SHRM Employee Relations & Engagement 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: An organization is experiencing high conflict between two work teams. Which HR intervention is most appropriate as a first step?
- Immediately reorganize both teams
- Conduct separate listening sessions to understand each team's perspective (Correct answer)
- Discipline the managers of both teams
- Implement a team-building retreat without prior assessment
Correct answer: Conduct separate listening sessions to understand each team's perspective
Gathering information through separate listening sessions helps HR understand the root causes of the conflict before selecting an appropriate intervention.
Question 2: What is the primary legal risk of maintaining inconsistent disciplinary practices across different employee groups?
- Increased overtime costs
- Claims of disparate treatment discrimination under Title VII or similar statutes (Correct answer)
- Higher workers' compensation premiums
- Reduced ability to implement performance improvement plans
Correct answer: Claims of disparate treatment discrimination under Title VII or similar statutes
Applying discipline differently based on protected characteristics (race, gender, etc.) can constitute disparate treatment discrimination, exposing the organization to legal liability.
Question 3: Which element is most essential when designing an employee pulse survey to ensure actionable results?
- Keeping all questions open-ended for maximum detail
- Committing in advance to share results and take visible action (Correct answer)
- Surveying every employee daily to capture real-time data
- Ensuring survey anonymity is not guaranteed to increase candor
Correct answer: Committing in advance to share results and take visible action
Employees lose trust in surveys when nothing changes afterward; committing to share results and act on them drives participation and meaningful change.
Question 4: Under WARN Act provisions, how much advance notice must employers with 100+ employees provide before a mass layoff?
- 30 days
- 60 days (Correct answer)
- 90 days
- 120 days
Correct answer: 60 days
The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act requires covered employers to provide 60 calendar days of advance notice before a qualifying mass layoff or plant closing.
Question 5: A newly promoted manager is struggling with their team's morale. Which HR approach best addresses this situation long term?
- Replace the manager immediately
- Provide targeted coaching and leadership development for the manager (Correct answer)
- Survey the team anonymously and share results with the manager without follow-up
- Increase the team's compensation to offset poor morale
Correct answer: Provide targeted coaching and leadership development for the manager
Investing in the manager's leadership skills through coaching addresses the root cause and builds sustainable team performance.
Question 6: What distinguishes employee involvement from employee engagement?
- Involvement is a long-term emotional commitment; engagement is task participation
- Involvement refers to participation in decisions and processes; engagement is an emotional and motivational state (Correct answer)
- They are interchangeable terms in HR practice
- Engagement is legally required; involvement is voluntary
Correct answer: Involvement refers to participation in decisions and processes; engagement is an emotional and motivational state
Employee involvement describes structural mechanisms (committees, task forces) while engagement describes the psychological connection employees feel toward their work and organization.
Question 7: Which scenario most clearly illustrates constructive discharge?
- An employee resigns after receiving a promotion
- An employer deliberately makes working conditions intolerable to force an employee to quit (Correct answer)
- An employee is laid off due to a reduction in force
- A manager assigns extra work to a high performer
Correct answer: An employer deliberately makes working conditions intolerable to force an employee to quit
Constructive discharge occurs when an employer intentionally creates unbearable working conditions that effectively compel an employee to resign, which courts treat as an involuntary termination.
SHRM Employee Relations & Engagement 4
An organization is experiencing high conflict between two work teams.
Which HR intervention is most appropriate as a first step?