SHRM-SCP Exam Questions

161.

A small interior design firm is experiencing significant turnover, with three employees resigning in a single day. Per the exit interviews, the reasons for leaving included a stressful work environment, inappropriate behavior from leadership that negatively impacts physical and mental health, and leadership spreading rumors about their direct reports. Additionally, the remaining staff have reported feeling demoralized and fearful of retaliation, which is further contributing to a toxic workplace culture. As morale continues to decline, productivity is suffering, and the firm faces challenges in attracting and retaining talent. 

How should the HR director assess the financial and operational impact of the high turnover and toxic work environment to develop a strategic plan for improving employee retention and restoring productivity?

• Analyze turnover costs and lost productivity to understand the financial impact and develop a targeted plan to address the root of the toxic work environment

• Increase marketing efforts to attract talent

• Send the leadership team to a team-building retreat

• Focus on improving workplace morale and warn the members of the leadership team that they will be replaced

162.

What is Human Resources’ role in an organization’s strategy?

• Operational focus on supporting the entire organization through policies, programs, and processes that correlate and bridge internal departments with internal and external shareholders

• Building bridges between external and internal shareholders

• Creating policies and programs, including workforce planning and incentive compensation

• Addressing conflicts and issues with solutions 

163.

Your organization is undergoing a leadership overhaul following the appointment of a new CEO. The new CEO has introduced a completely different management style and strategic vision, which has led to confusion and resistance among senior leaders and employees. Many employees are unsure of their roles in the new structure, and some key leaders have expressed dissatisfaction with the direction the company is heading. As the CHRO, your role is to guide the HR department and ensure that the organization transitions smoothly to this new leadership approach. 

How should you, as the CHRO, manage the leadership transition to maintain employee confidence and ensure alignment with the new CEO’s vision?

• Develop a comprehensive leadership development program focused on coaching senior leaders to align with the CEO’s vision while fostering open communication and addressing employee concerns  

• Host a town hall meeting where employees can voice concerns and ask the CEO questions directly, without providing additional ongoing communication

• Provide employees and leaders with time to adjust to the new CEO's direction without formal intervention, allowing organic adaptation

• Focus only on ensuring compliance with the new management style by setting strict performance targets aligned with the CEO's vision

164.

A large multinational corporation recently appointed a new HR director to oversee one of its major country operations, marking the first time someone from outside the company and from a different industry was chosen for this role. Shortly after starting, the new HR director began making critical remarks about the company's talent, culture, and policies, which quickly spread among employees and led to a decline in morale. Over the past three months, 60% of the HR director’s direct reports have resigned. Concerned about the situation, the corporate leadership for the country’s operation has tasked the chief human resources officer (CHRO) with resolving the issue. 

What strategies can the CHRO employ to navigate the challenges posed by the new HR director’s negative impact on company morale and high turnover, thereby seeking to realign the HR function with the company's values and culture?

• Conduct a thorough assessment of the new HR Director’s impact, address any immediate concerns with open communication, and implement a targeted action plan to realign the HR function with company values while providing support and resources to rebuild trust and morale

• Immediately replace the new HR director with someone from within the company to minimize disruption

• Focus on improving the company’s culture and policies with the support of the HR director

• Limit communication with employees and focus on restructuring the HR department to streamline operations

165.

Which of the following is not a quality control tool?

• Gantt Chart

• Control Chart

• Scatter Diagram

• Pareto Chart

166.

How do you as the HR manager effectively manage cultural integration and alignment during a merger or acquisition to ensure a smooth transition and maintain employee engagement across diverse international teams?

• Conducting cultural assessments, communicating a unified vision, providing cross-cultural training, and engaging with diverse teams regularly

• Focus on harmonizing business processes and systems during the merger or acquisition

• Implement immediate, top-down changes to organizational policies and practices across all teams 

• Rely only on internal communications and email updates to address cultural integration issues

167.

You need to address an issue with a department's high turnover rate. What is your approach?

• Conduct exit interviews to understand reasons for turnover and implement changes based on the findings 

• Focus on recruiting new talent without addressing the causes of turnover

• Increase compensation and benefits to attract and retain employees

• Do nothing, as it's not HR's responsibility to manage turnover

168.

When Greenfield Industries, a leading manufacturer of industrial equipment, decided to expand its market presence, it reached an agreement to integrate Titan Machinery, a well-regarded producer of agricultural tools. This strategic move allowed Greenfield to broaden its product line and enter new markets with Titan's established distribution network. The integration process involved aligning operational procedures and merging the companies’ cultures to ensure a smooth transition. 

Greenfield’s leadership worked closely with Titan’s management to facilitate knowledge transfer and maintain employee morale. As a result, Greenfield Industries strengthened its position in the industrial and agricultural sectors, enhancing its competitive edge.

Which leadership approach would be most effective in ensuring a successful integration and addressing potential resistance from employees?

• Adopting a transformational leadership style by inspiring and motivating employees through a clear vision of the future and demonstrating commitment to the integration process

• Maintaining a directive leadership style by issuing strict orders and enforcing compliance with new policies without soliciting employee feedback

• Focusing solely on short-term operational goals and neglecting the importance of addressing long-term cultural integration and team dynamics

• Delegating the responsibility of managing the integration process to mid-level managers without providing guidance or support from senior leadership

169.

A mid-sized tech company recently rolled out a new project management software aimed at improving team collaboration. However, the software's default settings and design features unintentionally create accessibility barriers for employees with disabilities. For example, the software lacks sufficient color contrast for visually impaired users and does not support screen readers. As a result, several employees have reported difficulties using the software, which has led to frustration and a decline in productivity. 

