Burges Salmon Assessment Tests

Burges Salmon Situational Judgement Test

1. Question 1 of 10

   You are a compliance assistant in a month when your team has been two down. You realise you approved a file opening last week without the identity check being complete, because you misread the form. The matter has since gone ahead. Your team leader is preparing for an external audit next month. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Tell your team leader today what happened, get the check completed, and suggest what would stop the same misreading happening on the form again.
   2. Get the check completed now, and mention it to your team leader after the audit, so that a month she is already stretched by is not made harder than it needs to be.
   3. Report it to the external auditor when they visit, since an independent auditor is the right recipient for a compliance failure and your team leader is already under pressure.
   4. Get the identity check completed now, and conceal it, since the check will then be on the file and there is nothing an auditor could find next month.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Tell your team leader today what happened, get the check completed, and suggest what would stop the same misreading happening on the form again.

   Least effective: D. Get the identity check completed now, and conceal it, since the check will then be on the file and there is nothing an auditor could find next month.

   B: Times the disclosure for her convenience: the audit is precisely when she needs to know what is on the files, and telling her afterwards removes her only chance to deal with it first.

   C: Goes outside before inside: the firm's own compliance lead hears about a failure on her files from an auditor, which is worse for the firm and for her than hearing it now.

   D: Conceals your own error: the file ends up looking correct, so the only record of an approval given without a completed check is removed by the person who gave it.

   The most effective response is to tell your team leader today what happened, get the check completed, and suggest what would stop the same misreading of the form. She needs to know before an audit rather than after one, the check can be completed either way, and the form is the part that stops it recurring. It beats getting the check completed now and mentioning it after the audit, because the audit is exactly when the information is worth something. It beats reporting it to the external auditor when they visit, because the firm should know before an outsider does. The least effective response is getting the check onto the file so there is nothing an auditor could find next month: it removes any trace of the approval that was given without one. That is a different kind of wrong from the other two, both of which tell somebody eventually. The principle: a bad month is a reason to be quick about your own error, not a reason to bury it.

2. Question 2 of 10

   You are a new enquiries adviser. A colleague on the same desk has twice taken enquiries that were passed to you while you were on another call, and both became instructions credited to him. He says he was only keeping the callers from waiting. The team’s figures are reviewed monthly. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Speak to him directly, say what you have noticed on both occasions, and agree between you what should happen to a transferred enquiry when the person it was passed to is busy.
   2. Ask two others on the desk, behind his back, whether he has done the same to them, so that you know whether this is a pattern before you decide what to do about it.
   3. Let it go on the basis that his explanation is reasonable, and make a point of getting to transferred calls faster yourself so that the situation does not come up again.
   4. Raise it with your team leader before the monthly review and ask her to look at how the two enquiries were credited, given what was happening when each of them came in.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Speak to him directly, say what you have noticed on both occasions, and agree between you what should happen to a transferred enquiry when the person it was passed to is busy.

   Least effective: B. Ask two others on the desk, behind his back, whether he has done the same to them, so that you know whether this is a pattern before you decide what to do about it.

   B: Canvasses colleagues behind his back: it collects a view of a person from people who were not involved, so by the time he is asked anything the desk has already made up its mind about him.

   C: Prioritises harmony over honesty: it accepts an explanation without testing it and puts the whole remedy on you, so the same thing happens the next time you are on a long call.

   D: Escalates before speaking to him: it turns a two-person question into a management one without him ever being asked, and does so shortly before the figures that make it worth something to you.

   The most effective response is to speak to him directly, say what you noticed on both occasions, and agree what should happen to a transferred enquiry when the person it went to is busy. There is a real question about transferred enquiries and a real question about credit, and both are answerable in one conversation. It beats letting it go and getting to transferred calls faster yourself, because his explanation has not been tested and the remedy it accepts is entirely yours. It beats raising it with your team leader before the monthly review, because a manager is the right destination only once he has been asked. The least effective response is asking two others on the desk whether he has done the same to them: it gathers opinion about him from people with no part in it, so the desk forms a view before he has said a word. That is a different kind of wrong from the other two, neither of which involves anybody who was not already in the situation. The principle: ask the person first, and never build a case about them among people who were not there.

