Human Resource Management, 14e, Global Edition (Dessler)
Chapter 5 Personnel Planning and Recruiting
1) What is the first step in the recruitment and selection process?
A) performing initial screening interviews
B) building a pool of candidates
C) performing candidate background checks
D) deciding what positions to fill
2) Which of the following terms refers to the background investigations, tests, and physical
exams that firms use to identify viable candidates for a job?
A) selection tools
B) job analysis methods
C) personnel techniques
D) forecasting tools
3) ________ is the process of deciding what positions the firm will have to fill and how to fill
them.
A) Recruitment
B) Selection
C) Job analysis
D) Workforce planning
4) Marcus, an HR manager for Samsung, must decide what positions the firm should fill in the
next six months, which means Marcus is currently working on ________.
A) screening job candidates
B) personnel planning
C) interviewing job candidates
D) writing job descriptions
5) The process of deciding how to fill executive positions at a firm is known as ________.
A) internal recruiting
B) succession planning
C) long-term forecasting
D) advanced interviewing
6) A firm’s ________ should guide employment planning and determine the types of skills and
competencies the firm needs.
A) job analysis
B) organization chart
C) marketing plan
D) strategic business plan
7) Succession planning requires making forecasts of three elements:________, develop inside
candidates, assess and choose those who will fill the key position.
A) identify key needs
B) job specifications
C) global trends
D) labor relations
8) Which of the following terms refers to studying a firm’s past employment needs over a period
of years to predict future needs?
A) ratio analysis
B) trend analysis
C) graphical analysis
D) computer analysis
9) A trend analysis is limited in its usefulness because it ________.
A) overlooks the passage of time in regards to staffing
B) addresses only the financial impact of employment changes
C) assumes constant increases in worker productivity
D) overlooks changes in workforce demographics
10) Which of the following determines future staff needs by using ratios between a causal factor
and the number of employees required?
A) ratio analysis
B) forecasting ratio
C) personnel ratio
D) ratio matrix
11) Newton Building Supplies hopes to generate an extra $4 million in sales next year. A
salesperson traditionally generates $800,000 in sales each year. Using ratio analysis, how many
new salespeople should Newton hire?
A) 2
B) 5
C) 10
D) 20
12) When using either a trend analysis or a ratio analysis, it is assumed that ________ will
remain the same.
A) staffing levels
B) currency rates
C) productivity levels
D) recruitment plans
13) A ________ is a graphical method used to help identify the relationship between two
variables.
A) trend analysis
B) ratio analysis
C) scatter plot
D) productivity chart
14) Which of the following is most frequently used by retailers to estimate short-term personnel
needs?
A) recruiting yield pyramids
B) position replacement cards
C) personnel replacement charts
D) computerized forecasting programs
15) Which of the following contains data regarding employees’ education, career development,
and special skills and is used by managers when selecting inside candidates for promotion?
A) computerized forecasting tools
B) qualifications inventories
C) trend records
D) scatter plots
16) When managers need to determine which employees are available for promotion or transfer,
they will most likely use ________.
A) scatter plots
B) skills inventories
C) estimated sales trends
D) personnel forecasts
17) Which of the following refers to company records showing present performance and
promotability of inside candidates for a firm’s top positions?
A) yield pyramids
B) trend analysis charts
C) succession planning tools
D) personnel replacement charts
18) Qualifications inventories can be tracked and maintained by using all of the following
EXCEPT a ________.
A) ratio analysis matrix
B) personnel replacement chart
C) position replacement card
D) skills inventory software
19) Which of the following enhances the security of a firm’s database management system by
specifying the type of information that a user can obtain?
A) search engine
B) access matrix
C) main server
D) intranet
20) What mathematical process do employers use to forecast availability of internal job
candidates that shows the probabilities of feeder positions in a chain will be filled?
