can be used to develop an effective survey to gather this focused data.
In order for data gathered from observation to be reliable, what must be true?
The observer must be unseen
Reliability of data gathered by observation is negatively affected by the subject’s awareness of the observer, as they may consciously and subconsciously change behaviors when they are aware of being observed.
Which of the following represents existing data that may be used as a data source?
Meeting recaps
Existing data includes official documents, performance data, correspondence and analytical reports, and industry data. Meeting recaps would be a form of correspondence between parties, documenting what occurred during the meeting.
A global organization is acquiring a competitor. A new senior vice president of HR (SVP) is hired to manage the merger. Both organization’s HR departments have major issues including conflicting priorities, lack of consistent management direction and a lack of commitment to providing quality service to HR clients. No standards or metrics are in place; feedback and reporting systems are outdated. Common, frequent problems include repeated course corrections, complaints of poor service, disengaged staff, and loss of institutional knowledge because attrition is high.
The SVP shares these issues with the HR leadership team who quickly state they are not equipped to adequately resolve the issues. They also believe the high attrition is not an issue. Turnover is healthy because new employees bring a fresh perspective. The team agrees to conduct an engagement survey to provide a basis for organization-wide change. The SVP thinks that they are making progress until another executive advises them that their efforts are being undermined by another team member who applied for but was not selected for the SVP role.
Which action should the SVP and team take initially to start to resolve problems?
Define what employee engagement and commitment mean for the newly merged organization to establish a basis for future actions
A global organization is acquiring a competitor. A new senior vice president of HR (SVP) is hired to manage the merger. Both organization’s HR departments have major issues including conflicting priorities, lack of consistent management direction and a lack of commitment to providing quality service to HR clients. No standards or metrics are in place; feedback and reporting systems are outdated. Common, frequent problems include repeated course corrections, complaints of poor service, disengaged staff, and loss of institutional knowledge because attrition is high.
The SVP shares these issues with the HR leadership team who quickly state they are not equipped to adequately resolve the issues. They also believe the high attrition is not an issue. Turnover is healthy because new employees bring a fresh perspective. The team agrees to conduct an engagement survey to provide a basis for organization-wide change. The SVP thinks that they are making progress until another executive advises them that their efforts are being undermined by another team member who applied for but was not selected for the SVP role.
Which step should the SVP take first to resolve the differences in how leaders view the issues?
Develop a strong business case for an HR-focused engagement strategy aligned to the principles of the merged organization
A global organization is acquiring a competitor. A new senior vice president of HR (SVP) is hired to manage the merger. Both organization’s HR departments have major issues including conflicting priorities, lack of consistent management direction and a lack of commitment to providing quality service to HR clients. No standards or metrics are in place; feedback and reporting systems are outdated. Common, frequent problems include repeated course corrections, complaints of poor service, disengaged staff, and loss of institutional knowledge because attrition is high.
The SVP shares these issues with the HR leadership team who quickly state they are not equipped to adequately resolve the issues. They also believe the high attrition is not an issue. Turnover is healthy because new employees bring a fresh perspective. The team agrees to conduct an engagement survey to provide a basis for organization-wide change. The SVP thinks that they are making progress until another executive advises them that their efforts are being undermined by another team member who applied for but was not selected for the SVP role.
How should the SVP communicate the importance of open, honest feedback from the survey to the broader HR team?
Select a direct report to lead the communication plan while including other HR team members to participate.
An organization’s HR department has just concluded an organizational compensation review. In this review, it was found that there was a significant difference in compensation between male and female employees in the engineering department. The organization’s leadership team strongly values diversity and inclusion and has repeatedly conveyed to the entire organization that employees will be paid equally for performing equal job tasks.
The organization has a standing policy encouraging employees to report to HR when there have been suspected cases of discrimination in any area, including with regards to pay discrepancy, though there is no formal reporting mechanism for employees to take advantage of. Disappointed at the apparent pay discrepancy in the engineering department, company leadership has asked the HR director to investigate the gender pay gap in the engineering department and has offered to provide assistance wherever required.
What should the HR director do to determine whether the wage gap stems primarily from gender?
Examine the strength of the linear relation between gender and pay.
An organization’s HR department has just concluded an organizational compensation review. In this review, it was found that there was a significant difference in compensation between male and female employees in the engineering department. The organization’s leadership team strongly values diversity and inclusion and has repeatedly conveyed to the entire organization that employees will be paid equally for performing equal job tasks.
