Kroger Assessment Tests

Kroger Situational Judgement Test

1. Question 1 of 10

   You are a customer care assistant at Kroger. A refund you processed last week went out at forty pounds instead of four hundred, and a colleague has just spotted it while closing the case. The customer has not been in touch. Your team leader is at her desk. Refunds of this size are corrected by her, and the weekly payment run closes on Friday afternoon. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Send the customer the missing amount from the goodwill budget today and note what happened in the case, then raise the error at the team meeting next week.
   2. Tell your team leader this morning what you got wrong, with the case reference and the two amounts, so the shortfall can be corrected before Friday's payment run closes.
   3. Keep it between you and the colleague who found it, correct the figure in the case notes, and hope the customer does not compare what was promised with what arrived.
   4. Ask the colleague who spotted the shortfall to raise it with the team leader, since she found it and can explain what she saw in the case more clearly than you can.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: B. Tell your team leader this morning what you got wrong, with the case reference and the two amounts, so the shortfall can be corrected before Friday's payment run closes.

   Least effective: C. Keep it between you and the colleague who found it, correct the figure in the case notes, and hope the customer does not compare what was promised with what arrived.

   A: Delays the decision: the customer is made whole, but the person who owns refunds of this size hears about it a week after the payment run she has to correct it in.

   C: Conceals your own error by agreement: the notes read correctly, the customer is still three hundred and sixty pounds short, and the one person who could put it right before Friday is deliberately not told.

   D: Passes responsibility to others: the error is yours, and handing the conversation to the person who caught it makes the correction slower and the account of it second hand.

   The most effective response is to tell your team leader this morning what you got wrong, with the case reference and both amounts: she is the person who can correct a refund of that size, Friday’s run is the deadline that decides whether the customer waits days or weeks, and owning the mistake out loud is what makes the correction possible. It beats sending the missing amount from the goodwill budget and raising it next week, because the correction lands after the run and the budget is not what a mispayment should be repaired from. It beats asking the colleague who spotted the shortfall to raise it, because the error is yours to report and a second-hand account is slower and less complete. The least effective response is keeping it between the two of you and hoping the customer does not compare the figures: the record is tidied while the customer stays short, and concealment is a different kind of wrong from reporting late or reporting through somebody else. The principle: your own error is the one you take to the person who can fix it, at once and in your own words.

2. Question 2 of 10

   You are a duty supervisor at Kroger. 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.

3. Question 3 of 10

   You are a stock control assistant at Kroger. A recount you asked for turned up a mistake in your own figures, and the colleague who did it said, in front of two others, that he had wasted an afternoon on your arithmetic. It stung and he was largely right. The next count is due on Thursday and it needs two people, one of whom is normally him. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Ask your supervisor to put somebody else on Thursday's count, since working alongside him this week would be uncomfortable for both of you after what was said.
   2. Refuse to work with him on Thursday's count after the way he spoke to you, and say you would rather do it on your own or not at all.
   3. Acknowledge to him that the figures were wrong and say what you have changed, and do Thursday's count with him as planned since the count needs two people.
   4. Say nothing about it, do Thursday's count as planned, and let the remark fade rather than reopening something that was fair comment anyway.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: C. Acknowledge to him that the figures were wrong and say what you have changed, and do Thursday's count with him as planned since the count needs two people.

   Least effective: B. Refuse to work with him on Thursday's count after the way he spoke to you, and say you would rather do it on your own or not at all.

   A: Redesigns the rota around one awkward afternoon: the count is harder to staff, and the two of you have to work together again the week after in any case.

   B: Withdraws from a job that needs two people after a disagreement: Thursday's count is put at risk to answer a remark made about an afternoon.

   D: Lets an unrepaired working relationship stand: the count happens and he has no reason to think the mistake will not simply repeat.

   The most effective response is to acknowledge that the figures were wrong, say what you have changed, and do Thursday’s count with him: the criticism was largely fair, saying so is what restores the working relationship, and the count that needs two people gets them. It beats asking for somebody else on Thursday, because the rota is rearranged around one bad afternoon and you will work together next week anyway. It beats letting the remark fade, because he has no reason to expect anything different next time. The least effective response is refusing to work with him on Thursday: a count that needs two people is put at risk to answer a remark, which is a different kind of wrong from avoiding him or from staying silent. The principle: when the criticism is fair, own it and stay in the work with the person who made it.

4. Question 4 of 10

   You are a marketing graduate at Kroger. 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.

