1. Scenario Question 1 of 4 A clothing retail company with three locations in a popular beach resort area has been in business for over three years. There are two similar retailers in the same beach town competing for the same customers and labor pool. Recently the company has had extensive growth due to a new clothing design. Despite the growth in sales, their turnover is high. Employees do not stay longer than 90 days, as the competition is enticing sales staff away. Turnover is now affecting their customer satisfaction and increasing the workload on the remaining staff. Most of the management staff started as sales floor employees and received little to no management training. One of the key criteria used in promoting staff is their success on the sales floor, leading to complaints of internal selection unfairness. Recent exit interviews suggest low morale, poor leadership, and lack of work/life balance as the top three reasons for leaving the company. Knowing that there are plans to launch two new product lines in the near future, the CEO has asked the HR director to search and find a new supplier to provide new employee orientation for all new sales staff. Twenty companies have submitted requests for proposals, and the CEO wants a short list to be presented in the next two days.
A) Facilitate management focus groups to evaluate the company's compensation, rewards, and incentive programs.
B) Conduct a job analysis for all management positions to ensure that job descriptions and specifications are appropriate.
C) Analyze exit interviews from managers who have left recently to determine why they are leaving.
D) Review customer satisfaction results and use these to guide the development of the training curriculum.
2. Scenario Question 1 of 4 A clothing retail company with three locations in a popular beach resort area has been in business for over three years. There are two similar retailers in the same beach town competing for the same customers and labor pool. Recently the company has had extensive growth due to a new clothing design. Despite the growth in sales, their turnover is high. Employees do not stay longer than 90 days, as the competition is enticing sales staff away. Turnover is now affecting their customer satisfaction and increasing the workload on the remaining staff. Most of the management staff started as sales floor employees and received little to no management training. One of the key criteria used in promoting staff is their success on the sales floor, leading to complaints of internal selection unfairness. Recent exit interviews suggest low morale, poor leadership, and lack of work/life balance as the top three reasons for leaving the company. Knowing that there are plans to launch two new product lines in the near future, the CEO has asked the HR director to search and find a new supplier to provide new employee orientation for all new sales staff. Twenty companies have submitted requests for proposals, and the CEO wants a short list to be presented in the next two days.
A) Facilitate management focus groups to evaluate the company's compensation, rewards, and incentive programs.
B) Conduct a job analysis for all management positions to ensure that job descriptions and specifications are appropriate.
C) Analyze exit interviews from managers who have left recently to determine why they are leaving.
D) Review customer satisfaction results and use these to guide the development of the training curriculum.
3. Scenario Question 3 of 4 A clothing retail company with three locations in a popular beach resort area has been in business for over three years. There are two similar retailers in the same beach town competing for the same customers and labor pool. Recently the company has had extensive growth due to a new clothing design. Despite the growth in sales, their turnover is high. Employees do not stay longer than 90 days, as the competition is enticing sales staff away. Turnover is now affecting their customer satisfaction and increasing the workload on the remaining staff. Most of the management staff started as sales floor employees and received little to no management training. One of the key criteria used in promoting staff is their success on the sales floor, leading to complaints of internal selection unfairness. Recent exit interviews suggest low morale, poor leadership, and lack of work/life balance as the top three reasons for leaving the company. Knowing that there are plans to launch two new product lines in the near future, the CEO has asked the HR director to search and find a new supplier to provide new employee orientation for all new sales staff. Twenty companies have submitted requests for proposals, and the CEO wants a short list to be presented in the next two days.
A) Ensure that all recruiters are well trained in sourcing and selecting qualified applicants for a retail sales organization.
B) Review environmental conditions in regard to expected tourists and expected sales growth, and calculate the number of employees needed.
C) Review internal turnover, promotions, and transfer data to calculate the number of employees needed to meet future staffing needs.
D) Analyze current labor trends along with internal staffing metrics to ensure appropriate staffing levels to meet expected organizational growth.
4. Scenario Question 3 of 4 A clothing retail company with three locations in a popular beach resort area has been in business for over three years. There are two similar retailers in the same beach town competing for the same customers and labor pool. Recently the company has had extensive growth due to a new clothing design. Despite the growth in sales, their turnover is high. Employees do not stay longer than 90 days, as the competition is enticing sales staff away. Turnover is now affecting their customer satisfaction and increasing the workload on the remaining staff. Most of the management staff started as sales floor employees and received little to no management training. One of the key criteria used in promoting staff is their success on the sales floor, leading to complaints of internal selection unfairness. Recent exit interviews suggest low morale, poor leadership, and lack of work/life balance as the top three reasons for leaving the company. Knowing that there are plans to launch two new product lines in the near future, the CEO has asked the HR director to search and find a new supplier to provide new employee orientation for all new sales staff. Twenty companies have submitted requests for proposals, and the CEO wants a short list to be presented in the next two days.
