Deck 13: Staffing System Management

Question 1

Most organizations with a sufficient number of employees to warrant a dedicated HR department have integrated the function with human resources information systems (HRISs).

Answer 1

True

Question 2

SaaS vendors provide both the hardware,software,and day-to-day management of HRIS.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

A study of HR departments in large organizations found that the focus on recruitment and selection activities had decreased significantly over the past several years.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

Decreasing numbers of staffing jobs are found in staffing firms.

Question 5

Developing effective policies and procedures requires clearly delineating the overarching HR strategy.

Question 6

Surveys suggest that staffing is one of the first areas that organizations will outsource.

Question 7

In organizations with fewer than 100 employees,research suggests that staffing is most likely to be conducted by the owner,president,or work unit manager.

Question 8

Lack of staffing policies and procedures may lead to practices that may foster negative applicant reactions and problems with legal compliance.

Question 9

Although HRIS have increased data availability for human resources functions,they has done little to fundamentally affect the way staffing activities are evaluated.

Question 10

Standardization will probably decrease applicants' perceptions of procedural fairness of a staffing system.

Question 11

The evaluation of staffing systems should focus on the operation of the staffing process,the results and costs of the process,and the satisfaction of the customers of the staffing system.

Question 12

A professional employer organization (PEO)is like a temporary help agency,but provides a wider range of HR services and has a longer-term relationship with clients.

Question 13

HR representatives report that one of the key advantages of outsourcing is access to superior information from specialists.

Question 14

Centralization of the staffing function creates economies scale and consistency in staffing policies and processes across the organization.

Question 15

Standardized staffing systems are more likely to generate legal challenges by job applicants.

Question 16

Perceived justice is related to concrete outcomes like employee desire to pursue a job,increased intentions to accept a job,and decreased intention to turnover.

Question 17

Factors that are driving organizations to consider outsourcing HR activities include cost reduction,the cost of technology acquisition,need for improved service quality,and expertise of vendors.

Question 18

A growing trend in HRIS is the centralization of these functions within the HR department to prevent managers from accessing the system.

Question 19

Once a staffing process has been mapped out,the next step is to check for deviations from the system.

Question 20

Experts note that effective HR is usually conducted independent of strategic concerns,because it allows HR managers to stick to what they know best in terms of policy and legal compliance.

Question 21

Organizations that wish to protect themselves from discrimination claims can require employees to sign an enforceable waiver that requires them to use the organization's internal ADR rather than the courts.

Question 22

It is typically not possible to use techniques like split-samples analysis or longitudinal analysis to evaluate the effectiveness of established processes.

Question 23

Records are not necessary for legal compliance.

Question 24

It is highly desirable to periodically conduct audits or reviews of an organization's degree of compliance with laws and regulations pertaining to staffing.

Question 25

Employers are usually more interested in mediation with the EEOC for discrimination disputes than are employees.

Question 26

Records may be used to audit staffing practices and conduct staffing research.

Question 27

Which of the following statements regarding the use of evaluation of policies and procedures?

A) evaluations need to occur when there is evidence that formerly successful methods aren't working anymore,or when new techniques for achieving goals arise
B) evaluations tend to be too time consuming,and have few benefits
C) evaluations should only focus on how current methods are working,rather than being prompted by the latest fads
D) strategic policy evaluation involves so many intangibles that manager opinion is probably the only really useful way to go

Question 28

In recent years,a number of organizations have worked to develop standardized benchmarks for judging the effectiveness of staffing processes across organizations.

Question 29

The Civil Rights Act and Affirmative Action Programs Regulations require that private employers with more than 100 employees (50 for federal contractors)are required to file an annual report with the EEOC.

Question 30

The formula for the staffing cost ratio is total staffing cost ratio = total staffing costs/total number recruited.

Question 31

Staffing members must coordinate their activities with ___________.

A) benefits staff
B) compensation staff
C) training and development staff
D) all of these are true

Question 32

Two of the key customers of the staffing system are managers and job applicants.

Question 33

As organization size increases,the likelihood that there will be a highly centralized HR department __________.

A) increases
B) decreases
C) stays about the same
D) none of these

Question 34

Experienced managers who have used staffing system metrics often find that new staffing systems may not represent a significant improvement.

Question 35

The EEOC requires that all employers submit hard copy,paper documents of all their EEO-1 reports.

Question 36

There are few tools to facilitate the electronic processing of employee satisfaction surveys,so paper and pencil measures are usually preferable.

Question 37

Most of the processes involved in staffing are too subjective or difficult to quantify.

Question 38

Research suggests that organizational decision making is seen as most fair when it is based on ______.

A) social influence
B) clearly communicated decision criteria
C) processes tailored to each unique individual
D) all of these

Question 39

Benchmark data on staffing policies are typically applicable across nearly every organization and should be used as a primary guide for selecting which practices to implement.

