SHRM-SCP Assessment

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Section One
Hidden
PEOPLE (17%)
Which of the following steps would an organization take during the strategy formulation phase?*
- A. Deciding on the organization's mission
- B. Creating an organizational structure
- C. Preparing departmental budgets
- D. Conducting focus groups
Which of the plans below describes and projects how HR contributes to the organization’s strategic plan?*
- A. Human capital management plan
- B. HR staffing plan
- C. Resource development plan
- D. Change management plan
The assessment that 50 new employees are required to achieve the organizational strategy for growth in a global market is part of which phase of workforce analysis?*
- A. Situation analysis
- B. Supply and demand analysis
- C. Gap analysis
- D. Demand analysis
A company leader must plan the direction and mission of the organization and is evaluating where the business is now, where it wants to go, how it will get there, and how it will define success. What is this process called?*
- A. Planning
- B. Mission building
- C. Strategic planning
- D. Vision
During which of the following do HR professionals focus on how to address gaps in current and future staffing needs through recruiting, training and development, contingent staffing, or outsourcing?*
- A. Succession planning
- B. Productivity assessment
- C. Data analysis
- D. Solution analysis
All of the following except ___________ is included in strategic recruitment activities.*
- A. Labor market analysis
- B. The design of Total Rewards packages
- C. Employee referral programs
- D. Defining the employer brand
Robert, is a VP of Talent Acquisition and his executive leadership team are increasingly concerned about a handful of negative online reviews on employee review sites. One of the biggest complaints from job candidates on these review sites is the lack of feedback and responsiveness from recruiters about the status of the candidate’s job application. This describes what part of talent acquisition?*
- A. Job analysis
- B. Employment branding
- C. Social media
- D. Talent selection process
Which of the following is the best way to encourage employees to participate in a wellness program to improve their health and well-being?*
- A. Create employee "wellness scores" and share them within the company to foster competition
- B. Require all employees to participate in the program regardless of their personal wellness goals
- C. Make eligibility for company-sponsored health insurance dependent on participation in the program
- D. Offer discounts on memberships at gyms located near organizational locations
Which of the following describes the formula in which base salary is divided by the midpoint of salary range, then multiplied by 100?*
- A. Midpoint progression
- B. COLA ratio
- C. Disparate pay
- D. Compa-ratio
Which of the following is an anonymous method for employees to provide ideas for improvement to management?*
- A. Suggestion box
- B. Task force
- C. Focus group
- D. Open door policy
HR creates a program to increase employee engagement based on the recommendation of an outside consultant. How can HR best secure employee support?*
- A. Ask employees to mentor their peers
- B. Target the program to different employee groups
- C. Ask company managers to choose a location to test the program
- D. Encourage employee participation in a pilot program
If the results of an employee engagement survey show a decline over two reporting periods (i.e. quarter over quarter, year over year) which of the following describes the best approach that HR should recommend to company leaders?*
- A. Share the results just with upper management
- B. Analyze data again using another method
- C. Create focus groups that allow HR to obtain qualitative data
- D. Choose one important issue from the survey results to and respond to it
Hidden
People Raw Score
Possible score 0 - 12
Hidden
People Percentage Score

Section Two
ORGANIZATION (17%)
Which term describes an illegal agreement between management and a potential employee to offer the potential employee a job as long as they agree not to join a union?*
- A. Non-union agreement
- B. Double-breasted agreement
- C. Secret contract
- D. Yellow dog contract
A period during which union organizers collect signatures of employees on authorization cards in an attempt to force union election is called:*
- A. Arbitration
- B. Organizing drive
- C. Decertification
- D. Featherbedding
In a company where the manufacturing division has grown in workers by 20% over the last two quarters but productivity has grown by only 10%, which structural characteristic should an HR director consider?*
- A. Leadership hierarchy
- B. Chain of command
- C. Span of control
- D. Executive decisions
Psychologist Kurt Lewin's formula of "unfreezing, moving, and refreezing" is focused on which of the following aspects of organizational change:*
- A. Dealing with resistance to change
- B. Deciding what should be changed first
- C. Determining who should be in charge of organizational change
- D. Identifying which areas cannot be changed
If an evaluation shows that employees who perform data entry tasks are making too many errors and putting customer data at risk by handling it improperly, how can HR assist with a review of policies and procedures?*
- A. Ask customers to review the policies and procedures
- B. Find out if the policies and procedures provide employees with specific and clear instructions
- C. Make sure that the consequences for errors are clearing the policies and procedures documentation
- D. Rewrite the policies and procedures based how HR thinks the work should be performed
Which of the following processes best describes the project management lifecycle?*
