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A set of practice exam questions for the hrci sphr certification, covering various topics related to human resource management. Each question is followed by the correct answer, offering insights into key concepts and principles in hr. Useful for individuals preparing for the sphr exam, providing a valuable resource for self-assessment and knowledge reinforcement.
Typology: Exams
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Which of the following forecasting methods relies on collecting independent evaluations from experts and summarizing the information? A. Assessment center B. Nominal group technique C. Time-series analysis D. Delphi technique - Correct Answer-D. Delphi technique Utilizing employee skills to keep or gain a competitive advantage is known as: A. succession planning. B. forecasting. C. strategic management. D. benchmarking. - Correct Answer-C. strategic management. Which organizational structure best suits a business with numerous offices and distribution centers? A. Product B. Hierarchical C. Hybrid D. Geographic - Correct Answer-D. Geographic A project is expected to net $600,000 in income with project costs of $350,000. What is the expected ROI for this project? A. 57% B. 72% C. 171%
D. 277% - Correct Answer-C. 171% Which of the following statements is true regarding a cash flow statement? A. Due to timing of cash transactions, it is a mix of current and previous years' transactions. B. It only includes the cash transactions from the year in which it is prepared. C. Cash flowing out in a given period equals the amount recorded in accounts payable. D. Cash flowing in during a given period equals sales plus accounts receivable. - Correct Answer-A. Due to timing of cash transactions, it is a mix of current and previous years' transactions. A group process for organizational diagnosis is used when: A. structure and the number of participants are known. B. confidentiality and trust relationships are necessary. C. larger population input and baseline data are needed. D. a high degree of interaction among participants is desired. - Correct Answer-D. a high degree of interaction among participants is desired. Which of the following reasons for termination of employment is most likely to be disputed by the affected employee? A. Business reorganization B. Workplace closure C. Union activity D. Diminishing need for work - Correct Answer-C. Union activity What behavior exemplifies a good ethics facilitator? A. Encourages the group to examine ethical issues from a variety of viewpoints without singling out the views of any one participant B. Develops a comfortable setting while raising issues which elicit emotionally charged feedback from individuals
C. Lectures on the company's philosophies to reinforce the company's strategic initiatives D. Develops ethical standards that apply to all situations - Correct Answer-A. Encourages the group to examine ethical issues from a variety of viewpoints without singling out the views of any one participant A learning organization emphasizes: A. creative thinking. B. continuous development. C. system improvement. D. flexible scheduling. - Correct Answer-B. continuous development. An example of corporate social responsibility would be: A. mission statement. B. productivity measures. C. human rights. D. hiring practices. - Correct Answer-C. human rights. To avoid liability for negligent hiring, an employer should conduct: A. financial credit checks and loan history. B. pre-employment background checks, including criminal history. C. reference checks from all prior employers. D. multiple behavioral assessment interviews. - Correct Answer-B. pre-employment background checks, including criminal history. A non-disclosure agreement requires that an employee refrain from: A. improperly providing information. B. engaging in outside employment. C. interacting with competitors.
D. soliciting trade secrets. - Correct Answer-A. improperly providing information. As it pertains to the recruitment and selection process, the term competencies is best defined as the: A. knowledge required to perform at minimally acceptable levels. B. attitude and values needed for effective job performance. C. characteristics and skills which result in effective or superior job performance. D. attitudes required for organizational fit. - Correct Answer-C. characteristics and skills which result in effective or superior job performance. Under what condition should an H-1B visa be utilized? A. Upon change of validity or expiration of a green card B. For employer-sponsored, nonimmigrant professional workers C. To allow foreign students to obtain higher education via U.S. internships D. To gain practical work experience in an approved exchange program - Correct Answer- B. For employer-sponsored, nonimmigrant professional workers Workforce planning does not require consideration of: A. compensation trends. B. retention rates. C. inflation rate. D. projected growth. - Correct Answer-C. inflation rate. An employer may not be assessed a penalty for misclassifying an employee as an independent contractor if: A. the employer originally started the role as an independent contractor. B. the employer corrects the error at least 3 years before a DOL audit. C. the employer terminates the employee before an audit is conducted.
