Compass Group Assessment Tests

Compass Online Situational Judgement Test

1. Question 1 of 10

   You are an availability analyst at Compass Online. A report you use every week double counts one type of transfer, which makes availability look better than it is. You have twice messaged the team who own the report and heard nothing. Colleagues in three areas use the same report to decide what to order. Your own workaround takes ten minutes a week and nobody else knows about it. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Send the fault on to the reporting team a third time and take it off your own list, since the report belongs to them and you have now told them twice.
   2. Write up your workaround and share it with the three areas, so that everybody can correct the number for themselves until the report is fixed.
   3. Tell the three areas what the fault does to the number, and take it to the reporting team's manager with the two unanswered messages, since nothing else has moved them.
   4. Keep applying your own correction and wait for the reporting team to reply, since chasing a third time and going over their heads would both be premature.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: C. Tell the three areas what the fault does to the number, and take it to the reporting team's manager with the two unanswered messages, since nothing else has moved them.

   Least effective: A. Send the fault on to the reporting team a third time and take it off your own list, since the report belongs to them and you have now told them twice.

   A: Passes it on and stops caring: two messages have already vanished, a third changes nothing, and the three areas ordering from the report still do not know.

   B: Spreads the repair instead of the fix: every area now spends ten minutes a week on a fault that still nobody owns.

   D: Waits on a team that has ignored two messages: your own numbers are right, and three areas keep ordering from a figure that is not.

   The most effective response is to tell the three areas what the fault does to the number and take it to the reporting team’s manager with the two unanswered messages: the people making decisions stop using a wrong figure today, and the fix goes to somebody with the standing to make it happen. It beats sharing your workaround with the three areas, because that spends everybody’s time on a fault that still has no owner. It beats waiting for a reply, because two messages have already gone unanswered while the ordering carries on. The least effective response is sending it a third time and taking it off your list: nothing about a third message is different, and the areas ordering from the report are still not told, which is a different kind of wrong from spreading the workaround or from waiting. The principle: when the owner will not act, protect the people using the output and escalate with the evidence of what you already tried.

2. Question 2 of 10

   You are a people team graduate at Compass Online. You and two colleagues run a shared inbox. One of them answered a query yesterday in a way you think was wrong and rather blunt, and the person who asked has replied saying she found it unhelpful. The three of you share a group chat. The colleague is out this morning and the query is still open. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Answer the query again yourself properly and say nothing to him about it, since the person who asked needs a decent answer more than he needs a conversation.
   2. Answer the query properly today, then speak to him when he is back about what she said and how the three of you want questions like it answered.
   3. Put the reply and her response in the group chat and criticise the way he handled it, with the other two of you copied in.
   4. Forward the exchange to your manager and ask her to speak to him, since the tone of it is really a management matter rather than something for a peer to raise.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: B. Answer the query properly today, then speak to him when he is back about what she said and how the three of you want questions like it answered.

   Least effective: C. Put the reply and her response in the group chat and criticise the way he handled it, with the other two of you copied in.

   A: Repairs the case and leaves the cause: he answers the next one the same way, having never been told that this one landed badly.

   C: Personalises a work question in front of the team: he is absent, the exchange is exhibited to a colleague who was not involved, and he reads it when he gets back.

   D: Escalates before speaking to him: the first he hears about a blunt reply is from his manager, over something a colleague could have raised directly.

   The most effective response is to answer the query properly today and speak to him when he is back about what she said and how the three of you want such questions handled: the person waiting gets an answer, the feedback goes to him rather than around him, and the outcome is an agreement about the inbox. It beats answering it yourself and saying nothing, because the next query gets the same reply. It beats forwarding it to your manager, because a peer could raise this in a minute. The least effective response is putting the exchange in the group chat with a criticism attached: it is exhibited to a third colleague while he is out and he reads it on his return, which is a different kind of wrong from quietly repairing it or from escalating it. The principle: take an issue with a colleague’s work to the colleague, and keep the audience out of it.

