SHRM SHRM-SCP Online Practice Questions and Exam Preparation

SHRM SHRM-SCP Online Questions & Answers

• Question 961:

  A large retail company opens a distribution center directly across the street from a small competing firm's distribution center and posts a sign advertising open entry-level positions. The plant manager of the small firm notices that the sign indicates the advertised salary is higher than what the firm pays its entry-level employees. The plant manager is concerned employees will leave the firm to seek work at the competing company. The plant manager notifies the HR manager of the pay differences and requests immediate pay matching for all entry-level employees. The HR manager sets up a meeting with the plant manager, compensation manager, and HR business partner to discuss the issue. They decide to increase base pay to match the competitor's base pay but only for a subset of entry-level roles identified as critical. They also decide to put the pay increase into effect immediately, and the HR manager agrees to monitor the situation over the next three months.

  How should the HR manager communicate the new pay increase to current entry-level employees?

  A. Send an email to supervisors of impacted employees requesting that they explain the change to their direct reports.
  B. Hold in-person group meetings with impacted employees to announce their increased pay.
  C. Send a mass email to all impacted employees explaining the pay increase.
  D. Schedule a meeting with each impacted employee to communicate the pay increase and rationale.
  B. Hold in-person group meetings with impacted employees to announce their increased pay.

• Question 962:

  A new HR manager at a software company receives two complaints about a sales representative within the HR manager's first three months of working at the company. One employee states that the sales representative has made inappropriate remarks about the appearance of other employees. While the HR manager is investigating this complaint, a customer also contacts the HR manager to state that the customer paid the sales representative for services associated with another business the sales representative owns but did not receive the promised services. The HR director advises the HR manager to avoid confronting the sales representative to keep the ongoing investigation confidential.

  Which action should the HR manager recommend to help rebuild trust with the customer who complained about the sales representative's other business?

  A. Decrease the commission provided to the sales representative to reimburse the customer who lost money due to the other business.
  B. Send an email to the affected customer that explains the steps the company is taking to address the customer's concerns.
  C. Meet with the affected customer to explain the company 's response to the customer's concerns.
  D. Offer to provide the customer with company products or services to compensate for the issues with the sales representative.
  C. Meet with the affected customer to explain the company 's response to the customer's concerns.

  ---

  Meeting personally with the affected customer to explain the compan' ys response demonstrates accountability, allows for two-way communication, and helps restore confidence more effectively than impersonal or purely compensatory gestures.

• Question 963:

  It is usually advised that employee handbooks avoid prohibiting an employee from verbally harassing other employees. Why?

  A. This can be construed as violating an employee's Section 7 rights.
  B. The specificity of the language can limit its applications.
  C. It is better to leave this type of restriction as tacit information.
  D. This creates a compliance and negative tone for the handbook
  A. This can be construed as violating an employee's Section 7 rights.

  ---

  Different types of behavior can be interpreted as "verbal harassment," including talking to another employee about the benefits of joining a union. Therefore, this vague language could inhibit speech that is protected as a Section 7 right under the National Labor Relations Act. Recorded or not recorded, this prohibition would be problematic. Employees have the right to unionize, to join together to advance their interests as employees, and to refrain from such activity. It is unlawful for an employer to interfere with, restrain, or coerce employees in the exercise of their rights. For example, employers may not respond to a union organizing drive by threatening, interrogating, or spying on pro-union employees, or by promising benefits if they forget about the union. Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act (the Act) guarantees employees "the right to self-organization, to form, join, or assist labor organizations, to bargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing, and to engage in other concerted activities for the purpose of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection," as well as the right "to refrain from any or all such activities."

• Question 964:

  __________ is a structural model frequently used in organizations with multiple business units - rather than having to develop its own expertise in every area, each unit supplements its resources by selecting what it needs from a menu that the units agree to share;

  A. dedicated HR
  B. functional HR
  C. Shared services
  D. Best of Breed
  C. Shared services

  ---

  Shared services is a structural model which is frequently used in organizations with multiple business units because of its cost-effectiveness and efficiency.Rather than having to develop its own expertise in every area, each unit supplements its resources by selecting what it needs from a menu of shared services that the units agree to share.