D. the employee requests to be classified as an independent contractor. - Correct Answer-B. the employer corrects the error at least 3 years before a DOL audit. Recruiting externally rather than internally has the advantage of increasing the likelihood that: A. productivity gains will be made. B. the candidate pool will have innovative ideas. C. labor costs will be controlled. D. talent inventories will be available. - Correct Answer-B. the candidate pool will have innovative ideas. Why should an organization avoid quoting a new employee's salary in an offer letter as an amount per year? A. As a non-exempt employee, the employee will be paid by the hour. B. It may be perceived as an implied contract. C. The employee will be paid on a pay period basis. D. The employee may be granted a salary increase after six months. - Correct Answer-B. It may be perceived as an implied contract. The first thing a trainer should do when identifying a department's training needs is to: A. cultivate relationships with employees in the department. B. develop a thorough understanding of the work of the department. C. review the most recent development plans for employees. D. interview employees on their opinions about the internal climate. - Correct Answer-B. develop a thorough understanding of the work of the department. The purpose of a job needs analysis is to: A. write job descriptions. B. identify skills gaps.
C. assess behaviors. D. define career paths. - Correct Answer-B. identify skills gaps. To maintain employee engagement when promotional opportunities are unavailable, the best career path option is: A. a lateral move even if responsibilities are temporarily reduced. B. a change in title without changing duties. C. providing a leave of absence in order to attend college. D. assuring the individual they will fill the next available opening. - Correct Answer-A. a lateral move even if responsibilities are temporarily reduced. The key reason to include competencies in an employee's development plan is that competencies: A. can be learned. B. measure essential job functions. C. lead to self-assessment. D. are organization-specific. - Correct Answer-A. can be learned. A fundamental rule of brainstorming is that: A. quantity is emphasized and encouraged. B. all ideas must have value before being accepted. C. participants must take turns in providing comments. D. only similar ideas are written down. - Correct Answer-A. quantity is emphasized and encouraged. Step progression pay plans usually tie pay increases to: A. merit ratings. B. market factors. C. length of time in job.
D. progress in becoming fully competent. - Correct Answer-C. length of time in job. Which of the following practices is most commonly followed in dealing with red-circle payrolls? A. Cut rate of pay to maximum of range. B. Promote employee to higher-graded job. C. Freeze the rate until the salary structure is revised to eliminate the problem. D. Increase the responsibility of the red-circled employees so that their jobs will be evaluated higher. - Correct Answer-C. Freeze the rate until the salary structure is revised to eliminate the problem. Employers offer flexible benefit programs for all of the following reasons except to: A. minimize adverse selection. B. take advantage of favorable tax legislation. C. assist in reducing healthcare costs. D. recognize diversity in the workforce. - Correct Answer-A. minimize adverse selection. The traditional methods of job analysis are becoming less useful because of: A. decreased use of job sharing. B. increased use of work teams. C. increased job specialization. D. decreased job flexibility. - Correct Answer-B. increased use of work teams. Employer-sponsored healthcare coverage is viewed primarily as a: A. social and ethical responsibility. B. highly regulated administrative burden. C. benefit mandated by the DOL. D. recruitment and retention tool. - Correct Answer-D. recruitment and retention tool.
The primary way to measure the effectiveness of an organization-sponsored elder care program is to: A. examine previous requests for FMLA. B. compare results to budgetary line items. C. conduct a review of program costs. D. monitor participants' lost time and productivity. - Correct Answer-D. monitor participants' lost time and productivity. An essential step in establishing an employee assistance program is to provide a clear definition of: A. healthcare providers. B. roles and functions. C. eligibility requirements. D. individual employee reports. - Correct Answer-B. roles and functions. According to the FLSA, which of the following positions can be considered exempt under the category of "computer-related occupations?" A. Computer-assisted design specialist B. Computer support technician C. Computer programmer trainee D. Computer systems analyst - Correct Answer-D. Computer systems analyst Under the Privacy Act of 1974, which of the following must be kept in an employee's personnel file? A. Pre-employment medical test B. results C. Employment eligibility verification D. Disciplinary records I- 9 forms - Correct Answer-C. Employment eligibility verification Organizations have been slow to adopt telecommuting primarily because: A. telecommuting employees have low productivity.
