1. What is the best response an HR director might give to staff members seeking his support for a new policy on flexible time?

A) Show me data on how this would benefit us.
B) Include the idea in the next employee survey.
C) Create a small pilot study to test the idea.
D) Are our competitors offering similar flexibility policies?



2. Refer to the following scenario for the next 3 questions. The HR director receives a call from the vice president of operations (VPO) requesting immediate termination of the local HR manager. While they are talking, the HR director can hear that the VPO is in the company's cafeteria. The HR director requests that the VPO go to a less public area to call back. The VPO refuses, stating, 'I don't care who hears this conversation; I want the HR manager fired today.' The HR director insists that the VPO go to a more private location, and the VPO agrees and they finish their conversation, where the VPO describes the situation and reasons for requesting the termination. The HR director asks a few questions and quickly determines that the root cause appears to be a clash of personality and not a terminable offense. The HR director then receives a call from the HR manager, who explains to the HR director that the HR manager was discussing the termination of an employee with the VPO, and the VPO became angry and began yelling at the HR manager, insulting the HR manager and angrily leaving the office. The HR director must determine how to resolve the situation. What is the best way for the HR director to handle the VPO's request to terminate the HR manager?

A) A. Conduct a full investigation into the HR manager's work practices to determine if the HR manager should be terminated.
B) B. Inform the VPO that firing the HR manager is unwarranted and that they must learn work out their differences.
C) C. Discuss the situation with other executives and make a decision about the HR manager's termination based on their feedback.
D) D. Mediate a face-to-face discussion between the HR manager and the VPO to discuss the situation.



3. How should the HR director address the VPO's disregard for employee privacy?

A) A. Schedule a meeting with the VPO to discuss the VPO's attitude about employee privacy.
B) B. Make a note of the VPO's behavior in the VPO's file and continue to monitor the VPO's behavior.
C) C. Conduct an investigation into whether the VPO has engaged in similar behavior in the past.
D) D. E-mail the VPO a copy of the company's policy regarding employee privacy and confidentiality.



4. The HR manager thinks leadership training is needed for senior leadership, as the HR manager has heard of numerous similar instances of senior leaders yelling at and verbally abusing subordinates. When proposing the training, how should the HR manager convince senior leadership that it is needed?

A) A. Conduct focus groups with random samples of employees and present the results to senior leadership.
B) B. Share with senior leaders what the HR manager has heard about negative leadership practices.
C) C. Present research that shows the importance of positive leadership practices.
D) D. Promise senior leadership that leadership training will result in increased profits.



5. An HR leader is proposing to senior management that HR be provided with the time and resources to conduct a full compensation structure analysis. The HR leader chooses two cases to show the effects of misaligned compensation. The compensation is well over market rates in one instance and well below market value in the other. (The rates are derived from a national compensation survey.) What does this proposal demonstrate?

A) Supporting an argument with insufficient and unrepresentative data
B) Commitment to data gathering and analysis
C) Cherry-picking data that will support the leaderƒ??s plan
D) Belief that decisions should be based on evidence