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MHA 702 EXAM 2 PRACTICE SCRIPT 2026
QUESTIONS WITH CORRECT ANSWERS
◉ common HR tasks (typical). Answer: •Nearly universal HR tasks:
- Employment and recruitment
- Compensation and benefits administration (policy level more than logistics)
- Employee relations Labor relations (unionized) ◉ Less common HR tasks (frequent). Answer: •Employee health and safety (exceptions) •Training and development (exceptions) •Security •Child care •Award and recognition programs •Equal Employment Opportunity / Affirmative Action •** Risk management (malpractice) •Executive compensation administration •Organizational development •** Employee assistance (EAPs) •** Outplacement services
•*** Payroll ** Subject to Outsourcing ◉ Alternative perspective of HR. Answer: •Employee (talent) acquisition •Employee support or maintenance (internal) •Employee retention (external) •Employee separation ◉ Managers and HR intersection. Answer: •Most routine HR activities: employee hiring, evaluation and discharge •Employee compensation and benefits administration (manager's role) •When HR provides basic information to managers, future interactions and relations tend to be easier ("Communication good!") ◉ Employment. Answer: •HR sets up procedures •HR provides guidance •HR routinely acquires and screens applicants •HR usually processes documents for the selected applicant
•These should be transferred to HR within a reasonable time (commonly each year) ◉ Staff Managers. Answer: •Tend to rise from the ranks of the people that they supervise •Begin with specific expertise •As advance in an organization, employees supervised become diverse •HR departments tend to be smaller, making supervision easier ◉ Management style and approach. Answer: •Reflects the background and experiences of individuals as they rose to supervisory and managerial positions. Some traits of a good manager are based in personality, BUT can also be learned and sharpened •Reflects organizational culture in which they have worked ◉ Expectations. Answer: •Usually clear for line managers •May be confusing for HR managers •Individual expectations influence the responses that they anticipate receiving ◉ Training. Answer: •Line managers think selecting the "right" worker, usually based on experience is key to a good hire
•HR managers tend to believe in potential for development of individuals ◉ Participation. Answer: •Line managers value results and tend not to delegate responsibility •HR managers value process and training, therefore tend to delegate and create learning opportunities ◉ Control. Answer: •Line managers tend to value organizational goals and objectives •HR managers feel that the line approach stifles creativity and impedes learning and growth ◉ Staff performance. Answer: •Line managers usually supervise people with a wide range of skills, backgrounds, and experience •HR managers tend to supervise other HR specialists •Line managers are often required to provide guidance, criticism and discipline to employees ◉ Reward Assumptions. Answer: •Line managers tend to believe that monetary compensation has the most motivating potential •HR managers tend to favor opportunities for personal development
◉ Production-centered manager. Answer: •Many jobs are inherently boring •Workflow is repetitive, homogeneous and should be predictable •Pace is controlled by the process •Manager focuses primarily on the process and output •By treating people with courtesy and respect, managers can often be effective in helping their employees to tolerate boring or repetitive jobs ◉ People-centered manager. Answer: •Workflow is often variable •Pace is often reactive and, moment-to-moment, managed by the employees •Work is heterogenous •This is especially so in healthcare settings with irregular shifts (nights and weekends) •Imperative that manger "grows" employees to handle circumstances and be independent ◉ First-Line Managers. Answer: •They have an advantage in terms of potential access to employees •More senior managers must follow established channels of communication •Senior managers must be careful not to undermine first-line supervisors
•Employees with honest access to first-line supervisors tend to be less frustrated Supervisors should keep appointments ◉ 80/20 rule. Answer: •20% or fewer of employees consume 80% or more of a supervisor's time •Successful supervisors meet with all employees and help those that are struggling •They know each subordinate as a whole person, not simply as a producer of services or output ◉ Antidotes. Answer: •Make employees feel needed or important •Provide challenges and opportunities to grow •Treat all employees equally ◉ Job description. Answer: older, evolved from industrial psychology ◉ position description. Answer: newer, more inclusive (preferred) ◉ position analysis. Answer: •Involves extensive analysis (interviews, observation, surveys) •Reviewed by supervisor & incumbent for accuracy
•All factors must be verified •Position description fits into organizational format •Periodically review and revise document as needed, at least annually ◉ Effective job-related training. Answer: should include a combination of lecture, demonstration, and hands-on practice •Multiple channels of sensory input increases the likelihood of learning •Repeating the same material after a lapse of time, and presenting it in varying forms can be highly effective in ensuring that the material will be retained ◉ The role of HR in training. Answer: •HR focuses on present jobs and needs, then looks to the future •HR will attempt to determine:
- Were needs assessments accurate?
- Were targeted skills learned?
