Deck 11: Increasing Performance and Productivity

Question 1

An organisation's customer service standards are an example of:

A) a measure of success.
B) a key result area (KRA).
C) a non-task goal.
D) a job purpose.
E) the 'hot-stove' principle.

Answer 1

E

Question 2

Effective job placement involves:

A) placing people in jobs to which they are temperamentally suited.
B) giving employees the opportunity to work to their strengths.
C) allowing people to do jobs that provide them with a sense of achievement.
D) placing people in jobs they enjoy.
E) All of these responses are correct.

Answer 2

E

Question 3

If an employee's performance is below the standard expected, this be explained by the fact that they:

A) are lacking role clarity.
B) are unclear about their role and responsibilities.
C) do not understand the organisation's values, vision, mission and goals.
D) do not have a broad understanding of the strategy or overall approach that their organisation intends to use to reach its goals.
E) All of these responses are correct.

Answer 3

E

Question 4

A job purpose statement provides an employee with specific guidance about the way to approach their job by listing each of their role's tasks and detailing what is required to do each one successfully.

Question 5

Which of the following is least likely to provide meaningful motivation to employees over the longer term?

A) Making employees know that the work they are doing is worthwhile
B) Making employees aware that they are reaching their goals
C) Treating employees with respect
D) Providing employees with satisfactory pay and working conditions
E) Allowing employees to use their talents and develop their potential

Question 6

'Ensuring that a call centre operator answers all incoming customer calls within three rings' is an example of a:

A) key performance indicator (KPI).
B) non-task goal.
C) key result area (KRA).
D) job purpose.
E) productivity measurement.

Question 7

'Improve the level of customer service provided to exceed that of other organisations so that stakeholders are optimally satisfied' is an example of a target that meets the SMART target criteria.

Question 8

Productivity may be defined as:

A) the quality of production as measured by the number of defects as a proportion of total output.
B) a comparison of the quantity of units of production produced between different periods.
C) the cost per unit of production as measured by the total cost of production divided by the number of units produced.
D) the total cost of production for a given period.
E) None of these responses are correct.

Question 9

Job enrichment may best be achieved through:

A) downsizing.
B) multiskilling.
C) upskilling.
D) cross-skilling and/or multiskilling.
E) upskilling and/or multiskilling.

Question 10

Ideally, a job purpose statement should:

A) be long and detailed.
B) support only the individual job's purpose, ignoring the team's purpose.
C) be succinct enough for employees to carry around in their heads on a daily basis.
D) support the individual's and team's purpose, but ignore the organisation's vision and goals.
E) focus solely on supporting the organisation's vision and goals.

Question 11

If an employee wanted to check on their job's main areas of accountability and responsibility, they would need to look at:

A) their job's measures of success.
B) their key result areas (KRAs).
C) their non-task goals.
D) their job purpose statement.
E) All of these responses are correct.

Question 12

For broad, complex roles associated with knowledge and service work, the best way to measure success may be to use:

A) quantitative measurements.
B) measurement of total output.
C) productivity measurements.
D) milestones or deliverables.
E) Any of these responses may be appropriate.

Question 13

If an employee bends or breaks a 'bottom-line' rule, the consequence they face should be:

A) termination of their employment.
B) immediate.
C) one that contains some form of punishment, because simply warning them will send a bad message to other employees.
D) determined according to the employee's position and/or responsibilities.
E) determined in the next team meeting.

Question 14

Which of the following is an example of a non-task goal?

A) Sharing knowledge
B) Making at least five sales per day
C) Checking all invoices prior to issue to ensure accuracy
D) Setting up the product display at the start of each day
E) Greeting all customers within three minutes of their entering the store

Question 15

If a team member fails to meet non-task goals, or unspoken expectations, the team's leader-manager should:

A) ignore it, since these are not part of the employee's role.
B) leave this for the team to sort out.
C) sort it out with the employee at their next performance review.
D) meet with the employee as soon as is practicable, and make clear to them the expectations and that they need to be met.
E) give it six months and hope that the employee improves.

Question 16

Which of the following is an aspect of the 'what to' key?

A) Job purpose
B) Key result areas (KRAs)
C) Measures of success
D) Non-task goals
E) All of these responses are correct.

Question 17

Using a lead indicator as part of performance measurement means that a target is:

A) specific.
B) motivating.
C) ambitious.
D) related to the goals of the organisation, team and/or individual.
E) trackable and able to be monitored.

Question 18

Which of the following is not a principle of good job design?

A) Job should contain variety in work pace and work methods.
B) Job should offer a reasonable workload in terms of deadlines and demands.
C) Job should only allow the job-holder minimal control over their work and work methods.
D) Job should contribute significantly to the organisation.
E) Job should contain a variety of tasks and activities requiring different levels of experience and training.

Question 19

Training and coaching can help to strengthen the 'what to' and 'want to' keys by:

A) developing competence in employees.
B) establishing in employees positive attitudes, motivation and the desire to perform well.
C) building employees' job skills.
D) increasing employees' knowledge.
E) None of these responses are correct.

Question 20

Which of the following is not one of the five critical factors which make peak performance possible?

A) Employees knowing what to do in order to do a good job
B) Employees knowing how to do a good job
C) Employees knowing that they have a chance to do a good job
D) Employees knowing how to ensure that other employees do a good job
E) Employees knowing that they can be effectively led to do a good job

Question 21

In a management context, action orientation refers to the willingness of managers to be:

A) inactive.
B) reactive.
C) proactive.
D) coactive.
E) hyperactive.

Question 22

Which of the following is an element of a high-performance culture?

A) Challenging goals are set
B) People are expected, and expect, to achieve challenging goals
C) Teams are made up of people with high self-esteem
D) People learn from their experience and help each other out
E) All of these responses are correct.

Question 23

When setting the standards for your team to achieve, an optimal outcome will be achieved if you:

A) set standards that you know they will achieve.
B) set standards that you know they cannot achieve, but that will inspire them to improve their performance.
C) set standards that they can achieve, but that will challenge them to improve their performance.
D) set standards well below what they can achieve to ensure their performance exceeds the target, thus lifting the collective esteem of the team.
E) let the team determine their own standards.

Question 24

One technique that may be used to help analyse and improve work systems and procedures is:

A) a Gantt chart.
B) a Pareto chart.
C) an organisational hierarchy chart.
D) a flow chart.
E) All of these responses are correct.

Question 25

Taking a newly formed team out on a team-building exercise would fall under the category of the:

A) 'what to' key.
B) 'want to' key.
C) 'chance to' key.
D) 'how to' key.
E) 'led to' key.

Question 26

Which of the following is not a potential cause of employees running out of time to do their jobs?

A) Team members not understanding what everyone else is trying to achieve
B) Undertaking too many trivial tasks
C) Duplication of work
D) Inefficient procedures
E) All of these responses are correct.

Question 27

If the other four keys are in place, the absence of clear goals or a compelling vision cannot, in and of itself, adversely affect performance and/or productivity.

Question 28

Removing distractions, such as by blocking irrelevant emails or spam from appearing in your inbox, is an example of:

A) maintaining focus.
B) setting high standards.
C) utilising interpersonal skills.
D) action orientation.
E) building self-esteem.

Question 29

Poor performance caused by badly designed and maintained equipment represents one of the elements of the:

A) 'what to' key.
B) 'want to' key'.
C) 'chance to' key.
D) 'how to' key.
E) 'led to' key.

Question 30

A learning environment is an environment that encourages learning and improving and makes a positive contribution toward building teams and organisations.