3. Question 3 of 10

   You are a marketing graduate at Compass Online. A page that went live this morning carries a claim about delivery times that changed last month, so it is now wrong. Changes to live pages go through a release that runs each afternoon, requested by eleven o’clock. It is ten past eleven. You have the access to edit the page directly, and customers are reading it now. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Edit the live page yourself now, since you have the access, the claim is plainly wrong, and customers are reading it while a release process takes its course.
   2. Put the correction into tomorrow's release and note the page as a known issue, since the deadline for today's release has already gone by ten minutes.
   3. Ask the release team to take the page down until the correction can go through properly, so that customers see nothing rather than something untrue.
   4. Ask the release team to take the correction into this afternoon's release despite the cut-off, explain what the claim says now, and tell your manager it is live.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: D. Ask the release team to take the correction into this afternoon's release despite the cut-off, explain what the claim says now, and tell your manager it is live.

   Least effective: A. Edit the live page yourself now, since you have the access, the claim is plainly wrong, and customers are reading it while a release process takes its course.

   A: Breaches the release process because the cause is good: an unreviewed change goes live outside the route that exists to stop unreviewed changes going live.

   B: Accepts a day of a wrong claim on a technicality: nobody has asked whether a correction ten minutes late can still make this afternoon.

   C: Removes more than the error: the whole page disappears for a day because one sentence about delivery times is out of date.

   The most effective response is to ask the release team to take the correction this afternoon despite the cut-off, explain what the claim currently says, and tell your manager: the fastest legitimate route is tried, the people who own the release decide, and the person accountable knows a wrong claim is live. It beats putting it in tomorrow’s release, because nobody has asked whether ten minutes late can still be accommodated. It beats taking the whole page down, because one sentence does not justify losing all of it. The least effective response is editing the live page yourself: an unreviewed change goes live outside the process whose entire purpose is to stop that, which is a different kind of wrong from being too accepting or from over-correcting. The principle: a good reason is exactly when a control gets tested, and the answer is to ask for an exception rather than take one.

4. Question 4 of 10

   You are a customer care assistant at Compass Online. A customer is asking for a refund that is larger than you may approve. Refunds above your limit need a manager, and the manager is in a meeting for another hour. The customer is polite, has waited a long time already, and says he needs to know before he leaves for work. The refund itself looks reasonable to you. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Approve the part of the refund that is inside your limit now, and tell him the rest will need a manager's decision that you will chase this afternoon.
   2. Tell him it is fine to expect the full refund and that nobody senior needs to look at a case as clear as his, which you have not actually checked.
   3. Tell him the refund is above what you can approve, put the case to the manager with your recommendation as soon as her meeting ends, and give him a time you will ring back.
   4. Interrupt the manager's meeting to get a decision on the refund now, since the customer is leaving for work shortly and has already waited a good deal longer than he should have had to.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: C. Tell him the refund is above what you can approve, put the case to the manager with your recommendation as soon as her meeting ends, and give him a time you will ring back.

   Least effective: B. Tell him it is fine to expect the full refund and that nobody senior needs to look at a case as clear as his, which you have not actually checked.

   A: Settles the easy half and leaves the substance: he gets part of an answer and still has to wait for the decision he actually rang about.

   B: States as settled something nobody has decided: he leaves for work believing the money is agreed, and the manager may see the case quite differently.

   D: Escalates by interruption: an hour's wait for a call back is a smaller cost than pulling a manager out of a meeting for a case that is not urgent in that sense.

   The most effective response is to tell him the refund is above your limit, put the case to the manager with your recommendation as soon as she is free, and give him a time you will ring back: he knows exactly where his case is, the decision goes to the person who owns it with your view attached, and the call back is a commitment you can keep. It beats approving the part inside your limit, because the decision he is waiting for is the rest. It beats interrupting the meeting, because an hour is a smaller cost than that. The least effective response is telling him it is fine and nobody senior needs to look at it: he leaves for work believing the money is agreed and nobody has decided anything, which is a different kind of wrong from half-answering or from escalating clumsily. The principle: say what is decided, by whom and when, rather than what the person in front of you would like to hear.

