Question: What key characteristics would you look for

> Think back to your first day of the most recent job you have held. What could the organization have done to hasten your on-boarding and your adjustment to the job?

> Why do organizations so frequently overlook the on-boarding of new employees?

> Outline an evaluation procedure for a training program designed to teach sales principles and strategies.

> How does goal setting affect trainee learning and motivation?

> Would you be able to recognize a sound training program if you saw one? What features would you look for?

> Melissa chooses to accept international assignments her entire career. Over time, it is not clear where her “home” is. How might a local-plus approach to compensation help smooth her international transfers?

> Choose a job you know well. Develop three job-relevant situational interview questions (“What would you do if . . .” or “Tell me about a time when . . .”) to use with applicants for that job.

> Why is emotional intelligence particularly important in service jobs?

> Of the Big Five personality characteristics, what might explain why conscientiousness is the most valid predictor across many types of jobs?

> Your boss asks you to review the current application form that your organization is using. How will you decide which questions to keep, change, or delete?

> There are many possible staffing tools to help forecast later job performance. How do you decide which ones to use?

> As jobs become more team oriented, assessment centers will be used more often for nonmanagement jobs. Do you agree or disagree?

> Discuss the do’s and don’ts of effective reference checking

> How does business strategy affect management selection?

> Why are reliability and validity key considerations for all assessment methods?

> Your boss asks you how she can improve the accuracy of pre-employment interviews. What would you tell her?

> What are some differences between local and cosmopolitan perspectives?

> You have been assigned to manage the recruitment visit of a prospective new hire for your 12-person organization. Develop a checklist of do’s and don’ts to help ensure a successful visit.

> Your boss asks you to develop an employee-referral program for new hires. What might such a program look like?

> Why is organizational culture particularly important in internal recruitment?

> How might social media help in recruiting passive job applicants, those not actively looking for a job?

> You have just lost your middle-management job. Outline a procedure to follow in trying to land a new one.

> Draft a recruitment ad to advertise a job opening at your company. Have a friend critique it, as well as—if possible—a knowledgeable HR professional from a local company. Summarize their suggestions for improvement and incorporate them into a final draft

> Knowing that you have been studying the subject of recruitment, a friend asks you for advice on doing an online job search. What would you say?

> How would you advise a firm that wants to improve its recruitment efforts at universities?

> Discuss the conditions under which realistic job previews are and are not appropriate.

> What special measures might be necessary for a successful diversity-oriented recruitment effort?

> Your boss asks for suggestions about ways to reduce the high rate of attrition among repatriates. What advice would you offer?

> Why is it important to have up-to-date job descriptions?

> Why is it important that job design include all of the following kinds of characteristics: task, physical, knowledge, social, and contextual?

> Discuss the kinds of employee information that managers might find to be particularly useful in a talent inventory.

> The chairperson of the board of directors at your firm asks for advice about SWP. What would you say?

> Why should the output from forecasting models be tempered with the judgment of experienced line managers?

> When is it more cost-effective to “buy” rather than to “make” competent employees?

> Why are forecasts of workforce demand more uncertain than forecasts of workforce supply?

> For purposes of succession planning, what information would you want in order to evaluate “potential”?

> Discuss the similarities and differences between job analysis and competency models.

> How are workforce plans related to business and HR strategies?

> Describe the balance-sheet approach to international compensation.

> Why don’t more fathers take paternity leave, even when their employers offer it?

> You are the CEO of a midsize manufacturing company. You want to be sure that all your supervisors understand the concept of retaliation and that your company is not accused of it. What actions might you take?

> It has been said that diversity only endures when it is baked into the way a company does business every day. As a newly appointed CEO of a cosmetics company, how would you ensure that diversity is “baked in”?

> Describe a management policy designed to promote a culture of cooperation.

> Why is cultivating a diverse workforce an ethical imperative?

> Suppose you were asked to identify key components of a successful diversity-training program. What would you say?

> What are some possible sources of intergenerational friction? How might you deal with those?

> What would be the broad elements of a company policy to emphasize the management of diversity?

> How would you respond to someone who has questions or concerns about diversity?

> Why is there no simple relationship between diversity and business performance?

> In your opinion, what are some key business reasons for emphasizing the effective management of a diverse workforce?

