SHRM EXAM QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
Which test most effectively identifies potential high-performing leaders in a collaborative
work environment?* - Answers - Emotional intelligence. Rationale: Leaders with a high
level of emotional intelligence perform better and achieve superior outcomes than
leaders with less of this competence. Psychomotor, work sample, and personality test
do not measure emotions. Psychomotor tests measure dexterity, coordination, and
steadiness. Personality tests are designed to measure whether an applicant's attributes
match certain job criteria. Work sample test require an applicant to perform a simulated
task associated with the job.
Recently, HR has received complaints about the fairness of the CEO's compensation.
Which should the HR manager do first to ensure that the executive compensation
practices of the company are fair?*
a. Identify the rewards being offered to incentivize long-term goals.
b. Analyze the company culture and compensation structure history.
c. Confirm the plan is balanced with long-term and short-term incentives.
d. Determine which objectives are being used to evaluate executives. - Answers -
Analyze the company culture and compensation structure history. Rationale: Analyzing
the company culture and compensation structure history sets the groundwork for
determining if the CEO's compensation plan is fair and consistent with the existing
values of the company. After the compensation structure is examined and understood,
the HR manager can determine what, if any, objectives, rewards, and incentives are
used.
A CEO thinks the best way to make his organization a leading competitor is to merge
with a healthcare organization that recently acquired the rights to new technology.
Which best describes the degree and timing of the change the CEO is implementing?*
a. Incremental-reactive
b. Radical-anticipatory
c. Radical-reactive
d. Incremental-anticipatory - Answers - Radical-reactive. Rationale: The degree of
change would be radical because the merger is a major change to how the organization
currently does business. The time of change would be reactive because they are forced
to change by some event in the external environment. Thus, the correct answer is B.
Which incentive plan is most likely to cause frustration to higher-performing
employees?*
a. Profit sharing
b. Gain sharing
c. Piecework
,d. Behavioral encouragement - Answers - Gain sharing. Rationale: With group incentive
plans, such as gain sharing, some employees may make fewer contributions to the
group goals because they have lower ability, skills, experience, or desire. This may
make the high-performing employees frustrated because they feel these employees are
not contributing equally to the attainment of group goals. Piecework, profit sharing, and
behavioral encouragement are individual incentive plans.
Which is the best way to address the lack of diversity within organizational units?*
a. Confirm that recruiters incorporate diversity policy into the recruitment process.
b. Implement incentives to employees for candidate referrals.
c. Develop a diversity initiative with targeted hiring objectives.
d. Consult legal to mitigate discrimination claims in hiring. - Answers - Develop a
diversity initiative with targeted hiring objectives. Rationale: The best way to address
lack of diversity is to create a diversity initiative because it places importance on
diversity by aligning it with the business priorities. The initiative will also outline what
changes are needed in the workforce and what strategies will be put in place to achieve
these changes. Simply confirming that recruiters are incorporating the diversity policy is
not specific enough to address the issue. Legal will advise to mitigate discrimination
claims, hire more diverse applicants. Candidate referrals are more likely to be similar to
existing employees, thus perpetuating the diversity issue.
Which measure shows how much more valuable an organization has become because
of its investment in human capital?*
a. Return on investment
b. Human capital return on investment
c. Human economic value added
d. Human capital value added - Answers - Human economic value added.
Rationale: Human economic value added shows the wealth created per employee. It
shows how much more valuable the organization has become because of its investment
in human capital. Return on investment shows the value of investments in human
capital. Human capital return on investment shows the amount of profit derived from
investments in labor. Human capital value added shows the operating profit per full-time
employee.
Scenario Background: A manufacturer has secured a contract from a large hospital to
build and supply operating room equipment. The hospital specifies the steps in the
manufacturing and quality control processes that it expects, and the manufacturing
company has contractually committed to meet these specifications. The production line
employees discover that they can skip one of the steps in the quality control process
when building respirators without any noticeable change in the final product. The client
unknowingly accepts the finished respirators as meeting specifications. During an exit
interview, a departing employee reveals to the senior HR director that his entire unit is
skipping a critical step in the quality control process for building the respirators. No one
in the production's supervisory line or management is aware this is happening.
