Workforce Planning
A business has no vacancies, but only 2 of its 8 critical roles have a ready successor. Calculate succession coverage and explain why zero vacancies does not mean that the workforce plan is secure.
25% (2 / 8 × 100). Six critical roles lack ready successors.
A vacancy attracts 400 applications, but only 20 applicants meet the essential job criteria. The criteria accurately reflect the job and screening is accurate. Is the main problem recruitment or selection? Give ONE corrective action.
Recruitment. Clarify essential criteria in the advert or target a more relevant channel.
A panel gives a candidate high scores for teamwork, accuracy and customer handling because the candidate attended a prestigious university. It has collected no evidence for those competencies. Name the main bias and ONE safeguard.
Halo effect. Score each competency using job-related evidence and a common rubric.
An employee learns this month's new payroll software. The same employee also enters a two-year programme of cross-department rotations to prepare for an operations-manager role. Classify each intervention and explain the distinction.
Software: training for today's job. Rotations: development for future management roles.
An employee meets agreed standards for eleven months. One documented mistake in the final week dominates the annual rating, while the earlier records are ignored. Name the main rater error and ONE practical safeguard.
Recency bias. Use documented evidence from the entire appraisal period.
Last year, 200 employees produced 48,000 units. Next year, demand is 60,000 units and verified productivity will rise to 300 units per employee. Assume no departures and the same skill mix. How many employees are needed, and by how many would the old productivity ratio overestimate demand?
200 employees (60,000 / 300). The old ratio predicts 250: an overestimate of 50.
HR fills a team-leader vacancy by promoting its only experienced payroll specialist. Management records the move as one vacancy eliminated and no further action needed. What staffing consequence is missing, and what should the plan include?
Payroll loses essential expertise. Arrange replacement coverage and a handover.
A candidate says: 'Our team faced an angry client. I was responsible for the account. We worked hard, and the client was happy.' Write TWO follow-up questions that obtain the missing evidence about personal action and results.
'What did you personally do?' 'What changed, and what evidence confirms the result?'
Service agents pass a complaint-handling simulation. System logs show that refund approval is automatically blocked for 48 hours, although customers are promised a response within 24 hours. A manager requests another communication course. What should HR investigate or change first, and why?
Address the refund-approval workflow first. The delay reflects a system barrier.
Two managers disagree about what 'excellent customer handling' means on a 1–5 scale. Which appraisal method would make the rating levels more explicit? Give ONE observable behavioural anchor for a level on that scale.
BARS. Example: 'Resolves routine complaints at first contact and records the agreed action.'
Five managers must estimate skills needed for a new service with little historical data. Junior managers are reluctant to disagree with the director. Which forecasting technique addresses this problem, and which TWO design features make it suitable?
Delphi: anonymous independent estimates, repeated rounds and anonymised feedback.
Channel A generates 120 applications, 18 shortlisted candidates and 3 hires at a total cost of 12,000 MDL. Channel B generates 50 applications, 15 shortlisted candidates and 5 hires at 15,000 MDL. Calculate each channel's shortlisting yield and cost per hire. Which is better on BOTH measures?
A: 15% yield, 4,000 MDL/hire. B: 30% yield, 3,000 MDL/hire. B wins on both.
Three shortlisted finance assistants have similar qualifications. Their job will involve identifying invoice errors and reconciling payment records. Choose ONE selection method, describe its task and explain how you would make candidate results comparable.
Work sample: reconcile the same invoice/payment dataset under equivalent conditions, using a pre-set rubric.
Participants rate a course 4.8/5, and average knowledge-test scores rise from 60% to 90%. No workplace observations have been collected. Which TWO Kirkpatrick levels have evidence, and give ONE appropriate measure for the next level.
Levels 1 Reaction and 2 Learning. Level 3: observe the percentage applying the procedure correctly at work.
Employees believe they can meet their targets and strongly value the advertised bonus. Yet top performers receive no bonus because managers reward personal favourites. In Vroom's expectancy theory, which link is damaged, and what management change addresses it?
