Aldi Assessment Tests

Aldi Situational Judgement Test

1. Question 1 of 10

   You are a service recovery assistant at Aldi. A customer’s case has sat untouched for a fortnight because the colleague who had it before you left the details in a note nobody picked up. The customer is on the phone, calm but tired of explaining herself, and wants to know why it has taken so long. You can put the case right this week. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Acknowledge the fortnight briefly and move straight on to what happens next, since what she needs most is the case actually settled.
   2. Explain that the case sat with a colleague who left the details in a note nobody picked up, so that she can see the delay was not caused by anybody she has spoken to.
   3. Apologise for the fortnight, say plainly that the case was not picked up when it should have been, and set out what you will do this week and when she will hear from you.
   4. Tell her the case was held up by the way work is passed between colleagues, and that a change to how notes are handled is being looked at.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: C. Apologise for the fortnight, say plainly that the case was not picked up when it should have been, and set out what you will do this week and when she will hear from you.

   Least effective: B. Explain that the case sat with a colleague who left the details in a note nobody picked up, so that she can see the delay was not caused by anybody she has spoken to.

   A: Answers the question in passing: the apology is real, and she is moved on before she has heard why it happened.

   B: Blames a named colleague to the customer: the explanation buys your own standing with her at another person's expense, and tells her the business is a set of individuals rather than one organisation.

   D: Answers a personal question with a process description: it is accurate and it leaves her with a policy explanation instead of an apology and a date.

   The most effective response is to apologise for the fortnight, say plainly that the case was not picked up when it should have been, and set out what happens this week: it answers what she asked, it takes responsibility on behalf of the business rather than for yourself alone, and it gives her a date to hold you to. It beats acknowledging the fortnight briefly and moving on, because she asked why and a passing apology is what has tired her out. It beats describing how work is passed between colleagues, because a process answer is not an apology and gives her nothing to expect. The least effective response is telling her which colleague left the note nobody picked up: it buys your own credibility with her by handing her a person to be angry with, which is a different kind of wrong from dodging the question or from answering it bureaucratically. The principle: own the failure as the organisation’s, and never make a customer a witness against a colleague.

2. Question 2 of 10

   You are a brand assistant at Aldi. An agency has emailed asking whether they should keep the two versions of a design or drop one before a review on Thursday. The decision is your manager’s, and he is at a site all day but reachable by message. The agency is holding time tomorrow to make the changes and needs an answer today. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Reply to the agency that you will get an answer today and message your manager with the question and why it is urgent, so that the decision stays his and the date holds.
   2. Tell the agency to keep both versions for Thursday, since that is what your manager usually prefers and it leaves the decision open for the review itself.
   3. Send the agency's question straight on to your manager with nothing added, and tell the agency that he will pick it up from there.
   4. Wait until your manager is back from the site this evening and ring him about it then, since a decision like this one deserves a proper conversation rather than a message read between meetings.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Reply to the agency that you will get an answer today and message your manager with the question and why it is urgent, so that the decision stays his and the date holds.

   Least effective: C. Send the agency's question straight on to your manager with nothing added, and tell the agency that he will pick it up from there.

   B: Answers on somebody else's behalf from a guess: the agency spends tomorrow on two versions because of what a manager usually thinks rather than what he thinks now.

   C: Passes a message on without doing anything with it: he gets a question with no context on a day at a site, the agency has heard nothing, and nobody is holding the deadline.

   D: Delays the decision for the sake of a better conversation: the agency needs the answer today and hears nothing at all until tomorrow.

   The most effective response is to reply that you will get an answer today, message your manager with the question and why it is urgent, and come back to the agency when he answers: the agency knows somebody has it, the decision stays with the person who owns it, and the deadline is held by you rather than by chance. It beats telling the agency to keep both versions, because that answers for your manager on the basis of what he usually likes. It beats waiting to ring him this evening, because the agency needs today and gets silence. The least effective response is forwarding the question with nothing added: he receives a bare question between site visits, the agency has heard nothing, and nobody has responsibility for the deadline, which is a different kind of wrong from guessing his answer or from waiting for a better moment. The principle: when you are the channel, carry the context and the deadline as well as the question.