• Question 965:

  An HR department successfully navigates internal changes but struggles with responding to external changes. Which analysis should the HR director conduct more regularly?

  A. Location-specific
  B. Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats
  C. Political, economic, social, technological, legal, and environmental
  D. Industry
  C. Political, economic, social, technological, legal, and environmental

  ---

  Regular PESTLE analysis helps HR systematically track external factors - political, economic, social, technological, legal, and environmental - that impact workforce strategies and ensure proactive adaptation to external changes.

• Question 966:

  Productivity:

  A. is purely a function of the quantity of output.
  B. is a measure of both quantity and quality
  C. measures are possible for jobs with a tangible product, but not for jobs with an intangible output, such as services.
  D. is best measured at the organizational level.
  B. is a measure of both quantity and quality

  ---

  Productivity is the result of the efficient and effective deployment of resources. It measures both quantity and quality of output.

• Question 967:

  What talent strategy ultimately emphasizes the organization's needs when considering an employee's career path?

  A. Training and development
  B. Career management
  C. Career planning
  D. Talent management
  B. Career management

  ---

  Career management is an employer-driven talent strategy that involves preparing, implementing, and monitoring employee career paths with a primary focus on the goals and needs of the organization. Career planning is an ongoing process whereby an individual sets career goals and identifies the means to achieve them - it is the individual's responsibility. Talent Management is the full-scope of integrated HR processes designed to attract, develop, motivate, retain, and deploy productive employees to achieve organizational goals.

• Question 968:

  An organization where job behaviors are non-programmed and employees have maximum discretion to make decisions and complete assignments has a low level of;

  A. Mechanistic structure.
  B. Seamlessness.
  C. Formalization.
  D. Departmentalization.
  C. Formalization.

  ---

  Formalization is the extent to which rules and regulations are followed in an organization. It relates to the degree to which organizations standardize behavior through written rules, procedures and formal training.

• Question 969:

  The HR department has a goal of recruiting a minimum of 15 HR junior executives with minimum qualifications of 2 years' experience and the PHR certification. This goal has a timeline of 6 months and a budgeted expense of $10,000. If the department recruits 16 HR executives who meet the qualification. The timeline took 300 days with a budgetary expense of $15,000 due to increased advert costs, low unemployment rate, and a target of passive candidates. The department can be said to be__________

  A. Efficient but not effective
  B. Effective but not efficient
  C. Profitable but not effective
  D. Achieved a strong ROI of 150%
  B. Effective but not efficient

  ---

  Effective means the set goal was achieved; efficient means the goal was achieved judiciously within a set time, effort, and budget. Effective is achieving a goal even though resources may have been used wastefully. Efficient is performing in the best possible manner with the least waste of time, effort, and finances. Being effective is about doing the right things, while being efficient is about doing things right.

• Question 970:

  Keith, a HR business partner is aware that the HR function has had strained relations with the production function on the basis of employee attendance and relations recommendations and requirements. Keith receives an e-mail from the production manager stating that he will not carry out a disciplinary step of suspension that Keith had recommended. What should Keith do?

  A. Implement the disciplinary step of suspension as required by the employee policy handbook
  B. Speak with the supervisor and explain the motivation for recommending the disciplinary action.
  C. Escalate the issue to HR senior leadership so as to make a final determination on the disciplinary decision.
  D. inform his manager to handle the situation in the interest of improving relations between the HR and Production functions.
  B. Speak with the supervisor and explain the motivation for recommending the disciplinary action.

  ---

  The initial step for Keith to take is to meet with the supervisor and explain the motivation and reasons for recommending disciplinary action. Only after this has been done and there is no headway will Keith then escalate the issue to his manager to handle. Remember to select an option that is the next step to take - not an option that may apply down the road. Keith has to first meet with the supervisor before any of the other options may be considered necessary.