The organization has a standing policy encouraging employees to report to HR when there have been suspected cases of discrimination in any area, including with regards to pay discrepancy, though there is no formal reporting mechanism for employees to take advantage of. Disappointed at the apparent pay discrepancy in the engineering department, company leadership has asked the HR director to investigate the gender pay gap in the engineering department and has offered to provide assistance wherever required.
The largest gender wage different was found for engineers. The engineer manager argues that male and female employees engage in different tasks and this is why males get paid more. Which is the best way for the HR director to verify this claim?
Evaluate the tasks that are listed for each engineer’s job description
An organization’s HR department has just concluded an organizational compensation review. In this review, it was found that there was a significant difference in compensation between male and female employees in the engineering department. The organization’s leadership team strongly values diversity and inclusion and has repeatedly conveyed to the entire organization that employees will be paid equally for performing equal job tasks.
The organization has a standing policy encouraging employees to report to HR when there have been suspected cases of discrimination in any area, including with regards to pay discrepancy, though there is no formal reporting mechanism for employees to take advantage of. Disappointed at the apparent pay discrepancy in the engineering department, company leadership has asked the HR director to investigate the gender pay gap in the engineering department and has offered to provide assistance wherever required.
It is discovered that some employees have been concerned about unequal pay but were afraid to report to HR due to fear of retaliation from their managers. What should the HR director do to encourage employees to report concerns about unequal pay?
Create a reporting mechanism on the intranet that allows employees to bypass their managers
As part of a larger project on pay structure, an HR head directs a team to update job descriptions by observing and interviewing employees. The manager in charge of finalizing the job descriptions reports that they cannot finalize the descriptions because the data for any one individual position varies so much. What is the likely problem?
Results are not reliable, because data was gathered in an inconsistent manager
The observers were not using a tool, such as an observation or interview guide, that would ensure that they were collecting the same data in the same manner. In other words, the tool was unreliable, or the observers were not sufficiently trained in how to use the tool
When creating a statistical sample, what should be considered?
The sample must accurately reflect the key characteristics of the population being studied
Samples must accurately reflect the key characteristics of the entire population being studied. Analysis results are more likely to be affected by statistical outliers in smaller samples, not larger ones. Randomly selecting the sample may not result in an accurate representation of the population being studied. Although providing the sample population with several different methods of participating can be effective in obtaining data, it has no bearing on the creation of the sample.
A global business solutions technology company operates regional call centers. A quality survey was conducted in the call centers for the first time, using a headquarters-designed tool to observe and score caller performance. The business used an experienced vendor with trained observers. One region scored much lower. The low score will affect the performance bonus of the regional manager, and the manager is claiming that the process was not fair. How should the head of HR respond?
Hire a third-party expert to assess the validity of the tool used in the surveys.
There is a possibility that the tool is not valid for all centers, that it is measuring performance in a way that is appropriate in the headquarters country but not in the low-scoring region. For example, different cultures may be more or less direct in asking for information from customers.
An HR director is reporting the organization’s average turnover rate relative to the industry. Two of the studies used are below the organization’s average and one is well above. How should the HR director ensure the report’s legitimacy?
Validate and identify the methodology of each study
Checking the methodology reduces the risk of errors and biases impacting the statistical data the HR director uses.
A company has invested a comprehensive new enterprise resource planning (ERP) system that will make data from many parts of the organization readily available to HR. Which is most likely to improve the usefulness of all this information?
Ensure that the data in the ERP system is current and reliable
One obstacle to data analysis is the age of data in the system and how often it is refreshed or updated. The HR team should be aware of this factor when using the data.
A small international cruise line recently hired a new HR director. The HR director will be responsible for supporting 500 crew members representing more than 50 nationalities. The HR director starts one week before their largest ship sets sail with stops at ports of call in many different countries and jurisdictions around the world.
When the HR director reports to station for the first day on the job, the HR director receives a phone call from the captain, who asks about the plan to ensure that the diverse crew maintains a high-quality guest experience throughout the cruise season. Before the HR director can answer, the captain requests a report within the next two weeks outlining how the HR director will add value to the bottom line through effective people management strategies.
What is the most effective course of action for the newly hired HR director to pursue to ensure that the captain’s deadline is met?
Consult with the cruise line’s guest relations officer to exchange ideas regarding industry best practices
A small international cruise line recently hired a new HR director. The HR director will be responsible for supporting 500 crew members representing more than 50 nationalities. The HR director starts one week before their largest ship sets sail with stops at ports of call in many different countries and jurisdictions around the world.