3. Question 3 of 10

   You are a stock control assistant at Aldi. The same line has run out three Fridays in a row because the level at which it reorders is set too low. You can see what it ought to be, and you have the access to change it. The setting belongs to the planning team, who review these monthly and whose next review is in three weeks. Friday is in two days. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Raise a manual order this week to cover Friday, and wait for the planning team's monthly review to deal with the setting itself in three weeks' time.
   2. Put the three Fridays into the planning team's monthly review paper, so that the setting is considered properly alongside everything else they are looking at.
   3. Send the planning team the three Fridays and the level you think it should be today, ask them to change it before Friday, and raise a manual order as cover meanwhile.
   4. Change the reorder level yourself to the number you can see it should be, since you have the access and the line has now run out three weeks running.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: C. Send the planning team the three Fridays and the level you think it should be today, ask them to change it before Friday, and raise a manual order as cover meanwhile.

   Least effective: D. Change the reorder level yourself to the number you can see it should be, since you have the access and the line has now run out three weeks running.

   A: Treats the symptom and leaves the cause: this Friday is covered and two more will run out before anybody looks at the number behind it.

   B: Files an urgent item at the routine speed: the paper is read in three weeks and the line runs out twice more in the meantime.

   D: Breaches another team's control of their own settings: the number may well be right, and it is changed underneath the people who are accountable for it.

   The most effective response is to send the planning team the three Fridays and your proposed level, ask for the change before Friday, and raise a manual order as cover: the immediate gap is covered, the cause goes to the people who own it with the evidence attached, and the timescale asked for matches the problem rather than the calendar. It beats raising a manual order and waiting for the monthly review, because two more Fridays fail first. It beats writing it into the review paper, because that treats a repeating failure at the speed of a routine agenda. The least effective response is changing the reorder level yourself: the number may be exactly right and it is altered underneath the team accountable for it, which is a different kind of wrong from being too slow or from filing it in the wrong place. The principle: bring the evidence and the urgency to whoever owns the setting, rather than exercising an access you happen to hold.

4. Question 4 of 10

   You are a supply chain graduate at Aldi. A planner and a site contact have been arguing for two days about a change to delivery times. The site has said clearly that it will not work for them. The planner has now asked you, in front of both of them on a call, whether the site has agreed. Everybody wants the argument over, and the schedule has to be published tomorrow. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Assure the planner that the site is happy with the change so the argument can stop, and work quietly on the site afterwards to bring them round before the schedule is published.
   2. Say plainly that the site has not agreed and set out what each side needs from the times, so that the call turns into a search for a change that would work.
   3. Say that the position is not clear to you and offer to speak to both of them separately after the call, so that nobody has to give ground in front of the other.
   4. Answer that the site has not agreed and leave it there, since the two of them have been going round this for two days and it is their argument rather than yours.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: B. Say plainly that the site has not agreed and set out what each side needs from the times, so that the call turns into a search for a change that would work.

   Least effective: A. Assure the planner that the site is happy with the change so the argument can stop, and work quietly on the site afterwards to bring them round before the schedule is published.

   A: States an agreement that does not exist: the schedule is published on it, and the site discovers tomorrow that its refusal was reported as consent.

   C: Softens a fact to keep the peace: the site's position was perfectly clear, and describing it as unclear leaves the planner believing there is still room where there is none.

   D: Delivers the fact and abandons the problem: the schedule is published tomorrow, and nothing on the call has moved the two sides any closer.

   The most effective response is to say plainly that the site has not agreed, set out what each side needs, and ask for the one change that would make it work: the fact is on the table, and the call turns from an argument about consent into a search for a workable time. It beats describing the position as unclear, because the site was clear and the planner is left believing there is room to move. It beats stating the fact and leaving them to it, because the schedule is published tomorrow and nothing has moved. The least effective response is assuring the planner the site is happy: an agreement that does not exist becomes the basis of a published schedule, and the site learns that its refusal was reported as consent, which is a different kind of wrong from being vague or from being unhelpful. The principle: end an argument by putting the true position in the middle of it, never by reporting the answer everybody wants.

