SHRM SHRM-SCP Online Practice Questions and Exam Preparation

SHRM SHRM-SCP Online Questions & Answers

• Question 61:

  What is the indispensable notion behind the stakeholder theory?

  A. A business has interconnected relationships that accounts for complex interests that impact and are impacted by the business.
  B. A firm is required to share its implicit and explicit value with its employees, suppliers, and local communities.
  C. A business must first reach a maturity stage in profits and then embark on initiatives that will benefit people and planet.
  D. Stakeholders must receive tangible financial value based on company's net worth and its corporate social responsibility strategy.
  A. A business has interconnected relationships that accounts for complex interests that impact and are impacted by the business.

  ---

  The stakeholder concept proposes that any organization operates within a multifaceted environment, in which it impacts and is impacted by a variety of interests, called stakeholders, who all share in the value of the organization, and its initiatives.Shareholder theory or Friedman doctrine, on the other hand, is the view that the only duty of a corporation is to maximize the profits accruing to its shareholders.

• Question 62:

  Which of the following is not a difference between a code of ethics (CE) and a code of conduct (CC)?

  A. CE is an aspirational set of values and principles of the organization while CC is a directional document directed towards shareholders
  B. CE governs decision-making while CC governs actions
  C. CE is publicly disclosed while CC is directed at employees only
  D. CE refers to organizational ideals and values while CC is focused on compliance and rules
  A. CE is an aspirational set of values and principles of the organization while CC is a directional document directed towards shareholders

  ---

  Option A is wrong because a code of conduct (CC) is not directed towards shareholders but towards employees. The primary difference between code of ethics and code of conduct is that code of ethics is a set of principle that influences an organization and its actions while the code of conduct is a set of guidelines that direct and guide employee actions.

• Question 63:

  A global professional services company hires a new manager to improve its communications program across the organization. Which will best translate to success for the manager?

  A. Release an organizationwide announcement to welcome the new manager.
  B. Provide the manager with a clear and specific role description.
  C. Assign the manager a team of employees who have diverse skill sets.
  D. Design an onboarding program for the new manager.
  B. Provide the manager with a clear and specific role description.

  ---

  A clear, specific role description ensures the manager understands expectations, scope, and success metrics, providing the foundation needed to design and execute an effective communications program.

• Question 64:

  Rosebud Inc. will pay $160,000 to settle a sexual harassment and retaliation lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). According to the EEOC's lawsuit, Tina Rosenthal, who worked as a server at Rosebud's location in Chicago, was sexually harassed by another server in 2013. Rosenthal complained about the harassment to managers, but Rosebud Inc. did not take adequate steps to address her complaints. What is the most important step Rosebud should have taken after receiving the complaint?

  A. Establish and adhere to a sexual harassment policy
  B. Implement the EEOC Enforcement Guidance on Vicarious Employer Liability for Unlawful Harassment by Supervisors
  C. Engage in a workplace Investigation
  D. Carry out a comprehensive HR Audit
  C. Engage in a workplace Investigation

  ---

  Organizations must conduct fair and impartial investigations into employee complaints and allegations of misconduct. Employers are responsible for carefully examining the facts and circumstances surrounding allegations of misconduct and make factual findings. Objective and impartial fact-finding is a necessary to an employer's ability to take appropriate and meaningful action. This is true if the allegations involve unlawful conduct such as harassment, discrimination or retaliation, or violation of company policy.

• Question 65:

  The HR professionals in a corporation have updated their tools to include an advanced analytics tool that displays important, high-level, real-time HR metrics using interactive data visualizations that can be configured to show how it correlates with strategic goals. This tool is most likely a:

  A. Dashboard
  B. Predictive analytics
  C. Balanced scorecard
  D. Performance data tool
  A. Dashboard

  ---

  A HR dashboard is an advanced analytics tool that displays important HR metrics using interactive data visualizations. Turning to a professional online dashboard, HR professionals can keep a close eye on employee performance, recruiting, and talent management processes.

• Question 66:

  Where the employer needs to provide a level playing field for all groups and minorities is called____________?

  A. Equal opportunity
  B. Diversity
  C. Doctrine of equality
  D. Principle of entitlement
  A. Equal opportunity

  ---

  The principle of equal opportunity requires employers to provide a level playing field for all groups and minorities. This is the major function of the EEOC in the United States.