B. it has not resulted in sufficient cost savings. C. telecommuting employees receive inadequate training. D. it has met with resistance from management. - Correct Answer-D. it has met with resistance from management. When an organization encourages employees to gain additional skills and improve critical thinking in their current job, it is engaging in: A. job enrichment. B. organizational commitment. C. job rotation. D. succession planning. - Correct Answer-A. job enrichment. A disgruntled employee who attempts to convince current employees to leave the company could be liable of violating: A. duty of loyalty clause. B. at-will doctrine. C. restrictive covenants. D. non-solicitation agreement. - Correct Answer-A. duty of loyalty clause. The OD technique most commonly used to measure organizational climate is: A. sensitivity training. B. force field analysis. C. survey feedback. D. focus groups. - Correct Answer-C. survey feedback. A suggestion box system is an example of which type of communication? A. Downward B. Upward C. Informal D. Diverse - Correct Answer-B. Upward
The best employee-relations process seeks to involve employees while retaining management's: A. partnership. B. traditions. C. responsibility. D. authority. - Correct Answer-D. authority. Before developing a safety program, HR must first: A. create a safety recordkeeping system. B. compare incidents against safety goals. C. gain management support for the program. D. conduct a workplace safety inspection. - Correct Answer-C. gain management support for the program. An employee on FMLA leave and receiving workers' compensation benefits is offered, but refuses, a light-duty assignment within the specified medical restrictions. The employer may legally: A. begin procedures to discontinue the employee's workers' compensation benefits. B. discontinue FMLA leave and require the employee to return to work. C. require that the employee submit a request for reasonable accommodation. D. notify the employee that an application for short-term disability is required. - Correct Answer-A. begin procedures to discontinue the employee's workers' What is a major benefit of implementing a return-to-work program? A. Reduced disability leave cost B. Lowered likelihood of a re-injury C. Increased employee cross-functionality D. Reduced recruiting and onboarding costs - Correct Answer-A. Reduced disability leave cost The results of a fair, legal, and thorough harassment investigation allow an organization to:
A. develop a harassment policy. B. determine what action to take. C. avoid liability. D. facilitate a meeting between the parties involved. - Correct Answer-B. determine what action to take. A benefit of having an employee handbook is that it: A. contains highlights of the labor agreement. B. provides a detailed explanation of all company policies. C. protects the employer from discrimination claims. D. introduces new employees to the organization. - Correct Answer-D. introduces new employees to the organization. Presenteeism describes a phenomenon in which employees: A. maintain perfect attendance for extended periods. B. remain on the job with decreased productivity. C. remain on the job with increased productivity. D. suffer burnout from working too many hours. - Correct Answer-B. remain on the job with decreased productivity. The most important element in an organization's e-mail policy is a statement that addresses: A. whether personal e-mails are permitted, defining any limitations on personal use of the system. B. how often monitoring will occur and whether monitoring will be done on a scheduled or random basis. C. which department in the organization will be accountable for monitoring computer activities. D. the disciplinary process used to address violations of the policy. - Correct Answer-A. whether personal e-mails are permitted, defining any limitations on personal use of the system.
An employee is counseled due to a body odor problem. If the situation does not change, what is the best course of action for the supervisor? A. Alter the work environment as a reasonable accommodation. B. Apply discipline consistent with established policies. C. Do nothing based on accommodation of cultural differences. D. Require that the employee provide medical certification for the condition. - Correct Answer-B. Apply discipline consistent with established policies. When making a decision regarding wrongful termination, a jury is most likely to place more weight on which of the following? A. How much documentation is provided B. The harshness of the action by the employer C. How a similar case was decided D. How fairly an employee was treated - Correct Answer-D. How fairly an employee was treated When in-house attorneys are asked to conduct internal investigations, there is a greater risk that: A. the organization will incur additional costs due to external review of investigation results. B. a public relations scandal will result from employees leaking investigation information. C. counsel will be accused of leading the witness during investigation interviews. D. those investigated will lose their rights to attorney-client privilege. - Correct Answer-D. those investigated will lose their rights to attorney-client privilege. An organization tells applicants for a customer service position that they must be willing to work any day of the week, because the nature of the business makes it impossible to guarantee employees the same days off every week. After being hired, a new employee refuses to work on Saturdays for religious reasons. The HR manager's first course of action should be to: A. terminate the employee for failure to disclose schedule requirements. B. establish a new schedule for the employee. C. determine whether a schedule change can be made for the employee.
D. check with other employees with more seniority if they want Saturdays off first. - Correct Answer-C. determine whether a schedule change can be made for the employee. Which is a reasonable accommodation for an employee with a hearing impairment? A. Sharing the costs for a full-time interpreter B. Providing an interpreter in a training class C. Requiring co-workers to assume affected job functions D. Sharing the costs of all equipment or materials needed by the employee - Correct Answer-B. Providing an interpreter in a training class