A start-up technology company is growing rapidly, and senior leadership would like the company to be publicly traded in the near future. The company regularly exceeds its financial goals, but outside analysts express concerns about the inconsistent practices and procedures within the company. The company values innovation, and very little attention is paid to documenting or standardizing work processes. This provides employees with a great deal of freedom to experiment in their roles, but it also leads to confusion about individual assignments and areas of responsibility. In preparation for a public offering, the company's leadership asks the HR director to gather information on best work practices in every functional area and create the required documentation.
Many team managers do not believe that documentation is necessary and they do not want to spend time creating it. How can the HR director convince them that this initiative is worthwhile?

• A. Present case studies to the managers that describe how other organizations have successfully implemented similar initiatives.
• B. Distribute a memo to managers informing them that senior leadership would like them to participate in the process of developing documentation.
• C. Schedule a group meeting with all managers to answer their questions about why documenting work practices is necessary.
• D. Send out a companywide memo explaining that having work practices and standards documented will lead to less work for employees in the future.

The president of a large company is planning to retire soon. The president has been with the company for 40 years, the longest tenure of any employee in the company, and has been president for the last 10 years. In addition to replacing its top leader, the company is also in the midst of conducting strategic planning for the next three years. The HR director has been placed in charge of overseeing the selection and transition process for the new president and has organized a search committee consisting of external board members. The search committee has identified three internal candidates for the position and must move forward with the process of selecting one to be president.
The candidates for the position are all engineers with limited experience in business management. What is the best indicator that the candidates will be able to succeed in the position despite a lack of business background?

• A. Scoring highly on a competency-based managerial assessment of business skills
• B. Consistently high ratings by colleagues on interpersonal skills
• C. Demonstrated success in making sound business decisions in recent positions
• D. Commitment to pursue an executive master's of business administration soon after assuming the position

A small organization recently hired a new CEO with a strong marketing background. The CEO establishes a new sales approach focused on expanding business opportunities through the creation of new products, which will be marketed and sold by the sales force. The CEO believes her effectiveness is impaired by having too many direct reports. The CEO meets with the CFO and HR director. They decide to reduce the CEO's number of direct reports to those most relevant to the CEO's vision for the organization. The remaining employees are reassigned to the CFO who already oversees a team of three. This change allows the CEO to more effectively focus on the vision HR releases a memo informing employees of the change in reporting structure.
The CEO learns that the change in reporting structure has resulted in disappointment for the employees who are no longer direct reports and asks the HR director for advice. What action should the HR director advise the CEO to take?

• A. Meet individually with employees affected by the new reporting structure.
• B. Ask the CFO to explain the benefits of the new reporting structure to the new team.
• C. Send an organizationwide email that highlights the CEO's vision.
• D. Ask the CFO to explain how the new reporting structure benefits the organization in a companywide meeting.

To meet eligibility for Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)-protected leave, an employee and employer must meet specified criteri a. Which criterion is NOT an FMLA qualifier?

• A. The employer must employ at least 50 employees within a 75-mile radius.
• B. The employee must give the employer at least 30 days, notice of an upcoming leave.
• C. The employee must have worked at least 1250 hours in the past 12 months.
• D. The employee must have worked for the employer for at least 12 months.