COMPETENCY BASED ASSESMENT – ADMIN AND HR
Background: The objective of this assessment is to evaluate the capacity of a potential
Admin and HR team member to carry out the roles and responsibilities of the office.
A. TECHNICAL TEST
Case Study Content: As an Admin and HR team member, you have been asked to
complete the following assignments:
Part I
Please select any 2 of the following questions to be answered:
1. You have been asked to develop a framework for induction of new staff. What would
the induction framework be and what sort of information would you require from your
supervisor in order to achieve this?
Answer: I will get framework in accordance to Tongston standard by asking and requesting
all necessary information from my supervisor.
2.
Develop an ideal set of interview questions for a prospective legal, policy, regulatory
and governance officer for Tongston Holdings
3. You have been asked to develop an on boarding checklist to be administered when
on boarding all staff of the Company
4. You have been asked to put together an in house training schedule for all the staff of
Tongston College to be run quarterly. What key training opportunities would you think
are pertinent for the growth of development of the staff. You can choose to include
training opportunities that all staff will undergo and others that would be delivered to
segments / categories of staff
Part II
Please answer all 3 of the following questions:
1. Design a template and criteria for assessing promotions for staff
Answer: I will get framework in accordance to Tongston standard by asking and requesting
all necessary information from my supervisor.
2. Design a framework for a child protection and safeguarding policy for Tongston
College / Design a remuneration policy for Tognston and its group of companies
Answer: I will get framework in accordance to Tongston standard by asking and requesting
all necessary information from my supervisor.
3. You have been asked to prepare an advert for the role of IT (Business Applications)
Officer for Tongston Holdings. The advert needs to present the unique value proposition
for Tongston and include a job description that captures the following:
a. Core Duties and Responsibilities
b. Key Skills and Experience
c. Education Requirements
d. Key Interview Questions to be asked during an interview
e. Key assessment processes to follow e.g. a mock teaching session for a teacher
as part of the recruitment process
Answer: I will get framework in accordance to Tongston standard by asking and requesting
all necessary information from my supervisor.
Part III
Please answer all 3 questions:
1. You have been asked to source for a venue to host a 500 guest showcase for the
Company in Lagos. Which would you recommend and why? Please develop a
project management plan
Answer: I will get framework in accordance to Tongston standard by asking and requesting
all necessary information from my supervisor.
2. You have been asked to design an inventory / asset register for the company. What
would the register look like and what are the key line items ?
Answer: I will get framework in accordance to Tongston standard by asking and requesting
all necessary information from my supervisor.
3. You have been asked to put together a staff register for all staff of the group of
companies. What key information would the staff register need to capture and how
would you secure that information from the staff?
Answer: I will get framework in accordance to Tongston standard by asking and requesting
all necessary information from my supervisor.
Part IV
Please select any 3 of the following questions to be answered except question 8:
4. You have been asked to set up a Selection Committee to assess applications for
the role of Finance Officer. You are asked to have at least three members of staff
that are able to assess applications for this role. The rules state that at least one
person from the board and the President of the Executive Council must sit on the
committee. You come across an application where one of the board members is a
sibling to the applicant and the President of the Executive Council is a former
colleague of the applicant. There are 4 people on the Board. 2 are indisposed and
one has told you that they are able to attend the interview via conference call.
How do you go about setting up the Committee?
5. Develop an employee benefits and incentive scheme
Answer: I will get framework in accordance to Tongston standard by asking and requesting
all necessary information from my supervisor.
6. You have been asked to prepare a letter to a prospective board member
requesting for him/her to join the board of directors and/or advisory board of the
Company whilst providing highlights on why the prospective board member should
be incentivized to consider the opportunity. You may provide brackets where you
require more information and put a comment as to the kind of information you
require. You should also suggest one hypothetical figure in society who may be a
good fit for the board taking into account the values of the organization and its
work
7. You have been tasked with developing a stakeholder gifting plan for Tongston for
the end of the year. Please answer the following:
a. List 10 stakeholders you think the Corporation should include in the gifting plan ; and
why
b. List gifts you would recommend to be given to each stakeholder (assume there is
no cap on the value of the gift)
c. What key information would you need from each stakeholder to ensure efficient
delivery of gifts to them?
8. The CEO met the Ambassador of Nigeria to Ghana at a Nasarawa Investment
Summit, where they discussed partnership opportunities. The Ambassador had
asked the CEO for a formal letter introducing Tongston to the Ghanaian
government and to fix a time to discuss more. You have been asked by the CEO to
help in drafting a short 1-page letter introducing Tongston Entrepreneurship Group
to the Ambassador of Nigeria to Ghana, and requesting for his audience to meet
with the Ambassador to discuss partnership opportunities to deploy Tongston's
products and services in Ghana. A 3-man delegation will represent Tongston (one
from the business development, stakeholder management and strategy team and
another from the Tongston Media team). This question is compulsory
B. IN TRAY EXERCISE
Candidate brief
You are Ifeanyi Abubakar Seun, a recently appointed Executive Associate of the
Company. This is your first day at work following a two-week holiday. Today’s date is
Wednesday 5th April.