When the HR director reports to station for the first day on the job, the HR director receives a phone call from the captain, who asks about the plan to ensure that the diverse crew maintains a high-quality guest experience throughout the cruise season. Before the HR director can answer, the captain requests a report within the next two weeks outlining how the HR director will add value to the bottom line through effective people management strategies.
Three days after the beginning of a cruise, a stomach virus breaks out, and 20% of the crew is unable to perform their duties. The cruise line doctor says symptoms will last between 36 and 48 hours. Which action should the HR director take first to ensure that guest satisfaction remains high?
Ask the chief safety officer to hold an all-hands staff briefing on procedures for minimizing virus transmission
A small international cruise line recently hired a new HR director. The HR director will be responsible for supporting 500 crew members representing more than 50 nationalities. The HR director starts one week before their largest ship sets sail with stops at ports of call in many different countries and jurisdictions around the world.
When the HR director reports to station for the first day on the job, the HR director receives a phone call from the captain, who asks about the plan to ensure that the diverse crew maintains a high-quality guest experience throughout the cruise season. Before the HR director can answer, the captain requests a report within the next two weeks outlining how the HR director will add value to the bottom line through effective people management strategies.
After the first cruise, the VP of corporate HR asks the HR director for an analysis of how effective the cruise line’s global recruiting vendor was in terms of providing appropriate crew talent. How should the HR director approach this analysis?
Review customer satisfaction ratings to determine if guests gave the crew positive evaluations
To determine the salary offer for a vacant position, the talent acquisition team compiles a list of the desired salaries of all applicants: $110,000, $110,000, $120,000, $135,000, $140,000. What is the mode of these values?
$110,000
The mode (the number that appears most frequently in the data set) is $110,000. The range ($30,000) is how widely the data is dispersed. The median ($120,000) is the middle value in a range of values. The mean ($123,000) is the average value.
A new CEO of a food products company asks the vice president of HR: “On average, what does a food scientist make here?” There are many incumbents in the role in different locations and levels of tenure. How should the vice president handle this question?
Provide a weighted average that accounts for location and longevity
The most accurate answer is a weighted average that takes into account the broad range of salaries in this job class due to the different factors
Which describes a situation when a weighted mean provides the most accurate measure of central tendency?
When values have outliers or are not of equal importance
A weighted mean can minimize disparate impact or add impact for some values; therefore, a weighted mean provides the most accurate measure of central tendency when values have outliers are not of equal importance.
A position’s median salary is $58,000. The industry wage survey indicates a salary range of $50,000 to $70,000. How does the salary compare with its industry competitors?
It lags the competition
The wage survey results can be divided into four quartiles:
Quartile 1 = $50,000 to $55,000
Quartile 2 = $55,001 to $60,000
Quartile 3 = $60,001 to $65,000
Quartile 4 = $65,001 to $70,000
The organization is in the second quartile, below the midpoint. It therefore lags the industry benchmark.
When using statistics, what would you use to analyze the distribution of pay rates for a given position throughout the organization?
Standard deviation
Standard deviation describes how far a data point (in this case, an individual pay rate) is from the midpoint on a distribution curve. The larger the standard deviation, the more dispersed the pay rates are.
At an organization with 3,500-plus full-time employees, annual benefits enrollment is done manually on paper documents, which are reviewed, audited, and then uploaded into the HRIS benefits program. This process takes approximately 30 to 45 days. The HR director provides benefits-untrained staff to enter data when necessary, resulting in a 20% to 30% data entry error rate annually. This system is a legacy process from when a former benefits manager was in charge.
Since the organization has a shared database and a majority of the employees have computer access at their desks, a newly hired HR benefits manager suggests activation of an employee self-service (ESS) online enrollment process in the HRIS. The executive team approves this suggestion for full implementation within the next 14 months. The new ESS process should result in a significant reduction in errors, a faster customer service response time, and a shorter budget reconciliation period.
The new benefits manager develops a plan to implement the ESS program within 12 months, but the HR director insists on implementation at the start of the next enrollment period, which is less than five months away. Consequently, a larger number of benefit errors show up following implementation.
How can the new benefits manager determine the accuracy and quality of the benefits data that was manually uploaded into the HRIS benefits program during the former enrollment period?
Assess and determine benefits corrections and errors handled by HR
At an organization with 3,500-plus full-time employees, annual benefits enrollment is done manually on paper documents, which are reviewed, audited, and then uploaded into the HRIS benefits program. This process takes approximately 30 to 45 days. The HR director provides benefits-untrained staff to enter data when necessary, resulting in a 20% to 30% data entry error rate annually. This system is a legacy process from when a former benefits manager was in charge.