Question 40

An ideal arbitrator is a neutral individual and the arbitrator's findings should be finalized as a written award letter.
Multiple Choice Questions

Question 41

In a ________ analysis,data from a long period of time is collected both before and after a staffing policy or procedure is implemented.

A) longitudinal
B) split-sample
C) LISREL
D) factor

Question 42

Staffing metrics are increasingly used because ______.

A) they demonstrate substantial returns in their own right
B) they are readily communicated across the organization
C) they are mandated by the Full Data Reporting in Employment Act
D) they are seen as a method to move staffing into the accounting function

Question 43

In a ________ analysis,the target employee population is split in half,and the new HR program is initiated with only one of these halves.

A) longitudinal
B) split-sample
C) LISREL
D) factor

Question 44

Comparative staffing process data can be obtained from the __________.

A) Society for Human Resource Management
B) HR Data Sources Corporation
C) Department of Labor
D) None of these

Question 45

What is the primary difference between mediation and arbitration?

A) Arbitration is generally more time consuming than mediation
B) Arbitrators only consult with both sides,whereas mediators issue a binding decision
C) Mediation typically involves at least four parties
D) Mediators only consult with both sides,whereas arbitrators issue a binding decision

Question 46

Number of positions filled and job performance are examples of __________ staffing metrics.

A) cost
B) timeliness
C) outcomes
D) reactions

Question 47

Which of the following statements is(are)not an important step in staffing process evaluations?

A) Mapping out the intended process.
B) Identifying deviations from the intended process.
C) The norm is for organizations to conduct validation studies.
D) Correction actions should be planned to eliminate deviations.

Question 48

Human resources information systems have been used for which of the following functions?

A) EEO data analysis and reports
B) employee succession planning
C) databases of job titles and responsibilities
D) all of these

Question 49

Which of the following best fits the description of a staffing flowchart?

A) it shows the distance from staffing to strategic operational concerns
B) it depicts the actual flow of staffing activities from vacancy to hire
C) it provides evidence of how staffing measures increase performance directly
D) it is a physical model of staffing using flows to show movement

Question 50

What proportion of disputes that begin the EEOC mediation process are eventually resolved through mediation?

A) fewer than 10%
B) more than 10%,but fewer than half
C) more than half
D) the EEOC has no mediation procedure

Question 51

Advertising expenses and cost per applicant are examples of __________ staffing metrics.

A) cost
B) timeliness
C) outcomes
D) reactions

Question 52

Records should be created for which of the following purposes?

A) legal compliance
B) use in staffing decisions
C) justification of staffing decisions
D) all of these are correct

Question 53

The four common types of staffing metrics evaluate ______.

A) performance,process,quantity,and quality
B) rectification,justification,elaboration,and relation
C) cost,timeliness,outcomes,and reactions
D) speed,diligence,dedication,and perseverance

Question 54

Which of the following factors is most likely to be a reason not to outsource HR activities?

A) vendors have little expertise
B) vendors are less flexible to meet changing needs
C) vendors have few resources to offer
D) vendors meet resistance within HR and line management

Question 55

For _______,it is better to keep staffing functions within the organization,rather than outsourcing.

A) small organizations
B) organizations with continual hiring needs
C) firm-specific human capital
D) general human capital

Question 56

Which of the following functions are most likely to be outsourced?

A) recruiting creative talent for an advertising agency
B) screening registered nurses for a long-term care facility
C) recruiting and selecting individuals for teams
D) providing employee orientation

Question 57

Increasingly,organizations are emphasizing __________ as a key indicator of staffing effectiveness because vacancies can mean loss of revenue.

A) yield ratios
B) employee satisfaction surveys
C) staffing-to-employee ratios
D) time to fill

Question 58

One of the key customers of the staffing system is __________.

A) the CEO
B) job applicants
C) society
D) the industry in which the company operates

Question 59

The contracting out of work to a vendor or third party administrator is called _____________.

A) outsourcing
B) temping
C) contracting
D) boundary spanning

Question 60

An ASP or SaaS provider offers which of the following services?

A) techniques to prevent managers from accessing HR data
B) hardware and software for running HR systems
C) paper-based forms and data for the organization
D) all of these

Question 61

In ______________ a neutral person investigates a complaint and develops findings that may be the basis for resolving an employee complaint.

A) mediation
B) arbitration
C) fact finding
D) peer review

Question 62

Which of the following must report to the EEOC annually?

A) all employers
B) private employers with over 100 employees (50 for federal contractors)
C) private employers with over 1000 employees (500 for federal contractors)
D) only organizations with federal contracts

Question 63

Recent court decisions suggest that _______ is essential for most organizations.

A) affirmative action
B) employee termination insurance
C) training in employment discrimination
D) none of these

Question 64

In ______________ a neutral person conducts formal hearing and issues a decision that is binding on the parties.

A) mediation
B) arbitration
C) fact finding
D) peer review