SHRM-SCP SHRM Senior Certified Professional Free Practice Exam Questions (2025 Updated)
Prepare effectively for your SHRM SHRM-SCP SHRM Senior Certified Professional certification with our extensive collection of free, high-quality practice questions. Each question is designed to mirror the actual exam format and objectives, complete with comprehensive answers and detailed explanations. Our materials are regularly updated for 2025, ensuring you have the most current resources to build confidence and succeed on your first attempt.
The executive leadership team at a global IT company with over 300,000 employees in 140 countries decides they want more information about the state of the talent at the organization. They are concerned that they do not have enough insight about the talent pool across the organization. This has prevented HR from identifying and planning for retention risks and has caused delays in filling critical positions. Additionally, leaders across the organization lack an effective way to identify the best staff for their teams and must rely on recommendations from others. The VP of HR is asked to identify a talent management software solution and oversee its companywide implementation.
Which action should the VP of HR take first to identify a talent management software solution?
Which element is fundamental to an inclusive global workplace?
Which company programs are most effective when developing succession plans?
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 firm's employee handbook includes a section on cultural values that denounces public criticism of others and endorses acceptance of diversity at all levels of the organization. What should the regional HR director do to uphold the firm's cultural values?
A small organization recently hired a new CEO with a strong marketing background. The CEO establishes a new sales approach focused on expanding business opportunities through the creation of new products, which will be marketed and sold by the sales force. The CEO believes her effectiveness is impaired by having too many direct reports. The CEO meets with the CFO and HR director. They decide to reduce the CEO's number of direct reports to those most relevant to the CEO's vision for the organization. The remaining employees are reassigned to the CFO who already oversees a team of three. This change allows the CEO to more effectively focus on the vision HR releases a memo informing employees of the change in reporting structure.
The CEO learns that the change in reporting structure has resulted in disappointment for the employees who are no longer direct reports and asks the HR director for advice. What action should the HR director advise the CEO to take?
A company has grown into a midsize organization and has retained its legacy staff throughout the years. Hiring has increased introducing a new demographic landscape and disrupting employee morale. Which is the most effective solution for the HR director to recommend?
A company creates a foundation to award grants to eligible nonprofit organizations to fund projects aimed at uplifting the living conditions of the local communities. Aside from the grants, the company will also assign key employees to help manage the projects. This is an example of which type of community engagement?
The marketing department at a large financial services company chooses five high-performing staff members every year to receive a performance award, which includes a monetary reward and recognition at an end-of-year meeting. Employees are chosen by managers in the marketing department. Each manager nominates two direct reports, and then all managers meet as a group to discuss nominees until a consensus is reached. The names of the winners are given to HR for final approval. The marketing department is preparing to begin this year's nomination process. There have been repeat winners in each of the last three years. A marketing employee files a complaint with the HR director about favoritism in the award process. Additionally, the employee points out that newer employees rarely win the award, which lowers their morale. New employees tend not to win because they spend a couple of years training and shadowing experienced employees before receiving tasks to perform independently.
The employee who submitted the complaint asks the HR director to provide more opportunities for new employees to be recognized. Which action should the HR manager take?
A large retail company opens a distribution center directly across the street from a small competing firm's distribution center and posts a sign advertising open entry-level positions. The plant manager of the small firm notices that the sign indicates the advertised salary is higher than what the firm pays its entry-level employees. The plant manager is concerned employees will leave the firm to seek work at the competing company. The plant manager notifies the HR manager of the pay differences and requests immediate pay matching for all entry-level employees. The HR manager sets up a meeting with the plant manager, compensation manager, and HR business partner to discuss the issue. They decide to increase base pay to match the competitor's base pay but only for a subset of entry-level roles identified as critical. They also decide to put the pay increase into effect immediately, and the HR manager agrees to monitor the situation over the next three months.
How should the HR manager analyze the impact of the pay increase on entry-level employees over the three-month period?
The president of a large company is planning to retire soon. The president has been with the company for 40 years, the longest tenure of any employee in the company, and has been president for the last 10 years. In addition to replacing its top leader, the company is also in the midst of conducting strategic planning for the next three years. The HR director has been placed in charge of overseeing the selection and transition process for the new president and has organized a search committee consisting of external board members. The search committee has identified three internal candidates for the position and must move forward with the process of selecting one to be president.
The candidates for the position are all engineers with limited experience in business management. What is the best indicator that the candidates will be able to succeed in the position despite a lack of business background?
At a regional power company, managers are in charge of assigning training and development opportunities to their employees. These opportunities are sponsored by the company, and employees are entitled to their regular pay while attending training and development sessions. Recently, there has been a growing number of complaints that managers were engaging in favoritism by only assigning these training and development opportunities to their favorite employees. Favoritism violates company policy, which states that all employees must be given equal opportunities. The HR director aims to address this issue.
Some managers claim that they assign training and development opportunities to their high-performing employees as they believe it is an incentive to stay at the company. How should the HR director determine whether this has been effective as an objective?
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?
A company recently conducted a market survey of the salaries of apprentice electricians. Which factor of a job-based compensation plan would this be?
A nonprofit health care facility conducts an engagement and culture survey, and the results indicate that employees throughout the organization believe leadership engages in favoritism by providing unequal opportunities for staff. General perceptions of the company's culture are poor, and many employees report intentions to leave their jobs. Several additional concerning findings are isolated to the philanthropic department, which is responsible for acquiring donors and securing charitable partnerships. Employees from this department report poor working relationships among staff, including gossiping and bullying among co-workers. Although the leadership team is aware of the poor working relationships in the philanthropic department, they have not asked the department director to address the issues because of the department's outstanding performance in recent years. However, after considering the recent survey results the leadership team decides to initiate a project to address the culture issues at the facility overall and within the philanthropy department specifically. The operations VP will oversee the project and ask an HR business partner (HRBP) to lead the project. The VP of operations requests that the HRBP collect additional survey data and conduct focus groups during the first phase of the project.
Although the leadership team initiated the project, a few members express concerns that the project is not a good use of the facility's funds. They are skeptical that the project will lead to any tangible benefits for the facility. Which action should the HRBP take to address the leadership team's opposition to the project?
During an initial client meeting for a consulting project which is key to ensuring a successful engagement?
An HR manager wants employees to acquire the skills to respond appropriately to practical situations. Which training style would be most effective?
Which method is most effective for detecting asset misappropriations, such as cash skimming and fraudulent disbursements, by employees in the workplace?
The marketing department at a large financial services company chooses five high-performing staff members every year to receive a performance award, which includes a monetary reward and recognition at an end-of-year meeting. Employees are chosen by managers in the marketing department. Each manager nominates two direct reports, and then all managers meet as a group to discuss nominees until a consensus is reached. The names of the winners are given to HR for final approval. The marketing department is preparing to begin this year's nomination process. There have been repeat winners in each of the last three years. A marketing employee files a complaint with the HR director about favoritism in the award process. Additionally, the employee points out that newer employees rarely win the award, which lowers their morale. New employees tend not to win because they spend a couple of years training and shadowing experienced employees before receiving tasks to perform independently.
How should the HR director minimize the perception of favoritism in the selection process?
Which is a role of HR as it relates to complying with the International Labor Organization's unfair labor practices?
After witnessing an employee violation, a manager discusses the violation with HR and other managers before preparing a documented description. The manager informs the employee of the disciplinary action at a performance appraisal meeting. What is the mam problem with the manager’s procedure?
