solution

Question 1

_________ is aimed at managing the ___________ in the organisation in such a way that the organisation reaches its goals.

1 Compensation Management; finances

2 Human Resource Management; employees

3 Human Resource Management; strategic objectives

4 Training and development; employees

Question 2

Which one of the following is NOT one of the underpinning motives in Human Resource Management (HRM)?

1 Cost-effectiveness

2 Autonomy

3 Legitimacy

4 Work-life balance

Question 3

You are the general manager of a medium-sized storage facility. Which of the following HR functions would you be the LEAST involved in as a general manger?

1 Recruitment

2 Selection

3 Labour relations

4 Compensation management

Question 4

Naledi is the departmental manager in a car reparation plant. Which factors in the political environment does she need to take into account when managing the employees in her unit?

a Affirmative action

b Trade union membership

c Political party membership

d Conditions of employment

e Employee benefits

1 a, b and c

2 a, b, d and e

3 c, d and e

5 All of the above

Question 5

Michael is the General Manager of an accounting firm. The company is experiencing financial difficulties and staffing issues and in order to ensure that the funds are wisely spent, he needs to forecast how many and what kind of employees will be required in the future and to what extent this demand is likely to be met. What is this process called?

1 Human Resource (HR) planning

2 Human resource supply analysis

3 Strategic human resource planning

4 Strategic recruitment and selection planning

Question 6

Mr Moosa is the team leader of a group of graphic designers in a branding company. Mr Moosa is busy with HR planning for the following year and he has determined that the demand for employees differs substantially from the supply of employees in his team. The consultants are over-worked and they don’t have time to perform their administrative tasks, because the work load is too heavy. What has Mr Moosa determined?

1 An under supply of employees

2 An oversupply of employees

3 An HR gap

4 A shortage in staff

Question 7

Jabu is an HR practitioner in a large law firm. He has been tasked to thoroughly scrutinize the jobs of all of the employees within the firm, specifically examining the tasks, duties, responsibilities, level of decision making, autonomy and complexity of the jobs. What is this process called?

1 Work design

2 Job analysis

3 Job design

4 Job evaluation

Question 8

The process identified in question 7 has two products, namely a job description and a _______.

1 job specification

2 performance agreement

3 employment contract

4 job evaluation

Question 9

Look at the statements below and choose the statements regarding selection and recruitment that are correct:

a When placing a job advertisement in newspapers, the local newspaper in the region is always the correct and best option to use.

b The information included in an advertisement for the position of a cruise ship worker may contain specifications such as height and weight restrictions.

c One of the best tests to use during the selection of a typist is a typing test where the candidate’s ability to type, accuracy and speed are tested.

d HIV status is one aspect that interviewers can never ask questions about during an interview.

e Vacant positions in an organisation should preferably be advertised internally first (or simultaneously with external advertisements) before advertising outside the company.

1 a and b

2 b, c and e

3 c, d and e

4 d and e

Question 10

When an organisation wants to recruit for a suitable candidate in the organisation, they have several labour market sources from which to recruit. Which recruitment source would be the most suitable if an organisation wants to recruit a software engineer with 10 years of experience?

a Unemployed employees

b Head hunting

c Internships

d Part-time employees

1 a

2 d

3 b

4 c

Question 11

During recent selection interviews for a recruitment agent, one panel member wanted to establish how the candidate will deal with an unhappy client over the telephone. She approached you before the panel interview and asked your advice seeing that this will be the first time that she will be part of a selection panel. She wanted to impress her supervisors and also ensure that she complies with the current labour legislation. She compiled a number of questions and asked you which one would be the most appropriate question for her to ask as a member of the interview panel to ensure that she gathers the correct information. Choose the most appropriate question from the list below.

1 Have you ever dealt with an unhappy client?

2 Can you provide us with an example of an incident where you had to deal with an unhappy client telephonically and indicate how you handled the situation?

3 How would you handle contracts of unhappy suppliers?

4 If a shop steward walks into your office extremely upset, what will the first step be that you take?

Question 12

You are the HR manager and you need to fill two vacant positions within the procurement department. You have recruited internally without success and now you want to recruit externally. Which of the following are methods can you use?

a direct applications

b job posting

c employee referrals

d advertising

e bulletin boards

1 a, c and d

2 a, b and c

3 b, d and e

4 b, c and e

Read the following short scenario and then answer questions 13 and 14 that follow. You are the newly appointed HR manager at a large publisher. The publisher’s management has a traditional management style and thinks orientation is a waste of time and money. You are aware of the benefits of an effective orientation programme and you have scheduled a meeting with the publisher’s management committee to explain this to them and to plead with them to support the implementation of an orientation programme of new copy writers and designers.

Question 13

Which of the following would you present to them as the advantages/benefits of an effective orientation programme? An effective orientation programme can lead to _______________.

a higher job satisfaction

b lower labour turnover

c joint decision-making

d improved work-life balance

e reduction in absenteeism

f higher performance

1 a, b, c and d

2 b, c, d and e

3 c, d, e and f

4 a, b, e and f

Question 14

During your meeting with the management committee, they agreed that an orientation programme is necessary in the company. They place you in charge of implementing an effective orientation programme. What is the first issue that needs to be addressed before the orientation programme can commence?

1 General orientation

2 Departmental welcome

3 Discussion of job tasks and expectations

4 First day arrangements

Question 15

Nelly has been appointed as the departmental manager of the creditors department of a large financial organisation. Her first task is to develop a proper training and development (T&D) system within the organisation. The previous manager did not keep any records and T&D was not administered or controlled in an appropriate or cost effective way. What is the first thing that Nelly needs to do in the development of a T&D system?

1 Instructional design

2 Needs analysis

3 Implementation

4 Evaluation

Question 16

The ultimate result of any training programme is efficiency and effectiveness and thus it is crucial that any T&D intervention be evaluated to determine whether the learning objectives had been achieved. The four levels on which training effectiveness is measured are:

1 intent, learning, transfer and result

2 reaction, performance and learning

3 reaction, learning, transfer and result

4 intent, transfer and assessment

Question 17

Lizelle is one of the departmental managers at Van Amstel, Roos & Partners and she is busy with her department’s annual performance appraisals. She is an experienced and objective rater, but in one particular case she had given, Kgala an exceptional high rating, because he had won a very important case for the firm. However, she neglected to take into account that Kgala’s administration is a disaster and that he is always late for work. Of which rater error is Lizelle guilty of?

1 rater bias

2 halo effect

3 leniency

4 central tendency

Question 18

Which one of the following statements about performance appraisal is NOT correct?

1 Supervisors should provide positive and negative feedback during a performance appraisal interview and not only concentrate on the negative aspects.

2 Appraisers should apply consistent and clear standards to evaluate the performance of all employees reporting to them.

3 No training is required for supervisors who have to appraise the performance of employees reporting to them.

4 Employees should understand the performance appraisal system and should receive regular feedback during the appraisal period and not only during the performance appraisal interview/discussion

Question 19

What is the process called when an organisation systematically determines of the relative worth of the jobs within the organisation that results in an organisation’s pay system? Primarily, jobs are compared on the traditional basis of skills required to complete the job, effort required to perform the job, responsibility of the job holder and working conditions on the job.

1 job evaluation

2 wage surveys

3 job design

4 wage evaluation

Question 20

The company for which I work determines each employee’s annual salary increase by the subjective performance evaluation of their direct supervisor. What is this pay-for-performance plan called?

1 Differential increases

2 Across the board increases

3 Performance based increases

4 Merit pay