- A. It is a unique life of each project- from its initiation to its ending
- B. It is the aggregation of the nine knowledge areas of project management: integration management, scope, schedule, costs, quality, human resources, communication, risk, and procurement
- C. It is the life of the management of the project - from its initiation, planning, execution, controlling, through closing
- D. It is the life of a project to interact with all areas including scope, schedule, costs, quality, human resources, communication, risk, and procurement
Which of the following tactical accountability measures is not a valid measurement approach for HR performance?*
- A. IHR expertise as a percentage of operating expenses
- B. Ratio of management to HR staff
- C. HR expenses as a percentage of total revenue
- D. Ratio of total employees to HR staff
When a customer uploads PII to a cloud provider, who becomes ultimately responsible for the security of that PII?*
- A. The individuals who are the subjects of the PII
- B. Cloud customer
- C. Federal regulators
- D. Cloud provider
An organization projects that over the next 2-3 years over 200 workers will retire. To manage the skill requirements to replace retiring workers, HR should do all the following EXCEPT:*
- A. Determine a strategic plan
- B. Identify the knowledge and skills at risk of being lost when employees retire
- C. Assess the risk involved with losing needed knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs)
- D. Address the gaps that come with skill loss
Which of the following occurs due to mergers, outsourcing or a change in business needs?*
- A. Outplacement
- B. Voluntary exit
- C. Involuntary exit
- D. Plant closing
Which of the following is accurate about at-will employment?*
- A. Verbal contracts are sufficient
- B. Most contracts have employment at-will clauses
- C. It is uncommon in most parts of the world
- D. Most union contracts contain at-will clauses
You are an HR VP for a refrigeration repair and service company located in the United States. The company provides a mix of commercial and consumer services with the majority of their business coming from the repair and installation of freezers and refrigerators in plants, restaurants, and commercial buildings. You’ve worked for the company for a short time — just 60 days — and are meeting with the executive team to report your initial findings and present a short term and long term vision and plan to bring the HR organization into alignment with the business. What’s the best approach to presenting your findings to the executive team?*
- A. Focus on long-term organizational goals sprinkling in several short term changes
- B. Provide a presentation focused on executive feedback and their recommendations
- C. Discuss compliance changes first and share the findings of your first I-9 audit
- D. Lay out a detailed 36 month plan focuses on business imperatives
One of your first recommendations is the restructuring of the HR organization. Previously, HR support teams worked primarily in the field reporting directly to a regional manager instead of HR. There was a dotted line reporting structure to you, the VP of HR. What type of HR structural change are you planning to make?*
- A. Moving from a divisional to a matrix structure
- B. Changing to a divisional structure from a functional one
- C. Shifting to a functional structure from a matrix
- D. Moving to a centralized from a decentralized structure
One of your most challenging positions to hire and retain for is drivers who are traveling from city to city delivering parts and equipment. The leadership team wants to outsource the deliveries to a third party and has asked this subject to be a top priority for you. What do you do before you meet with leadership?*
- A. Reach out to past employees asking for them to complete exit interviews to analyze turnover data and information
- B. Meet with the drivers in a series of focus groups
- C. Conduct an internal wage survey, pull turnover reports, and talk with managers
- D. Conduct a PEST analysis to evaluate and understand the external data
Hidden
Organization Raw Score
Possible score 0 - 14
Hidden
Organization Percentage Score

Section Three
WORKPLACE (16%)
A large global tech company has decided to make an investment in corporate social responsibility (CSR) as part of a new sustainability initiative that will eventually roll out to all locations around the globe. The company has assigned the role of Chief Sustainability Officer to a senior manager and tasked them with identifying new opportunities for programs. At what stage of the CSR maturity curve is this organization likely located?*
- A. Awareness
- B. Compliance
- C. Integration
- D. Transformation
Which of the following contributes to the economic cost of diversity and inclusion efforts?*
- A. Increased need for training
- B. Adherence to government regulations
- C. Increased salaries and wages
- D. The possibility of employee backlash
What functions within an organization are most likely to experience increased costs due to increased diversity?*
- A. Total rewards
- B. Risk management
- C. Training and recruitment
- D. Labor relations
Which approach fills corporate positions in a home country with expatriates, and fills management positions in the host country by HCNs?*
- A. Polycentric
- B. Geocentric
- C. Ethnocentric
- D. Global Centric
The CEO of a technology startup in the early stages has had the challenge of finding qualified technology talent at affordable salaries within the U.S. The CEO has decided to set up a remote development team in Argentina. This is an example of what?*
- A. Onshoring
- B. Outsourcing
- C. Offshoring
- D. Nearshoring
