Compensation & Benefits (6)

Front 1

The roots of both job analysis and job evaluation can be traced to ____.

Back 1

Frederick Taylor

Front 2

Routine work is also termed ____.

Back 2

transactional work

Front 3

In today's organizations, in order to increase competitiveness and success work is analyzed by separating transactional work from:

Back 3

core work.

Front 4

Person-based pay systems are best suited for all of the following except:

Back 4

transactional work.

Front 5

The main advantage of skill-based pay plans is:

Back 5

they aid in matching workers to the work flow.

Front 6

Skill-based pay applications is most common in:

Back 6

manufacturing.

Front 7

The certification process in skill-based pay is analogous to _____ in a job-based analysis.

Back 7

factor degrees and weights

Front 8

Compensable factors, skill blocks, and competency sets are all for the purpose of:

Back 8

determining what to value.

Front 9

Skill blocks are to job evaluation as _____ is to factor degrees and weights.

Back 9

certification process

Front 10

_____ are to behavioral descriptors as skill analysis is to the certification process.

Back 10

Core competencies

Front 11

In a multi-skill system, pay increases come with:

Back 11

certification of new skills.

Front 12

Which of the following is least likely to be used as a skill-based certification method?

Back 12

College degree

Front 13

Information such as quality course, shop floor control, tool setup and plant first aid are examples information that might be used to develop a _____ pay structure.

Back 13

skill-based

Front 14

_____ is the most important factor affecting perception of fairness of a skill-based plan.

Back 14

The design of the certification process

Front 15

A "camper" is a person who _____ in a skill-based pay system.

Back 15

is an employee who does not want to rotate jobs

Front 16

The most important factor determining success of a skill-based pay plan is:

Back 16

how well it aligns with the organization strategy.

Front 17

Skill-based plans tend to work best in organizations using a(n) _____ strategy.

Back 17

cost-cutter

Front 18

_________ are the observable behaviors that indicate the level of a competency.

Back 18

Competency indicators

Front 19

_____ translate each core competency into action.

Back 19

Competency sets

Front 20

In analyzing a firm's competencies under "impact and influence", what are "direct persuasion", "multiple attempts to persuade", and "multiple actions to influence"?

Back 20

Competency indicators

Front 21

The growing view of competencies is they are a set of ____.

Back 21

behaviors requiring no assumptions

Front 22

Skill-based is to transactional work as competencies are to _____ work.

Back 22

tacit knowledge

Front 23

The process of identifying competencies resembles identifying _____ as part of job evaluation.

Back 23

compensable factors

Front 24

Which of the following is the most important attribute of competency-based structure in a global work environment?

Back 24

Common basis for communication

Front 25

Which are the two reasons that make competencies a risky foundation for a pay system?

Back 25

Vagueness and subjectivity

Front 26

The scheme used in the text for classifying competencies consists of three groups. Which of the following is not one of them?

Back 26

Team dynamics

Front 27

Leadership, customer orientation and functional expertise are examples of which group of competencies?

Back 27

Organization specific

Front 28

Competencies are derived from the _____ beliefs about the organization and its strategic intent.

Back 28

executive leadership's

Front 29

Research shows the reliability among rankings of jobs by different people is:

Back 29

85-96

Front 30

Reliability of job evaluations may be measured by:

Back 30

determining if different evaluators produce similar results.

Front 31

Which of the following is not a method for determining validity of job evaluation?

Back 31

Asking the question: "What does the evaluation measure?"

Front 32

An inappropriate way to assess the acceptability of a job evaluation plan and its resulting job structure is to:

Back 32

examine the number of job offers not accepted.

Front 33

Which of the following is not a method used to apply the job-evaluation plan in a bias-free manner?

Back 33

Include legal advisors while developing a plan.

Front 34

Which of the following regarding skill-based pay is false?

Back 34

Training costs are low.