How should the CHRO address these accessibility issues to ensure inclusivity for all employees?

• Implement immediate changes to the software based on feedback from the affected employees and provide additional training on accessibility features

• Arrange a company-wide meeting to inform employees about the accessibility issues and reassure them that changes are being considered

• Delegate the issue to the IT department while focusing on other diversity initiatives

• Gather feedback from employees about their accessibility needs and plan for a future software update

170.

FYP, a leading software development firm known for its innovative cloud solutions, merges with XYZ Solutions, a prominent cybersecurity company specializing in advanced threat detection and prevention. The merger aims to create a comprehensive technology powerhouse that offers both cutting-edge software and robust security solutions. Human Resources is tasked with assisting in the alignment of cultures, integration of teams, and leveraging employees’ expertise. 

How can the HR director align both cultures?

• Conduct a cultural assessment

• Identify similarities and differences

• Create standardization of new processes and procedures without feedback

• Audit current processes and procedures

171.

In a growing tech company, the HR department identifies an opportunity to enhance the company’s talent pipeline by forming a strategic partnership with a leading university’s computer science program. 

How should the HR department build this relationship?

• Collaborate on curriculum development, hosting joint workshops, and offering internships to students

• Focus on providing financial support to the university, such as sponsoring events

• Initiate contact with the university when they need immediate talent for critical positions, rather than developing an ongoing relationship

• Avoid sharing specific company needs with the university and focus on general networking and attendance at university events instead

172.

You’re a new HR Director at RTF. Your HR team has been overwhelmed with a heavy workload and constant changes in company policies, leading to frustration and burnout among team members. Communication has become strained, with employees feeling disconnected from leadership and unclear about their roles. As a result, morale is at an all-time low, and productivity has significantly declined, impacting overall team performance. 

What approach should you take?

• Assess the causes of low morale and implement targeted solutions

• Increase workloads to push the team to work harder

• Replace team members with those who are more motivated

• Ignore the team’s concerns, as they’ll adjust to the changes

173.

KLM’s turnover rate has increased by 10%. The exit interviews revealed employees were leaving because of pay. The CEO and CFO are concerned about increasing recruiting costs to replace employees. The CFO has tasked you to make recommendations on their compensation plans. 

What is your first step?

• Conduct an internal and external analysis

• Receive pay survey data

• Develop a pay strategy

• Gather market factor data

174.

Your company is undergoing a significant leadership transition with several senior executives retiring and being replaced by new leaders with different management styles. This shift is causing uncertainty among middle managers and employees, who are unsure how to adapt to the changes and align with the new leadership's vision. 

As the CHRO, how should you guide your HR team in managing this leadership transition to ensure continued organizational alignment and employee engagement?

• Develop a change management plan that includes leadership coaching, consistent communication, and feedback channels for employees and middle managers to voice concerns and adapt to the transition

• Allow the new leadership team to set their vision and wait for employees to adjust to the new style

• Organize a company-wide town hall where the new leaders can introduce themselves and communicate their vision to the organization

• Focus on providing training and development opportunities to middle managers to help them understand and adapt to the new leadership’s management style

175.

The company’s leadership has tasked the HR department with defining a strategy to manage and develop talent in alignment with the organization’s long-term growth objectives. During the planning phase, you discover conflicting opinions among senior leaders about the best approach to talent management, as some departments have different priorities and needs. 

How should you approach defining a talent management strategy to ensure it aligns with the company’s growth objectives and addresses the varying needs of different departments?

• Conduct individual meetings with each department to understand their specific needs and priorities, then create a flexible talent management strategy that can be adapted to address those varying needs while aligning with overall growth objectives

• Prioritize the talent management needs of the departments with the highest revenue contributions and delay addressing the needs of other departments until a later date

• Form a committee of senior leaders to vote on the most important talent management priorities, and implement the strategy based on the majority vote, even if it means some departments’ needs may not be fully addressed

• Develop a unified talent management strategy based on the most common priorities identified by senior leaders and implement it across all departments without adjustments

176.

How can an HR professional enhance the communication process to ensure that critical information is clearly and effectively conveyed across all levels of the organization?

• Ensure that key messages are reinforced through various mediums and regularly updated

• Rely on an internal social media platform for all communication about critical information, assuming that employees will regularly check and engage with the updates

• Prioritize detailed written reports over verbal briefings, assuming that comprehensive documentation alone will ensure that all employees understand the critical information

• Communicate critical information only through high-level executive announcements, expecting that these will be sufficiently disseminated through lower management

177.

How can HR effectively identify and implement creative solutions to address emerging challenges in workforce management? 

• Conduct brainstorming sessions and engage diverse teams to generate and evaluate creative solutions, then test and refine these ideas to address emerging challenges in workforce management

• Rely on standard industry practices and traditional methods without exploring innovative approaches to address new workforce challenges

• Focus on incremental changes to existing processes

• Implement solutions based on historical data

178.

When developing a technology policy, HR would not need to consider which of the following? 

• Employee preferences

• Security

• Compliance

• Privacy

179.

YZX has 10 manufacturing plants in four different countries. The Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) has a human resources director and human resources assistants at each manufacturing plant. The CHRO is located at headquarters. The human resources director at each plant is allowed to address issues, make policies, and provide strategic support to managers for the day-to-day operations of the plant. 

What term best describes the human resources structure for YZX company?

• Decentralized

• Center of excellence

• Centralized 

• Outsourced

180.

What are the important factors to consider in selecting a human resources information system (HRIS)?

• Security, functionality, user needs, integration

• Customer needs, security, business operations, return on investment

• Return on investment, employee needs, security, functionality

• Automation, integration, employee self-service portal, security