3. Question 3 of 10

   You are a compliance assistant. You and a colleague in the same team divide the weekly file checks between you. He has been finishing his half late for a month, and the team’s report to the partners has gone in late each time as a result. He has not mentioned it and neither have you. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Ask him for a quiet word, say the report has gone in late four weeks running, and ask what would make his half easier to finish on the day it is due.
   2. Give his half of the checks to somebody else on the team from next week, so that the report goes in on time without you having to raise anything with him about it.
   3. Start doing part of his half yourself each week, so the report goes in on time and he has less to get through before the deadline comes round again.
   4. Raise it with your team leader, since four late reports to the partners is a team problem rather than something two people should be sorting out between themselves.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Ask him for a quiet word, say the report has gone in late four weeks running, and ask what would make his half easier to finish on the day it is due.

   Least effective: B. Give his half of the checks to somebody else on the team from next week, so that the report goes in on time without you having to raise anything with him about it.

   B: Passes the problem to a third person: it moves work onto a colleague who has not agreed to it, tells him nothing, and leaves whatever is actually slowing him down entirely untouched.

   C: Absorbs the problem silently: the report improves and he never learns there was an issue, so the arrangement quietly becomes yours to carry indefinitely.

   D: Escalates before asking: he has never been told the report goes in late because of his half, so the first he hears of it will be from his team leader.

   The most effective response is to ask him for a quiet word, say the report has gone in late four weeks running, and ask what would make his half easier to finish on the day. He may not know his half is what makes it late, and that question is the one that can actually change next week. It beats starting to do part of his half yourself each week, because carrying it silently makes it permanent. It beats raising it with your team leader as a team problem, because she is the right destination only after he has been asked. The least effective response is giving his half of the checks to somebody else from next week: it moves his work to a third colleague without asking either of them, so the cost lands on somebody uninvolved and the cause survives. That is a different kind of wrong from the other two, both of which keep it among the people concerned. The principle: name the cost to the person causing it before you move it anywhere.

4. Question 4 of 10

   You are a disclosure assistant. Your team records the number of documents each person reviews per day and reports the totals to the client each Friday. You have been slower this week because a batch you were given is unusually complex. Your team leader asks you for your figures before she sends the report. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Give her the number and tell her why it is lower this week, so that whatever she sends the client carries the reason along with the figure.
   2. Record a higher figure for the last two days than you actually reviewed, since you will make the difference up next week and the client only ever sees the weekly total.
   3. Give her the number without comment, on the basis that she has the same view of the batches as you do and can see for herself why the week looks like this.
   4. Ask her to leave your figures out of this week's report until the complex batch is finished, so that the client sees a fair picture rather than an unusual week.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Give her the number and tell her why it is lower this week, so that whatever she sends the client carries the reason along with the figure.

   Least effective: B. Record a higher figure for the last two days than you actually reviewed, since you will make the difference up next week and the client only ever sees the weekly total.

   B: Alters a record: it puts a number into the client's report that describes work nobody has done, and it does so in the one system anybody would later use to check.

   C: Assumes the context is obvious: she is about to send the figure onwards and may not have looked at what was in your batch, so the reason travels only if you send it with the number.

   D: Removes the awkward data: a report with a person missing invites exactly the question it was meant to avoid, and it treats an unusual week as something to be hidden rather than explained.

   The most effective response is to give her the number and tell her why it is lower this week, so whatever she sends the client carries the reason along with the figure. It beats giving her the number without comment because she can see the batches herself, since she is the person sending it on and cannot supply a context she has not been given. It beats asking her to leave your figures out of this week’s report, because leaving a name out is more conspicuous than a low number with an explanation. The least effective response is recording a higher figure for the last two days than you actually reviewed: it changes what the record says happened, which is a different kind of wrong from the other two because both of those report a true number badly and this one reports a false one. The principle: send the number with its reason, and never make the number say something else.