Front 35

A study of 400 compensation specialists found that:

Back 35

market data have a larger effect than job evaluation data.

Front 36

Which of the following is a source of gender bias in job evaluation?

Back 36

Compensable factors related to job content

Front 37

Likely disadvantages of person-based pay plans compared to job-based include all of the following except:

Back 37

a less flexible workforce.

Front 38

Managers whose employers use _____ plans focus on placing the right people in the right job.

Back 38

job-based

Front 39

A _____ approach controls costs by paying only as much as the work performed is worth, regardless of any greater skills the employee may possess.

Back 39

job-based

Front 40

Which of the following regarding skill-based pay is false?

Back 40

Training costs are low.

Front 41

Transactional work is typically paid more than tacit work.

Back 41

False

Front 42

Complex work is likely best supported by person-based pay systems.

Back 42

True

Front 43

The majority of skilled-based pay applications are found in hospitals and R & D organizations where teamwork is essential.

Back 43

False

Front 44

Skill-based pay plans can focus on both depth of work and breadth.

Back 44

True

Front 45

Paying employees who are frequently moved from one job to another each day is less complex in a job-based pay than a person-based structure.

Back 45

False

Front 46

One of the main advantages of a skill-based plan is that it facilitates matching people to a changing work flow.

Back 46

True

Front 47

By encouraging employees to take charge of their own development, skill-based plans may give them more control over their work lives.

Back 47

True

Front 48

Research shows that fewer supervisors are required when skill-based plans are used.

Back 48

True

Front 49

Competency-based plans have the potential to clarify new standards and behavioral expectations.

Back 49

True

Front 50

There is far greater uniformity in the use of terms in person-based plans than there is in job-based plans.

Back 50

False

Front 51

Managerial and supervisory analysis provide the data for skill-based pay systems.

Back 51

False

Front 52

Compared to an on-demand review of certifications, scheduling fixed review points makes it easier to budget and control payroll increases.

Back 52

True

Front 53

Skill-based plans are generally well accepted by employees because it is easy to see the connection between the plan, the work, and the size of the paycheck.

Back 53

True

Front 54

A potential disadvantage of skill-based pay is labor costs can be a source of competitive disadvantage.

Back 54

True

Front 55

Skill-based plans become increasingly economical as the majority of employees become certified at the highest pay levels.

Back 55

False

Front 56

Scaled competency indicators are similar to degrees of compensable factors.

Back 56

True

Front 57

The process of identifying compensable factors is similar to the process used to identify compensable factors.

Back 57

True

Front 58

Skill-based pay is used for the same types of jobs as competencies.

Back 58

False

Front 59

As experience with competencies has grown, organizations are placing greater emphasis on business-related descriptions of behaviors.

Back 59

True

Front 60

The main appeal of competencies is the direct link to the organization's strategy.

Back 60

True

Front 61

Advocates of competencies say that by focusing on optimum performance rather than average performance, competencies can help employees maintain their marketability.

Back 61

True

Front 62

Competencies provide guidelines for behavior and keep people focused.

Back 62

True

Front 63

Basing pay on race or gender seems appalling today, but basing pay on someone's judgment of another person's integrity is considered the norm nowadays.

Back 63

False

Front 64

In the judgment of the text authors, basing pay on judgments of competencies is not good practice.

Back 64

True

Front 65

Customer orientation is an example of a visionary competency.

Back 65

False

Front 66

Maturity of judgment and respect for others are examples of organization specific competencies.

Back 66

False

Front 67

Since competencies are based upon each organization's mission statement or strategy, core competencies are unique for each company.

Back 67

False

Front 68

Person-based plans often fail to account for whether or not an individual is using a particular skill on a particular day.

Back 68

True

Front 69

In virtually all the studies on job evaluation, job-based evaluation is treated as a measurement device.

Back 69

True

Front 70

Research on person-based pay systems has focused on the reliability and validity of the systems.

