HR Analytics 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which metric best measures the effectiveness of a company's recruiting funnel?
- Offer acceptance rate
- Time to fill
- Cost per hire
- Applicant-to-hire ratio (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Applicant-to-hire ratio
Applicant-to-hire ratio tracks how many applicants are needed to produce one hire, directly reflecting funnel efficiency.
Question 2: An HR analyst notices turnover is highest among employees with 12–18 months of tenure. What does this pattern most likely indicate?
- Poor compensation benchmarking
- Weak onboarding and early engagement (Correct answer)
- Ineffective performance management
- Inadequate benefits packages
Correct answer: Weak onboarding and early engagement
Turnover peaking at 12–18 months typically signals that early engagement and onboarding programs fail to build long-term commitment.
Question 3: Which statistical method is most appropriate for identifying which job factors predict employee performance ratings?
- Chi-square test
- Multiple linear regression (Correct answer)
- Descriptive statistics
- Cohort analysis
Correct answer: Multiple linear regression
Multiple linear regression quantifies the relationship between several predictor variables and a continuous outcome like performance ratings.
Question 4: What does a high 'regrettable turnover' rate indicate for an organization?
- Too many involuntary separations
- High-performing employees are leaving voluntarily (Correct answer)
- Turnover is concentrated in low-value roles
- Exit interview participation is low
Correct answer: High-performing employees are leaving voluntarily
Regrettable turnover specifically tracks the departure of high performers whose loss significantly impacts organizational capability.
Question 5: In HR analytics, what is a 'cohort analysis' primarily used for?
- Benchmarking salaries against the market
- Tracking a group of employees hired at the same time over a period (Correct answer)
- Predicting future headcount needs
- Identifying pay equity gaps across genders
Correct answer: Tracking a group of employees hired at the same time over a period
Cohort analysis groups employees by a shared characteristic (like hire date) and tracks their outcomes over time to reveal trends.
Question 6: Which of the following is an example of a leading indicator in workforce analytics?
- Last quarter's voluntary turnover rate
- Current employee engagement score (Correct answer)
- Year-end performance distribution
- Annual absenteeism total
Correct answer: Current employee engagement score
Engagement scores are leading indicators because they predict future outcomes like turnover before those outcomes actually occur.
Question 7: When calculating 'cost per hire,' which of the following should be included?
- Only external recruiter fees
- Only job board advertising costs
- Internal and external recruiting costs plus onboarding expenses (Correct answer)
- Only the new hire's first-month salary
Correct answer: Internal and external recruiting costs plus onboarding expenses
SHRM's cost-per-hire formula includes all internal costs (recruiter time, HR admin) plus external costs (ads, agency fees) divided by total hires.
HR Analytics 2
Which metric best measures the effectiveness of a company's recruiting funnel?