SPHR Talent Planning and Acquisition 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: An organization is experiencing high voluntary turnover among high-potential employees within their first two years. Which talent planning strategy best addresses this root cause?
- Increase base compensation across all levels
- Implement structured onboarding and early career development programs (Correct answer)
- Expand the external recruiting pipeline
- Redesign the performance appraisal cycle
Correct answer: Implement structured onboarding and early career development programs
Structured onboarding and early career development programs directly address early attrition by accelerating integration, engagement, and growth for high-potential employees.
Question 2: Which workforce planning metric best quantifies the efficiency of an organization's recruiting function?
- Offer acceptance rate
- Cost per hire (Correct answer)
- Time to productivity
- Retention rate at 90 days
Correct answer: Cost per hire
Cost per hire measures total recruiting expenditures divided by number of hires, directly quantifying recruiting function efficiency.
Question 3: A company operating in a tight labor market decides to build talent rather than buy it. Which practice best supports this strategy?
- Increasing signing bonuses for external hires
- Developing robust internal mobility and upskilling programs (Correct answer)
- Expanding job board advertising spend
- Partnering with executive search firms
Correct answer: Developing robust internal mobility and upskilling programs
Internal mobility and upskilling programs develop existing employees into needed roles, directly executing a build-over-buy talent strategy.
Question 4: Under the EEOC's Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures, adverse impact is typically indicated when the selection rate for a protected group is less than what fraction of the highest-selected group's rate?
- Two-thirds (67%)
- Three-quarters (75%)
- Four-fifths (80%) (Correct answer)
- Nine-tenths (90%)
Correct answer: Four-fifths (80%)
The four-fifths (80%) rule is the EEOC standard: adverse impact exists when a protected group's selection rate is less than 80% of the rate for the highest-selected group.
Question 5: Which sourcing strategy is most effective for filling highly specialized technical roles with passive candidates?
- Posting on general job boards like Indeed
- Conducting targeted Boolean searches on professional networks (Correct answer)
- Relying solely on employee referral programs
- Attending local career fairs
Correct answer: Conducting targeted Boolean searches on professional networks
Boolean searches on professional networks like LinkedIn allow recruiters to precisely identify and engage passive candidates with niche technical skills.
Question 6: A strategic workforce plan identifies a future surplus of mid-level managers due to a planned restructuring. Which action is the most strategic long-term response?
- Immediately lay off all surplus managers
- Implement a voluntary early retirement incentive program
- Freeze all promotions company-wide
- Redirect surplus managers into revenue-generating roles through reskilling (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Redirect surplus managers into revenue-generating roles through reskilling
Reskilling surplus managers into revenue-generating roles retains institutional knowledge while realigning human capital to organizational needs.
Question 7: What is the primary legal risk of using social media profiles as a screening tool during the pre-offer stage of recruiting?
- Violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act
- Exposure to claims of discrimination based on protected characteristics visible in profiles (Correct answer)
- Breach of the candidate's employment contract
- Violation of the National Labor Relations Act
Correct answer: Exposure to claims of discrimination based on protected characteristics visible in profiles
Social media profiles often reveal protected characteristics (race, religion, age, etc.) that, if used in screening decisions, can expose employers to discrimination claims.
SPHR Talent Planning and Acquisition 2
An organization is experiencing high voluntary turnover among high-potential employees within their first two years.
Which talent planning strategy best addresses this root cause?