5. Question 5 of 10

   You are a shift supervisor at Compass Online. The handover sheet has a line for a walk of the area at the end of each shift, signed by the supervisor. Tonight the shift overran, the walk was not done, and the incoming supervisor is waiting to take over. Your manager has said more than once that unsigned handovers hold up the next shift. The area was quiet all evening and nothing has been reported. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Do the full walk now, sign the sheet, and hand over forty minutes late so that the incoming supervisor starts her own shift behind.
   2. Hand over with the walk line unsigned and tell the incoming supervisor it was not done and why, so that she knows what has been checked, and note it for your manager.
   3. Sign the handover sheet off as walked after a quiet evening with nothing reported, and mention the overrun to your manager tomorrow.
   4. Ask the incoming supervisor to do the walk at the start of her shift and sign for it herself, since the area will be covered either way within the hour.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: B. Hand over with the walk line unsigned and tell the incoming supervisor it was not done and why, so that she knows what has been checked, and note it for your manager.

   Least effective: C. Sign the handover sheet off as walked after a quiet evening with nothing reported, and mention the overrun to your manager tomorrow.

   A: Buys a true record with the next shift's time: the walk happens, and the incoming supervisor starts forty minutes down for a line that could have said what happened.

   C: Signs for a check that was not carried out: the signature is the only evidence anybody has that the area was walked, and it now says something untrue.

   D: Moves your own task onto the next shift: she starts twenty minutes behind on a walk that belonged to the shift that has just ended.

   The most effective response is to hand over with the line unsigned, tell the incoming supervisor it was not done and why, and note it for your manager: the sheet stays true, the person taking over knows exactly what has and has not been checked, and the overrun is visible to somebody who can do something about it. It beats doing the full walk now and handing over forty minutes late, because the next shift pays for a line that could simply have told the truth. It beats asking the incoming supervisor to do it, because she starts her shift behind on somebody else’s task. The least effective response is signing the sheet as walked because the area was quiet: the signature is the only evidence anybody has, and it is made to say something untrue, which is a different kind of wrong from cutting the check short or from passing it on. The principle: an unsigned line tells the truth about a missed check, and a signature is a statement rather than a formality.

6. Question 6 of 10

   You are a customer experience graduate at Compass Online. You have two pieces of work today: a backlog of forty customer messages that have been waiting since Friday, and a survey summary a manager asked you for by this evening for a meeting tomorrow. You cannot finish both. The messages have no stated deadline, and several customers are waiting on replacements. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Do half of each so that the manager gets something to work with tomorrow and the oldest messages in the backlog are cleared before the end of the day.
   2. Work through the message backlog and start the survey summary tomorrow, without telling the manager that the summary he asked for will not be ready for his meeting.
   3. Tell the manager this morning that the backlog is forty messages deep and ask whether he wants the summary tonight or the backlog cleared, so that he can weigh the two himself.
   4. Finish the survey summary first because it has a stated deadline, and leave the messages until tomorrow since none of them carries a date that anybody has given you.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: C. Tell the manager this morning that the backlog is forty messages deep and ask whether he wants the summary tonight or the backlog cleared, so that he can weigh the two himself.

   Least effective: B. Work through the message backlog and start the survey summary tomorrow, without telling the manager that the summary he asked for will not be ready for his meeting.

   A: Splits effort so nothing finishes: a half summary is not usable in a meeting and twenty answered messages leave twenty customers still waiting since Friday.

   B: Withholds a slip from the person planning around it: the choice may be right, and he walks into a meeting tomorrow expecting a document that was never started.

   D: Reads a deadline as the only measure of urgency: forty customers have been waiting since Friday and several are waiting on replacements they cannot get elsewhere.

   The most effective response is to tell the manager this morning how deep the backlog is and ask which he wants, then do that: he owns the priorities between his meeting and the customers, he can only weigh them if he knows both, and asking costs five minutes at the start of the day rather than an apology at the end of it. It beats doing half of each, because half a summary is useless in a meeting and half a backlog leaves the same customers waiting. It beats finishing the summary first on the strength of its deadline, because forty customers waiting since Friday is the more urgent thing even though nobody put a date on it. The least effective response is working the message backlog without telling the manager his summary will not be ready: the decision may well be the right one, and he finds out tomorrow, in the meeting, which is a different kind of wrong from splitting your effort or from mis-ranking the work. The principle: where you cannot do both, the person whose plan changes hears it from you first.