5. Question 5 of 10

   You are an insight assistant at Aldi. You are finishing a pack of customer survey results for a decision meeting on Thursday. One question in the survey went out to a much smaller group than the rest, so its result rests on about a fifth of the usual number of replies. The result is the most striking number in the pack, and nobody reading it would know how few replies sit behind it. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Leave the striking result out of the pack altogether, since a number resting on a fifth of the usual replies is not solid enough to put in front of a decision meeting.
   2. Include the result in the pack as it stands, without flagging that the sample behind it was a fifth of the size of the others.
   3. Include the result with the number of replies shown next to it and a line saying what that means for how much weight it should carry.
   4. Include the result as it stands and mention the small sample verbally if the question comes up while you are presenting the pack on Thursday.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: C. Include the result with the number of replies shown next to it and a line saying what that means for how much weight it should carry.

   Least effective: B. Include the result in the pack as it stands, without flagging that the sample behind it was a fifth of the size of the others.

   A: Removes evidence rather than qualifying it: the meeting loses a real signal because it could not be given a sentence of context.

   B: Withholds the fact that decides how much weight the number carries: the most striking figure in the pack is the one nobody is told to treat carefully.

   D: Leaves a caveat to chance: the pack outlives the meeting and is read by people who were never in the room to hear the qualification.

   The most effective response is to include the result with the number of replies shown next to it and a line on what that means for its weight: the meeting gets the signal and the size of it, which is what lets people decide how far to lean on it. It beats leaving the result out, because a real finding is discarded when a sentence would have made it usable. It beats mentioning the small sample only if somebody asks, because the pack is read later by people who were never in the room. The least effective response is including the striking result without flagging the size of the sample behind it: the most eye-catching number in the pack is presented as though it were as solid as the rest, and the one person who knows otherwise says nothing, which is a different kind of wrong from being over-cautious or from relying on the meeting to ask. The principle: publish the caveat next to the number, in the document, where everybody who reads one reads the other.

6. Question 6 of 10

   You are a commercial graduate at Aldi. You are one of three people scoring proposals from four suppliers, and the scores go in on Friday. A contact at one of them, whom you have dealt with for months, drops by with a hamper and a voucher for a restaurant, saying they are just a thank you for the work so far and nothing to do with the tender. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Take the hamper for the team to share and leave the voucher, since something shared around the office cannot reasonably be said to have influenced anybody's scoring on Friday.
   2. Decline both, tell him plainly that you cannot accept anything while the tender is live, and tell the person running the tender that the offer was made.
   3. Accept the hamper and the voucher as offered, and thank him for thinking of the team after a long few months of work together.
   4. Decline both politely on the doorstep and say nothing to anybody afterwards, since he took the refusal well and no harm has actually come of it.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: B. Decline both, tell him plainly that you cannot accept anything while the tender is live, and tell the person running the tender that the offer was made.

   Least effective: C. Accept the hamper and the voucher as offered, and thank him for thinking of the team after a long few months of work together.

   A: Splits a gift into an acceptable half: the supplier still leaves having given something to a scorer during a live tender, and the line has moved rather than held.

   C: Takes a benefit the role forbids while holding the pen: whatever was meant by it, one of the four suppliers has given a scorer a present during the scoring.

   D: Keeps a fact the tender's owner needs: the refusal is right and the person responsible for a fair process never learns that an approach was made at all.

   The most effective response is to decline both, say plainly that you cannot accept anything while the tender is live, and tell the person running it that the offer was made: it protects the scoring, it is straightforward with a contact you will keep dealing with, and it puts the approach on the record where the process can account for it. It beats keeping the hamper for the team, because a shared gift is still a gift to a scorer. It beats declining quietly and telling nobody, because the person responsible for a fair tender is the one who has to know. The least effective response is accepting the hamper and the voucher as offered: a supplier being scored this week has given a present to one of the people scoring them, which is a different kind of wrong from mishandling the refusal or from failing to report it. The principle: while you hold the pen, take nothing, and tell the person who owns the process what was offered.

