SHRM-SCP cheat sheet

Vertical fit = alignment of HR practices with the business strategy; horizontal fit = internal consistency among HR practices themselves.

Porter's generic strategies (cost leadership, differentiation, focus) each imply different required workforce behaviors: efficiency and cost control versus innovation and customer intimacy.

Miles and Snow typology: prospector, defender, analyzer, reactor; HR practices should be configured to match the strategic type.

Balanced Scorecard has four perspectives - financial, customer, internal business process, and learning and growth; workforce metrics should map to each.

Workforce planning sequence: forecast demand, analyze internal and external supply, quantify the gap, then choose build, buy, borrow, bridge, or bot strategies.

Human capital ROI = (revenue − operating expenses excluding labor) ÷ (compensation + benefits).

Ulrich model roles: strategic partner, change agent, administrative expert, and employee champion (later termed employee advocate).

Strategy evaluation distinguishes leading indicators (engagement, skills readiness) from lagging indicators (revenue per FTE, regrettable turnover).

Selection ratio = positions filled ÷ applicants; yield ratio = candidates advancing to the next stage ÷ candidates at the prior stage.

Cost per hire = (external recruiting costs + allocated internal recruiting costs) ÷ total hires; time to fill = requisition approval to offer acceptance.

Four-fifths (80%) rule: adverse impact exists when a protected group's selection rate is less than 80% of the highest group's selection rate.

Structured interviews (behavioral/STAR or situational) show higher predictive validity and better defensibility than unstructured interviews.

Validity types: criterion-related (predictive or concurrent), content, and construct; reliability is necessary but not sufficient for validity.

Utility of a selection system increases with test validity, a low selection ratio, and a low base rate of success in the applicant pool.

Realistic job previews improve self-selection and reduce early voluntary turnover by aligning expectations with job reality.

The employer value proposition defines the employment deal; recruitment marketing and sourcing messages should be anchored to it.

Total talent approach blends full-time, contingent, and gig workers, requiring consistent quality-of-hire and sourcing metrics across worker types.

Turnover rate = separations ÷ average headcount × 100 (annualized); classify separations as voluntary or involuntary, functional or dysfunctional, avoidable or unavoidable.

Absence rate = (days absent ÷ (average headcount × workdays in period)) × 100.

Herzberg two-factor theory: hygiene factors (pay, policy, conditions) prevent dissatisfaction; motivators (achievement, recognition, growth) create satisfaction.

Job Characteristics Model: skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy, and feedback produce meaningfulness, responsibility, and knowledge of results.

Equity theory (Adams): employees compare input/outcome ratios with referents, and perceived inequity motivates behavior to restore equity.

Organizational justice has three forms - distributive (outcome fairness), procedural (process fairness), and interactional (information and interpersonal treatment).

Engagement action planning should prioritize drivers that are both low-scoring and empirically linked to retention intent for the segment.

Stay interviews surface engagement risk in real time; exit interviews diagnose avoidable turnover but are lagging indicators.

Onboarding and socialization in the first 90 days are strongly associated with early-turnover reduction and faster time to productivity.

Needs assessment operates at three levels: organizational (where training is needed), task or operational (what must be taught), and person (who needs it).

ADDIE phases: analysis, design, development, implementation, evaluation; evaluation results feed back into earlier phases.

Kirkpatrick levels: 1 reaction, 2 learning, 3 behavior, 4 results; Phillips adds level 5, return on investment.

Training ROI = ((monetary benefits − program costs) ÷ program costs) × 100.

Well-formed learning objectives state audience, observable behavior, condition, and degree of performance (ABCD format).

The 70-20-10 model allocates roughly 70% of learning to job experience, 20% to coaching and mentoring, and 10% to formal instruction.

Transfer of training rises with supervisor support, opportunity to apply skills soon after training, and follow-up accountability.

Succession planning pairs performance–potential grids (9-box) with readiness ratings and identifies pivotal, high-risk positions first.

Andragogy (Knowles) holds that adults need relevance, problem-centered content, self-direction, and immediate applicability.

Compa-ratio = salary ÷ pay range midpoint; range spread = (maximum − minimum) ÷ minimum, expressed as a percentage.

