SHRM's Flashcards
Think of a time when you were new to an organization. What steps did you take to establish yourself as a credible and trustworthy source for employees to voice concerns?
I made it a point to introduce my self to all of the senior leader team and supervisors to understand their perspectives on issues that are important to employees.
Describe a situation in which ethics laws, standards, legislation, and trends have impacted your organizational behaviors and practice.
I researched all the facts and circumstances of the situation and its potential implications for the organization prior to reaching out to the key stakeholders. Then I brought viable solutions to the senior leadership team.
What steps have you taken to provide access to ethical standards and policies for all employees across organizational units?
I conducted regular ethics training for all of the staff. This included role plays, case studies, and ethics pledge signing.
Tell me about the actions you have taken to establish your team’s reputation within the organization. What steps did you take?
I worked hard to maintain a positive working relationships with managers and staff by anticipating their needs, exceeding their expectations, ensuring they felt listened to, and treating matters in the strictest confidence.
Describe a situation when you took action, based on your awareness of ethics laws, standards, legislation, and trends, that impacted your organizational practice.
To demonstrate knowledge and application of relevant laws and policies.
To be familiar with organizational policies and communicate them to other employees.
Give me an example of a time when you had to support your organization’s HR policies, procedures, and guidelines. What actions did you take?
To provide training on organization policy, including its rationale, expectations for employees, and feedback and corrective action for those who are not following it.
To speak with employees individually to ensure that they understand the policies, procedures, and guidelines.
Privacy awareness training typically covers the following things:
(1) Importance of Protecting Privacy.
(2) Definition of Personal Data.
(3) Individual Rights.
(4) Responsibilities.
(5) When to Contact the Privacy Office.
Walk me through the steps you have taken when following a specific policy at work.
To follow a step- by-step process based on best practices when following the policy.
To demonstrate familiarity with a policy.
Think of a time when you were new to an organization. What steps did you take to establish yourself as a credible and trustworthy source for employees to voice concerns?
To follow up with any employee question or concern in a timely manner.
To post an intro/bio of him/herself so that employees could get to know his/her background.
Give me an example of how you have used a specific process to document and escalate reports of unethical behavior to management?
1) To ask probing questions,
2) document all information and responses,
3) and share this information with his/her manager.
To send an e-mail to his/her boss.
Tell me about a time when you made a mistake at work. How did you deal with this situation and what was the outcome?
1) Explained the error and present possible solutions to his/her manager prior to executing the best solution to correct the issue.
2) Fixed the mistake and ask a co-worker to check my work to spot future mistakes before work is submitted.
Tell me about a process you have dealt with in the past that required employee confidentiality. What actions did you take?
To go over key points of the confidentiality policy with employees, including consequences, and obtain commitment to abiding by the policy.
To keep confidential forms in locked drawers or secured electronic files.
Think about a time when management made a difficult decision. What was the situation? How did you behave?
I supported management’s final decision for layoff’s by creating a work plan to migrate the tasks of the selected employees and explained to all the employees why the decision had been made.
I accepted the decision and maintained a professional demeanor.
(Lay Off’s at TXLawS…)
Describe a time when you encountered a fellow employee behaving unethically. How did you respond?
To report the behavior to the appropriate source (manager, confidential point of contact, etc.).
To follow the organization’s policy.
(Manager creating a work around for submitting expenses)
The seven ways are as follows:
Creating fake invoices Acceleration of revenue recognition Bill and hold transactions Delay recording of discounts Round tripping Misclassification of sales Consignment sales
Describe a time when you encountered a conflict of interest. What was the scenario? What did you do?
To report the incident to management.
To attempt to mediate the conflict.
(Marketing Manager created/ produced the data reports that gave him bonus)
Describe a time when you needed to work as part of a team on a project or initiative. What was your role on the team and what actions did you take to contribute to the team in that role?
To discuss contributions with the team and come to a consensus on the best approach to meet all needs.
To offer advice on various pieces of the project or initiative.
Consider a time when you were new to an organization. How did you familiarize yourself with internal policies and procedures?
To initiate conversations with peers and leaders regarding the purpose, practical application, and outcomes of organizational policies and procedures.
To schedule a meeting with his/her supervisor to ask questions regarding policies and procedures.
Tell me about a time when an employee approached you with concerns. How did you handle the situation?
To follow up with the employee after meeting with an HR supervisor to discuss/share findings and potential corrective actions.
To ask questions and make suggestions for action.
(Employee was concerned that co-worker was “not right”. Employee 2 was acting intoxicated.”
Give an example of a time when you had to quickly change project priorities. What steps did you take to initiate change?
I sought out relevant stakeholders to assist in change initiation and priority ordering.
I recognized the importance of the issue and changed what I was doing to address the immediate need.
