WGU D351 Functions of Human Resource Management Pre-Assessment Questions with verified solutions 2025

Which type of skill should a human resources (HR) officer have to increase team collaboration and communication?

Interpersonal

A human resources (HR) team is remapping job functions and processes in its department. The team is focused on the use of resources for different HR tasks and the associated costs.

Which part of the organizational operation is the HR team focused on?

Efficiency

Which group directly impacts company performance?

Part-time employees

A company's leaders are redefining the company's expectations and goals. They need to communicate these changes to the rest of the company.

What should leaders update to communicate the changes?

Mission statement

What should a business leader maximize to reduce an organization's internal costs?

Efficiency

Which organizational structural component standardizes jobs?

Formalization

Which component of organizational structure represents how policies govern positions?

Formalization

Which form of technology innovation addresses a labor shortage and reduces overall company costs long term?

self check out kiosk

Which input focuses on staffing needs for creating organizational outputs?

Personnel

Which process is critical for understanding and creating position descriptions?

Job analysis

A company's vice president (VP) of accounting filled a manager position in the department with an internal analyst. The position was not posted internally. Which type of recruiting is this?

Targeted

What is the goal of the recruitment process?

Hiring qualified applicants who fit with the organization's culture

An applicant who is an introvert is concerned about the expectation to attend the company's morale events if hired. Which fit selection mismatch is the applicant worried about?

Person-organization

Which consequence for a company comes from selecting the wrong candidate?

Lower productivity

What is the largest recruiting source for companies seeking a varied talent pool?

Labor Markets

Which document from a job analysis identifies the required applicant qualifications?

Job specification

A Human Resources (HR) department is developing a firefighter employment test that includes a component to detect deviant behavior. Which kind of validity is this test designed to measure?

Construct

A firefighter job analysis identified that firefighters must be able to do the following:

pull or drag up to 150 pounds through areas with zero visibility

walk and crawl around obstacles on fire

carry a 35-pound hose pack up smoke-filled stairs

Which kind of test should the human resources (HR) department design to determine whether candidates meet these requirements?

Task simulations

Which type of validity measure identifies employees who will consistently receive performance ratings that are satisfactory or above?

Criterion

What is the likely result of a human resources (HR) department using an online application system?

Applications are easily tracked internally.

What is a bona fide occupational qualification (BFOQ) topic that an interviewer is allowed to ask a candidate for a firefighter position?

Height and weight

An employee tells their manager that they would like to be considered for a management position in the future. Which type of support should the employee's organization provide?

Development

A manager identifies that a customer service representative is having difficulty getting their average talk time down from six minutes to the organizational benchmark of five minutes.

What should the manager do to help the employee make an immediate improvement?

Initiate a remediation training program

A chief executive officer (CEO) identified that the following employee capabilities are required for the future of the organization:

adapting to changing economic conditions

listening to the customer's voice

responding to competition within the industry

What is the first step to accomplishing this?

Analyze the training needs

A human resources (HR) manager wants to evaluate the self-efficacy of the customer service training as part of the needs assessment. What should the manager evaluate?

Employee readiness

A supervisor uses social learning theory to develop records-clerk training for new hires.

Which training activity should be included?

Watching a coworker be coached on a transaction

A human resources (HR) department creates a performance review program and wants to quickly check it for fairness and equity. Which process should the HR department select?

Objective, uniform, consistent, has job relatedness (OUCH)

Managers raise concerns that their employees do not understand the performance standards that impact their department's success and positive outcomes. The human resources business partner (HRBP) begins an analysis of the department's performance appraisal documents.

Which type of measure should the HRBP verify is an accurate metric?

Specific

A manager considers an employee to be disengaged based on the employee's interactions with their peers. The manager gives the employee a lower performance rating as a result.

Which rating error occurred?

Attribution

What is the goal of performance management in an organization?

Continually develop employees

What should managers do to increase morale and productivity in their departments?

Give consistent feedback to the group

What is a direct benefit to managers of conducting performance reviews of their team?

Formal communication with employees

A manager is considering whether an employee is ready to advance to a leadership role. The manager uses the performance appraisal process to assess the employee's self-awareness and integrity.

Which measurement method is the manager using?

Traits

During an employee's performance appraisal, their manager mentioned for the first time mistakes that had occurred over six months ago.

What is the issue with how the process was handled in terms of performance management?

Check-ins were not provided.

What is a consideration when conducting an employee trait appraisal?

Traits are related to job success.

Which right is violated when an employee is forced to do something that will cause adverse consequences to themselves?

Free consent

A human resources (HR) director audited personnel records at one of the business's locations and found Form I-9s completed after three days from the workers' hire dates.

Which federal law has the business unit violated?

Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA)

A manager transfers an employee to a new role that involves hazardous work and exposure to chemicals and does not provide advance notice.

Which employee right does this violate?

Free consent

A high-performing employee with 20 years of service is dismissed from a company shortly before becoming eligible for the retirement plan.

Which standard exception of the concept of employment-at-will does this action violate?