Market competitive strategy is lead, match, or lag; the median (P50) is the most common reference point for base pay structures.

Job evaluation methods: ranking, classification, point-factor, and factor comparison; point-factor scores compensable factors to build ranges.

A merit matrix combines performance rating and compa-ratio position to distribute a fixed increase budget equitably.

FLSA exemption generally requires the salary basis test plus the duties test; overtime is 1.5× the regular rate for hours over 40 in a workweek.

Pay equity exposure is governed by the Equal Pay Act, Title VII, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, and state pay transparency and salary history laws.

ERISA governs pension and welfare plans, COBRA mandates continuation coverage, and HIPAA protects health information privacy.

Long-term incentives include stock options, restricted stock units, performance shares, and phantom stock; vesting schedules create retention hooks.

Variable pay plans should be self-funding, with payout curves tied to measurable thresholds, targets, and caps.

NLRA Section 7 protects concerted activity for mutual aid or protection, covering nonunion employees as well as unionized ones.

Section 8(a) unfair labor practices include interference/restraint, discrimination for union activity, refusal to bargain, and refusal to furnish relevant information.

An NLRB representation election requires at least a 30% showing of interest; certification requires a majority of votes cast.

Mandatory bargaining subjects are wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment; permissive subjects may be bargained; illegal subjects may not.

Impasse resolution escalates through mediation and fact-finding to economic weapons such as strikes and lockouts; rights disputes typically end in arbitration.

Weingarten rights give unionized employees the right to a representative in investigatory interviews reasonably expected to lead to discipline.

Just cause discipline requires a fair investigation, progressive steps, consistent treatment of similarly situated employees, and an opportunity to respond.

State right-to-work laws, permitted by the Taft-Hartley Act, bar union security clauses that require dues or membership.

The Landrum-Griffin Act (1959) establishes a union members' bill of rights and financial reporting requirements.

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act (1964) prohibits discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, and national origin for employers with 15 or more employees; the EEOC enforces it.

The ADEA protects individuals age 40 and older (employers with 20+ employees); the ADA/ADAAA requires reasonable accommodation absent undue hardship.

FMLA: 12 weeks of unpaid leave per 12 months; employer must have 50+ employees within 75 miles; employee must have 12 months of service and 1,250 hours.

FLSA sets minimum wage, overtime, child labor, and recordkeeping standards; stricter state law controls where the two conflict on employee protections.

WARN Act requires 60 days' advance notice of qualifying mass layoffs or plant closings, generally at employers with 100 or more employees (with service/hour thresholds).

EEOC charge filing deadline is 180 days from the discriminatory act, extended to 300 days in states with a deferral agency.

Record retention: FLSA payroll records 3 years, time records 2 years; I-9 retained for 3 years after hire or 1 year after separation, whichever is later.

A retaliation claim requires protected activity, an adverse action, and a causal link; proof of the underlying discrimination is not required.

GINA restricts use of genetic information; USERRA protects reemployment and benefit rights for military service members.

HR-to-employee ratio = HR full-time equivalents ÷ total employees, commonly benchmarked as HR FTEs per 100 employees served.

Analytics maturity progresses from descriptive (what happened) to diagnostic (why) to predictive (what will happen) to prescriptive (what to do).

Shared services design separates transactional work into a service center, expertise into centers of excellence, and strategic support into HR business partners.

HRIS data governance requires role-based access, routine data-quality audits, and protection of personally identifiable information under laws such as GDPR and CCPA.

Six Sigma's DMAIC cycle (define, measure, analyze, improve, control) is used to reduce defects and cycle time in HR processes.

A RACI matrix assigns responsible, accountable, consulted, and informed roles to clarify process ownership across HR and the business.

Outsourcing options include PEO (co-employment), ASO (administrative services only), and HRO; each is governed by SLAs and performance guarantees.

Change frameworks: Kotter's eight steps and ADKAR (awareness, desire, knowledge, ability, reinforcement) both build on Lewin's unfreeze–change–refreeze model.

HR technology investments should be justified with a business case including cost-benefit analysis, payback period, and risk assessment.