, What is the first thing the HR director should do?*
a. Confer with co - Answers - Initiate an investigation to swiftly determine the accuracy
of employee's claim. Rationale: Situational judgment test (SJTs) require you, as an
examinee, to think about what is occurring in the scenario and decide which response
option identifies the most effective course of action. Other response options may be
something you could do to respond in the situation, but SJTs require thinking and acting
based on the best of the available options. Do not base your answer on your
organization's approach to handling the situation, but rather, answer based on what you
know should be done according to best practice. Panels of SHRM-certified subject
matter experts rate the effectiveness of each response option, and the "best" answer is
derived by statistical analysis of those expert opinions.
Scenario Background: A manufacturer has secured a contract from a large hospital to
build and supply operating room equipment. The hospital specifies the steps in the
manufacturing and quality control processes that it expects, and the manufacturing
company has contractually committed to meet these specifications. The production line
employees discover that they can skip one of the steps in the quality control process
when building respirators without any noticeable change in the final product. The client
unknowingly accepts the finished respirators as meeting specifications. During an exit
interview, a departing employee reveals to the senior HR director that his entire unit is
skipping a critical step in the quality control process for building the respirators. No one
in the production's supervisory line or management is aware this is happening.
The HR director reviews performance expectations for employees on the - Answers -
Work with supervisors to determine improvements that will help employees meet
production goals.
Scenario Background: A year after a premium hotel opened in a medium-sized town,
the discount hotel across town is forced to close. Many of their housekeepers and desk
attendants get picked up by the premium hotel. A few weeks later, the managers of the
hotel notice that the former discount hotel employees are clashing with the other
employees. The hotel manager discovers that one of the housekeepers from the
affordable motel is allowing family members to stay overnight at the hotel without
paying. At the same time, an employee anonymously alleges that the facilities manager
does not like the hospitality director and purposely delays and neglects completing room
repairs, so they are not available for reservations. Ultimately, this reflects poorly on the
hospitality director.
After determining the allegations about the facility manager to be true, the HR generalist
presents these findings to the HR director. Which is - Answers - Meet with the facilities
manager and hospitality director individually to determine if mediation will solve the
problem.
Scenario Background: A year after a premium hotel opened in a medium-sized town,
the discount hotel across town is forced to close. Many of their housekeepers and desk
Which test most effectively identifies potential high-performing leaders in a collaborative
work environment?* - Answers - Emotional intelligence. Rationale: Leaders with a high
level of emotional intelligence perform better and achieve superior outcomes than
leaders with less of this competence. Psychomotor, work sample, and personality test
do not measure emotions. Psychomotor tests measure dexterity, coordination, and
steadiness. Personality tests are designed to measure whether an applicant's attributes
match certain job criteria. Work sample test require an applicant to perform a simulated
task associated with the job.
Recently, HR has received complaints about the fairness of the CEO's compensation.
Which should the HR manager do first to ensure that the executive compensation
practices of the company are fair?*
a. Identify the rewards being offered to incentivize long-term goals.
b. Analyze the company culture and compensation structure history.
c. Confirm the plan is balanced with long-term and short-term incentives.
d. Determine which objectives are being used to evaluate executives. - Answers -
Analyze the company culture and compensation structure history. Rationale: Analyzing
the company culture and compensation structure history sets the groundwork for
determining if the CEO's compensation plan is fair and consistent with the existing
values of the company. After the compensation structure is examined and understood,
the HR manager can determine what, if any, objectives, rewards, and incentives are
used.
A CEO thinks the best way to make his organization a leading competitor is to merge
with a healthcare organization that recently acquired the rights to new technology.
Which best describes the degree and timing of the change the CEO is implementing?*
a. Incremental-reactive
b. Radical-anticipatory
c. Radical-reactive
d. Incremental-anticipatory - Answers - Radical-reactive. Rationale: The degree of
change would be radical because the merger is a major change to how the organization
currently does business. The time of change would be reactive because they are forced
to change by some event in the external environment. Thus, the correct answer is B.
Which incentive plan is most likely to cause frustration to higher-performing
employees?*
a. Profit sharing
b. Gain sharing
c. Piecework
,d. Behavioral encouragement - Answers - Gain sharing. Rationale: With group incentive
plans, such as gain sharing, some employees may make fewer contributions to the
group goals because they have lower ability, skills, experience, or desire. This may
make the high-performing employees frustrated because they feel these employees are
not contributing equally to the attainment of group goals. Piecework, profit sharing, and
behavioral encouragement are individual incentive plans.