Instrumentality. Apply transparent, consistent rewards linked to documented performance.
A department will need 150 employees. It currently has 120. For this exercise, expected departures equal 15% of those 120 employees. Eight additional employees are confirmed transfers into the department and are not included in current headcount. How many external hires are required? Show the available supply first.
Supply = 120 − 18 + 8 = 110. External hires = 150 − 110 = 40.
A company needs 6 new starters. Historically, 25% of applicants are shortlisted, 40% of shortlisted applicants receive offers, and 75% of offer recipients actually start. Assume these sequential conversion rates remain stable. How many applications are needed in expectation, and why is this not a guaranteed minimum?
80 applications: 6 / (0.25 × 0.40 × 0.75). Conversion rates vary, so six starters are not guaranteed.
A panel asks every candidate the same questions and uses the same rubric. However, the chair announces a score first, and the other members copy it without recording evidence. Identify the remaining problem and specify TWO procedural changes.
Conformity to the chair. Score independently first, then discuss documented evidence against the rubric.
Use priority = (required level − current level) × importance × risk. Programme A: required 4, current 2, importance 4, risk 3. Programme B: required 5, current 3.5, importance 5, risk 4. Calculate both priorities. Which ranks first under this model, and why is choosing the largest gap alone misleading?
A = 2 × 4 × 3 = 24; B = 1.5 × 5 × 4 = 30. B wins: greater importance and risk outweigh its smaller gap.
Every employee in a team meets the agreed performance standards. A forced distribution still labels the bottom 10% 'poor performers'. Does being in that bottom group prove absolute underperformance? Explain and propose a more defensible basis for appraisal.
No. Relative ranking does not establish failure against standards. Use agreed KPIs and behavioural evidence.
There are 40 junior and 10 senior specialists. Over one year, 70% of juniors stay junior, 20% become senior and 10% leave. Of current seniors, 80% stay and 20% leave. Apply each transition once. Next year requires 20 seniors. Calculate expected senior supply and the remaining gap. Is this supply guaranteed?
Expected seniors = 40 × 20% + 10 × 80% = 16. Gap = 4. Estimates, not guarantees.
An advert promises fixed daytime shifts. In reality, frequent night shifts are mandatory. Of 20 new starters, 8 leave within six weeks because of this mismatch. Calculate six-week retention. Give TWO corrective actions: one before candidates accept and one concerning actual working arrangements or employer promises.
60% retention. Disclose actual shifts before acceptance; align schedules with employer promises.
Weights are work sample 50%, interview 30% and availability 20%, all scored 1–5. An essential, pre-announced job requirement is availability of at least 3/5. A scores 5, 4, 2. B scores 4, 4, 4. Calculate both totals and decide whom to select under these rules. All other essential requirements are met.
A = 4.10/5; B = 4.00/5. Select B: A fails the minimum availability requirement.
Training costs 30,000 MDL directly. Twenty employees attend for 6 hours at 100 MDL per employee-hour of opportunity cost. Annual gross benefits are estimated at 100,000 MDL, but only 30% are attributed to training. Calculate total cost and training ROI. Does that ROI alone prove that employees learned nothing?
Cost = 30,000 + 12,000 = 42,000 MDL. ROI = (30,000 − 42,000) / 42,000 × 100 = −28.6%. Negative ROI does not prove failed learning.
Output has target 100, actual 150 and weight 60%. Errors have target 3, actual 6 and weight 40%; lower is better. Cap each KPI achievement at 120%. The competency score is 4/5. Final score weights are 70% KPI and 30% competency. Calculate the final score. Ratings: at least 90 = Very good; 75 to below 90 = Good.
Output 120%; errors 50%. KPI = 0.60 × 120 + 0.40 × 50 = 92%; competency 80%. Final = 0.70 × 92 + 0.30 × 80 = 88.4%: Good.