Deck 14: Evaluation of HR

Question 1

If an organization measures a decline in employee morale, approximately how long will it take to realize a drop in customer satisfaction?

A) 2 months
B) 4 months
C) 6 months
D) 8 months

Answer 1

C

Question 2

What are two types of evidence that Enbridge Gas Distribution measures to determine overall customer satisfaction?

A) employee turnover and presenteeism
B) employee commitment and engagement
C) employee innovation and advocacy
D) employee satisfaction and work-life balance

Answer 2

A

Question 3

Which of the following is NOT a measure of efficiency?

A) Time
B) Quality
C) Volume
D) Cost

Answer 3

B

Question 4

According to a recent study, what percent increase in customer satisfaction did Sears stores realize with every five percent increase in improved employee attitudes?

A)0.8%
B)1.3%
C)1.8%
D)2.3%

Question 5

In the book titled Retooling HR, author Boudreau stated that HR evolution is challenged by the presence of too much information. What solution did the author suggest?

A) Reduce the volume of information.
B) Develop measures to summarize information.
C) Focus on relevant HR information.
D) Create frameworks to interpret the information.

Question 6

What are three of the main employee attitudes that are measured in HRM effectiveness surveys?

A) motivation, commitment, and work-life balance
B) satisfaction, advocacy, and engagement
C) empowerment, commitment, and advocacy
D) engagement, satisfaction, and motivation

Question 7

Why are measures of managerial perceptions necessary when evaluating HRM effectiveness?

A) Because other measures are time-consuming and meaningless.
B) Because management has a unique, comprehensive perspective.
C) Because management can give rich, qualitative information.
D) Because financial measures are neither available nor appropriate.

Question 8

What is the underlying assumption with the cultural management model used to determine the effectiveness of HRM?

A) HR professionals are employed 20 to 30 percent of the time to ensure compliance with laws and legislation.
B) Organizational effectiveness is directly correlated to the size of the human resources budget.
C) HR practices can have a positive influence on employee attitudes, which in turn influence employee performance.
D) Highly committed employees will make personal sacrifices for the job and will not leave the organization for personal gain.

Question 9

According to Cascio, what organizational costs are affected by a smoking cessation program?

A) pension costs
B) vacation costs
C) presenteeism costs
D) productivity costs

Question 10

What is considered a zero-sum index when measuring HRM effectiveness?

A) growth
B) survival
C) maturity
D) stability

Question 11

Why do some managers resist the need to measure the effectiveness of their performance?

A) Because it is impossible to calibrate meaningful measures.
B) Because they know that they are underperforming in their jobs.
C) Because they do not control the information that is produced.
D) Because the time to gather information exceeds the benefits.

Question 12

What is typically an organization's largest controllable cost?

A) technological costs
B) capital costs
C) labour costs
D) benefits costs

Question 13

What are the three stages of a fad's lifecycle?

A) introduction, growth, decline
B) ascendency, maturity, decline
C) introduction, growth, maturity
D) ascendency, growth, maturity

Question 14

What type of costs can be estimated but not measured easily by financial expenditures?

A) direct
B) indirect
C) tangible
D) intangible

Question 15

What methods are typically used to measure client satisfaction?

A) informal feedback and surveys
B) Delphi technique and focus groups
C) questionnaires and nominal group technique
D) critical incident method and break-out groups

Question 16

If an organization wishes to monitor the costs of turnover, which two costs should it measure?

A) lost revenue and productivity
B) absenteeism and termination
C) replacement and training
D) learning time and recruitment

Question 17

Which of the following is NOT related to the Sarbanes-Oxley requirements?

A) executive compensation
B) pension plans
C) employee benefits
D) whistleblower protection

Question 18

If HRM is effective, it can cause numerous effects on employee behaviour. What is one such effect?

A) improve customer satisfaction
B) enhance employee attrition
C) reduce employee shirking
D) eliminate high-potentials

Question 19

Which of the following is NOT part of the 5C model of HRM impact?

A) Contribution
B) cost control
C) Compliance
D) Commitment

Question 20

What is one way that an HR department can reduce its expenses associated with employees without reducing the headcount?

A) increase employees' efficiencies
B) eliminate the costs associated with absenteeism
C) purchase technology that improves productivity
D) initiate a hiring freeze and a wage freeze

Question 21

What is a leading indicator in HRM evaluation?

A) An indicator that anticipates management action.
B) An indicator that predicts or affects the future.
C) An indicator that explains changes or events.
D) An indicator that represents current HR trends.

Question 22

What is one benefit of benchmarking?