Your administrator has collated the documents that have arrived onto your desk
including post, documentation from other members of staff, documentation from
external stakeholders, phone messages left amongst others during your absence.
If you feel that you can prepare a response without further referral to your Admin and
HR manager, you should type a draft response as you feel appropriate.
Your task:
Decide on the order in which you would deal with the items in the folder using the
following code:
A = Must do today
B = Would like to do today, time permitting
C = Can be left until a later date
and then in the box provided write the specific action you would take to address that
task.
The organizational chart on the Company attached for information.
You have 25 minutes to complete this exercise.
DOCUMENT ONE: NOTE
4th April – 18:00
Hi Ifeanyi
Sorry to leave you a note, but I have just notice that there are two tiles in the front
entrance porch, which have started to come up.
You know I would normally sort this out myself, but as I am on a Recruitment Skills workshop
for the next two days, I thought I would write this down while it was fresh in my mind.
See you Friday.
John
Priority Order (circle)
A
B
C
Specific action to be taken
The 25 minutes is not realistic because this is not online real-time
questionnaire, contact me to develop one for you.
DOCUMENT TWO – NOTE
The Admin Assistant has discussed with you before your holiday that she is organizing
a leadership program for the school prefects in June. She mentioned to you that
there will be an all parties meeting sometime in April, but did not provide further
comments and said closer to the time she will let you know.
She leaves a note on Friday 31st March as follows “Hello Ifeanyi, the all-parties
meeting has been tentatively set for the 20th April. Please call me urgently to discuss
documents to be prepared for the meeting as I will be out of the office on 6 th April.
You have my number - Tel: 08153555513” Mrs. Peterson
Priority Order (circle)
A
B
Specific action to be taken
C
DOCUMENT THREE - MEMO
To
: Admin and HR Department
From : Admin Assistant
Re
: Trainer Recruitment
As you are aware as part of the selection process for Trainers, potential Trainers need
to engage in a mock teaching session to determine the quality of their delivery and
how well they grasp the material.
There are two candidates who have not been called yet to come to the office for
their mock teaching session. Why has this not happened given that the process
has been closed? I have to start the training program asap and I don’t have
enough trainers due to your negligence. Can you sort this issue out? Their names
and details are below.
Sarah Ndako
08156721556
Tengwon Salami
08156721559
The next available slot where I can be present to meet them is on Monday 24 th April”
Priority Order (circle)
Specific action to be taken
A
B
C
DOCUMENT FOUR: MEMO
Letter of Complaint from a Participant
“I came to enroll last week at your office onto the Entrepreneurial Teachers
Program and on arrival I was directed by reception to the room where I should
enroll. On arrival at the appropriate room, I queued for one hour to be advised
that I was in the wrong building and was redirected.
On arrival at the second building I found myself lost and had to ask a security
person to direct me. He muttered that he was getting fed up of directing new
participants all day but did take me to where I needed to be. Four hours later I
was finally enrolled.
I wish to say that as a new participant, I could not have been expected to know
my way around and was unhappy about how I was treated and do not think that
I was dealt with in an appropriate manner.
I would be pleased to receive your comments”
Priority Order (circle)
A
B
Specific action to be taken
C
DOCUMENT FIVE: MEMO
Date: 29th March
From: Media and PR Team
Message: “Ifeanyi can you provide the banners and other relevant promotional
materials asap for delivery at the event on the 10 th April. We also need a memo
to be able to allow us use it. Can you please draft this memo and send it before
the 5th April to the CEO for his sign off?”
Priority Order (circle)
Specific action to be taken
A
B
C
DOCUMENT SIX: N O T E
Telephone message received from the secretary.
To remind you that the CEO will be attending a review meeting with the Board on
Monday 17th April. All Managers are to give their feedback on the following in time for
the meeting:
● Progress on the new Managers Performance and Development Review process
● Recommendations for improvements of key PRODUCTS AND SERVICES including
new initiatives
● Budget and Actuals including the variance between the actuals and the budget
Feedback required by 12/4.
Priority Order (circle)
A
B
Specific action to be taken
C
DOCUMENT SEVEN: N O T E
4/4/06
Message from the Head Trainer, TET
“Ifeanyi,
I got a call from the New Excellence School. There is a problem with the payments for
the supplies, which is due this month. I know we already paid, and you should have the
receipts. Can you kindly make the copies and take them to the school for proof of
payments. It is extremely urgent”
Priority Order (circle)
Specific action to be taken
A
B
C
DOCUMENT EIGHT: E-MAIL
Message from the Dean of Tongston Institute
Dear Ifeanyi,
This is the email I got from a trainer for the TET Program.
“It is with regret that I advise you of my intention to resign my position as a Trainer.
I have not been happy in my work for some time, and have not felt that I’ve been given
sufficient opportunity to discuss my concerns with you. Further, I may have to relocate to
care for my ailing sister. Therefore, I have decided to give you one months’ notice. I know
this is not ideal as we are still mid-way into the program and my leaving will be severely
disruptive to the school I have been assigned. However, I am hard pressed to make this
decision nonetheless.