7. Question 7 of 10

   You are a scheduling coordinator at Aldi. Next week’s rota has to reach the team by five today so people can arrange their lives, and it needs a manager’s approval before it is published. The manager is travelling and has not replied since this morning. You also owe an absence report at five, which takes an hour. It is three o’clock. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Message the manager now with a deadline, ask the manager covering for him to approve it if he cannot, and write the absence report while you wait.
   2. Publish the rota at five without the approval, given that people need to arrange their week and approval normally arrives the next morning.
   3. Send the team a draft marked unapproved at five so they can plan, and publish the approved version when the manager replies tomorrow.
   4. Write the absence report first and deal with the rota once it is submitted, since the report has a hard deadline and the rota needs an approval you cannot control.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Message the manager now with a deadline, ask the manager covering for him to approve it if he cannot, and write the absence report while you wait.

   Least effective: B. Publish the rota at five without the approval, given that people need to arrange their week and approval normally arrives the next morning.

   B: Breaches the approval a published rota needs: once it is out people book their lives around it, which is exactly why somebody is supposed to look at it first.

   C: Publishes in all but name: a draft that people plan around is a rota, and calling it unapproved does not make it easy to change afterwards.

   D: Works on what is inside your control: the report is delivered on time, and the rota that a whole team is waiting on is left until after five.

   The most effective response is to message the manager with a deadline, ask whoever is covering to approve it if he cannot, and write the absence report while you wait: both deadlines are worked at once, and the approval is pursued through a route that actually exists rather than waited for. It beats sending an unapproved draft, because a draft people plan around is a rota in everything but name. It beats writing the report first, because the whole team is waiting on the rota. The least effective response is publishing without approval: people book their lives around a rota nobody has checked, which is exactly what the approval is for, and that is a different kind of wrong from publishing in disguise or from mis-ordering the afternoon. The principle: when an approval is the blocker, chase the approval through every route it has, and do the other work while you wait.

8. Question 8 of 10

   You are a customer experience graduate at Aldi. A colleague is on leave for a fortnight and her cases have come to you on top of your own. You are working late and falling behind, and forty cases are now past the promised reply date. She has left you her login so you can see her case notes, and using it would let you close cases in her name much faster than working through your own queue. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Work through both queues in date order and accept that some cases will be late, since the fortnight is nearly half over and there is no way to answer everything on time.
   2. Clear the backlog using your colleague's login while she is away, since the cases have to be answered and working in her name is much quicker than moving each one across to yourself.
   3. Answer the oldest forty first and leave your own newer cases until the backlog is clear, so that nobody is waiting longer than the promised date by more than a day or two.
   4. Tell your team leader today how many cases are past the promised date and what you can realistically clear, so that the queue can be shared out while your colleague is away.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: D. Tell your team leader today how many cases are past the promised date and what you can realistically clear, so that the queue can be shared out while your colleague is away.

   Least effective: B. Clear the backlog using your colleague's login while she is away, since the cases have to be answered and working in her name is much quicker than moving each one across to yourself.

   A: Absorbs the overload silently: it is honest work and nobody who could add a person, extend a promise or reset expectations has been told the position.

   B: Breaches the rule on who acts under whose name: the queue may shrink, and every case closed that way is recorded as the work of somebody who is on leave.

   C: Rearranges the queue without changing its size: the oldest are rescued, your own newer cases now age past their dates, and the workload itself is unaddressed.

   The most effective response is to tell your team leader how many cases are past the promised date and what you can realistically clear, and ask for the queue to be shared: the only fix for a fortnight of two workloads is a decision about resource, and that decision belongs to somebody who does not yet know the numbers. It beats working through both queues in date order, because that is the same overload carried quietly. It beats answering the oldest first, because it moves the lateness around rather than reducing it. The least effective response is clearing cases under your colleague’s login: the record then says she answered customers while she was on leave, and using somebody’s credentials because it is faster is a different kind of wrong from struggling on or from reordering the queue. The principle: when the work will not fit, make the size of it visible to whoever can change it, and never solve it by acting as somebody else.