A) Ensure that all recruiters are well trained in sourcing and selecting qualified applicants for a retail sales organization.
B) Review environmental conditions in regard to expected tourists and expected sales growth, and calculate the number of employees needed.
C) Review internal turnover, promotions, and transfer data to calculate the number of employees needed to meet future staffing needs.
D) Analyze current labor trends along with internal staffing metrics to ensure appropriate staffing levels to meet expected organizational growth.
5. Scenario Question 4 of 4 A clothing retail company with three locations in a popular beach resort area has been in business for over three years. There are two similar retailers in the same beach town competing for the same customers and labor pool. Recently the company has had extensive growth due to a new clothing design. Despite the growth in sales, their turnover is high. Employees do not stay longer than 90 days, as the competition is enticing sales staff away. Turnover is now affecting their customer satisfaction and increasing the workload on the remaining staff. Most of the management staff started as sales floor employees and received little to no management training. One of the key criteria used in promoting staff is their success on the sales floor, leading to complaints of internal selection unfairness. Recent exit interviews suggest low morale, poor leadership, and lack of work/life balance as the top three reasons for leaving the company. Knowing that there are plans to launch two new product lines in the near future, the CEO has asked the HR director to search and find a new supplier to provide new employee orientation for all new sales staff. Twenty companies have submitted requests for proposals, and the CEO wants a short list to be presented in the next two days.
A) Conduct an online search of the best training companies and send the resulting list to the CEO.
B) Rank the companies in regard to their prices and present the five lowest bids, as cost is an issue.
C) Determine, with the CEO, key criteria that should be considered, using this information to narrow the search.
D) Ask for input on the short list from another employee who has done this type of training before.
6. Scenario Question 2 of 4 The annual loss ratio for a company's health plan is a staggering 158%. The head of HR has been asked by the CEO to propose changes to the plan that will lower costs while retaining as many of the current benefits as possible. An actuarial review reveals that the riders for dental and prescription drug coverage account for 84% of the plan's claims and that three employees in a workforce of 91 account for 73% of the claims. After reviewing a series of benefit options, the head of HR decides that the best option is a plan that doubles the deductibles on the dental and prescription benefits while also lowering the maximum reimbursement coverage by 25%. She makes a presentation outlining this suggestion to the company's executive committee. After a brief discussion of the rationale and the merits, the chief operating officer mentions that the company should announce the plan's changes to employees immediately. The head of HR responds that doing so would risk defeating the purpose of the changes. Without further discussion, the executive committee proceeds to vote and accepts the changes to become effective upon plan renewal the following month. Two months after the introduction of the new plan, it is discovered that two employees made bulk prescription purchases (a six-month supply) one week prior to the changes in the benefit plan going into effect. This seems a peculiar coincidence, and the head of HR suspects a leak of confidential information
A) If benefit entitlements remain similar, finding and using a new benefit provider would not address the root cause as measured by the loss ratio.
B) A request for proposal to find a new benefit provider can take several months to finalize and may not provide a comparable plan at a cheaper rate.
C) It is unlikely that another benefit provider would accept the company's business without a thorough analysis of the previous year's use rates.
D) To ensure a minimum break-even, any new insurance provider will quote and charge at a rate that is equal to or more than that of the previous provider.
7. Scenario Question 2 of 4 The annual loss ratio for a company's health plan is a staggering 158%. The head of HR has been asked by the CEO to propose changes to the plan that will lower costs while retaining as many of the current benefits as possible. An actuarial review reveals that the riders for dental and prescription drug coverage account for 84% of the plan's claims and that three employees in a workforce of 91 account for 73% of the claims. After reviewing a series of benefit options, the head of HR decides that the best option is a plan that doubles the deductibles on the dental and prescription benefits while also lowering the maximum reimbursement coverage by 25%. She makes a presentation outlining this suggestion to the company's executive committee. After a brief discussion of the rationale and the merits, the chief operating officer mentions that the company should announce the plan's changes to employees immediately. The head of HR responds that doing so would risk defeating the purpose of the changes. Without further discussion, the executive committee proceeds to vote and accepts the changes to become effective upon plan renewal the following month. Two months after the introduction of the new plan, it is discovered that two employees made bulk prescription purchases (a six-month supply) one week prior to the changes in the benefit plan going into effect. This seems a peculiar coincidence, and the head of HR suspects a leak of confidential information
A) If benefit entitlements remain similar, finding and using a new benefit provider would not address the root cause as measured by the loss ratio.