A) Motivates employees to take performance to a higher standard.
B) Stimulates a subjective review of processes, practices, and systems.
C) Provides subjective comparative data with best-in-class organizations.
D) Raises questions and stimulates discussion about better ways of strategizing.

Question 23

Many HR departments were originally set up because of the need to comply with employment legislation and standards.

Question 24

What percentage is typically added to an HR budget in order to regularly evaluate HR practices?

A) 5 percent
B) 10 percent
C) 15 percent
D) 20 percent

Question 25

HR professionals are resistant to measuring their work because they have limited knowledge of measurement models and limited skills of measurement ratios.

Question 26

With respect to the HR scorecard, deliverables should be linked to strategy.

Question 27

Which of the following is NOT a type of mimicry that organizations use to adopt HR practices?

A) outcome-based mimicry
B) frequency-based mimicry
C) trait-based mimicry
D) knowledge-based mimicry

Question 28

What are some of the necessary costs for human resources accounting?

A) training, development, executive salaries, and benefits
B) recruiting, selecting, training, and retaining
C) technology, outsourcing, selecting, and orientation
D) downsizing, training, recruiting, and development

Question 29

Most organizations do undertake the evaluation of HRM effectiveness because the problems of measurement are difficult to resolve.

Question 30

Which of the following is NOT a hurdle to the development of HR metrics?

A) applying measures consistently and over time
B) gaining acceptance of these measures by stakeholders
C) training managers to believe in the usefulness of measures
D) identifying measures that are grounded in research and theory and are practical

Question 31

What is the perennial problem in measuring the impact of HRM practices?

A) Separating cause and effect.
B) Finding financial resources.
C) Overcoming the conservative nature of HRM.
D) Attracting individuals with knowledge.

Question 32

Corporate scorekeeping allows organizations to make a plan that fits organizational strategy.

Question 33

Which of the following is one of the four basic questions used in the balanced scorecard?

A) How do employees see us?
B) Can we continue to remain profitable?
C) How do we look to shareholders?
D) Which areas need improvement?

Question 34

What costs did National Steel track over four years to determine the effectiveness of its safety programs?

A) safety incentive pay-outs; and needs assessment costs
B) injuries on the job; and safety orientation and training
C) cost of accidents; and motivation for safe behaviour
D) drug and alcohol addiction; and lost-time accidents

Question 35

By focusing on the alignment of HR practices with organizational strategy, a company will achieve greater performance and fit than by focusing on best practices and benchmarking.

Question 36

Indirect costs are the hard costs that can be measured by expenditures.

Question 37

Direct costs are harder to measure than indirect costs.

Question 38

An audit is a measurement method that assesses progress against plan.

Question 39

Kim has to move to another city. Kim has decided to compare and contrast different moving companies in terms of their charges and the times that they are available. Kim is conducting an informal utility analysis.

Question 40

Which of the following is NOT an approach to measuring HRM practices?

A) activity-based measures
B) costing measures
C) client satisfaction
D) balanced scorecard

Question 41

Measuring and benchmarking HR activities will result in the fulfilment of management-by-objectives.

Question 42

There are four sources of benchmarking partners: internal, competitive, sector, and external.

Question 43

Organizational survival is the first measure of effectiveness and is considered a "life-or-death" index.

Question 44

There are three typical measures for efficiency: time, quality and cost.

Question 45

Return on investment is a key financial ratio computed by an organization to determine its relative success in achieving its goals.

Question 46

Identify and describe THREE different approaches to measuring HRM practices.

Question 47

Sarbanes-Oxley requirements force HR to provide information about executive compensation, pension plans, and employee benefits.

Question 48

The HR profession is like the accounting profession because they both rely on generic measures and principles.

Question 49

Benchmarking enhances organizational performance by establishing standards against which processes, products, and performance can be compared and improved.

Question 50

The Society for Human Resources Management identifies NINE major reasons why it is important to measure HRM programs and practices. Briefly state FIVE of these reasons.

Question 51

The 5C Model of HRM Impact includes five areas for evaluating HRM: compliance, client satisfaction, culture management, cost control, and commitment.

Question 52

The costs of turnover include termination, replacement, reduced customer satisfaction, and time for a new employee to become productive.

Question 53

When evaluating the effectiveness of HRM practices, organizations have the choice of using two approaches: fit or best practice. Briefly describe the difference between the two approaches.

Question 54

Identify and briefly describe the 5C Model of HRM Impact.

Question 55

There are three ways to reduce labour expenses by reducing the size of the labour force: technology, outsourcing, and mergers.

Question 56

Briefly describe THREE methods used to measure client satisfaction.

Question 57

HR can affect the probability of survival of a new venture by as much as 32 percent.

Question 58

Efficiency is defined as the results achieved compared to resource inputs.