A) trend analysis
B) access analysis
C) Markov analysis
D) workforce analysis
21) Marie Boyd has been hired by Barnum Hotels to manage staffing for the regional hotel
chain. Barnum intends to open two new hotels within the next three years and will have many
job positions to fill. Historically, employee turnover is high at Barnum as employees remain with
the company for one or two years before quitting. Marie realizes that Barnum needs to make
significant changes in its personnel strategy in order to meet the company’s goals for the future
and improve employee retention rates.
Which of the following, if true, best supports the argument that a scatter plot is the most
appropriate tool for Marie to use in estimating future personnel needs?
A) Productivity levels for Barnum employees typically vary from month to month.
B) The size of the two new Barnum hotels will be similar to the chain’s other hotels.
C) Barnum requires HR to maintain qualifications inventories for all current employees.
D) Personnel replacement charts serve as useful tools when filling Barnum’s managerial
positions.
22) Marie Boyd has been hired by Barnum Hotels to manage staffing for the regional hotel
chain. Barnum intends to open two new hotels within the next three years and will have many
job positions to fill. Historically, employee turnover is high at Barnum as employees remain with
the company for one or two years before quitting. Marie realizes that Barnum needs to make
significant changes in its personnel strategy in order to meet the company’s goals for the future
and improve employee retention rates.
Which of the following, if true, best supports the argument that Marie should implement a
computerized skills inventory database?
A) Barnum offers its employees the opportunities to participate in job rotation and job expansion
experiences.
B) Barnum’s recruiting yield pyramid indicates that the firm should generate 1,000 leads in order
to fill 100 positions.
C) Barnum executives would like to transfer the firm’s most qualified employees to the new
hotels to fill supervisory positions.
D) HR managers at Barnum frequently receive discrimination complaints that must be
investigated by the EEOC.
23) Marie Boyd has been hired by Barnum Hotels to manage staffing for the regional hotel
chain. Barnum intends to open two new hotels within the next three years and will have many
job positions to fill. Historically, employee turnover is high at Barnum as employees remain with
the company for one or two years before quitting. Marie realizes that Barnum needs to make
significant changes in its personnel strategy in order to meet the company’s goals for the future
and improve employee retention rates.
Which of the following, if true, best supports Marie’s plan to centralize Barnum’s recruitment
efforts?
A) Online screening tests are given to all Barnum recruits to assess skills and future potential.
B) Barnum’s high turnover rate is most likely due to inadequate training requirements.
C) Barnum enforces a strict policy about hiring employees’ family members.
D) Barnum has 20 separate local recruiting Web sites.
24) Finding or attracting applicants for an employer’s open positions is known as ________.
A) succession planning
B) employee recruiting
C) personnel planning
D) job posting
25) Recruiting is necessary to ________.
A) determine whether to use inside or outside candidates
B) forecast the short-term supply of outside candidates
C) create positive word-of-mouth about a firm
D) develop an applicant pool
26) A ________ is used to calculate the number of applicants a firm must generate to hire the
required number of new employees.
A) trend analysis
B) ratio analysis
C) recruiting yield pyramid
D) scatter plot
27) A recruiting yield pyramid is the historical arithmetic relationship between all of the
following EXCEPT ________.
A) internal and external candidates
B) offers made and offers accepted
C) recruitment leads and invitees
D) interviews and offers made
28) Which of the following is the primary disadvantage of using internal sources of candidates to
fill vacant positions in a firm?
A) lack of knowledge regarding a candidate’s strengths
B) potential to lose employees who aren’t promoted
C) questionable commitment of candidates to the firm
D) significant training and orientation requirements
29) All of the following are characteristics of a job posting EXCEPT ________.
A) listing the job’s attributes
B) providing the job’s pay rate
C) publicizing the open job to employees
D) indicating the preferred number of applicants
30) Marie Boyd has been hired by Barnum Hotels to manage staffing for the regional hotel
chain. Barnum intends to open two new hotels within the next three years and will have many
job positions to fill. Historically, employee turnover is high at Barnum as employees remain with
the company for one or two years before quitting. Marie realizes that Barnum needs to make
significant changes in its personnel strategy in order to meet the company’s goals for the future
and improve employee retention rates.