B) A request for proposal to find a new benefit provider can take several months to finalize and may not provide a comparable plan at a cheaper rate.
C) It is unlikely that another benefit provider would accept the company's business without a thorough analysis of the previous year's use rates.
D) To ensure a minimum break-even, any new insurance provider will quote and charge at a rate that is equal to or more than that of the previous provider.
8. Scenario Question 4 of 4 The annual loss ratio for a company's health plan is a staggering 158%. The head of HR has been asked by the CEO to propose changes to the plan that will lower costs while retaining as many of the current benefits as possible. An actuarial review reveals that the riders for dental and prescription drug coverage account for 84% of the plan's claims and that three employees in a workforce of 91 account for 73% of the claims. After reviewing a series of benefit options, the head of HR decides that the best option is a plan that doubles the deductibles on the dental and prescription benefits while also lowering the maximum reimbursement coverage by 25%. She makes a presentation outlining this suggestion to the company's executive committee. After a brief discussion of the rationale and the merits, the chief operating officer mentions that the company should announce the plan's changes to employees immediately. The head of HR responds that doing so would risk defeating the purpose of the changes. Without further discussion, the executive committee proceeds to vote and accepts the changes to become effective upon plan renewal the following month. Two months after the introduction of the new plan, it is discovered that two employees made bulk prescription purchases (a six-month supply) one week prior to the changes in the benefit plan going into effect. This seems a peculiar coincidence, and the head of HR suspects a leak of confidential information
A) Incentivizing use just prior to a change could increase the loss ratio even further, requiring even more funding adjustments to make the plan sustainable.
B) The plan's normal renewal date must be allowed to transpire in order to verify, without bias, that yearly use rates are in fact occurring naturally.
C) The terms and conditions of a benefit provider require a blackout period to avoid insider information about the change being leaked.
D) It would be inappropriate to announce any pending policy changes until they become official and are implemented.
9. Scenario Question 4 of 4 The annual loss ratio for a company's health plan is a staggering 158%. The head of HR has been asked by the CEO to propose changes to the plan that will lower costs while retaining as many of the current benefits as possible. An actuarial review reveals that the riders for dental and prescription drug coverage account for 84% of the plan's claims and that three employees in a workforce of 91 account for 73% of the claims. After reviewing a series of benefit options, the head of HR decides that the best option is a plan that doubles the deductibles on the dental and prescription benefits while also lowering the maximum reimbursement coverage by 25%. She makes a presentation outlining this suggestion to the company's executive committee. After a brief discussion of the rationale and the merits, the chief operating officer mentions that the company should announce the plan's changes to employees immediately. The head of HR responds that doing so would risk defeating the purpose of the changes. Without further discussion, the executive committee proceeds to vote and accepts the changes to become effective upon plan renewal the following month. Two months after the introduction of the new plan, it is discovered that two employees made bulk prescription purchases (a six-month supply) one week prior to the changes in the benefit plan going into effect. This seems a peculiar coincidence, and the head of HR suspects a leak of confidential information
A) Incentivizing use just prior to a change could increase the loss ratio even further, requiring even more funding adjustments to make the plan sustainable.
B) The plan's normal renewal date must be allowed to transpire in order to verify, without bias, that yearly use rates are in fact occurring naturally.
C) The terms and conditions of a benefit provider require a blackout period to avoid insider information about the change being leaked.
D) It would be inappropriate to announce any pending policy changes until they become official and are implemented.
10. Scenario Question 2 of 4 You are the HR director in an organization where the organization structure is misaligned with the strategy. Currently there are several aspects of the structure that prevent the strategy from being realized successfully. There are several leaders who have come to the HR business partner because of the situation, and they can't quite figure out what the problem is. They know they need assistance from OD/HR or a consultant. One of the things that they noticed is that sections of the organization operate in their own silos and everybody is operating on their own. They are concerned about sections operating in silos and the impact this has on their success.
A) The structure must support the strategy to facilitate successful results and have efficient use of resources.
B) The structure must support the strategy to facilitate successful results and to reduce the negative impact of silos.
C) The structure must support the strategy to facilitate successful results and prevent project creep.
D) The structure must support the strategy to facilitate successful results and support individual department leaders.
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