Exam 5: Forecasting and Planning

Forecasting labor demand in small- and medium-size organizations is significantly easier compared to large organizations because there is a stronger correlation between employee count and productivity.

Typically,when interest rates rise,

Which of the following are detailed records or databases that summarize each employee's skills,competencies,education,training,languages spoken,and chances of being promoted?

A ratio analysis assumes that the ratio between the number of employees needed and certain business metrics is highly variable.

Which of the following forecasting methods relies on the experience and insights of people in the organization to predict a firm's future employment needs?

The employer health insurance mandate in the 2010 Patient Protection & Affordable Care Act,requires employers with at least 50 full-time employees to provide government-approved,affordable health insurance to at least 95 percent of their employees and dependents beginning in 2014.

Bottom-up judgmental forecasting uses the input of lower-level managers to estimate the firm's total staffing requirements.

________ forecasting uses historical data on the average number of hires typically made per recruiter or the average number of recruits processed per recruiter over a given period of time,say,a week,month,or year.

Why is it usually best to supplement the ratio,scatter plot,and trend forecasting methods with managerial judgment?

Forecasting is not an exact science,and it is rare for a forecast to be exactly right.Given this uncertainty,it is usually best to use the previous period's data and add/reduce some percentage value based on managerial intuition.

Which of the following is a way in which many organizations try to reduce their need for skills that will be in short supply for a number of years?

If the proportion of high-potential applicants increases,the total number of applicants needed to generate the right number of the right quality of new hires decreases.

Describe the five steps in the workforce planning process.

New salespeople at a retail store generate an average of $50,000 in profit their first year.In addition,the reduced workload on the rest of the sales staff improves their efficiency and ability to provide high-quality customer service by 10 percent.This is worth an additional $20,000 to the company.The cost of hiring and training a new salesperson is expected to be $3,000 and $8,000 respectively.The salary for this position is $35,000.What is the return on investment of hiring an additional salesperson?

A retail store forecasts a greater need for salespeople during Thanksgiving.This is an example of a seasonal forecast.

Which term refers to the proportion of applicants moving from one stage of the hiring process to the next?

Scatter plots show graphically how two different variables are related.

If managers are asked to estimate their optimal headcount for the following year for staffing planning purposes,which of the following has been used?

Compare and contrast workload-driven forecasting and staffing efficiency-driven forecasting.

Which of the following events suggests that a home improvement store such as Home Depot or Lowe's will need fewer workers in the next 1-3 years?