Deck 3: Human Resource Planning

Question 1

One factor that impacts the demand for human resources is the organization's strategic plan.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

Despite its usefulness Markov analysis cannot be used for "what if" analysis to access the impact of possible future scenarios.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

Two methods for estimating the future demand for human resource s are expert forecasting and trend projection forecasting.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

Organizational strategies define the human resource objectives.

Question 5

A firm's strategic plans are often actually executed through a series of tactical plans that focus on current needs.

Question 6

Human resource audits are designed to summarize an individual employee's skills, abilities, and generate inventories that facilitate the preparation of replacement charts and replacement summaries.

Question 7

Extrapolation and indexation are short-run forecasting tools that assume that the causes of demand remain consistent.

Question 8

The Nominal Group Technique (NGT) for forecasting the demand for human resources involves administering surveys repeatedly until a general opinion occurs.

Question 9

Internal supply estimates of human resources are most often done using trend projection forecasting and human resource audits.

Question 10

Replacement summaries are visual replacements of who will replace whom, while replacement charts are more detailed and include strengths and weaknesses.

Question 11

Human resource planning is strictly focused on matching the supply and demand of employees.

Question 12

The process of human resource planning has expanded beyond predicting the number of employees an organization will need to become more strategic.

Question 13

Expert forecasts rely on those people who are knowledgeable to estimate future human resource needs.

Question 14

While all successful organizations benefit from detailed human resource planning, small firms usually benefit more than larger ones.

Question 15

Although informal forecasting techniques are best viewed as approximations, sophisticated forecasting methods are considered perfectly accurate.

Question 16

Labour market analysis and demographic trends are two methods for estimating the external supply of human resources.

Question 17

A staffing table lists current employees for tax, payroll, and benefit purposes.

Question 18

Organization factors affecting the demand for human resources include both technological and legal changes.

Question 19

Human resource planning systematically forecasts an organization's future demand for and supply of workers, and matches the supply to the demand.

Question 20

The Canadian Occupational Projection System (COPS) provides a highly detailed projection of the Canadian economy up to 10 years in the future.

Question 21

Enterprise-wide systems link an organization's entire software application environment into a single enterprise solution.

Question 22

Leveraging the automation and system capabilities of an HRIS has allowed the HR role to enhance its service delivery to the organization.

Question 23

Attrition is the normal separation of employees from an organization as the result of resignations, retirement, or death.

Question 24

To optimize their human resources talent pool, organizations will capitalize on their internal HR-related processes for activities such as replacement charts and succession plans.

Question 25

Reducing the number of work hours per employee can improve productivity levels.

Question 26

Juniority provisions require that layoffs be offered junior workers first.

Question 27

Information that is generated from the HRIS helps managers and HR leverage employees' capabilities and skills and to design opportunities for development.

Question 28

One of the most common components of an HRIS system is performance management.

Question 29

Phased retirement refers to retiring employees in groups based on occupation.

Question 30

In the field of human resource management, work arrangements refer to situations where a company outsources a function once performed by employees to an undefined network of people.

Question 31

Job sharing involves having two employees work full-time hours to complete the same duties at the same time.

Question 32

Work arrangements are firms' use of work hours, schedules, and location to ensure that the goals of the organization and the needs of employees are optimally met.

Question 33

A key feature of any HRIS system is how effective it is at providing the tools with which to manage security issues.

Question 34

After undergoing a downsizing or restructuring, many firms employ part-timers to provide services that had previously been offered by full timers.

Question 35

Contract workers are governed under employment legislation as opposed to contract law.

Question 36

Float and Transfer is a flexible arrangement that organizations use to manage an oversupply of human resources.

Question 37

Advances in technology have resulted in information that is less accurate, timely, accessible, and readily available to HR.

Question 38

Ways to overcome employee shortages include overtime, contract workers, and new hires.

Question 39

Referential integrity ensures that organizational policies are implemented consistently throughout the organization.

Question 40

Two common layoff strategies are hiring freeze and early and phased retirement offers.

Question 41

Which of the following is true of part-time workers?