• Question 67:

  A job redesign technique that increases the tasks, duties, responsibility, accountability and authority of an employee's role is called?

  A. Horizontal integration
  B. Job enlargement
  C. Vertical loading
  D. Vertical integration
  C. Vertical loading

  ---

  Vertical loading is similar to job enrichment. Job enrichment is the addition to a job tasks that increase the amount of employee control or responsibility. It is a vertical restructuring method which gives the employee additional authority, autonomy, and control over the way the job is accomplished.

• Question 68:

  _________ is the theory that individuals act depending upon their evaluation of whether their effort will lead to good performance, followed by a reward that is considered attractive to them.

  A. Expectancy theory
  B. Valence theory
  C. Instrumental theory
  D. Goal-setting theory
  A. Expectancy theory

  ---

  The Expectancy theory states that employee's motivation is an outcome of how much an individual wants a reward (Valence), the assessment that the likelihood that the effort will lead to expected performance (Expectancy) and the belief that the performance will lead to reward (Instrumentality).

• Question 69:

  The HR Department of an oil and gas corporation intends to create short term goals. An example of a short-term goal is all of the following except?

  A. An action plan
  B. A SMART tactical goal
  C. A work instruction
  D. A human capital management plan
  D. A human capital management plan

  ---

  A human capital management plan refers to the development of strategies to recruit the best available talent, develop career plans for employees, mentor and coach the employees, motivate employees to deliver their best at all times, and develop performance management strategies. It is HR's strategic plan.Note that SMART is an acronym that stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Timely. It is used to guide goal-setting, for short term goals as well as long term goals.

• Question 70:

  A car sales company has approximately 700 sales employees and 200 administrative employees who perform the tasks of checking stock availability, processing deliveries, sending out invoices, and maintaining records and databases. During and after the pandemic, the company has suffered a 45% loss of profit and revenue due to poor sales. In a bid to stay afloat, the sales manager has laid off the entire administrative team and 100 sales employees who were the least performers last quarter. The remaining 600 sales employees are required to take on administrative tasks, as well as a 20% reduction in base pay and a 20% increase in commissions from car sales.

  The HR manager has been told by an employee in the sales department that he is leaving because of the additional workload which has distracted him from making sales and has reduced his commission- based pay. The HR manager is concerned that employee satisfaction levels have fallen drastically due to the increased tasks and unfavorable compensation model. She believes several sales employees are planning to leave the organization which will further reduce the organization's revenue.

  The HR manager decides to share these apprehensions with the sales manager. The HR manager shares that there is a real possibility of high turnover amongst the sales employees which will result in loss of trained talent, corporate know- how and revenue. The sales manager refutes this claim and states that there is a necessity to weed out employees who do not pull their weight and have been relying on the certainty of their base pay as opposed to generating sales. The sales manager notes that the

  worst performing employees are those who complain and are welcome to leave.

  Furthermore, the sales manager shares that laying off the administrative employees and increasing commission-based percentage of pay has improved the company's financial condition and encouraged the sales employees to have a line of sight between their tasks and the company' productivity. The sales manager states that the HR manager should not bother about baseless complaints but revise the job descriptions of the sales position to include the administrative tasks so as to recruit new employees

  who are comfortable with the workload of the role.

  What is the most effective method for the HR manager to evaluate the efficacy of the new compensation model to increase sales?

  A. Recommend that the new compensation model be utilized for at least a year before its effectiveness in increasing sales can be measured and analyzed.
  B. Analyze and research documents and information on best practices to determine if the compensation model has been effective in similar organizations.
  C. Carry out an employee satisfaction survey of the sales employees to determine their views about the compensation model and its efficacy in driving sales.
  D. Benchmark the compensation model against that of notable competitors in the car sales industry.
  B. Analyze and research documents and information on best practices to determine if the compensation model has been effective in similar organizations.

  ---

  Because the compensation model is relatively new, HR has to determine its efficacy based on research conducted in other organizations. Note that employee satisfaction survey does not correlate with effectiveness of the compensation model. Benchmarking will provide a comparison but not necessarily the effectiveness in terms of sales. Rather than advocate for a one-year delay, existing research and documents can be analyzed to determine the efficacy of the compensation model.