Deck 9: Talent, Careers, and Development

Question 1

Gerald is confused as to why his 26-year-old daughter is changing jobs for the third time since graduating from college five years ago. His daughter tells him that she has learned everything she can from her current job and that she wants to explore other jobs. She also tells him that she wants a job that pays more and provides better benefits than her current job. In the context of typical career phases, Gerald's daughter is in the stage of her career where most people's needs and concerns are _____.

A) to identify interests and acquire capabilities
B) to deal with lifestyle preferences and limitations
C) to achieve personal integrity and incorporate their values into their work life
D) to establish a political power base within their organization

Answer 1

A

Question 2

In the context of organization-centered career planning, an organization's website should:

A) seldom be used for career assessment and instruction.
B) focus exclusively on conveying the organization's mission to the external world.
C) be seen as a link to existing employee development.
D) exclude the careers section to avoid recruitment.

Answer 2

C

Question 3

In the context of the common mistakes made during succession planning, the provisions of the _____ require boards to increase the priority of CEO succession.

A) Apportionment Act
B) Sarbanes-Oxley Act
C) Financial Administration Act
D) Civil Rights Act

Answer 3

B

Question 4

In the context of career plateaus, lateral transfers can be beneficial if _____.

A) they promote ethnocentrism among plateaued employees
B) employees learn new skills that increase individual marketability
C) they enable experienced employees to reach the establishment stage of their career
D) employees decide to quit or retire early

Question 5

Allison is assessing and creating a list of her interests, personality characteristics, skills, and values to determine the type of occupation that is likely to bring her success and satisfaction. Allison is most likely _____.

A) compiling her career profile
B) completing a weighted application blank
C) developing an epigraph
D) completing an inquiry letter

Question 6

Long-term succession planning in an organization should _____.

A) focus exclusively on high-turnover jobs in the organization
B) include mid-level and lower-level managers and key nonmanagerial employees
C) focus on finding potential replacements for all jobs in the organization
D) only allow the CEO to direct the planning and make all succession decisions

Question 7

The first step in the process of succession planning is to _____.

A) assess the talent available in an organization
B) evaluate the necessity of employee development practices
C) define key positions critical to an organization's strategy
D) ensure that top managers are personally involved in coaching other employees

Question 8

Which of the following statements is true of career progression considerations?

A) Modern careers are cyclical in that individuals experience periods of high stability followed by transition periods of lower stability.
B) External scorecards take precedence over internal values and accomplishments as a person matures and progresses into the later phases of his or her career.
C) The typical career for individuals today includes fewer positions, transitions, and organizations than in the past.
D) Employees today are less mobile and organizations are more stable as long-term employers than in the past.

Question 9

Individual-centered career planning primarily focuses on _____.

A) the logical progression of people between jobs in an organization
B) planning career ladders
C) succession planning for key positions
D) a person's responsibility for a career

Question 10

Which of the following statements is true of career plateaus?

A) Plateaued employees are poor candidates for job rotation because they have reached the highest level for which they are suitable in their organizations.
B) Career plateaus are a sign that valuable resources are not being used appropriately.
C) Career plateaus are more likely to occur in the early career phase of a typical career than in the late career phase.
D) An employee who defines career success in terms of upward mobility is likely to have low morale on reaching a career plateau.

Question 11

Thirty-five-year-old Cho considers upward progression in an organization as a sign of career success. She has been in her current role for the last three years. Her application for a managerial role has been rejected three times, nor has she been offered any new roles. As a result, Cho believes that she has reached a phase of stagnation and is less satisfied with her job. In this scenario, Cho has most likely reached _____.

A) a career plateau
B) the establishment stage of her career
C) a glass cliff
D) the end of her career

Question 12

A(n) _____ is a series of work-related positions a person occupies throughout life.

A) career
B) job ladder
C) profession
D) occupation

Question 13

Carmelo is currently the Editor in Chief of the Business Department of a national news magazine. He initially joined the company as a staff reporter and then was promoted to technology reporter, to Assistant Editor of the Business Department, and finally to Deputy Managing Editor before achieving his current position. This scenario _____.