A) it is a method of cutting labour costs
B) very often part-time workers are paid benefits
C) they work more than 30 hours per week
D) they are professionals who provide expert counsel in a particular area
E) they are governed under contract law instead of employment legislation

Question 42

Which of the following is a major cause of human resource demand?

A) changes to recruitment policies
B) technological changes
C) cultural changes
D) decreases in global trade
E) unethical business practices

Question 43

Developing HR objectives involves directing the planning process of the organization, identifying how the planner will achieve its goals, and setting a baseline to determine whether the organization has achieved its goals.

Question 44

Which of the following describes job sharing?

A) two or more people do the same job at the same time
B) duties of one position spread among two or more employees
C) available work is assigned to one full-time employee and one part-time employee
D) one employee completes the work while another collects compensation for the work
E) employees engage in social loafing

Question 45

Indexation is a method of estimating __________ employment needs by matching employment __________ with a selected index.

A) future; patterns
B) past; patterns
C) current; patterns
D) past; growth
E) future; growth

Question 46

Which of the following describes how crowdsourcing helps companies meet their resources requirements?

A) by making a formal agreement with a third party about performing a service
B) by bringing together an external team to work with an internal team to achieve goals
C) by outsourcing a function once performed by employees to an undefined network of people
D) by entering into a service agreement with a freelancer
E) by dividing duties of a single position between two or more employees to reduce the total number of work hours

Question 47

Which of the following external causes may drive the demand for human resources in the future?

A) budgets
B) changes in management staff
C) demographic impacts
D) strategic plans
E) sales forecasts

Question 48

Advances in technology have enabled HR to __________ the day-to-day activities and, where possible __________, the data entry at the source.

A) improve; import
B) expedite; secure
C) automate; download
D) improve; upload
E) expedite; import

Question 49

Which of the following is a strategic and proactive process used to determine future human resources requirements, as well as the business processes needed to support those resources?

A) program measurement
B) extrapolation
C) nominal group technique
D) new-venture analysis
E) human resource planning

Question 50

Greater knowledge of current employees allows human resource departments to more effectively plan which of the following?

A) product development
B) sales goals
C) career planning
D) organizational mission statement
E) market entry timing

Question 51

An organization offering employees money to leave the organization early is an example of which practice?

A) a buyout
B) severance pay
C) a bonus
D) unemployment insurance
E) performance rewards

Question 52

Which of the following is the most common first response to an employee surplus?

A) job sharing
B) hiring freeze
C) early retirement offers
D) termination
E) overtime

Question 53

When deciding on an appropriate HRIS to match their needs, which of the following should be considered by organizations?

A) job design
B) turnover
C) managerial decision needs
D) competitors
E) external supply of human resources

Question 54

Human resource accounting attempts to put a dollar figure on the human assets of an organization using either a cost or a value model.

Question 55

Which of the following is the first step in the human resource planning process?

A) develop HR objectives
B) establish program evaluation
C) assess internal and external supply of resources
D) forecast demand for resources
E) design and implement HRM programs

Question 56

Human resource planning is a process with a specific order of activities helping managers to focus on the most important issues.

Question 57

Which of the following is a technique for estimating future human resource demand?

A) replacement charts
B) labour market analysis
C) transition matrices
D) the Delphi technique
E) skills inventories

Question 58

Means of identifying an internal supply of candidates for future human resource demands include:

A) Markov analysis
B) labour market analysis
C) demographic analysis
D) job analysis
E) economic analysis

Question 59

The available supply of human resources is usually equal to the demand of human resources.

Question 60

A firm's HRIS can produce regular reports (e.g., employee records, benefit details), answer questions interactively, track applicants, and support organizational decision makers.

Question 61

Which economic force is making internal supply estimates more difficult?

A) decreased global trade
B) increased automation
C) increased optimization of productivity
D) increased voluntary temporary work
E) decreased innovative work

Question 62

In the human resource business, HRIS stands for:

A) human resource information standards
B) human relations information system
C) human resource information system
D) human relations information standards
E) human resource identification system

Question 63

If a firm's internal supply of workers exceeds its demand, a __________ exists.

