1. What actions should the HR director take to demonstrate an understanding of the priorities of both the sales function and the organization?
A) A. Wait to see what the VP of sales wants to do to solve the issues and then agree to her approach.
B) B. Encourage the VP of sales to implement her ideas without any HR involvement.
C) C. Listen to the VP's needs and thoughts, and then offer ideas to create the appropriate sales structure.
D) D. Listen to the VP's needs and thoughts, and then immediately implement those suggestions.
2. What should the HR manager do to ensure that the new incentive plan will drive behaviors that will result in increased sales?
A) A. Post the plan on the company's intranet for all employees to read and encourage them to ask questions of the production manager.
B) B. Train the supervisors on how to be better mentors and coaches to increase productivity, thus driving higher incentives.
C) C. Enhance the performance management system and simplify the performance appraisal process to measure progress.
D) D. Communicate to sales the reason why the plan is being implemented, including how individual performance drives incentives.
3. What actions should the HR manager take to influence the production manager to support a more comprehensive organizational effectiveness and development (OED) intervention?
A) A. Conduct an ROI analysis of the projected impact of the incentive plan on productivity and send it to the production manager for review.
B) B. Tell the production manager how other HR programs, such as training and team-building exercises, can be leveraged to increase productivity.
C) C. Send the production manager the latest journal article on how OED programs help to achieve organizational goals and objectives.
D) D. Develop a business case proposal for a comprehensive integrated solution that includes costs, benefits, risks, anticipated timeline, and projected ROI.
4. Finance requests HR's input on human capital costs in the upcoming budget period. Which information has the largest impact on the budget?
A) Adopting a 401(k) automatic enrollment and 3% contribution
B) Number of employees estimated to be seeking retirement
C) Increased staffing need estimates received from all divisions
D) Comparison of current and future health and welfare benefits
5. An international seed company is in a position to buy one of its competitors. Management has narrowed the options down to three possibilities. How can HR most strategically contribute to developing and evaluating a business case for this project?
A) Review the corporate code of ethics and records of stakeholder satisfaction for each contender and recommend strategic options.
B) Assign top HR executives to conduct thorough reviews of each culture and prepare presentations for diverse stakeholders.
C) Review pivotal talent pools of employees at each organization whose skills are critical to the seed company's strategy.
D) Estimate payroll and benefits for the entire workforce at each potential location and recommend the lowest-cost option.
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