A multinational manufacturing firm recently experienced a series of product line defects and supply chain shortages. At the request of the chief operating officer (COO), the firm hires a new VP of operations who worked for the COO at another company for many years. The VP is well known for achieving results quickly and efficiently. During a conference call with the COO and all operations managers, the new VP begins making angry remarks toward the managers because the VP believes they are not responding quickly to questions about the recent problems. When the managers speak the VP responds by criticizing them and speaking with a loud aggressive tone of voice. The COO advises the VP to focus on identifying the root cause of the problem rather than criticizing the managers. In response, the VP accuses the COO of being too lenient on the managers during a period of crisis that requires quick and deliberate action. After the meeting, the managers send a formal letter to the firm's regional HR director describing the VP's behavior and requesting an immediate response.
The regional HR director discovers that the VP's onboarding process was shortened because the firm needed the VP to oversee multiple high-visibility initiatives. What should the regional HR director do to ensure the VP understands the business impact of the company's leadership and culture standards?
A rapidly growing technology start-up company with 200 employees forms a new team to handle recruitment for the company that is independent of the HR team. The recruitment team does not have any specific guidelines for hiring. The HR director wants to establish guidelines to prevent the theft of intellectual property and insists that the recruitment team begin conducting background checks to verify applicants' criminal histones. The recruitment director feels that background checks create unnecessary delays and that the multiple interviews used to make selection decisions serve the same purpose as a background check.
Considering the company's rapid growth and desire to avoid any intellectual property theft, what would have been an effective way to structure the recruiting function to avoid the present difficulties?
A firm is experiencing an increase in behaviors that violate its code of ethics. Which recommendation should the VP of HR take first to reduce these incidents?
A global company plans to expand into two new international markets next year. Which is the first step the chief human resource officer should take to determine what training the new workforce will need for successful expansion?
A rapidly growing company in a competitive labor market has been paying above-market wages. To better align base salaries to the market median, the company is considering a change. Which plan helps keep the firm above the current market?
An HR director is preparing to meet with the company president because one of the top executives has been accused of gross misconduct. Which is the best recommendation the HR director can give the president to ensure a complete and credible investigation process?
Which item should the HR director review when tasked with quickly identifying if the organization is meeting its mission?
A small company in the energy industry has a policy that states that employees who work overtime hours will be compensated with leave rather than with cash. Due to the nature of the industry, overtime work is common for employees who work in departments within the company’s core areas of operations. Employees throughout the company have been unhappy with this policy for many years, but have remained willing to work overtime hours when asked. However, managers are becoming increasingly reluctant to approve the leave that employees have earned because it leads to staffing shortages. As a result, more and more employees are refusing to work overtime hours. Senior leaders ask the company's HR business partner (HRBP) to investigate the problem further and to provide a solution. Senior leaders accept a recommendation from the HRBP to amend the current overtime policy to provide overtime pay to employees in the core areas of operations. Because they work so little overtime no change is recommended for employees in the administrative areas.
Senior leaders are concerned that the new policy will provide an opportunity for employees to abuse the system in order to earn more pay. What should the HRBP do?