7. Question 7 of 10

   You are a service recovery assistant at Compass Online. 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.

8. Question 8 of 10

   You are a trading assistant at Compass Online. A large account has queried a charge on last month’s invoice. You have pulled the figures and can see the charge is correct, but the reason it changed is a contract term you do not fully understand. The account manager is out today. The customer wants an answer before the end of the week, and it is Wednesday. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Reply with the figures you have checked and what they show, say that the contract point needs the account manager, and book time with him for tomorrow morning.
   2. Explain the contract term to the customer as best you understand it, and say you will confirm it with the account manager tomorrow.
   3. Send the query on to the account team without the figures you have already checked, and let them start the contract point again from the beginning.
   4. Reply to the customer that the charge is correct and leave the reason for the account manager to explain when he is back in the office tomorrow.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Reply with the figures you have checked and what they show, say that the contract point needs the account manager, and book time with him for tomorrow morning.

   Least effective: C. Send the query on to the account team without the figures you have already checked, and let them start the contract point again from the beginning.

   B: Answers outside what you actually know: an approximate account of a contract term is the thing most likely to be quoted back at the business later.

   C: Passes the problem on stripped of the work already done: the account team starts from nothing, the day you have spent on it is wasted, and Friday is two days away.

   D: Answers the easy half only: the customer did not ask whether the charge was right, they asked why it changed, and that is the part being deferred.

   The most effective response is to reply with the figures you have checked and what they show, say the contract point needs the account manager, and book time with him for tomorrow: the customer sees progress and an honest boundary, the checking work is used, and Friday is still comfortably reachable. It beats explaining the contract term as best you understand it, because an approximation about a contract is exactly the sentence that gets quoted back later. It beats replying that the charge is correct and leaving the reason to the account manager, because the reason is what was asked. The least effective response is sending the query on without the figures you have already checked: the next person starts from nothing, a day of work disappears, and the deadline is two days out, which is a different kind of wrong from over-reaching or from answering only half. The principle: escalate the part you cannot answer, with the part you can attached to it.

9. Question 9 of 10

   You are a supplier quality assistant at Compass Online. 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 shift supervisor at Compass Online. As the afternoon handover starts, a customer comes to the desk and says she was told this morning that somebody would ring her back about an order and nobody has. The handover takes twenty minutes and the team on the earlier shift have already left. The customer has come in specially. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

    1. Ask her to leave her number and explain that the people who took the call this morning have gone home, so somebody will look at it and get back to her tomorrow.
    2. Assume somebody on the morning shift has already dealt with it and that the message has crossed with her visit, and carry on with the handover as planned.
    3. Stop the handover, look into the order there and then, and pick the handover up afterwards with whatever time is left before the shift changes over.
    4. Take her details and the order number and tell her you will look at it as soon as the handover ends, so that she has a time rather than another promise of a call.
    Show the answer

    Most effective: D. Take her details and the order number and tell her you will look at it as soon as the handover ends, so that she has a time rather than another promise of a call.

    Least effective: B. Assume somebody on the morning shift has already dealt with it and that the message has crossed with her visit, and carry on with the handover as planned.

    A: Repeats the promise that has already failed her once: she came in because a call-back did not happen, and she leaves holding another one.

    B: Assumes the problem away rather than checking it: the one person she has managed to reach decides, without looking, that she has probably been helped already.

    C: Spends a fixed team commitment on one case: the handover exists so the incoming shift knows what it is walking into, and it cannot simply be shortened.

    The most effective response is to take her details, tell her you will look at it the moment the handover ends, and come back to her before she leaves: she gets a person, a time and an outcome inside the hour, and the handover the incoming shift depends on still happens. It beats asking her to leave her number for tomorrow, because a call-back is exactly the promise that has already failed her. It beats stopping the handover altogether, because the whole incoming shift plans off it. The least effective response is assuming the morning shift has already dealt with it and carrying on: nobody checks anything, and the one person she has actually reached decides on no evidence that she has probably been helped, which is a different kind of wrong from making a weak promise or from over-correcting. The principle: a customer in front of you gets a commitment you can keep, and never an assumption about what somebody else has done.