Which is the best way to address the lack of diversity within organizational units?*
a. Confirm that recruiters incorporate diversity policy into the recruitment process.
b. Implement incentives to employees for candidate referrals.
c. Develop a diversity initiative with targeted hiring objectives.
d. Consult legal to mitigate discrimination claims in hiring. - Answers - Develop a
diversity initiative with targeted hiring objectives. Rationale: The best way to address
lack of diversity is to create a diversity initiative because it places importance on
diversity by aligning it with the business priorities. The initiative will also outline what
changes are needed in the workforce and what strategies will be put in place to achieve
these changes. Simply confirming that recruiters are incorporating the diversity policy is
not specific enough to address the issue. Legal will advise to mitigate discrimination
claims, hire more diverse applicants. Candidate referrals are more likely to be similar to
existing employees, thus perpetuating the diversity issue.
Which measure shows how much more valuable an organization has become because
of its investment in human capital?*
a. Return on investment
b. Human capital return on investment
c. Human economic value added
d. Human capital value added - Answers - Human economic value added.
Rationale: Human economic value added shows the wealth created per employee. It
shows how much more valuable the organization has become because of its investment
in human capital. Return on investment shows the value of investments in human
capital. Human capital return on investment shows the amount of profit derived from
investments in labor. Human capital value added shows the operating profit per full-time
employee.
Scenario Background: A manufacturer has secured a contract from a large hospital to
build and supply operating room equipment. The hospital specifies the steps in the
manufacturing and quality control processes that it expects, and the manufacturing
company has contractually committed to meet these specifications. The production line
employees discover that they can skip one of the steps in the quality control process
when building respirators without any noticeable change in the final product. The client
unknowingly accepts the finished respirators as meeting specifications. During an exit
interview, a departing employee reveals to the senior HR director that his entire unit is
skipping a critical step in the quality control process for building the respirators. No one
in the production's supervisory line or management is aware this is happening.
, What is the first thing the HR director should do?*
a. Confer with co - Answers - Initiate an investigation to swiftly determine the accuracy
of employee's claim. Rationale: Situational judgment test (SJTs) require you, as an
examinee, to think about what is occurring in the scenario and decide which response
option identifies the most effective course of action. Other response options may be
something you could do to respond in the situation, but SJTs require thinking and acting
based on the best of the available options. Do not base your answer on your
organization's approach to handling the situation, but rather, answer based on what you
know should be done according to best practice. Panels of SHRM-certified subject
matter experts rate the effectiveness of each response option, and the "best" answer is
derived by statistical analysis of those expert opinions.
Scenario Background: A manufacturer has secured a contract from a large hospital to
build and supply operating room equipment. The hospital specifies the steps in the
manufacturing and quality control processes that it expects, and the manufacturing
company has contractually committed to meet these specifications. The production line
employees discover that they can skip one of the steps in the quality control process
when building respirators without any noticeable change in the final product. The client
unknowingly accepts the finished respirators as meeting specifications. During an exit
interview, a departing employee reveals to the senior HR director that his entire unit is
skipping a critical step in the quality control process for building the respirators. No one
in the production's supervisory line or management is aware this is happening.
The HR director reviews performance expectations for employees on the - Answers -
Work with supervisors to determine improvements that will help employees meet
production goals.
Scenario Background: A year after a premium hotel opened in a medium-sized town,
the discount hotel across town is forced to close. Many of their housekeepers and desk
attendants get picked up by the premium hotel. A few weeks later, the managers of the
hotel notice that the former discount hotel employees are clashing with the other
employees. The hotel manager discovers that one of the housekeepers from the
affordable motel is allowing family members to stay overnight at the hotel without
paying. At the same time, an employee anonymously alleges that the facilities manager
does not like the hospitality director and purposely delays and neglects completing room
repairs, so they are not available for reservations. Ultimately, this reflects poorly on the
hospitality director.
After determining the allegations about the facility manager to be true, the HR generalist
presents these findings to the HR director. Which is - Answers - Meet with the facilities
manager and hospitality director individually to determine if mediation will solve the
problem.
Scenario Background: A year after a premium hotel opened in a medium-sized town,
the discount hotel across town is forced to close. Many of their housekeepers and desk
