Practice Test 4

Passage 1:

To: All Supervisors
From: Andrew Kirby, Director of Human Resources
Re: Procedures for Transfers
Date: August 17, 2005

When employees request transfers to other department, you should follow these procedures:
1.     Meet individually with the employees to discuss their qualifications for the new position. Make sure they are aware of anything that could disqualify them.
2.    Do not discourage the request; our company policy is to help employees find the jobs they want.
3.     Give Form 34-12, Application for Transfer, to the employees requesting transfers.
4.   When employees have completed Section 1-5 of the form, you should fill out Section 6, Supervisor’s comments, at the bottom of the form.
5.      Attach a copy of each employee’s latest Performance Evaluation to the pink copy of the form.
6.      Send the pink copy to me. Keep the yellow copy for your reference.
7.      Employees should know the outcome of their application within three weeks.
At that time, they may review the documents and discuss the decision with you.
 

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Passage 2:

To: Andrew Kirby ([email protected])
From: Malcolm Powell ([email protected])
Subject: Procedure for transfers
Date: Aug 19, 2005
 
Dear Andrew,
 
I’ve been going through the procedure for transfers, but I’m afraid that I don’t quite agree with everything. I have given things a lot of thought and here are my comments.
 
I strongly disagree with point number 2: “Do not discourage the request”. In my experience, employees have a habit of putting themselves forward for position for which they are unsuited. This is particularly a problem where the employee has the right qualifications and job experience, but lacks the right skills or personality. I think it would be very misleading not to tell an employee that they are not an appropriate candidate in such a case.
 
I also think that the three weeks decision-making period is far too short. Sometimes, it can take up to six weeks to gather information from other departments. Since we cannot make an informed decision without all the relevant documents, I think we should extend the period to six weeks.
 
Anyway, these are just a few thoughts.
 
Thanks
Malcolm