A) is an example of a nontraditional career path
B) exemplifies organization-centered career planning
C) demonstrates the cyclical nature of careers
D) is an example of a series of career transitions

Question 14

Which of the following statements is true of integrated talent management (ITM)?

A) It focuses on performance management rather than career management.
B) It focuses on acquiring better talent rather than training and developing the current workforce.
C) Adopting an ITM perspective allows companies to create talent management practices that enable encapsulated development.
D) Companies that adopt an ITM perspective create processes that reinforce and support each other.

Question 15

Which of the following is a tool that helps people determine preferences among vocational occupations?

A) The Apley grind test
B) The Ballard Maturational Assessment
C) The Apgar test
D) The Holland Interest Inventory test

Question 16

Which of the following is a common mistake made by organizations during succession planning?

A) Including the boards of directors and HR in the process of CEO succession
B) Focusing on other employees apart from the top management executives
C) Allowing the CEO to direct the planning process
D) Looking externally as well as internally for succession candidates

Question 17

Carla, a 52-year-old software engineer, has been laid off twice in her life, once because of downsizing and once because of the acquisition of her organization by a rival company. She has now hit a career plateau after working with her current employer for five years. Carla is frustrated; each time she has changed jobs, she has adapted and acquired more skills and expanded her knowledge base. Which of the following patterns best describes Carla's career progression?

A) A linear progression interrupted by transitions
B) A cycle of stability and instability
C) A series of successive plateaus
D) A self-reflective spiral

Question 18

The HR Department of Total Utilities has an automated talent management system. This system helps the company create and manage individual career paths for all employees and design career-advancing programs based on employee potential and needs. The department also organizes career workshops and counseling sessions to help employees identify their strengths and interests. All of these aspects provide the employees of Total Utilities with a logical progression between jobs in the company. This scenario most likely exemplifies _____.

A) individual-centered career development
B) organization-centered career planning
C) a career plateau
D) training and development outsourcing

Question 19

A career plateau is most likely to occur when:

A) an employee starts learning new skills.
B) organizations allow employees to use the strategy of job sequencing.
C) an employee opts for phased retirement.
D) opportunities to move up in an organization decrease.

Question 20

Identify a true statement about succession planning.

A) It discourages the practice of making status-blind employment decisions.
B) Looking both internally and externally for potential candidates should be avoided during succession planning.
C) Long-term succession planning should exclusively include the CEO and top-level executives.
D) It provides career opportunities and plans for individuals, which helps retention and performance.

Question 21

In the context of development needs analyses, which of the following statements is true of assessment centers?

A) They typically require an individual to spend seven or eight days away from his or her job performing many assessment activities.
B) They tend to discriminate against minority individuals.
C) They are expensive considering that most psychological traits such as leadership and initiative can be accurately assessed by tests alone.
D) They offer the advantage of helping identify employees with potential in large organizations.

Question 22

Paul recently graduated from college and joined an information technology firm. When he starts work, Paul is taken aback by the differences between college life and professional life. He is dissatisfied with his unsupportive supervisor and is concerned about the lack of frequent feedback and the uncertainty of the logistical aspects of solving work problems. This scenario best exemplifies _____.

A) entry shock
B) ethnocentrism
C) a cyclical career
D) a premature career plateau

Question 23

Which of the following statements is true of the glass ceiling?

A) It was pronounced among the Baby Boomers but is no longer a major problem affecting women's careers.
B) It allows women to strike a balance between their personal lives and their careers.
C) It results from the belief of women that they cannot handle managerial roles effectively.
D) It has resulted in very few corporate officer positions being held by women in the United States.

Question 24

In general, women's career advancement is negatively affected by _____.

A) global development
B) the glass ceiling
C) the butterfly effect
D) dual-career ladders

Question 25

Plateaued employees may be a problem for an organization because _____.