What is the best way to enhance multicultural awareness of leaders and senior managers within your organization?*
- A. Create teams that are geographically focused and specialized by a single unified focus
- B. Encourage employees to attend diversity and inclusion training annually that includes roleplay and encourages open discussions
- C. Hire interns from different backgrounds to join your summer internship program
- D. Develop a cross-cultural mentorship program focused on expanding employee’s cultural awareness
Which of the following terms describes the requirement of an employee to act with reasonable care and skill in performing work for an employer?*
- A. Due process
- B. Due diligence
- C. Duty of obedience
- D. Duty of care
What is the usefulness of a key risk indicator (KRI)?*
- A. A KRI provides early warning of risk emergence
- B. A KRI provides a global assessment of an organization's exposure to risk
- C. KRIs help prevent the emergence of identified risks
- D. KRIs provide for greater accountability of risk control measures
When a reduction in force occurs the ADEA allows that protected employees may waive their rights under some circumstances. For the waiver to be valid an employee must be allowed how much time to review and consider the agreement?*
- A. 21 days
- B. 45 days
- C. 180 days
- D. 7 days
Which of the following is NOT an example of an administrative law?*
- A. Agency rules and regulations
- B. Executive orders
- C. Agency orders
- D. Corporate governance
Hidden
Workplace Raw Score
Possible score 0 - 10
Hidden
Workplace Percentage Score

Section Four
INTERPERSONAL (18.5%)
In which leadership approach does the leader create strong relationships with and inside the team, encouraging feedback?*
- A. Authoritative approach
- B. Affiliative approach
- C. Coercive approach
- D. Democratic approach
Which statement best represents Hersey-Blanchard's situational leadership theory?*
- A. Leaders need to be charismatic because employees dislike being told what to do
- B. Leaders don't need personal relationships with mentors to learn from them
- C. A team leader is equally concerned with people and production (task) to the maximum degree
- D. Over time, individuals require a different type of direction and leadership
In which phase of the negotiation process is trust built with the exchange of personal information that reveals character?*
- A. Preparation
- B. Relationship building
- C. Information exchange
- D. Persuasion
Your company is a global ecommerce platform with plans to scale quickly from 75 to 275 employees in the next 12-14 months. Your leadership team dynamic has drastically changed with the addition of two executive members, your CFO and your CTO. As the VP of HR, you have a good relationship with the CEO and the board of directors, however, both of these new executive team members in your opinion don’t value HR. In fact, one of them told you jokingly that HR doesn’t have a place in the board room. He thinks HR’s only contribution is filing paperwork and hiring and firing. What is your best first step in order to build a relationship with each of these new executive leaders?*
- A. Hold a focus group meeting with their employees
- B. Conduct an HR audit of the executive leader’s departments to fully understand pain points and resources
- C. Schedule a 1 on 1 with each of them individually to build rapport
- D. Familiarize yourself with their top priorities, reports, and key metrics for their respective departments
During your meeting with the CTO, you tell him that your HR philosophy is, “To elevate the organization’s human capital efforts providing exceptional service, support, and a focus on delivering results.” This is an example of what?*
- A. Customer service culture
- B. Mission statement
- C. Vision statement
- D. Strategic human resources
As part of your departmental audit prior to meeting with your new executives, you discover that there are inconsistencies with how managers in finance and accounting are disciplining their employees compared to other departments. What should you do next?*
- A. Host an employee documentation training session for the entire company
- B. Train the finance team’s manager on proper employee documentation
- C. Meet with the CFO to discuss your top priorities for their department
- D. Send an email to the CEO outline your concerns of the finance department before your meeting with the CFO
In the change management process, which of the following is essential to closing the feedback loop and making sure that change initiatives are correctly implemented and that they address the targeted issue?*
- A. Candor
- B. Competency
- C. Communication
- D. Complex analysis
What would be the best strategy for an HR Director presenting a complex analysis of workforce needs to a leadership group?*
- A. Focus on data
- B. Practice the presentation
- C. Make sure the presentation is collaborative
- D. Frame the information
What skill could best improve an HR function's ability to manage change?*
- A. Mastery of complex communication
- B. Knowledge of current job descriptions
- C. Understanding of strategic implications
- D. Evaluation
Which of the following is critical for HR to understand when considering forces for globalization?*
- A. Determining whether a force is political, technological, economic, or social
- B. Learning whether a force's origin is an emerging or a developed economy
- C. Understanding which forces are significant to the organization & to HR responsibilities
- D. Identifying whether a force will have a positive or negative impact
Enterprises are attracted to global expansion by certain opportunities but also pushed into it by certain conditions. Which is an example of a "push" factor in globalization?*