> How might an employer ensure that the term overqualified applicant is not just a code for too old?

> Your boss, the Chief HR Officer, asks for advice on how to avoid charges of age discrimination when conducting a layoff. What would you recommend?

> What are some of the key differences between adverse-impact discrimination and disparate-treatment discrimination?

> To comply with the provisions of the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, what types of reasonable accommodations might an employer make for a pregnant employee?

> Why should efforts to reduce turnover focus only on controllable costs?

> What steps would you take as a manager to ensure fair treatment for older employees?

> Prepare a brief outline of an organizational policy on sexual harassment. Be sure to include complaint, investigation, and enforcement procedures.

> As a manager, what steps can you take to deal with the organizational impact of the Family and Medical Leave Act?

> If you were asked to advise a private employer (with no government contracts) of its equal employment opportunity responsibilities, what would you say?

> Describe the conditions necessary for a geocentric recruitment policy to work effectively.

> As a recruiter, your boss says to you, “Don’t worry about not filling that open position. We’re saving money.” Under what circumstances might it be more costly not to fill an open position?

> If you wanted to quantify the financial effects of collaboration and sharing knowledge in a hospital, how might you proceed?

> How would you answer the question, “Is employee turnover good or bad for an organization?”

> What might be some examples of jobs or business models where increasing (or decreasing) turnover makes sound business sense?

> In making the business case for work–life programs, what points would you emphasize?

> Discuss three controllable and three uncontrollable costs associated with absenteeism.

> Why is management interested in the financial effects of employee attitudes?

> Given the positive financial returns from high-performance work practices, why don’t more firms implement them?

> What are the key elements of the LAMP model? What does each contribute?

> What are the HRM implications of employing nonstandard workers in the “gig” economy?

> What effects might international labor standards have on workers, companies, and consumers?

> Recommend three strategies for protecting employees’ personal information.

> You have been charged with choosing an HRIS. What key factors will you consider?

> How might HRIS affect employees, managers, and HR team members?

> What are the advantages and disadvantages of on-premise versus SAAS HRIS?

> What are some examples of HR risks?

> Identify three types of security procedures that can help to minimize the risk of security breaches.

> Technology alone is not sufficient to ensure a successful implementation of an HRIS. What else is necessary?

> If an organization decides to use biometrics for security reasons, what can it do to protect personal privacy?

> Always-on technology, such as e-mail and smartphones, has promises as well as perils. Discuss alternative strategies for avoiding overwork and burnout.

> Working in small groups, identify characteristics that would make an ADR program fair for both employees and employers.

> Should follow-up be required after rehabilitation? If so, how long should it last and what form should it take?

> What are some arguments for and against each of the following policies: dismissal, demotion, return to the same job following rehabilitation, and return to a different job following rehabilitation?

> Should an employee’s agreement to binding arbitration be a condition of employment or a condition of continuing employment?

> What do you see as some key advantages and disadvantages of ADR programs?

> Will widespread labor–management cooperation lead to a loss of union power?

> Is labor–management cooperation just a short-term solution to economic problems, or can it become institutionalized into the very culture of an organization?

> What are some key obstacles in the way of true cooperation by labor and management?

> What role do benefits play, in your opinion, in attracting and retaining workers? Might that role be different for different generations or for employees at different stages of their careers?

> How might your preference for various benefits change as you grow older or as your family situation changes?

> Describe how technology has changed the ways that you live and work.

> Discuss the special problems that women face in overseas assignments.

> Do you think companies should provide a broader menu of benefits (e.g., child care, veterinary care, financial counseling) or improve the menu of core benefits (e.g., health care, insurance, pensions)? Why?

> Can you suggest alternative strategies for reducing the trust gap?

> What are some of the predictable consequences of a trust gap?

> To many people, a deep-seated sense of unfairness lies at the heart of the trust gap. How might perceptions of unfairness develop?

> What types of safeguards might you suggest to ensure fairness, transparency, and accountability in performance-management systems?

> Are there features of current performance-management systems that are worth keeping?

> It’s one thing to get rid of numerical ratings, but managers still have to decide whom to promote, perhaps whom to let go, the relative sizes of pay raises, and bonuses. Will the new systems help them do those things more effectively?

> What disadvantages or opportunity costs can you identify with this approach?