A) they are typically poor performers who did not get promoted
B) they typically define career success in terms of lateral mobility
C) they tend to have higher compensation than is justified by their contribution to the organization
D) they can affect morale if they become negative

Question 26

Marcie and Andrew are married. They are both professional employees at the City Zoological Park. Marcie is an exotic-animal veterinarian specializing in big cats, while Andrew is a designer of animal exhibits. The HR Director of a zoo in a different city wants to hire Marcie as Chief of Veterinary Medicine of the zoo. Given this scenario, which of the following actions should the HR Director most likely take to ensure that Marcie accepts the job offer?

A) Ensuring that the glass ceiling is encouraged in the new organization to make Marcie's transition smooth
B) Giving Andrew an inducement of a job equivalent to his current one so that he and Marcie will consider the relocation
C) Creating a dual-career ladder in order to give Marcie more incentive to accept the job
D) Meeting with Andrew and discussing the concept of encapsulated development

Question 27

In the context of talent development approaches, outdoor experiential activities as a development tool for individuals in teams _____.

A) are designed exclusively to promote ethnocentrism among the team members
B) can create a sense of teamwork via the shared risks and challenges outside the office environment
C) are increasing in popularity because of the absence of any disadvantages associated with these activities
D) give individuals opportunities to focus solely on their jobs

Question 28

In the context of talent development approaches, which of the following is true of classroom courses?

A) The effectiveness of classroom instruction is independent of the instructor's styles and subject matter.
B) The lecture system used in classroom instruction encourages active listening.
C) The lecture system sometimes used in classroom instruction reduces learner participation.
D) The effectiveness of classroom instruction is independent of the size of the group of trainees.

Question 29

Josh is 32 years old. After graduating with a bachelor's degree, he worked for a financial organization for seven years and received three promotions during that period. Recently, he was fired by his employer; he is now working part-time as a bartender while training as an X-ray technician. Josh is experiencing _____.

A) a career plateau
B) the effects of the glass ceiling
C) the effects of career sequencing
D) a career transition

Question 30

To reward talented technical people who do not want to move into management, many companies have established _____.

A) corporate universities for technical development
B) spiral matrices
C) dual-career ladders
D) compressed workweeks

Question 31

Which of the following statements is true of job sequencing?

A) It is the primary cause of career plateaus.
B) It involves women stepping off their career tracks to raise their children.
C) It gives technical professionals a chance to advance in their organization without moving into management.
D) It is a form of job rotation where employees move from one major organizational function to another.

Question 32

In the context of individual career challenges, one concern that women who sequence have is that _____.

A) they will be viewed as being task-oriented and assertive
B) they will have to move into managerial roles
C) the time away will negatively impact their contextual performance when they return
D) the job market will be unwelcoming to them when they return

Question 33

The high turnover rate of nursing staff is a major concern at Briar Mountain Regional Medical Center. Many experienced nurses resist moving into management despite having adequate managerial skills and being offered managerial opportunities, but exit interviews indicate that many of the best nurses leave Briar Mountain because they feel they cannot advance in the organization. Which of the following steps would be the most efficient in reducing the turnover of the nursing staff?

A) Hiring nurses who are in the late phase of their careers, where advancement is less of a concern to them
B) Offering to pay tuition for nurses who wish to enroll in MBA programs so that they are qualified to take up managerial positions
C) Implementing a dual-career ladder for the nursing staff
D) Encouraging encapsulated development of the nurses

Question 34

In the context of talent development approaches, one of the underlying foundations of coaching is _____.

A) self-promotion
B) trust
C) employee evaluation
D) job rotation

Question 35

In the context of the careers of women, which of the following statements is true?

A) Women hold about one-fourth of managerial or professional positions but 50 to 75 percent of corporate officer
Positions in the United States.
B) Employers can tap into the female labor market by offering child care assistance and flexible work policies.
C) The glass ceiling allows women to efficiently strike a balance between their personal lives and careers.
D) Job sequencing has proven to be a successful career tactic for women wishing to combine work and family because its impact on career advancement is nonexistent.

Question 36

Which of the following is an impact of development on an individual's career?

