Quiz. Business Acumen

A company has entered a period of no growth or new business initiatives. What type of initiative is the HR director most likely to support during a budget meeting with the HR team?

• New recruitment strategy centered on social media expertise

• 
  

  Review and revision of the company’s employee policies

• Enhancement of work/life balance including compressed workweeks

• 
  

  Development of a pay-for-performance system for high performers

  Submit

Refer to the following scenario for the next 3 questions.

A 30-year-old beverage company manufactures under its own label as well as private labels for a number of retailers that operate internationally. Slim margins and tight competition in the industry have caused the company to look at its operations and decide to merge with a competitor.

The newly formed company will operate under the banner of the original company, and the second company will operate as an enhanced product line. The merger has created a lot of excitement among the leadership teams of both companies, as it means expansion into new markets and product lines.

The merger information was shared with the European operations works council, and, after much discussion, is moving forward.

Employees in the European locations are not, however, pleased that the merger is going ahead. The senior vice president (SVP) of HR has heard that employees are trying to mobilize and are planning a European Day of Action, where they will hold demonstrations, pass out leaflets, and conduct media interviews to share why this merger is not in the best interests of the employees. Employees are also requesting to meet with key organizational leaders, including the SVP of HR.

The final hurdle that the organization is awaiting is regulatory approval. Once that is received, the newly merged entity will further review the combined operations and duplication of positions, roles, and responsibilities. They believe they can reduce the overall workforce by 15%.

Which is the best first step the SVP of HR should take in response to the request of the European employees to meet with the organization’s leaders?

• Refuse to meet with the employees, moving forward with the merger before the employees can take any action.

• Review the works council agreement to determine the best advice to provide management.

• Agree to the meeting with the employees and gain their input and approval for the merger activities and reductions.

• Dismiss the request to meet, as a merger has no bearing on roles, responsibilities, or rights of works councils.

Which actions should the SVP of HR take first to respond to the news about the threatened work actions?

• Manage the risk by waiting to see the employees’ actions and then respond accordingly

• Recommend that the organization lock out and then terminate employees who participate in this action.

• Share the information with the senior leadership team so that they can formulate a response.

• Review the business continuity plan with leaders and develop a short-term staffing plan.

Which action should the SVP HR take to effectively communicate information about the merger’s effect on the workforce to the employees?

• Issue a global communication that outlines high-level changes and advises that the company will involuntarily eliminate a portion of the workforce.

• Create a global communication plan, beginning with a description of high-level changes and advising that details will follow after a thorough review.

• Wait until the complete analysis has been done and then announce the impact to the employees, transparently sharing full details.

• Outline the communication challenges for the leadership team; then have them cascade information, based on their communication preference, to employees.

The vice president of HR in a highly competitive industry has heard that the federal employee health and safety agency is considering increasing employee safety regulations. What would be the best action for the VP to take?

• Take the opportunity at the next HR professional gathering to discuss the situation with other HR leaders.

• Urge HR staff and employees to send messages to their representatives protesting the need for expensive new regulations.

• 
  

  Pay for a full-page newspaper advertisement that presents arguments against any new health and safety regulations.

• 
  

  Provide testimony to the agency including recommendations including ensuring regulations apply to businesses of all sizes.

The CEO of an organization has requested regular, comprehensive reports on staffing, turnover, engagement, and performance. What would be the most effective strategy to fulfill this request?

• 
  Engage with a consulting firm.

• 
  

  Begin a project to implement an HR dashboard.

• 
  

  Create reports using spreadsheets.

• 
  

  Implement employee self-service.

What is the best way an HR manager can influence executive managers to support Diversity and Inclusion efforts?

• 
  

  Engage women and minorities to lobby for diversity and inclusion.

• 
  

  Persuade managers individually about diversity and inclusion.

• Make a business case for diversity and inclusion.

• 
  

  Make a legal case for diversity and inclusion.

Management tells HR that it should budget for an increase in the hiring rate in the upcoming year but that HR head count cannot increase. How will this affect the HR budget?

• 
  

  The budget for fixed-cost items will decrease.

• 
  

  Since the head count will remain the same, the HR budget will remain the same.

• 
  

  The budget for variable cost items will increase.

• The budget will be increased by the same percentage as the increase in the total workforce.

An organization has decided to make a significant shift in strategy. What does the director of HR need to do when preparing the HR budget for the upcoming year?

• 
  

  Increase the prior year’s budget by 10% to account for the strategic shift.

• Determine the increase in rate drivers to adjust the prior year’s budget upward.

• 
  

  Compare current activities and budget allocations with what will be needed to support the new strategy.

• 
  

  Contract with consultants to address the strategic change, and then look at rate drivers to address the rest of the budget.

Refer to the following scenario for the next 4 questions.

The IT department at a large university has historically hired temporary employees for its entry-level positions. These positions are often low-paying, which leads to high turnover and the loss of high-potential talent. Because of the IT department’s large size, the in-house HR staff spends a fair amount of time and resources working on filling these positions. The HR staff believes that the IT department should consider hiring for permanent positions and offering more competitive salaries. However, leadership of the university has resisted this idea because of budgetary concerns and the belief that the IT department can always find a new graduate willing to work in a temporary position to obtain experience. The HR manager is finding that the HR staff cannot fulfill their other responsibilities because they are spending too much time focusing on the needs of the IT department.

Which action should the HR manager take to convince leadership at the university to approve offering permanent positions with higher salaries for the IT department?

• 
  

  Present a comparison of the cost of offering permanent positions with higher salaries to the cost of continuing to fill temporary positions at the current rate.

• 
  

  Explain the amount of resources spent on filling temporary positions in the IT department relative to filling positions in other departments.

• Conduct a benchmarking study of what other similar organizations are doing related to hiring within the IT industry, and present the results to leadership.

• 
  

  Research and compare the costs to use in-house HR staff to recruit for entry-level positions vs. outsourcing to a third-party vendor.