Essay Questions
Respond to all three of the following questions. Individual answers should be a minimum of 250 words but not be more than 500 words each.
ESSAY QUESTIONS
Question #1 (25 points)
You have just signed on as the Manager of Human Resources for a large manufacturing company in the Chicago area. Your company manufactures parts to the automotive industry such as air duct assemblies for various models of new vehicles as well as to the secondary market for these same parts. Upon conducting an audit of HR initiatives and trying to understand the challenges you want to tackle, you find that the overall turnover rate for this company is 37%. You have not worked in this specific industry but you feel at first glance that this number is high. Based on this limited information that you have, lay out a strategy for addressing turnover. You should include the following in your answer:
- Is the 37% turnover a cause for concern? How would you go about finding out this information?
- What additional data will you gather to learn more about the turnover in this organization? Remember that your readings discuss different types of turnover and this should be addressed in your answer along with any benefits of turnover.
- Assume that you find that the turnover is problematic. Particularly, you discover that the turnover for non-exempt staff is 42% - well over the total turnover for the organization. Prepare a strategy to suggest to the CEO for addressing this turnover, specifically addressing possible causes of the turnover and solutions related to those causes. You will need to think about many of the concepts we have discussed throughout this course in order to answer this question fully.
Question #2 (25 points)
Discuss the criteria for good cutoff scores as viewed by the courts. You should be able to state clearly what the Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures say about cutoff scores.
Question #3 (50 points)
For this question, assume you are employed as an HR consultant for a mid-sized bank. The bank employs 200 tellers across its branches. Review the details of the teller position as provided on O*Net (http://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/43-3071.00).
Based on this information, the bank decides that the ideal candidate for this position will possess the following factors:
- Have at least a high school EDUCATION (bachelor’s or associate’s degree desirable).
- Have EXPERIENCE as a teller or in a related field (cashier, billing clerk)
- Be able to perform basic MATH SKILLS related to banking (for example, count currency quickly and accurately and balance a cash drawer correctly).
- Be KNOWLEDGEABLE OF VERIFICATION requirements for bank transactions (for example, errors in check and proper identification to authorize transactions).
- Have good INTERPERSONAL SKILLS (for example, speak clearly, make good eye contact and develop rapport easily).
- Be MOTIVATED to work.
PART 1: Identify which selection methods (e.g. resume, interview, test, role play exercise, reference check or personality inventory) you would recommend for each of the six factors listed above. You can use the same selection method more than once if you believe it is appropriate for more than one factor. Below is an example of how you might justify using an application form as an appropriate selection method for education.
- Education – selection method: Application Form
Justification: A question on the application form can ask applicants to describe their education. This selection method makes it easy and inexpensive to obtain this information. - Work Experience – selection method: _____________________________ Justification:
- Math Skills – selection method: ______________________ Justification:
- Verification Knowledge – selection method: ______________________ Justification:
- Interpersonal Skills – selection method: __________________________ Justification:
- Work Motivation – selection method: __________________________ Justification:
Part 2:
The bank collected the following data over the past five years:
Males applied = 200 Females applied = 300
Males hired = 40 Females hired = 45
Based on this information, the selection ratio for men is 20% (40/200), whereas the selection ratio for women is 15% (45/300). Dividing the minority group (women) by the majority group (men) results in an answer of 75% (15%/20%). Since the result is less than 80%, adverse impact exists. The organization needs to explore the selection process to identify what might be the cause of this disparity.
In this part of the question – you will conduct this analysis.
The bank compiled selection data on three racial groups during the past year: Caucasians, African Americans and Latinos. The data is as follows:
Number applied Number hiredCaucasians 90 27
African Americans 50 10
Latinos 40 10
Answer the following:
a. What are the selection ratios for each of the three groups?
b. Does adverse impact exist when you compare the African American applicant pool with the Caucasian applicant pool? Show your work.
c. Does adverse impact exist when you compare the Latino applicant pool with the Caucasian applicant pool? Show your work.