- A. Current home-country market saturation
- B. Favorable country-specific trade agreements
- C. Better labor supplies in other countries
- D. Proximity to resources and materials
Hidden
Interpersonal Raw Score
Possible score 0 - 11
Hidden
Interpersonal Percentage Score

Section Five
BUSINESS (18.5%)
The raw data that is both internal and external to an organization and translated into meaningful information for decision makers to use in taking strategic action is known as:*
- A. Business intelligence
- B. HR metrics
- C. Dashboard reports
- D. Strategic data
A model in which change originates at the top and is broadcast to the entire organization, individuals slowly change with added information, and the change becomes uniform across business units is known as:*
- A. Cascade
- B. Organic
- C. Progressive
- D. Gradual
An ADR process used to address grievances that is considered a win for both parties is*
You are a Director of HR for a healthcare system that has three hospitals and 15 clinics in rural Oklahoma. You report directly to the CFO. Your company recently was acquired by an investment firm and there is an increased focus on the financials by the leadership team. The investment firm is looking for ways to control costs and expenses, and the HR department has naturally come up in conversation as a cost center. The CFO has been asking questions about costs and expenses, and your goal is to demonstrate to the CFO and the executive leadership team HR’s value moving from cost center to revenue center. You admit to yourself that you haven’t always been focused on business acumen, which is why you decide to begin your research looking at the quarterly earnings report and other monthly financial reports. One financial term that your CFO discusses in great detail during leadership meetings is EBITA. Which financial statement contains information about EBITA?
- A. Balance sheet
- B. Income statement
- C. Statement of cash flows
- D. Statement of shareholder’s equity
You begin researching which departments within your organization that are high revenue generators. You notice that several departments saw a dramatic drop in profitability from last year. Which metric can help you further in evaluation?*
- A. Earnings per share
- B. Turnover by location
- C. Revenue per employee
- D. Owner’s equity
In uncovering this potential opportunity for HR to increase the profitability of a specific department, you decide it warrants further investigation. Which of the following do you decide to do?*
- A. Business case analysis
- B. SWOT analysis
- C. Complete a benchmarking survey
- D. PESTLE
What is the most important factor for success when developing an executive coaching program for company leadership?*
- A. Budget
- B. Leadership buy-in
- C. Leadership skills assessment
- D. Frequency of training
Which of the following terms describes the process for understanding how independent business units within a larger corporate entity interact with and influence one another?*
- A. Systems thinking
- B. Organizational design
- C. Strategic management
- D. Corporate governance
This technique uses a decision matrix to develop a systematic analytical approach for establishing criteria, such as risk levels, uncertainty and valuation, in order to evaluate and rank multiple ideas:*
- A. SWOT analysis
- B. Cost benefit analysis
- C. Multi-criteria decision analysis
- D. Force field analysis
There are several ways in which HR leaders maximize return on investment for any program but in this example, the new manager training program you are launching. They include perceptual elements and how we best learn and retain knowledge. They also include how to keep employees engaged and other physiological elements as well as understanding the influence of their environment on knowledge retention and the effectiveness of training. One consideration that should not be faceted into the return on investment of your program is how managers will balance their responsibilities while attending the training program. As you get to the implementation stage of the new coaching program, you are encountering resistance from newly promoted managers. What’s the next phase in this familiar change management process?*
- A. Freezing
- B. Change
- C. Enlist
- D. Reinforcing
After you launch the training, you are approached by a senior VP who has heard good things about your new manager program. His recent 360 degree feedback survey was troublesome and many of his direct reports said they were not approachable. These results are tied to the manager’s company bonus. What next steps do you recommend?*
- A. Enroll them in your new manager training program
- B. Schedule a meeting with them to ask more questions in the future
- C. Hire an executive coach
- D. Meet with the VP’s boss
Hidden
Business Raw Score
Possible score 0 - 10
Hidden
Business Percentage Score

Section Six
LEADERSHIP (13%)
Which best describes the ethical and/or compliance problem that could be raised by a company employee having a separate consulting contract with one of the company's clients?*
- A. Breach of confidentiality
- B. Corporate theft
- C. Conflict of interest
- D. Bribery
