Harrison Assessment Tests Harrison Assessment Retention 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which Harrison Assessment concept explains why two employees with identical job performance scores may have very different retention probabilities?
- Behavioral paradox scoring
- Enjoyment-performance divergence (Correct answer)
- Cognitive fit calibration
- Task complexity indexing
Correct answer: Enjoyment-performance divergence
Enjoyment-performance divergence captures that one employee may enjoy the work while the other merely performs it under pressure, making the latter far more likely to leave.
Question 2: In the context of Harrison Assessments, 'role suitability' influences retention because it measures:
- How closely a person's education matches job requirements
- The alignment between a person's behavioral preferences and the job's behavioral demands (Correct answer)
- Whether an employee's salary is competitive in the market
- An employee's physical endurance for the role
Correct answer: The alignment between a person's behavioral preferences and the job's behavioral demands
Role suitability in Harrison's framework is a behavioral alignment score; higher alignment reduces daily friction and increases the likelihood an employee stays.
Question 3: A Harrison retention report flags an employee as 'green' on task eligibility but 'red' on task enjoyment. What should the HR manager conclude?
- The employee is both capable and motivated — no action needed
- The employee can do the job but dislikes it, creating a near-term turnover risk (Correct answer)
- The employee lacks the skills needed for the role
- The employee should be promoted to a more challenging position
Correct answer: The employee can do the job but dislikes it, creating a near-term turnover risk
Green eligibility means the employee can perform, but red enjoyment signals dissatisfaction — a combination Harrison's research links directly to voluntary exit.
Question 4: Harrison Assessment data shows that employees who scored high on 'self-motivation' but are placed in heavily supervised roles tend to:
- Thrive because structure improves their output
- Show higher-than-average retention due to job security
- Experience lower engagement and elevated turnover intent (Correct answer)
- Perform better but require more training
Correct answer: Experience lower engagement and elevated turnover intent
Self-motivated individuals placed in micromanaged environments face a direct conflict between their behavioral preferences and the job's demands, reducing engagement and tenure.
Question 5: Which of the following best describes how Harrison Assessments use 'paradox pairs' to assess retention risk?
- They identify traits that seem contradictory but must coexist for peak retention (Correct answer)
- They flag employees whose scores contradict their manager's ratings
- They compare pre-hire scores with post-hire behavioral observations
- They detect when employees score opposite extremes on unrelated traits
Correct answer: They identify traits that seem contradictory but must coexist for peak retention
Paradox pairs in Harrison's model identify that retaining certain behavioral extremes (e.g., very high frankness with very low diplomacy) can create interpersonal friction that drives attrition.
Question 6: When Harrison's Retention Suitability Index (RSI) score is low, the recommended organizational response is to:
- Terminate the employee immediately to reduce costs
- Conduct a stay interview and explore role modification or career pathing (Correct answer)
- Increase the employee's workload to improve engagement
- Reassign the employee to a newly created role without further assessment
Correct answer: Conduct a stay interview and explore role modification or career pathing
A low RSI signals elevated flight risk, and the evidence-based response is a stay interview to diagnose misalignment before the employee decides to leave.
Question 7: According to Harrison Assessment principles, which organizational factor most amplifies the impact of a poor role-fit score on actual turnover?
- High team diversity
- Limited internal mobility opportunities (Correct answer)
- Generous benefits packages
- Frequent performance reviews
Correct answer: Limited internal mobility opportunities
When employees have poor role fit but no internal mobility options, they have no path to improvement within the organization and are more likely to leave.
Which Harrison Assessment concept explains why two employees with identical job performance scores may have very different retention probabilities?