5. Question 5 of 10

   You are a client services adviser covering the desk alone. A client is waiting in reception for a meeting that started ten minutes ago and the fee earner is not answering. Two calls are holding and a courier is at the door with a package that needs signing for. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Sign for the courier first because he cannot wait, then take the two calls, and go to the waiting client once the desk is clear enough to leave for a few minutes.
   2. Speak to the waiting client first with an apology and a time, then sign for the courier, then take the calls, telling each caller you will ring them straight back.
   3. Take the two calls first, since callers cannot see what is happening at the desk and the client in reception can see that you are busy and will understand the wait.
   4. Ask the courier to come back later and put both calls through to voicemail, so that you can go and find somebody who can take the client's meeting for you.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: B. Speak to the waiting client first with an apology and a time, then sign for the courier, then take the calls, telling each caller you will ring them straight back.

   Least effective: D. Ask the courier to come back later and put both calls through to voicemail, so that you can go and find somebody who can take the client's meeting for you.

   A: Clears the quickest items first: it produces a tidy desk and leaves the person who can see you ignoring her for longest, which is the one cost the firm will hear about.

   C: Uses a customer's patience as a resource: the client can see you, which makes the wait worse rather than more forgivable, and neither caller knows they are being preferred.

   D: Hands the problem on and drops the rest: it turns away a delivery, sends two callers to voicemail and leaves the desk, all to give somebody else a meeting they have not agreed to take.

   The most effective response is to speak to the waiting client first with an apology and a time, then sign for the courier, then take the calls. Thirty seconds spent on the person who can see you costs almost nothing and removes the only cost that is growing. It beats signing for the courier first because he cannot wait, since his minute is worth less than the client’s ten. It beats taking the two calls first because callers cannot see what is happening, since a visible wait is worse than an invisible one, not better. The least effective response is asking the courier to come back later and putting both calls to voicemail while you find somebody to take the meeting: it clears your own desk by making three other things somebody else’s, without asking any of them. That is a different kind of wrong from the other two, which both keep everything with you. The principle: give the person in front of you a word and a time first, then work the rest in order.

6. Question 6 of 10

   You are a knowledge assistant. You choose which of two training providers the firm books for its quarterly sessions. One of them offers you a free place on a course you have wanted to take, worth several hundred pounds, and says it is available because you are a regular booker. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Take the place as a gift you would have paid for yourself, since the course is for your own development and has nothing to do with which provider gets the firm's bookings.
   2. Decline the place and tell your manager the offer was made, so it is on record and somebody other than you decides whether anything is said to the provider.
   3. Decline the place and say nothing more about it, since refusing is enough and reporting it would make an issue of a provider being generous with a spare seat.
   4. Ask whether the place can be offered to somebody else in the firm instead, so that the value is not wasted and it does not go to the person doing the booking.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: B. Decline the place and tell your manager the offer was made, so it is on record and somebody other than you decides whether anything is said to the provider.

   Least effective: A. Take the place as a gift you would have paid for yourself, since the course is for your own development and has nothing to do with which provider gets the firm's bookings.

   A: Takes a benefit the role forbids: you are the person who decides between the two providers, so a free place from one of them is worth something to you whatever it is called.

   C: Leaves the offer unreported: the refusal protects this quarter and the firm never learns that the provider makes offers to the person who books, so the next booker meets it cold.

   D: Keeps the benefit inside the firm without reporting it: it removes the personal gain and leaves the provider's practice of making such offers unrecorded and undiscussed.

   The most effective response is to decline the place and tell your manager the offer was made. Declining is only half of it: what protects the next booking decision is that somebody other than you knows it happened. It beats declining and saying nothing more about it, because a private refusal leaves the firm blind. It beats asking whether the place can go to somebody else in the firm, because redirecting it still leaves nobody aware of the offer. The least effective response is taking the place as a gift you would have paid for yourself: it accepts a valuable benefit from a provider you choose between, which is a different kind of wrong from the other two because neither of those takes anything. The principle: refuse it, and make the refusal somebody else’s knowledge too.