Back 70

False

Front 71

Reliability of job evaluations can be improved by using evaluators who are neutral third parties or by employing consumer evaluation committees.

Back 71

False

Front 72

Validity refers to the degree to which the evaluation assesses the relative worth of jobs to the organization.

Back 72

True

Front 73

One approach to both improving and measuring the level of acceptance of job evaluation is to establish a formal appeals process.

Back 73

True

Front 74

Recent research shows that use of on-line job evaluation by independent managers is more reliable than traditional job evaluation committees.

Back 74

False

Front 75

The text argues validity should be expanded to include impact on pay decisions.

Back 75

True

Front 76

Defining the compensable factors and scales to include the content of jobs held predominantly by women is one of the methods to ensure that job evaluation plans are bias-free.

Back 76

False

Front 77

How do modern organizations analyze work processes?

Back 77

In today's organizations, the work is also analyzed with an eye toward increasing competitiveness and success. Routine work (transactional work) is separated from more complex work (tacit work). The more routine work generates lower revenues and requires less knowledge. Once fragmented, work processes can be rebundled into new, different jobs. Pay structures based on each person's skills/knowledge/experience offer flexibility to align talent with continuously redesigned workplaces.

Front 78

Briefly discuss skill-based plans.

Back 78

The majority of applications of skill-based pay have been in manufacturing, where the work often involves teams, multiskills, and flexibility. Skill plans can focus on depth and/or breadth. An advantage of a skill-based plan is that people can be deployed in a way that better matches the flow of work, thus avoiding bottlenecks as well as idle hands.

Front 79

What is the relevance of certification in a multiskill system?

Back 79

Employees in a multiskill system earn pay increases by acquiring new knowledge, but the knowledge is specific to a range of related jobs. Pay increases come with certification of new skills, rather than with job assignments. Employees can then be assigned to any of the jobs for which they are certified, based on the flow of work.

Front 80

What are the objectives that may be used to assess a skill-based pay plan?

Back 80

Skill-based structures can be evaluated using the following objectives: supports the organization strategy, supports work flow, is fair to employees, and directs their behavior toward organization objectives.

Front 81

Does skill-based pay systems reduce the requirement for supervision?

Back 81

The fluid work assignments that skill-based plans permit encourage employees to take responsibility for the complete work process and its results, with less direction from supervisors. If less direction from supervisors is needed, then fewer supervisors may likewise be needed. Research at nine manufacturing plants concluded that the number of managers in plants under skill-based pay was as much as 50 percent lower compared to traditional plants.

Front 82

Which are the major skill-analysis decisions?

Back 82

The major skill analysis decisions are the following: (1) What is the objective of the plan? (2) What information should be collected? (3) What methods should be used? (4) Who should be involved? (5) How useful are the results for pay purposes?

Front 83

What are the common certification methods organizations use?

Back 83

Organizations may use peer review, on-the-job demonstrations, or tests to certify that employees possess skills and are able to apply them. Still other companies require successful completion of formal courses.

Front 84

How do skill-based plans motivate employees?

Back 84

Skill-based plans are generally well accepted by employees because it is easy to see the connection between the plan, the work, and the size of the paycheck. Consequently, the plans provide strong motivation for individuals to increase their skills.

Front 85

What is relevance of flexibility in skill-based plans?

Back 85

Research suggests that the greatest impact on results occurs immediately after just a small amount of increased flexibility. Greater increments in flexibility achieve fewer improvements. There may be an optimal number of skills for any individual to possess. Beyond that number, productivity returns are less than the pay increases. Additionally, some employees may not be interested in giving up the job they are doing.

Front 86

How are organizations redefining the original definition of competencies?

Back 86

As experience with competencies has grown, organizations are moving away from the vagueness of self-concepts, traits, and motives. Instead, they are placing greater emphasis on business-related descriptions of behaviors. Competencies are becoming "a collection of observable behaviors (not a single behavior) that require no inference, assumption or interpretation."