- Have employee attitudes been modified? •HR must assess what has been learned and how this audit of results can support the next cycle of training ◉ Kotter (1995) 8-point systematic approach. Answer: 1) Create urgency
- Form a powerful coalition of leaders and stakeholders
- Create a vision for the change
- Communicate the vision
- Remove obstacles
- Create short-term wins
- Build on the change
- Anchor the change in corporate culture - make it permanent ◉ Establishing a sense of urgency (Kotter). Answer: Step 1
- Examining market and competitive realities
- Identifying and discussing crises, potential crises, or major opportunities ◉ forming a powerful guiding coalition (Kotter). Answer: Step 2
- assembling a group with enough power to lead the change effort
- encouraging the group to work together as a team ◉ Creating a vision (Kotter). Answer: Step 3 creating a vision to help direct the change effort; developing strategies for achieving that vision ◉ communicating the vision (Kotter). Answer: Step 4
- 401(k) plans
- 403(b) plans ◉ Benefits required by law. Answer: 1. Social Security
- Unemployment insurance
- Workers' compensation insurance
- Family and medical leave
- Health care ◉ Statutory Benefits. Answer: •Required by Feds and regulated by state laws:
- Workers Compensation
- Unemployment Compensation
- short-term disability compensation (only required by some states) ◉ External Agency Investigations. Answer: •HR staff spend considerable amount of time interacting with representatives of government agencies •Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and State Division of Human Rights (DHR) •Both address allegations of employment discrimination •HR gathers the requested information and formally responds to a complaint
◉ Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Answer: •Using no particular schedule or set frequency, routinely surveys safety practices •Investigates specific complaints or allegations of unsafe practices •HR is often an organization's point of contact •Engineering may also be involved due to safety issues involving the physical plant •The manager of a department where a potential unsafe practice is observed or alleged can expect to become involved ◉ Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS). Answer: • periodically audits personnel files for required I-9 forms •Occasionally, investigators will look into the immigration status of specific individuals, but NOT the same as ICE (both in DHS) •These can involve questioning a department manager ◉ Department of Labor (DOL). Answer: •Monitors compliance with wage-and-hour laws (and unequal pay) •Investigates compliance with child labor laws ◉ Performance Appraisal. Answer: •involves a periodic examination of on-the-job performance to ascertain how well employees are performing relative to what is expected of them
◉ per critical event. Answer: any positive or negative event that occurs outside of the ordinary is written up and retained for the next formal performance discussion
- happen in "real time" ◉ employee comparison (ranking method). Answer: •Employees in a group are compared with each other and rank ordered from the best performer to the poorest performer •Variation: supervisors place their employees into a three-part distribution:
- Predetermined percentage is rated above average
- Similar percentage must be rated below average
- Remaining employees are rated in the middle ◉ Checklist Approach. Answer: •Manager must describe employee performance by choosing from among a number of prepared statements •Variation: supervisors select from a group of prepared statements (Statements that best and least describe each employee) ◉ Management by Objectives (MBO). Answer: •Commonly used with higher-level technical or professional employees and managers •Evaluation on achievement or progress toward specific objectives agreed upon by employee and supervisor
•Cannot compare the performance of employees to each other •The only comparison is to an employee's own past performance •Method does not rely on the specifics of any particular rating system ◉ 4 key dimensions of measures of performance. Answer: (1) productivity, (2) quality, (3) timeliness, and (4) cost ◉ Average. Answer: •convenient way to compare or group scores once evaluations have been quantified but mean is more precise ◉ Standard. Answer: •conventionally used as the minimum acceptable level of performance (frequently below the average in HC processes)
- should be the floor beneath which performance will not be tolerated ("sub-standard") ◉ Role of HR in performance appraisal. Answer: •includes monitoring job descriptions and evaluation criteria to ensure that these are always up-to-date and uniformly used •should provide forms, lists, and time schedules to department managers as needed and should monitor the incoming appraisals for completeness and consistency
◉ Opportunity bias. Answer: a poor outcome may have been situational, not because of employee failure. Requires objectivity and analysis to overcome. ◉ Contrast bias. Answer: comparing employee's performance with peers, NOT objective criteria ◉ Job vs. individual. Answer: employee serving in critical function for organization may be perceived as performing well, rather than being objectively evaluated based on job criteria ◉ 3 benefits most preferred by employees. Answer: (1) Health Insurance (2) Pension Plan (3) PTO ◉ Employee Assistance Program (EAP). Answer: a referral service that employees can use to seek professional treatment for emotional problems or substance abuse ◉ Exempt position. Answer: positions that are not paid overtime based on the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) of 1938
◉ nonexempt positions. Answer: Positions covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA); these employees must be paid for every hour of overtime. ◉ Build on the change (Kotter). Answer: (step 7) using increased credibility to change systems, structures, and policies that don't fit the vision. Hiring, promoting, and developing employees who can implement the vision. Reinvigorating the process with new projects, themes, and change agents ◉ Anchor the change in corporate culture (kotter). Answer: (step 8) make it permanent - articulating the connections between the new behaviors and corporate success. Developing the means to ensure leadership development and succession. ◉