Tell me about a time when you had to represent your organization to an external party. How did you act in order to represent your organization’s culture?
To positively demonstrate the organization’s unique culture through appearance and demeanor.
To follow up with the external party to confirm commitments.
(Meetings with DHS representative…. Organized and professional)
Describe a time when you had to provide detail-oriented support in the administration of organizational programs and initiatives.
To highlight new/different features in the program/ initiative, as compared to previous programs/ initiatives.
To create a presentation including relevant details.
(Performed a SWOT analysis at Actian. Analyzed market data, sales data, and product data. Highlighted areas of growth and areas that were under performing)
Think of a time when you had to build credibility with stakeholders. What actions did you take?
To identify and assist in implementing solutions to help the organization become more effective.
To answer stakeholder questions and provide background information.
Think of a time when you had to make a transactional decision. How did you respond?
To ask clarifying questions to determine the correct policies to apply to the situation.
To follow and communicate basic policies.
Created Standard Operating Procedures
(Transactional HR is essentially handling the day-to-day administrative functions, such as preparing workplace policies, recruiting and processing new employees, and handling benefits administration and other workplace functions.)
Walk me through the specific steps you have taken when implementing an organization-wide process or initiative.
To help educate the organization concerning needs.
To assist in aligning project needs with organizational needs.
Step 1: Assess Development Organization
Step 2: Plan Process Implementation
Step 3: Execute Process Implementation
Step 4: Evaluate Process Implementation
Step 1: Assess Development Organization
You must understand the current state of the software-development organization in terms of its people, its process, and its supporting tools. You need to identify problems and potential areas for improvement, as well as collect information about outside issues, such as your competitors and market trends. When this step is complete, you should know:
The software development organization’s current state.
The kinds of people there, including their level of competence, skills, and motivation.
The tools currently used by the organization.
The current software engineering process and how it’s described.
The organization’s business goals.
Reasons for assessing the current state are to:
Use it to create a plan for getting from the organization’s current state to your goal.
Identify those areas that need to be improved first. You may not want to introduce the entire process and all tools all at once. You may want to do it in increments, starting with the areas that have the greatest need and the best potential for improvement.
Explain to the sponsors why you need to change process, tools, and people.
Create motivation and a common understanding among those people in the organization who are directly, or indirectly, affected.
Develop a plan for implementing the process and the tools in the organization. This plan describes how to efficiently move from the organization’s current state to their vision. To develop this plan, you need to:
Set or Revise Goals
Identify Risks
Select Software Development Projects
Decide When to Launch Process and Tools
Plan Training
Plan Mentoring
Decide Whether to Develop an Organization-wide Development Environment
Describe a time when you have responded to a transactional issue. What steps did you take to see its resolution?
To investigate and properly document the incident.
To assist in aligning project needs with organizational needs.
Transactional HR responsibilities are generally considered more task-oriented processes such as “Administrative, order-taking, updating an individual employees’ HR Records, filling a vacant position or locating a training program for an individual” These responsibilities usually have to do with an organization’s compliance to federal and state regulations.
Some of these include: recruiting, staffing, benefits and compensation, payroll, and some types of training.
Think about a time when you have encountered an ineffective process or transaction. What steps did you take following this discovery?
To investigate and make recommendations based on industry standards.
To analyze the process internally.
Map processes. Analyze the process. Redesign the process. Acquire resources. Implement and communicate change. Review the process.
Think back to a time when you had to solve a problem at work. What sources of data and information did you use? How did you identify relevant information?
To contact relevant support staff, identify relevant internal and external information, and use this information to prevent the problem from occurring again in the future.
To conduct internet research on similar solutions.
Describe a situation in which you needed to make a business decision. What specific steps led you to your conclusion?
To research best practices.
To consider budget constraints.
Describe how you have used data in the past to make a decision or to solve a problem. How did you use data as an aid in your decision making?
To identify the impact that the data had on the decision.
To identify the data available and the appropriate data needed.
Decide which product was best by using ROI
Describe a time when you made interpretations based on statistical analyses. What analyses did you use to arrive at your interpretations?
To establish a pay scale.
To use analyses to identify necessary onboarding initiatives.
(Complaint of unfair wages)
Describe the data collection techniques you have used in the past.
To utilize focus groups.
To utilize interviews.
(Reorganization)
Think of a time when you had to work on multiple projects simultaneously. How did you manage your time?
To regularly or proactively advise his/her supervisor and stakeholders of progress and any project plan deviations.
To occasionally or when prompted seek assistance from his/her supervisor.
Give me an example of a time when you had to summarize information to be presented to mid and senior-level leaders. How did you decide which facts to include?
To independently compile basic facts, consult with his/her supervisor to share a draft, and highlight facts left out to identify if information is complete or if anything is missing.
To include all facts to ensure nothing was missed.