A) The individual's abilities to handle a variety of assignments are likely to improve.
B) The individual's focus is likely to be exclusively on learning specific behaviors that promote ethnocentrism.
C) The individual's marketability in the industry is likely to be reduced because of employer-specific specialization.
D) The individual's ability to learn specific behaviors is likely to be compromised.

Question 37

In the context of talent development approaches, which of the following statements is true of a sabbatical offered by an organization?

A) A sabbatical has a negative impact on employees' morale.
B) Employees tend to refuse sabbaticals because they fear the time off gives their managers a way to prove they are unimportant.
C) The nature of the learning experience of an employee during a sabbatical generally falls outside the organization's control.
D) The Fair Labor Standards Act limits the length of a sabbatical to two months.

Question 38

Which of the following statements is true of the development of human resources?

A) In the development process, individuals' careers are unlikely to evolve and shift to different focuses.
B) Development focuses on the short-term performance of an employee.
C) An effective measure of development is a cost-benefit analysis.
D) Development involves efforts to cultivate employees' capabilities beyond those required by their current job.

Question 39

When opportunities for promotion in an organization are scarce, a good way to keep employees motivated and develop their talents is _____.

A) job enlargement through ethnocentric practices
B) to encourage them to engage in the glass ceiling practice
C) to give them a sabbatical or leave of absence
D) job rotation through lateral transfers

Question 40

Nelson, the HR Director of a large organization, is concerned about the lack of a large internal pool of talent for middle and upper management jobs. He feels there may be employees with high management potential in lower-level jobs who have not been identified and selected for development. To most accurately identify such employees, Nelson should:

A) ask employees in middle management to supervise their managers for one fiscal quarter.
B) review the performance appraisals of employees in upper management.
C) ask all the employees in middle management to take extensive psychological tests.
D) establish an assessment center that allows employees to nominate themselves.

Question 41

Succession planning efforts should result in the identification of potential emergency replacements for critical positions and other successors who will be ready with some additional development.

Question 42

The nature of a business and the environment in which it operates have a bearing on the strategies used for talent management.

Question 43

The idea that human capital can be a source of competitive advantage for organizations is gaining ground.

Question 44

Succession planning should be done for all key jobs in an organization.

Question 45

Which of the following is a common problem with management development efforts?

A) Using modeling and coaching as training delivery methods
B) Avoiding encapsulated development of employees
C) Substituting training for selecting qualified individuals
D) Failing to promote ethnocentrism as part of management training

Question 46

Which of the following is true about management mentoring?

A) Female executives are reluctant to serve as mentors either to other women or to men because they themselves received little help.
B) Company mentoring programs that focus specifically on women and individuals of minority racial and ethnic backgrounds have been successful in some large firms.
C) Mentors and their protégés break up soon after the protégé reaches the cultivation stage of the mentoring relationship.
D) Mentors provide challenging work, coaching, visibility, protection, and sponsorship to their protégés in the redefinition stage of the mentoring relationship.

Question 47

As companies become larger, the benefits of formal succession planning become fewer.

Question 48

The term _____ refers to a relationship in which experienced managers in a company aid individuals in the earlier stages of their careers.

A) sponsorship
B) career prospecting
C) management mentoring
D) speed networking

Question 49

In the context of leadership development, which of the following is true of modeling?

A) The modeling process is limited to straightforward imitation or copying.
B) Exposure to both positive and negative models can benefit a new manager as part of leadership development efforts.
C) Modeling differs from coaching in that it complements the natural way humans learn.
D) It is the least used method of helping individuals transition successfully into supervisory and leadership roles.

Question 50

In the context of the Nine-Box Talent Grid, the term current star refers to a moderate performer with moderate potential.

Question 51

Clarence is the Assistant Vice President of Quality Control for a medical equipment manufacturing firm. The management of the firm has given Clarence paid leave of three months to boost his morale. As a result, Clarence is currently teaching science in a high school in Haiti. At the end of the school semester, he will resume his job duties with his employer. Clarence is most likely _____.

A) in phased retirement
B) in mandatory retirement
C) rotating through a non-core function
D) on a sabbatical

Question 52

The Nine-Box Talent Grid is impractical for jobs that tend to be complex.