7. Question 7 of 10

   You are a new enquiries adviser. Every enquiry has to be logged with the time it came in and the time it was answered. Yesterday you answered one two hours late because the system was down for the afternoon. Your team leader asks for the log before she reports the week’s response times. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Log the real times and leave it, since the outage was reported to everybody by email and she will connect the two when she sees the gap.
   2. Ask her whether the enquiry should be excluded from the week's figures, given that the delay was caused by an outage rather than by anything the team did.
   3. Log the real times and tell her the system was down for the afternoon, so the two hours are reported with the reason attached.
   4. Alter the entry so the record shows the enquiry answered within the usual window, since the delay was the system rather than you and the figure would otherwise say something untrue about your work.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: C. Log the real times and tell her the system was down for the afternoon, so the two hours are reported with the reason attached.

   Least effective: D. Alter the entry so the record shows the enquiry answered within the usual window, since the delay was the system rather than you and the figure would otherwise say something untrue about your work.

   A: Assumes the context travels: she is writing a report from a log, and a two-hour gap on one enquiry does not carry an outage notice with it.

   B: Invites the data to be trimmed: the measure is how long clients waited, and a client waited two hours whatever caused it.

   D: Records a time that did not happen: the log exists to show when enquiries were answered, and an entry adjusted for fairness stops describing anything.

   The most effective response is to log the real times and tell her the system was down for the afternoon, so the two hours are reported with the reason attached. The time is a fact and the outage is the fact that explains it, and both belong in front of the person writing the report. It beats logging the real times and leaving it because the outage was emailed to everybody, since a log does not carry an email with it. It beats asking whether the enquiry should be excluded from the week’s figures, because the client waited whatever the cause. The least effective response is altering the entry so the record shows it answered within the usual window: it puts a time in the log that describes nothing that happened, which is a different kind of wrong from the other two because both of those record the truth. The principle: log what happened and report the cause beside it.

8. Question 8 of 10

   You are a trainee solicitor sharing a research task with another trainee. You have each done half and the two halves reach opposite conclusions. Neither of you can see where the difference comes from. The note is due to your supervisor at midday tomorrow and you both have other work today. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Sit down with him for half an hour today, work back through both halves until you find where the difference arises, and put the answer and the reasoning in the note.
   2. Send both halves to your supervisor now with a note that the two of you disagree, and ask her to tell you which conclusion is right before you write it up.
   3. Hand your half to someone in the department who knows the area, and ask them to reconcile the two halves while the pair of you get on with your other work today.
   4. Put both conclusions in the note with the arguments for each, so your supervisor can see the two positions and decide which one she prefers.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Sit down with him for half an hour today, work back through both halves until you find where the difference arises, and put the answer and the reasoning in the note.

   Least effective: C. Hand your half to someone in the department who knows the area, and ask them to reconcile the two halves while the pair of you get on with your other work today.

   B: Escalates before diagnosing: she is being asked to do the work of finding the difference, which is the whole task, and neither of you has yet spent half an hour looking.

   C: Passes the work to a colleague: the two people who did the research give the reconciling to somebody who did not, so the one part nobody else can do quickly is the part that gets handed away.

   D: Delivers the disagreement instead of resolving it: a research note that ends in two answers is not a research note, and the difference between them is probably one step neither of you has found.

   The most effective response is to sit down with him for half an hour today and work back through both halves until you find where the difference arises. The gap between two halves of one question is nearly always a single step, and the two people who did the work are the fastest to find it. It beats sending both halves to your supervisor with a note that you disagree, because she is being asked to do your task. It beats putting both conclusions in the note with the arguments for each, because a note with two answers has not answered anything. The least effective response is handing your half to someone in the department to reconcile the two: the reconciling goes to somebody with none of the working, so a half-hour job becomes a long one for a person who has not agreed to it. That is a different kind of wrong from the other two, both of which keep the work with people who have done it. The principle: find where two answers diverge before asking anybody else to choose between them.