9. Question 9 of 10

   You are a supplier quality assistant at Aldi. A supplier has emailed you twice asking when a decision will be made about a change they have proposed. The decision belongs to the buyer, who has been in meetings all week and has not replied to either message. The supplier needs to book production time and says he will lose his slot on Friday. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Reply that the decision sits with the buyer and that he has been in meetings all week, so the supplier knows the delay is nothing to do with the quality side of the work.
   2. Reply that you have his question and will come back once the buyer is out of meetings, and chase the buyer once more today.
   3. Reply today with what you do know and say the decision is the buyer's, and put the Friday deadline in front of the buyer now so that he can see what turns on it.
   4. Pass the supplier straight to the buyer's inbox with a one-line note, and leave the two of them to sort the date out between themselves.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: C. Reply today with what you do know and say the decision is the buyer's, and put the Friday deadline in front of the buyer now so that he can see what turns on it.

   Least effective: D. Pass the supplier straight to the buyer's inbox with a one-line note, and leave the two of them to sort the date out between themselves.

   A: Explains the delay instead of moving it: the supplier learns why he is waiting and is no closer to the Friday date that his production slot depends on.

   B: Chases without raising the stakes: the buyer gets a third message that does not mention Friday, which is the one fact that would move him.

   D: Hands the problem on without owning it: the supplier is redirected to the person who has not answered twice already, and nobody has told the buyer that Friday is the date that matters.

   The most effective response is to reply today with what you know, say the decision is the buyer’s and that you will come back by Thursday, and put the Friday deadline in front of the buyer: the supplier gets a person and a date, the buyer gets the one fact that makes this urgent, and you keep the thread rather than dropping it. It beats explaining that the buyer has been in meetings, because that is an account of the delay rather than an attempt to end it. It beats replying that you will come back once the buyer is out of meetings, because a third message that leaves out the production slot gives him no reason to move. The least effective response is passing him straight to the buyer’s inbox and leaving them to it: the supplier is sent to the person who has not answered him twice, and the deadline that makes it urgent is still not in front of anybody, which is a different kind of wrong from explaining too much or writing too little. The principle: when you cannot give the answer, give the timetable, and make sure the person who owns the decision knows what turns on it.

10. Question 10 of 10

    You are a duty supervisor at Aldi. A weekly walk round the area you cover has to be recorded every week. On two of the last eight weeks it was not done, both times during unusually busy periods, and the sheet simply has gaps. A reviewer is going through the records with you this afternoon and has asked whether the walk has been completed every week. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

    1. Say that the walk is done every week as a matter of routine, and offer to send the reviewer the sheet afterwards so that she can look through the detail in her own time.
    2. Tell the reviewer the walk was missed twice in eight weeks, show her the sheet, and say what was happening in the area on both of those weeks.
    3. Tell her the sheet has gaps and that you will look into what happened on those two weeks, without saying that you already know both were busy periods.
    4. Assure the reviewer that the walk was completed in every one of the eight weeks, since it nearly always is and the two gaps were the result of unusually busy periods.
    Show the answer

    Most effective: B. Tell the reviewer the walk was missed twice in eight weeks, show her the sheet, and say what was happening in the area on both of those weeks.

    Least effective: D. Assure the reviewer that the walk was completed in every one of the eight weeks, since it nearly always is and the two gaps were the result of unusually busy periods.

    A: Answers with the routine rather than the record: the gaps are still there and the reviewer finds them later, having been told something different to her face.

    C: Holds back the half you already know: the gaps are disclosed, and the explanation that would let her judge them properly is kept in reserve.

    D: Gives an assurance you know to be untrue: the reviewer's whole purpose is to find out what happened, and she is told the opposite by the one person who knows.

    The most effective response is to tell the reviewer the walk was missed twice in eight weeks, show her the sheet and say what was happening on those weeks: the record and your account of it agree, the context that makes the gaps understandable is offered rather than withheld, and she can do the job she is here to do. It beats answering with what happens as a matter of routine, because she will find the gaps afterwards having heard otherwise from you. It beats disclosing the gaps while keeping back what you know about them, because the explanation is the part that lets her judge them. The least effective response is assuring her that the walk was completed in every one of the eight weeks: the person with the facts tells the person checking them something untrue, which is a different kind of wrong from deflecting or from being incomplete. The principle: when somebody is checking a record, the record and what you say about it must be the same thing.