SHRM Analysis 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which SHRM competency directly supports an HR professional's ability to interpret people analytics dashboards?
- Relationship Management
- Critical Evaluation (Correct answer)
- Ethical Practice
- Communication
Correct answer: Critical Evaluation
Critical Evaluation is the SHRM competency focused on collecting, analyzing, and interpreting data to make evidence-based HR decisions.
Question 2: An organization wants to identify high-potential employees using data. Which combination of data sources provides the most comprehensive picture?
- Performance ratings alone
- Performance ratings, 360-degree feedback, and learning agility assessments (Correct answer)
- Tenure and salary history
- Manager nominations only
Correct answer: Performance ratings, 360-degree feedback, and learning agility assessments
Combining performance ratings, multi-rater feedback, and learning agility assessments captures past results, interpersonal effectiveness, and future growth potential.
Question 3: What is the primary risk of using historical hiring data to train a predictive hiring algorithm?
- The model will be too slow to process large applicant pools
- Historical biases in hiring decisions may be encoded and amplified by the algorithm (Correct answer)
- The model cannot account for external labor market changes
- Algorithms require more data than most companies collect
Correct answer: Historical biases in hiring decisions may be encoded and amplified by the algorithm
If past hiring decisions reflected bias, training an algorithm on that data perpetuates and can amplify those biases at scale.
Question 4: A benefits utilization analysis reveals that only 18% of employees use the EAP. What should HR analyze next to determine if this is a problem?
- Whether the EAP vendor charges per utilization
- Benchmark EAP utilization rates and employee awareness levels (Correct answer)
- The cost per benefit plan compared to competitors
- The ratio of full-time to part-time employees
Correct answer: Benchmark EAP utilization rates and employee awareness levels
Comparing against industry benchmarks and assessing awareness reveals whether low utilization reflects a communication gap or a design problem rather than low need.
Question 5: Which of the following best describes 'predictive validity' in the context of employee selection?
- The degree to which a test measures what it claims to measure
- The correlation between pre-hire assessment scores and later job performance (Correct answer)
- The consistency of test scores when administered multiple times
- The extent to which a test covers all relevant job duties
Correct answer: The correlation between pre-hire assessment scores and later job performance
Predictive validity measures how well a pre-employment assessment score predicts actual on-the-job performance after hiring.
Question 6: An HR analyst is asked to report on diversity trends. Which visualization best shows changes in representation across demographic groups over three years?
- Pie chart for the most recent year
- Stacked bar chart comparing each year side by side (Correct answer)
- Single-value KPI card
- Scatter plot of salary vs. tenure
Correct answer: Stacked bar chart comparing each year side by side
A stacked bar chart with one bar per year allows direct comparison of group proportions across multiple time periods.
Question 7: When conducting a compensation equity analysis, which statistical test is most appropriate for comparing average pay between two demographic groups while controlling for job level?
- Chi-square test
- Multiple regression analysis (Correct answer)
- Simple correlation
- T-test without covariates
Correct answer: Multiple regression analysis
Multiple regression controls for legitimate pay factors (job level, tenure, performance) so any remaining group pay gap reflects potential inequity.
SHRM Analysis 3
Which SHRM competency directly supports an HR professional's ability to interpret people analytics dashboards?