You are the VP of HR for a chain of convenience stores located in seven southern U.S. states. Recently, due to the economic downturn, your company has had some financial difficulties resulting in layoffs and adjustments to the number of payroll hours at each of your locations. Employee dissatisfaction has also increased as a result of these operational changes, and managers are feeling increased stress to meet financial and business goals and directives. Employee turnover has also increased although you cannot connect this increase directly to the operational changes because you are not doing employee exit interviews or surveys. You received several anonymous calls on the company ethics hotline about one manager in North Carolina who two employees have said is forcing employees to work off the clock. One anonymous employee is upset because they also were injured on the job working off the clock. The employee says the manager terminated him after the injury for working off the clock. You begin your investigation into these reports first looking at employee hours and the store payroll along with on the job injury reporting. You find no report of the injury or an abuse of hours. What do you do next?*
- A. Suspend manager pending the investigation
- B. Terminate the manager for ethical code of conduct violations
- C. Report back to the ethics hotline asking for more information from the anonymous employees
- D. Talk with the manager’s supervisor as part of the investigation
You decide to visit the location and do a quick audit of the labor law posters, host a focus group meeting for store employees, and meet with the store manager. Which value does your visit align with?*
- A. Using knowledge to solve problems ethical and do what is right
- B. Establishing fairness and justness in the workplace
- C. Recognizing others for ethical behaviors
- D. Making unpopular decisions based on fairness and considering the broader business picture
After the completion of this investigation, you decide that more work needs to be done to drive awareness and training around an ethical culture. You recommend to your executive team to do the which of the following first:*
- A. Ask your managers to attend mandatory ethics training
- B. Re-evaluate the company code of ethics to ensure it is in alignment with organizational and business values
- C. Conduct an employee survey looking for feedback and insights into their understanding of ethical behavior
- D. Communicate to your store and regional managers the importance of having the ethics hotline number located near the employee time clock and on the break room bulletin board
Which of the following statements demonstrates Hersey-Blanchard’s situational leadership theory?*
- A. People require a different type of direction and leadership over time
- B. Leaders don’t need relationships with mentors to learn from them
- C. A team leader is equally concerned with people and production to the maximum degree
- D. Leaders need to be charismatic because employees don’t like rigid controls and want to accomplish something
Which form of negotiation is most consistent with the leadership characteristics found to be effective in global settings?*
- A. Soft
- B. Hard
- C. Principled
- D. Collaborative
As an HR Director for a 35 person online media company, you juggle many hats within the business — processing payroll, administering benefits, training employees, and serving as office manager juggling various administrative and operational requests. Recently it has come to your attention that everyone working remotely has taken a toll on the team dynamic. Two of your senior leaders have come forward asking for help putting employees on performance improvement plans. When you press the leaders, they explain that both employees (who are female) have missed several critical project deadlines costing the company thousands of dollars and losing an important client. While you understand your manager's frustrations, you think there is something more. Because the company is so small you know (confidentially) that both of these employees are going through a hard time. One is getting divorced and the other recently lost both parents. You recommend to both managers to do the following:*
- A. Sit in with the manager and the team member each individually sitting in on a performance conversation
- B. Provide the manager with a written warning progressive discipline template along with guidance and a tutorial on how to complete
- C. Meet with the employees individually to discuss their performance
- D. Help the CEO craft a company wide email about the importance of meeting deadlines and expectations
In your monthly focus group meetings, you decide to ask the employees questions about meeting deadlines and the kinds of support, information and resources employees need to be successful. Several employees express frustration with the current project management system which is a series of paperclipped spreadsheets. What is your next step?*
- A. Create an employee committee to help move the project forward
- B. Communicate with leadership this feedback with suggested next steps and how this might impact the business
- C. Collaborate with leadership in researching different project management system options and functionality most needed
- D. Beta test several project management softwares as part of their 30 day trials
One of the senior leaders makes an off-hand comment during the meeting suggesting that you shouldn’t have your hands in project management. She says that this software has nothing to do with HR. You disagree completely. What type of actions does your transformational leadership not demonstrate?*
- A. Orientation and the ability to see strategy, vision, and values rather than being focus on short term goals and benefits
- B. Emotional intelligence and being self-aware to the actions and feelings of others
- C. Serving as an organizational champion who is not a member of the executive leadership team but is willing to champion the business
- D. Inability to conform or create programs that support company culture that aligned organizational values
Hidden
Leadership Raw Score
Possible score 0 - 9
Hidden
Leadership Percentage Score
Hidden
SHRM-SCP Raw Assessment Total Score
Possible score 0 - 66
Hidden
SHRM-SCP Percentage Assessment Total Score