SPHR Senior Professional in Human Resources MCQ 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which change management model emphasizes creating a sense of urgency as the critical first step in leading organizational transformation?
- Lewin's Unfreeze-Change-Refreeze model
- Kotter's 8-Step Change Model (Correct answer)
- Prosci's ADKAR model
- McKinsey 7-S Framework
Correct answer: Kotter's 8-Step Change Model
Kotter's 8-Step model begins with establishing urgency to motivate action, which he identifies as the most common reason change initiatives fail when neglected.
Question 2: Under ERISA, which standard governs fiduciaries who manage employee benefit plan assets?
- Reasonable person standard
- Prudent expert standard (Correct answer)
- Best efforts standard
- Ordinary care standard
Correct answer: Prudent expert standard
ERISA's prudent expert standard requires fiduciaries to act with the care, skill, prudence, and diligence of a knowledgeable expert in managing plan assets.
Question 3: A company is shifting from individual incentive pay to team-based pay. Which of the following is the GREATEST risk associated with this change?
- Increased administrative complexity in payroll processing
- Free-rider effect where high performers subsidize low performers (Correct answer)
- Reduced line-of-sight between individual effort and reward
- Higher total compensation costs due to group bonuses
Correct answer: Free-rider effect where high performers subsidize low performers
The free-rider problem is the most significant behavioral risk in team pay because top performers may reduce effort if they perceive lower contributors receiving equal rewards.
Question 4: Which selection tool has consistently demonstrated the highest predictive validity for job performance across most job types according to meta-analytic research?
- Unstructured interviews
- Work sample tests combined with cognitive ability tests (Correct answer)
- Personality inventories alone
- Reference checks
Correct answer: Work sample tests combined with cognitive ability tests
Meta-analyses (Schmidt & Hunter, 1998) show that combining work sample tests with cognitive ability tests yields the highest predictive validity for job performance.
Question 5: An HR leader is advising on a proposed non-compete agreement for mid-level employees. Which consideration is MOST legally significant in determining enforceability?
- Whether the employee signed the agreement voluntarily
- Whether the restriction is reasonable in scope, geography, and duration (Correct answer)
- Whether the employer paid a signing bonus at execution
- Whether the agreement was reviewed by the employee's attorney
Correct answer: Whether the restriction is reasonable in scope, geography, and duration
Courts analyze non-competes primarily for reasonableness — overly broad restrictions in time, geography, or scope are routinely struck down or blue-penciled.
Question 6: Which approach to executive compensation BEST aligns CEO incentives with long-term shareholder value creation?
- High base salary with no variable component
- Annual cash bonuses tied to quarterly revenue targets
- Performance share units (PSUs) vesting based on multi-year TSR goals (Correct answer)
- Restricted stock vesting based solely on tenure
Correct answer: Performance share units (PSUs) vesting based on multi-year TSR goals
PSUs tied to multi-year total shareholder return (TSR) create direct alignment between executive pay and sustained stock performance, satisfying shareholders and regulators.
Question 7: The Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures (UGESP) define adverse impact using which of the following tests?
- Chi-square statistical test at the .05 significance level
- The four-fifths (4/5) rule comparing selection rates of protected vs. majority groups (Correct answer)
- The two standard deviation rule applied to applicant flow data
- The disparate treatment test using McDonnell Douglas burden-shifting
Correct answer: The four-fifths (4/5) rule comparing selection rates of protected vs. majority groups
The UGESP's four-fifths rule states that adverse impact is indicated when a protected group's selection rate is less than 80% of the rate for the highest-selected group.
SPHR Senior Professional in Human Resources MCQ 4
Which change management model emphasizes creating a sense of urgency as the critical first step in leading organizational transformation?