Since the organization has a shared database and a majority of the employees have computer access at their desks, a newly hired HR benefits manager suggests activation of an employee self-service (ESS) online enrollment process in the HRIS. The executive team approves this suggestion for full implementation within the next 14 months. The new ESS process should result in a significant reduction in errors, a faster customer service response time, and a shorter budget reconciliation period.
The new benefits manager develops a plan to implement the ESS program within 12 months, but the HR director insists on implementation at the start of the next enrollment period, which is less than five months away. Consequently, a larger number of benefit errors show up following implementation.
How best can the new HR benefits manager accurately assess the success of the ESS program?
Measure post-ESS implementation error rates and process time frames in comparison to the last benefit cycle’s processes
At an organization with 3,500-plus full-time employees, annual benefits enrollment is done manually on paper documents, which are reviewed, audited, and then uploaded into the HRIS benefits program. This process takes approximately 30 to 45 days. The HR director provides benefits-untrained staff to enter data when necessary, resulting in a 20% to 30% data entry error rate annually. This system is a legacy process from when a former benefits manager was in charge.
Since the organization has a shared database and a majority of the employees have computer access at their desks, a newly hired HR benefits manager suggests activation of an employee self-service (ESS) online enrollment process in the HRIS. The executive team approves this suggestion for full implementation within the next 14 months. The new ESS process should result in a significant reduction in errors, a faster customer service response time, and a shorter budget reconciliation period.
The new benefits manager develops a plan to implement the ESS program within 12 months, but the HR director insists on implementation at the start of the next enrollment period, which is less than five months away. Consequently, a larger number of benefit errors show up following implementation.
Which action should the new HR benefits manager take if the error rate increases due to the accelerated ESS implementation phase and its reduced training time for employees?
Identify errors and notify leadership of both positive implementation results of the ESS system and steps being taken to resolve the errors going forward
An HR manager wants to detect a correlation between possession of a certain type of degree and job performance ratings. What type of analysis would help?
Regression analysis
Regression analysis establishes the relationship of one or more independent variables (here, type of degree) on a dependent variable (performance rating). The correlation can be strong or weak. A variance analysis shows deviation (greater or less) from a target, such as a budget or a performance objective. A trend analysis shows how the same metric changes over time (e.g., percentage of women in a workforce over the last 20 years). A root cause analysis traces a problem backward by identifying possible causes and then identifying possible causes for each of those causes.
Current cash flow is being adversely affected by delinquent and slow-paying accounts. How could the HRM collaborate with the sales manager to determine a solution?
Conduct a regression analysis of the sales incentive system
A regression analysis will help to determine whether a relationship exists between the slow-paying accounts and the behaviors driven by the sales incentive program and the strength of any such relationship
During a benefit needs assessment, which analysis would help to determine if the use of a given benefit has increased or decreased over time and, if it has, how quickly or slowly the increase or decrease has occurred?
Trend analysis
A trend analysis examines data from different points of time to determine if a variance is an isolated event or is part of a longer trend
HR is conducting a compensation analysis. During this process, they suspect that some of their more educated employees are earning more than their counterparts. What would be the best tool to determine if there is a correlation?
Scatter diagram
A scatter diagram shows possible relationships between two variables. A diagram with years of education on one axis and income level on the other axis would plot employees as points on a graph. The tighter the points fall along a line or curve, the stronger the correlation between the variables.
An HR manager decides to test the theory that a decline in the training of account managers is directly related to a decline in sales revenues. What technique will be most valuable in helping the HR manager visualize the correlation between training and revenues?
Scatter diagram
In a scatter diagram, the relationship between two variables (in this case, training and sales revenues) is analyzed. The control chart simply identifies how a process changes over time. The check sheet is a form used to collect data in real time. A cause-and-effect or fishbone diagram categorizes the potential causes of a problem in order to identify its root causes.
In an effort to determine specific causes for the failure of a marketing campaign, HR identifies complaints related to satisfaction with the product, delays in delivery time, and shipping errors. What would be a good next step?
Put the data into a Pareto chart
A Pareto chart will help HR prioritize actions by showing which types of complaints were most common and therefore contributed more strongly to the campaign’s failure. A full process analysis is needed before the start of a department restructure
In trend and ratio analysis, which most affects accurate projections of past figures into the future?
Relationship between two consistent variables
The key to accurate projects is whether the relationships will continue to hold.