A) human resource shortage
B) demographic challenge
C) human resource surplus
D) labour market division
E) human resource division

Question 64

Estimating the future resource needs and changes is called:

A) retrospection
B) introspection
C) forecasting
D) supply projections
E) demand sourcing

Question 65

Having the right people with the right skills at the right time is a major objective of:

A) human relations planning
B) human resource planning
C) human relations management
D) human resource auditing
E) human resource allocation

Question 66

The advantage of attrition as a means of reducing an employee surplus is that:

A) it is a fast process
B) it guarantees the loss of the most expendable employees
C) it does not involve resignation or retirement
D) it usually presents the fewest problems to the organization
E) it does not include employees who die at work

Question 67

Which of the following is defined as the separation of employees from the organization for economic or business reasons?

A) outplacement
B) layoffs
C) attrition
D) termination
E) phased retirement

Question 68

Flexible work arrangements can do which of the following?

A) outsource functions to an undefined network of people
B) minimize business flexibility
C) increase employee engagement
D) increase costs
E) free up company resources, allowing the organization to focus on what it does best

Question 69

Markov analysis is particularly useful in organizations where:

A) the external environment is unstable and unpredictable
B) internal (strategic) changes are complex and on-going
C) jobs do not fluctuate rapidly due to external or internal change
D) rapid response is needed to social and legal challenges
E) economic conditions are changing quickly

Question 70

An organization facing a shortage in human capital is looking to implement a flexible work arrangement to enable its resources to be transferred when needed. Which of the following arrangements should they choose?

A) overtime
B) flexible retirements
C) floats and transfers
D) developing employees internally
E) job sharing

Question 71

Current and future impacts of the Canadian Human Rights Acts will have what effect on human resource planning?

A) it will increase the need for human resource planning
B) it will decrease the need for human resource planning
C) it will not impact human resource planning
D) it is unclear how it will impact human resource planning
E) the Human Rights Acts does not apply to human resource planning

Question 72

Human resource planning helps identify what human resources are needed to:

A) become more competitive in global trade
B) support the mission statement
C) expand the product line
D) ensure that the organization can respond to change
E) establish a better market position

Question 73

__________ is a managerial tool that can help managers make better decisions by providing them with the objective and reliable information needed to plan functions such as salary administration, training, and union-management negotiation.

A) Human resource accounting
B) Human resource auditing
C) Human relations accounting
D) Human relations accountability
E) Human relations auditing

Question 74

Which of the following can be used to identify the internal supply of human resources for an organization?

A) performance evaluations
B) extrapolation
C) labour market analysis
D) community attitudes
E) Markov analysis

Question 75

Which of the following refers to the systemic attraction, identification, development, engagement/retention, and deployment of those individuals with high potential who are of particular value to the organization?

A) assessment of internal supply of resources
B) development of HR objectives
C) labour demand forecasts
D) human resource audits
E) talent management

Question 76

Which of the following is a way for firms to deal with a human resource surplus?

A) float and transfer
B) overtime
C) outsourcing
D) job sharing
E) contracting out the work

Question 77

Which of the following methods of addressing shortages in human capital leverages the supply of existing employees within an organization?

A) developing employees internally
B) contracting work out
C) outsourcing
D) crowdsourcing
E) hiring part-time employees

Question 78

When estimating external supply for human resources, considering information about demographic trends is:

A) useful, because tendencies are usually known years in advance of their impacts
B) not useful, because demographic projections are reactive and unreliable
C) not useful, because information about trends is hard to obtain
D) in violation of the Canadian Human Rights Act
E) legal, but socially unacceptable

Question 79

Which of the following is a method of trend projection forecasting?

A) extrapolation
B) budget analysis
C) nominal group technique
D) the Delphi technique
E) staffing tables

Question 80

__________ is the process of selecting, exploring, analyzing, and modelling data to create better business outcomes.

A) Predictive tactics
B) Proactive planning
C) Predictive planning
D) Proactive analysis
E) Predictive analysis