Lack of good faith and fair dealing

An employee has been through three steps of progressive discipline, which took three months. Another three months have passed, and the supervisor notices that the problem is still occurring.

Which step does the supervisor now need to execute?

Termination

A manager creates a communication plan about changes to the employee cost share. How should this manager determine whether the communication achieves its purpose?

By obtaining formal feedback

A human resources (HR) director who is concerned about communication issues on their team requires everyone to take a course in active listening skills.

How does the manager expect the course to help the team?

Improve concentration in discussions

A labor representative is discussing a grievance issue with a human resources (HR) analyst and asks if they agree that the grievant is due on-call pay as outlined in the contract because they had to respond to a call over the weekend.

Which stage in the message-sending process model is this?

Checking the receiver's understanding

In an attempt to pressure a company's management to correct a perceived pay discrepancy, a union influences other unions to avoid companies that do business with that company.

What is the union engaging in?

Unfair labor practice

Which form of transportation is subject to the same negotiation and mediation processes as railroads?

Airlines

An employee is working under unreasonable conditions that include projects being unassigned and coworkers refusing communication. The employee decides to resign.

Which end-of-job type is this resignation?

Constructive discharge

A company has had multiple Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) violations over several years. An on-site safety accident results in a fatality, and the company is issued a citation.

Why is this latest violation willful?

Management demonstrated a disregard for employee safety and health.

An Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) inspector arrives to conduct an inspection following a warehouse employee complaint about hazardous working conditions.

What is a right for the employee who made the complaint?

Maintain personal anonymity

Due to a reduction in budget, a human resources (HR) officer has to dismiss 30% of the staff. Which provision dictates how much notice the HR officer must give the impacted employees?

Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act

An employee publicly complains about a company policy. The employee's hours are reduced, and they are ostracized by peers and management, causing the employee to resign. Which labor relations matter has occurred?

Constructive discharge

A plant manager received an Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) citation for not having an adequate number of signs around an assembly line conveyor belt. The manager was on leave and missed the settlement date for posting the signs.

Which OSHA violation did the manager commit?

Failure to abate

A nonunion company requires employees to sign an agreement. The agreement includes a clause whereby the employee and employer agree to abide by an independent, neutral third party's decision to resolve employment disputes without going through a litigation process.

Which alternative dispute resolution option does the company use?

Arbitration

A union uses a binding method to settle an issue concerning violation of a condition in the collective bargaining agreement.

Which method did the union use?

Arbitration

Employees at a retail company are collectively requesting that their employer improve employment conditions. Which law protects the employees' action?

National Labor Relations Act

Which action is a company allowed to take to discourage labor organizing efforts?

Use employee representation on benefits committees

How should a company ensure staff issues are escalated to upper management?

Standardize the grievance process

A human resources (HR) department develops a policy that defines requirements for a promotion and includes the following:

two years of highly rated performance appraisals

two years of tenure in the current role

management sign-off

Which motivation theory is the HR policy based on?

Expectancy

A company is hiring underwriters at 15 percent more than its current underwriters' salary due to the high demand for this role.

Which factor will have an impact on the company's compensation plan?

Wage compression

A human resources (HR) analyst is applying the duties test for employee exemptions for the new position of redevelopment planner. The position criteria include:

-earns $2,500 per week

-performs primary duties related to commercialized planning in city redevelopment zones

-exercises discretion and independent judgment in decision-making

Which exemption applies to this position?

Professional

A human resources (HR) department wants to better understand employee perceptions regarding the company's advancement process.

Which motivational theory should the HR department reference?

Equity

Several of a team's high performers complain to their human resources (HR) director that their current bonus structure is outdated and does not inspire them to achieve increased results. The HR director sets up a meeting with the executive team to propose revising the bonus structure.

Which motivational theory does the HR director believe this proposal fits?

Expectancy

A total rewards director notices adverse selection in the way employees are selecting annual coverage plans.

Which action is associated with this type of selection?

Manipulating benefits by adding and dropping various options

Why is job ranking a subjective method of evaluation?

It lists roles in order of importance and perceived value.

A human resources (HR) officer is using the job-ranking method to determine how much to increase employee pay. Which result should the HR officer expect by using this method to determine job value?

Subjectivity

Why should an organization use the point-factor method as part of a job evaluation?

It is based on objective measures.

The human resources (HR) department of a large company needs to redesign the compensation structure. The company, however, does not have the resources to conduct a market analysis. What should the HR department do?

Conduct an internal job evaluation to determine the value of positions

A chief executive officer (CEO) asks the human resources (HR) team to create a framework of positions and wage levels.

What does the HR team need to create?

Pay structure

What should a compensation specialist expert be able to set up after reviewing benchmarks from external salary surveys?

Pay levels

A human resources (HR) consulting firm is designing a compensation plan for a client. Which external influence should the firm consider?

Industry survey

An independent contractor needs to take a leave from work to deal with a serious health condition and notifies the project supervisor two weeks before. The supervisor notifies the contractor that the contract will terminate if the contractor takes time off.

Why is the employer allowed to terminate the contract?

Because independent contractors are not eligible for the Family and Medical Leave Act.