5. Question 5 of 10

   You are a shift supervisor at Kroger. Two of your team have fallen out over a rota change that moved one of them off Fridays. Each has told you the change was the other’s doing. In fact it was made by the scheduling team for reasons neither knows. Both are refusing to swap cover for each other, which is making the week harder for everybody. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Get the two of them together, explain that the change came from scheduling and why, and ask them to agree how cover works between them for the rest of the month.
   2. Tell each of them separately that the other had nothing to do with it, since a conversation between the three of you would be more heat than it is worth.
   3. Rearrange the cover yourself so that the two of them do not have to rely on each other, which takes the immediate pressure off the rest of the week.
   4. Promise both of them that the rota change will be reversed next month, which stops the argument and gets everybody covering for each other again.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Get the two of them together, explain that the change came from scheduling and why, and ask them to agree how cover works between them for the rest of the month.

   Least effective: D. Promise both of them that the rota change will be reversed next month, which stops the argument and gets everybody covering for each other again.

   B: Corrects the facts and leaves the relationship: both know they were wrong about the cause, and neither has said anything to the other.

   C: Designs around the fallout: the week runs, and two people who work the same shifts are formally kept apart by their supervisor.

   D: Buys peace with something nobody has agreed: the change belongs to scheduling, and next month both of them learn that your word was worth nothing.

   The most effective response is to get the two of them together, explain that the change came from scheduling and why, and ask them to agree how cover works for the rest of the month: the false belief that started it is removed in front of both, and the thing that actually has to work again, which is the cover between them, is what they are asked to settle. It beats telling them separately, because neither has to say anything to the other and the working relationship stays broken. It beats rearranging the cover around them, because their supervisor has formally kept them apart. The least effective response is promising the change will be reversed next month: it is not yours to reverse, and when it is not, both of them learn what your word is worth, which is a different kind of wrong from correcting them privately or from working around them. The principle: end a dispute with the truth in front of both parties, never with a promise you cannot keep.

6. Question 6 of 10

   You are a procurement graduate at Kroger. Two suppliers have quoted for the same work and you are handling both conversations. The second supplier has asked you outright whether he is far off the other quote. You know he is about eight per cent higher. A cheaper price would save real money, and nobody else was in either conversation. The decision is made next week. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Let the second supplier know roughly where the first one's price sits, since it would bring the cost down and nobody outside those two conversations would ever know.
   2. Tell him you cannot discuss other quotes, and leave it there so that nothing you say can be taken as a signal about where his price sits.
   3. Tell him you cannot discuss another supplier's price and explain what the decision weighs besides cost, and invite a best and final offer from both so that each gets the same chance.
   4. Say nothing directly but tell him there is room to move on price, so that he sharpens his quote without anybody's actual number being passed on.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: C. Tell him you cannot discuss another supplier's price and explain what the decision weighs besides cost, and invite a best and final offer from both so that each gets the same chance.

   Least effective: A. Let the second supplier know roughly where the first one's price sits, since it would bring the cost down and nobody outside those two conversations would ever know.

   A: Breaches a confidence you were trusted with: the first supplier quoted privately, and his number is being used to bargain against him by the person he gave it to.

   B: Holds the line and stops: the boundary is right and he is given nothing he could act on, when what he can be told legitimately would genuinely help.

   D: Signals the substance while avoiding the words: he learns what he asked for, and the first supplier's confidence is spent just as surely as if you had read out the figure.

   The most effective response is to tell him you cannot discuss another supplier’s price, explain what else the decision weighs, and invite a best and final offer from both: the confidence holds, both suppliers get the same opportunity, and the business still gets the sharper price it is after. It beats refusing and leaving it there, because there is a great deal you can tell him legitimately that would help him quote well. It beats hinting that there is room to move, because the hint conveys exactly what the rule forbids. The least effective response is telling him roughly where the first quote sits: a price given to you in confidence is used to bargain against the person who gave it, which is a different kind of wrong from being unhelpful or from hinting. The principle: what one supplier tells you privately is not currency, however much cheaper the other one might become.

7. Question 7 of 10

   You are a trading assistant at Kroger. In Monday’s meeting a colleague said, in front of the team, that your weekly figures were guesswork and had cost her a decision. You were annoyed and said nothing. You send her those figures every Wednesday and she uses them to set her orders. It is Wednesday morning and the figures are ready. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Send the figures as usual and add a line to the whole team explaining how they are built, so that everybody can see the remark on Monday was unfair.
   2. Send the figures as usual, then ask her for ten minutes to go through how they are built and what the decision needed that they did not give her.
   3. Send the figures as usual and say nothing about Monday, on the basis that raising it now would only make the next meeting more uncomfortable for both of you.
   4. Stop sending her the weekly figures after that meeting and let her ask for them if she still wants them, since she made her view of their value clear enough.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: B. Send the figures as usual, then ask her for ten minutes to go through how they are built and what the decision needed that they did not give her.

   Least effective: D. Stop sending her the weekly figures after that meeting and let her ask for them if she still wants them, since she made her view of their value clear enough.

   A: Answers a private grievance in public: the correction is aimed at an audience rather than at her, and the person it is really about reads it alongside everyone else.