Which of the following, if true, most likely undermines Marie’s decision to fill top positions with
inside candidates?
A) Barnum needs to head in a different direction with innovative ideas if it is to remain
competitive with other hotel chains.
B) Many current Barnum employees have indicated they are loyal to the firm by rejecting offers
to work at competing hotels.
C) Training new employees about the practices and procedures at Barnum is costly in regards to
both time and money.
D) The influence of local labor unions and EEO legislation is blamed for the high turnover rate
among Barnum employees.
31) Marie Boyd has been hired by Barnum Hotels to manage staffing for the regional hotel
chain. Barnum intends to open two new hotels within the next three years and will have many
job positions to fill. Historically, employee turnover is high at Barnum as employees remain with
the company for one or two years before quitting. Marie realizes that Barnum needs to make
significant changes in its personnel strategy in order to meet the company’s goals for the future
and improve employee retention rates.
All of the following questions are relevant to Marie’s decision to fill top positions at the new
hotels with internal candidates EXCEPT ________.
A) What are the key managerial positions that are available at the new hotels?
B) What percentage of employers in the service industry use succession planning?
C) What skills, education, and training have been provided to potential candidates?
D) What is the designated procedure for assessing and selecting potential candidates?
32) The ongoing process of systematically identifying, assessing, and developing organizational
leadership to enhance performance is known as ________.
A) employee mentoring
B) succession planning
C) work sampling
D) employee recruiting
33) What is the first step in succession planning?
A) creating an applicant pool
B) identifying and analyzing key needs
C) selecting who will fill key positions
D) developing the strengths of current employees
34) All of the following are methods used by firms to develop high-potential candidates for
future positions EXCEPT ________.
A) providing internal training
B) implementing job rotation
C) offering global assignments
D) developing skills inventories
35) Which of the following is NOT a tool used by firms to recruit outside candidates?
A) newspaper advertising
B) intranet job postings
C) employment agencies
D) online job boards
36) What is the primary purpose of an applicant tracking system?
A) sorting resumes based on an applicant’s years of work experience
B) generating advertisements for attracting and gathering applicants
C) assisting employers in attracting, screening, and managing applicants
D) assisting recruiters with locating internal applicants for key positions
37) Which of the following factors plays the greatest role in determining the best medium for a
job advertisement?
A) skills needed for the job
B) job compensation and salary
C) time allowed to fill the position
D) graphics used in the advertisement
38) When constructing a job advertisement, all of the following are aspects of the AIDA guide
EXCEPT ________.
A) attracting attention to the ad
B) implying long-term benefits
C) prompting applicant action
D) developing interest in the job
39) The ________ run by the U.S. Department of Labor enables public employment agency
counselors to advise applicants about local and national job openings.
A) U.S. Career Center
B) National Job Bank
C) National Employment Agency
D) Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
40) Counselors in state-run employment agencies conduct all of the following activities
EXCEPT ________.
A) reviewing employer job requirements
B) filing employer tax reports
C) visiting employer work sites
D) writing job descriptions
41) Which of the following is typically responsible for paying the fees charged by a private
employment agency when an applicant is placed in a job?
A) employers
B) employees
C) state employment commissions
D) independent recruiters
42) An employer will most likely use a private employment agency in order to ________.
A) receive assistance writing job ads
B) adhere to federal hiring practices
C) fill a specific job opening quickly
D) spend more time recruiting applicants
43) Which of the following is the primary disadvantage for employers who use private
employment agencies to fill positions?
A) White-collar applicants are difficult to attract.
B) Applicant screening may not be thorough.
C) Applicant processing time is too lengthy.
D) Application procedures are complicated.