9. Question 9 of 10

   You are a costs assistant. A fee earner asks you whether a client’s payment on account has cleared, because he wants to instruct counsel today. The bank feed shows a payment received but the accounts team has not yet confirmed it as cleared, and they are not back until tomorrow. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Tell him the payment is showing on the feed but is not confirmed as cleared, and that accounts are back tomorrow, so he can decide whether to wait.
   2. Tell him it has cleared, and assure him of it, since the money is showing on the feed and payments of that kind have always cleared by the following morning.
   3. Tell him the payment is showing but not yet confirmed, ring the bank this morning to establish whether it has cleared, and come back to him with an answer before the end of the day.
   4. Tell him he will have to wait for accounts tomorrow, since clearance is their call and nothing you can find out will change what they say when they look at it.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: C. Tell him the payment is showing but not yet confirmed, ring the bank this morning to establish whether it has cleared, and come back to him with an answer before the end of the day.

   Least effective: B. Tell him it has cleared, and assure him of it, since the money is showing on the feed and payments of that kind have always cleared by the following morning.

   A: Hands the decision back without helping: it is accurate and it leaves him choosing between waiting a day and taking a risk, when the bank could confirm the position this morning.

   B: States as fact something you have not confirmed: he will instruct counsel on the strength of it, and the only team who can confirm clearance has not looked at it.

   D: Treats one team's absence as the end of it: the bank is a source of the same fact, and a day's delay to instructing counsel is being accepted without anybody trying.

   The most effective response is to tell him the payment is showing but not yet confirmed, ring the bank this morning to establish whether it has cleared, and come back before the end of the day. He needs the fact rather than the paperwork, and the bank can supply it today even though accounts cannot. It beats telling him it is showing but unconfirmed and that accounts are back tomorrow, because the uncertainty is removable. It beats telling him he will have to wait for accounts, because an absent team is not the only route to the answer. The least effective response is assuring him the money has cleared because payments of that kind always do by the following morning: clearance you have not established is confirmed, and counsel will be instructed on it. That is a different kind of wrong from the other two, both of which are honest about what is confirmed. The principle: when the usual confirmer is away, find the other source rather than filling the gap or accepting the delay.

10. Question 10 of 10

    You are a compliance assistant. Your team reports each month how many new files had their checks completed before work started. One of this month’s files had its check completed the day after work began, because the fee earner was told the wrong thing by somebody else. Your team leader asks for the figures. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

    1. Record the check as completed before work started, since the check was done and the reason it was a day late had nothing to do with the fee earner or with the compliance team.
    2. Give her the figure with the exception shown, and leave the explanation to whoever asks about it, since the numbers are what the report is for.
    3. Give her the figure with the exception shown and a line explaining that the fee earner was given wrong information, so the report carries the cause as well as the count.
    4. Ask her whether the one late file needs to be in the figures at all, given that it was caused by something outside the process the report is meant to measure.
    Show the answer

    Most effective: C. Give her the figure with the exception shown and a line explaining that the fee earner was given wrong information, so the report carries the cause as well as the count.

    Least effective: A. Record the check as completed before work started, since the check was done and the reason it was a day late had nothing to do with the fee earner or with the compliance team.

    A: Marks a file as compliant when it was not: the whole point of the figure is that it counts checks done before work began, and a file recorded as fine removes the only trace of what went wrong.

    B: Reports the number without its cause: the exception will be read as a fee earner ignoring a check, and the thing that actually needs fixing is somebody giving out wrong information.

    D: Invites the data to be trimmed: the report measures whether checks were done before work started, and this one was not, whatever the reason.

    The most effective response is to give her the figure with the exception shown and a line explaining that the fee earner was given wrong information. The figure is what it is, and the one line is what turns an apparent breach into something the firm can act on. It beats giving her the figure with the exception shown and leaving the explanation to whoever asks, because an unexplained exception will be read as the wrong kind of failure. It beats asking whether the one late file needs to be in the figures at all, because the measure is about what happened, not about whose fault it was. The least effective response is recording the check as completed before work started: it records the file as compliant when it was not, which is a different kind of wrong from the other two because both of those leave the exception visible. The principle: report the exception and its cause together, and never make the record say the exception did not happen.