Skills Knowledge Flashcards
7 cards from real Supervisory Test practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Skills Knowledge flashcards as text
A supervisor is reviewing work output and finds error rates increasing over the past month. This is an example of which management function?
Answer: Controlling
Controlling involves monitoring performance against standards and identifying deviations that require corrective action.
What is the MAIN advantage of using situational leadership as a supervisory approach?
Answer: It adapts the supervisor's style to match each employee's competence and commitment level
Situational leadership recognizes that different employees at different developmental stages need different levels of direction and support.
An employee reports feeling harassed by a coworker. As the supervisor, your immediate responsibility is to:
Answer: Take the complaint seriously, document it, and report it to HR promptly
Supervisors have a legal and ethical duty to promptly report harassment complaints to HR to initiate a proper investigation.
Which of the following BEST describes the halo effect in performance appraisals?
Answer: Rating an employee higher in all areas because of one outstanding trait
The halo effect occurs when one positive characteristic causes a rater to give unfairly high scores across all other unrelated performance dimensions.
A supervisor wants to motivate an employee who has mastered their current role and is bored. Which Herzberg motivator would be MOST appropriate?
Answer: Assigning the employee more challenging and meaningful responsibilities
According to Herzberg, true motivators include achievement, recognition, and advancement — not hygiene factors like pay or working conditions.
When must a supervisor maintain strict confidentiality about employee information?
Answer: At all times unless there is a legitimate business or legal need to disclose
Employee information should be treated as confidential and shared only on a need-to-know basis or as required by law.
Which technique helps a supervisor ensure accurate understanding when receiving important verbal instructions from upper management?
Answer: Paraphrasing the instructions back to confirm understanding
Paraphrasing restates what was heard in your own words, giving the speaker an opportunity to correct any misunderstanding immediately.