   C: Prioritises harmony over honesty: the working relationship stays polite, the complaint about your work stands unexamined, and it will be repeated.

   D: Withdraws your work from a colleague after a disagreement: her orders go out on nothing, and a complaint about quality is answered by removing the thing entirely.

   The most effective response is to send the figures as usual and then ask her for ten minutes on how they are built and what her decision needed: it keeps the work flowing, it treats the remark as information about a gap rather than as an insult, and it puts the conversation where it belongs, which is between the two of you. It beats adding a public line to the team about how the figures are built, because that answers her in front of an audience and makes the disagreement everybody’s. It beats saying nothing at all, because the complaint stands and the next set of orders is set on the same misunderstanding. The least effective response is stopping the weekly figures after the meeting and making her ask: the work she depends on is withdrawn because of how she spoke to you, which is a different kind of wrong from being defensive in public or being silent. The principle: criticism of your work is answered by improving what the other person needed, never by taking the work away.

8. Question 8 of 10

   You are a customer care assistant at Kroger. A customer says she rang three weeks ago and was told her order would be replaced free of charge. You can see the call on her record and a short note that matches what she describes. Replacing it free now would cost more than your team usually allows, and the colleague who took that call has since left. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Tell her you can see the call and the note and apologise that nothing followed, and put the case to your team leader today since honouring it is above your own limit.
   2. Tell her you have no record of the earlier call and offer the standard remedy instead, since the colleague who took it has left and cannot be asked what was said.
   3. Tell her the note exists but that a free replacement is above what the team allows, and offer the standard remedy as the most you are able to do today.
   4. Tell her you will look into what was said on the call and come back to her next week, since the colleague concerned has left and the note is brief.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Tell her you can see the call and the note and apologise that nothing followed, and put the case to your team leader today since honouring it is above your own limit.

   Least effective: B. Tell her you have no record of the earlier call and offer the standard remedy instead, since the colleague who took it has left and cannot be asked what was said.

   B: Denies something you can see in front of you: the note is on her record, and she is told it does not exist by the one person looking at it.

   C: Treats your own limit as the end of the matter: the promise was made by the business, and nobody with the authority to honour it has been asked.

   D: Delays behind an inquiry that cannot happen: the colleague has gone, the note is all there will ever be, and she waits another week for the same facts.

   The most effective response is to tell her you can see the call and the note, apologise that nothing followed, and put the case to your team leader today: the evidence is acknowledged, the decision goes to somebody who can honour a promise the business made, and it happens now rather than next week. It beats saying the note exists but the cost is above your limit, because that treats your own authority as the last word. It beats promising to look into the call next week, because there is nothing more to find. The least effective response is telling her there is no record of the earlier call: the note is on her record and she is told it does not exist by the person reading it, which is a different kind of wrong from under-reaching or from stalling. The principle: never deny what your own screen shows, and take a promise you cannot honour to somebody who can.

9. Question 9 of 10

   You are a commercial finance assistant at Kroger. A business customer disputes the amount on his account and does not accept your explanation of how it was worked out. You have an internal pricing sheet in front of you that shows the calculation clearly. It is marked internal and includes what other customers pay. He is threatening to take his business elsewhere and wants an answer today. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Tell him the calculation is confidential and that the amount on the account stands as it is, and suggest he takes the whole question up with his account manager if he remains unhappy.
   2. Write out the calculation for his own account in your own words, show him each step and what it is based on, and check that it now makes sense to him.
   3. Offer him a credit to settle the dispute without going through the calculation, since the argument is costing more time than the amount in question is worth.
   4. Send him the internal pricing sheet so he can see the calculation for himself and check that nothing has been left out of the explanation you gave him.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: B. Write out the calculation for his own account in your own words, show him each step and what it is based on, and check that it now makes sense to him.

   Least effective: D. Send him the internal pricing sheet so he can see the calculation for himself and check that nothing has been left out of the explanation you gave him.

   A: Answers a reasonable question with a closed door: he is told the sum is right and given nothing that would let him see why.

   C: Buys off a question instead of answering it: he still does not understand his bill, and the next one will produce the same call.

   D: Breaches a confidence to win an argument: the sheet carries what other customers pay, and settling one dispute with it exposes every one of them.

   The most effective response is to write out the calculation for his own account in your own words, show each step and check that it makes sense: he gets the transparency he is asking for, about his own account, and the dispute is settled by explanation rather than by concession. It beats telling him the calculation is confidential, because that answers a fair question with a closed door. It beats offering a credit to end the argument, because he still does not understand the bill and will ring again next month. The least effective response is sending him the internal pricing sheet: it contains what other customers pay, so one dispute is settled by exposing everybody else’s terms, which is a different kind of wrong from being unhelpful or from paying to make a question go away. The principle: give a customer everything about their own position, and never anything about anybody else’s.

10. Question 10 of 10

    You are a customer care assistant at Kroger. 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.