Question 53

It is best for an organization to limit its intensive talent management efforts to its high-potential employees to avoid resentment among other employees.

Question 54

The last stage in a successful management mentoring relationship is _____.

A) initiation
B) cultivation
C) redefinition
D) separation

Question 55

Davidson was recently promoted to the position of Manager of the IT Department of his company. Because of Davidson's lack of prior experience in a management role, the management of the company appointed a consultant to help Davidson improve his interpersonal skills and to provide effective decision-making strategies that Davidson could use to resolve conflicts within his team. In this scenario, Davidson's consultant can be best described as a(n) _____.

A) expatriate
B) leadership coach
C) boomerang employee
D) arbitrator

Question 56

Artificial intelligence has the ability to help with talent development activities in companies.

Question 57

Tuition reimbursement programs can encourage employees to _____.

A) study for advanced degrees outside of their regular work schedule
B) quit working to return to college
C) take a paid sabbatical
D) teach at a local high school or college

Question 58

Kelly spent four days at a training program centered on the use of improved hygiene procedures to reduce infections in long-term care facilities. When she returned to work after the training, Kelly wanted to implement the new practices in her work unit. However, she was unable to do so because of resistance from the nursing staff and the lack of interest of the medical director. As a result, Kelly was not able to use her learning on the job. This scenario exemplifies _____.

A) translation failure
B) nontransference of training
C) encapsulated development
D) cultural inertia

Question 59

Senior managers and executives are often hired from outside a firm because _____.

A) it takes time to develop leaders internally
B) it results in tunnel vision from an emphasis on organization-based intelligence
C) hiring externally presents a lower risk than developing internally
D) buying talent is less expensive than developing talent

Question 60

Assuming that all high-potential individuals crave challenge and opportunity can lead to superior results.

Question 61

One purpose of employee development is to help employees improve skills that they might not be able to improve through their ordinary life experiences.

Question 62

Job loss as a career transition has been most associated with downsizing, mergers, and acquisitions.

Question 63

Representative of the general pattern of career and life periods is the idea that careers are not predictably linear but cyclical.

Question 64

Anne's supervisor is enthusiastic about introducing outdoor training to her organization. Anne is concerned that it may not be appropriate because of the physical nature of the training and the hazards involved. A number of Anne's subordinates are over 50 and some are physically challenged. Anne's concerns are realistic.

Question 65

Encapsulated development occurs when a single work unit in an organization is used to pilot-test new training programs.

Question 66

In an effort to decrease turnover and increase management development capabilities, organizations are using specialized education for executives.

Question 67

By the time men and women have been out of school for six years, on average, women have worked much more time than men.

Question 68

When an HR manager does career planning for a high-potential employee who has a spouse with a professional occupation, it would be a good idea to consult with both the employee and the spouse.

Question 69

Psychological testing is appropriate only when the testing and feedback processes are administered by a qualified professional.

Question 70

The glass ceiling refers to the situation in which women rapidly progress into top and senior management positions.

Question 71

In the context of individual career challenges, both employees and companies often find relocation undesirable because of personal hardships such as leaving a support system and finding suitable work for a trailing spouse.

Question 72

Although most career paths are thought of as leading upward, good opportunities also exist in cross-functional or horizontal directions.

Question 73

Phased retirement is simplified by pension laws, which often provide employees who are receiving a pension with the flexibility to work for any number of hours.

Question 74

Rotating workers to other departments is a way to deal with career plateaus.

Question 75

A disadvantage of job rotation is that it can be expensive because a substantial amount of time is required to acquaint trainees with the different people and techniques in each new work assignment.

Question 76

The modeling process of leadership development is limited to straightforward imitation and copying.

Question 77

Compared with the past, today employees are less mobile and organizations are more stable as long-term employers.

Question 78

Job sequencing allows women to step off the career track for family considerations without having a negative impact on their careers.

Question 79

Organization-centered career planning requires an individual employee to take charge of his or her career and chart a path of advancement through his or her organization.

Question 80

During the late career phase, an employee is typically concerned with external rewards and acquiring capabilities.