I will put in a formal notice of resignation but I thought it would be best to notify you
first so it does not come as a shock. My last day of work will be Friday 14 th April.
Yours sincerely
Ayo Fadare”
Can you please administer the exit interview to this trainer so that we can make sure we get
his feedback from the sessions and also all TONGSTON equipment as soon as possible
especially as he is relocating please. Urgent!
Priority Order (circle)
A
B
C
Specific action to be taken
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C.ntROLE
PLAY
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“You
sifieare a team member. The other role player is your manager. You have worked for this
company
for 4 years, having worked for your Manager for the last 2 years. The work is very
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enjoyable
however you get very little development time from the boss, and you are very keen
as:
to get
DC2on. The manager does the annual appraisal every February with you. Lots of promises
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made, however nothing seems to get done. There’s always an excuse.
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Samantha,
who does a similar job for a different boss, always seems to get plenty of time with
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him- – reviewing performance, action planning, different PRODUCTS AND SERVICES, extra
responsibility.
She’s even spent some time in another part of the organisation for a couple of
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weeks
roveon secondment.
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You are determined to tackle your manager about this. An opportunity has just cropped up to
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sit down with him/ her. Your task is to influence your manager to give you more time to develop
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you. How do you go about this?
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D.toEXERCISE 1: Lost!
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Yournal
are member of a crew of a sinking ship. A fire on board has destroyed the radio and from
theparti
rate the water is rising inside the ship you estimate that it will sink in between two hours and
twoesand a half hours. You did not tell the authorities of your destination.
It will take about 45 minutes to launch the only boat and it will take 9 minutes for each person
to be lowered into the boat and they can only go one at a time. They can't jump as the water
is shark infested. The nearest land is an uninhabited tropical island 30 km distant.
Your task is to decide which passengers will enter the boat. Everyone onboard has agreed to
abide by your decision. Items held by individuals must stay with the owner; they cannot be
transferred to other people.
Please make any assumptions necessary if further information is required but has not been
provided to you. Just make sure you note those assumptions.
You have 20 minutes to decide. The outcomes as required in the brief should be recorded
in the document below. Please time yourself and record the time spent.
PASSENGER/CREW LIST
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
Captain: age 57. Married three times; five children aged between 5 and 27. His
youngest child has Down's syndrome. Drinks and smokes heavily. Plays the accordion.
Carries a bottle of vodka
Ship's engineer: married; accompanied by his pregnant wife. His heroism in fighting the
fire has given his fellow-passengers time to launch the lifeboat but he has sustained
severe burns. Carries a shaving mirror.
Radio operator: ex-Cote D’Ivoire Navy. A fitness fanatic and champion kick boxer. He
escaped the fire which destroyed his radio as he was on deck trying to impress the
chef with a display of his kickboxing skills at the time. Carries a length of rope.
Cook: a former SSS officer placed in the presidential villa reduced to working as a cook
after being relieved of his position following an unfortunate incident involving the
president and how he was unable to protect him. Carries a knife.
Anglican priest: a Philosophy graduate who taught English as a foreign language in
Cameroon for several years before returning to her home town to look after her
disabled mother (now aged 85) with whom she still lives. Trained as a counsellor and
was ordained in 1990. Carries a first aid kit.
Diving instructor: After 20 years as a stockbroker in London, he has just moved to Lagos
to set up his own diving school. Divorced, with a son at boarding school in Lagos.
Supports dog hunting. Carries a signed copy of the final Harry Potter novel.
Ship's carpenter: Married with four children aged between six months and seven years
old. Was convicted of violent fight following a demonstration during the occupy
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nt is Nigeria protest many years ago. Writes poetry and has had two poems published in
clas Nigerian literary magazines. Has a magnifying glass.
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● French Botany student: Lived in the Nigerian rainforest for eighteen months while
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carrying out Ph.D.research into plants that can be used in anti-cancer drugs: these are
as: now undergoing testing by a major multinational pharmaceutical company. Has a rifle.
DC2
● Retired soldier. Recently registered a civil partnership with his long-term partner, a 45Con year old political journalist. Together, they have campaigned for improved healthcare
fide for soldiers wounded in the Nigerian army. Carries a compass.
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● Chef. A vegetarian whose research centres on developing plant-based, lowcholesterol alternatives to meat. She has been involved in a number of demonstrations
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against the use of animals in medical research. Carries a box of Mars bars.
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● Nurse. Came to Nigeria eight years ago as a teenage refugee from Sudan who spoke
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no English on arrival. Gained 6 Cs in her WAEC and has recently qualified as a nurse.
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Carries a box of matches.
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●
Ship's engineer's wife: Aged 35 and about to begin maternity leave from her work as a
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to medical sales representative. Due to give birth to their first child in 4 months’ time. For
Exte some reason known only to herself she happens to be carrying a fishing line and hook.
● Bank manager: Lives in a village in Kogi: Charity visits to IDP organizer, local church
rnal
parti councilor and president of the local savings club in his spare time. Has N500,000 in used
es N500 notes carried in a small suitcase.