HR Case Studies & Practical Application 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A company is migrating from a legacy HRIS to a cloud-based platform mid-year. Payroll data for 500 employees must transfer without gaps. What is the MOST critical first step?
- Launch the new system immediately to reduce downtime
- Conduct a data audit and cleanse records before migration (Correct answer)
- Train all HR staff on the new platform before any data moves
- Notify employees of the change via company-wide email
Correct answer: Conduct a data audit and cleanse records before migration
Data auditing and cleansing ensures accurate, complete records transfer to the new system, preventing payroll errors.
Question 2: An HR manager notices that the ATS (Applicant Tracking System) is flagging qualified minority candidates as 'low match' due to keyword filtering. What should be done first?
- Disable the ATS and revert to manual screening
- Audit the algorithm for bias and adjust screening criteria (Correct answer)
- Increase the keyword list to include more terms
- Report the issue to the EEOC immediately
Correct answer: Audit the algorithm for bias and adjust screening criteria
Auditing and adjusting the algorithm addresses the root cause of discriminatory filtering while maintaining system utility.
Question 3: After implementing a new performance management software, managers report that employees are gaming self-assessments to inflate scores. What is the best corrective action?
- Remove self-assessment functionality from the software
- Add manager override controls and calibration workflows (Correct answer)
- Switch to a different performance management platform
- Mandate that all ratings be approved by the CEO
Correct answer: Add manager override controls and calibration workflows
Calibration workflows and manager overrides maintain assessment integrity while preserving the self-evaluation feature.
Question 4: A company deploys an AI-driven compensation benchmarking tool that recommends pay cuts for certain roles. What should HR do before acting on these recommendations?
- Implement the cuts immediately to align with market data
- Validate AI recommendations against multiple external salary surveys (Correct answer)
- Discard the AI tool and revert to manual benchmarking
- Present cuts to employees as final decisions
Correct answer: Validate AI recommendations against multiple external salary surveys
Cross-validating AI recommendations with multiple data sources ensures accuracy and reduces liability from automated errors.
Question 5: An organization's LMS (Learning Management System) shows 90% course completion rates, but post-training performance metrics haven't improved. What does this most likely indicate?
- The LMS data is inaccurate and needs recalibration
- Course content is not effectively translating to on-the-job skills (Correct answer)
- Employees are disengaged and need additional incentives
- The performance metrics are measuring the wrong outcomes
Correct answer: Course content is not effectively translating to on-the-job skills
High completion without performance improvement signals a content relevance or transfer-of-learning problem, not a participation issue.
Question 6: During open enrollment, an HRIS self-service portal crashes, leaving 200 employees unable to select benefits by the deadline. What is the immediate HR response?
- Extend the deadline and notify affected employees with an alternative submission method (Correct answer)
- Process only the enrollments that were completed before the crash
- Cancel open enrollment and maintain prior year elections for all employees
- Blame the IT vendor and take no further action until the system is restored
Correct answer: Extend the deadline and notify affected employees with an alternative submission method
Extending the deadline and providing an alternative ensures all employees can exercise their benefits rights despite technical failure.
Question 7: A workforce analytics dashboard shows a spike in turnover among high performers in one department. Which action should HR take first?
- Immediately increase salaries for all employees in that department
- Conduct stay interviews and exit data analysis to identify root causes (Correct answer)
- Transfer underperformers out of the department to improve morale
- Hire replacement candidates before the departures occur
Correct answer: Conduct stay interviews and exit data analysis to identify root causes
Diagnosing root causes through stay interviews and exit data allows targeted interventions rather than expensive blanket solutions.
HR Case Studies & Practical Application 2
A company is migrating from a legacy HRIS to a cloud-based platform mid-year.
Payroll data for 500 employees must transfer without gaps.
What is the MOST critical first step?