Tesco Assessment Tests

Tesco Situational Judgement Test

1. Question 1 of 10

   You are a customer experience graduate at Tesco. A customer you helped last week has been sent a fifty pound voucher as an apology, and has written back to say she does not want it and would rather it went to nobody. The voucher is active and cancelling it means a form and a wait. Nobody else knows it exists. Your team has a small budget that these come from. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Cancel the voucher through the form so the fifty pounds goes back to the team budget, and note on the case what the customer asked for.
   2. Leave the voucher active and unused, since the customer has said she does not want it and it will simply expire without anybody having to fill in a form about it.
   3. Keep the voucher for yourself, since it has already been issued, the customer does not want it, and cancelling it takes longer than the fifty pounds is worth to anybody.
   4. Offer the voucher to the colleague who handled the case before you, as she did most of the work on it and the customer has no use for it.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Cancel the voucher through the form so the fifty pounds goes back to the team budget, and note on the case what the customer asked for.

   Least effective: C. Keep the voucher for yourself, since it has already been issued, the customer does not want it, and cancelling it takes longer than the fifty pounds is worth to anybody.

   B: Leaves money committed to nothing: the budget carries a fifty pound hole for the life of the voucher because a form was not worth the trouble.

   C: Takes a benefit the role forbids: the money belongs to the team budget whatever the customer decided, and the fact that nobody would notice is what makes it a decision rather than an oversight.

   D: Passes on a benefit that was never anybody's to give: it feels generous, and it disposes of company money on the strength of who deserves it.

   The most effective response is to cancel the voucher through the form so the money returns to the team budget, and note what the customer asked for: the customer’s wish is honoured, the budget is whole, and the case shows what happened. It beats leaving it active to expire, because the budget carries the commitment for months for want of a form. It beats offering it to the colleague who did the work, because that hands out company money on the basis of merit. The least effective response is keeping the voucher yourself: it is the team’s money, the customer’s refusal did not make it yours, and the fact that nobody would ever know is the part that makes it a choice rather than a slip, which is a different kind of wrong from being lazy or from being loosely generous. The principle: money that was never yours does not become yours because nobody is watching and the paperwork is tedious.

2. Question 2 of 10

   You are a supply chain graduate at Tesco. In yesterday’s planning call a colleague from the site team said, sharply, that your volume numbers were “made up in a spreadsheet by somebody who has never seen a delivery”. You run that call every week and he is the person who knows what the sites can actually take. Next week’s call is on Monday and the volumes have to be agreed on it. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Stop inviting him to the planning call after that exchange, and send him the agreed numbers afterwards so that he still has what he needs for the week.
   2. Raise it with his team leader before Monday, since a remark like that in front of the whole call is not something you should have to work around every week.
   3. Say nothing and carry on running the call exactly as before, on the basis that the numbers speak for themselves and the remark will be forgotten by Monday.
   4. Ask him for twenty minutes before Monday to walk through how the volumes are built and what he would change, so that Monday's numbers carry what he knows about the sites.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: D. Ask him for twenty minutes before Monday to walk through how the volumes are built and what he would change, so that Monday's numbers carry what he knows about the sites.

   Least effective: A. Stop inviting him to the planning call after that exchange, and send him the agreed numbers afterwards so that he still has what he needs for the week.

   A: Removes a colleague from a meeting after a disagreement: the person with the best information about what sites can take is now outside the conversation that decides it.

   B: Escalates a two-person problem: the remark is dealt with by somebody else, and the working relationship the Monday call depends on gets worse rather than better.

   C: Avoids the conversation the call needs: the numbers are not the point, his confidence in them is, and nothing has changed that by Monday.

   The most effective response is to ask him for twenty minutes before Monday to walk through how the volumes are built and what he would change: the complaint contains real information about what the sites can take, the conversation is with the person who made it, and Monday’s call gets better numbers rather than a colder room. It beats raising it with his team leader, because a remark between two people becomes a matter between three and the working relationship gets worse. It beats carrying on as if nothing happened, because his lack of confidence in the numbers is the problem, not the numbers. The least effective response is dropping him from the call and sending the numbers afterwards: the person who knows most about the constraint is removed from the meeting that decides it, which is a different kind of wrong from escalating or from staying quiet. The principle: answer a challenge to your work by involving the challenger in it, never by removing them from the room.

3. Question 3 of 10

   You are a commercial finance assistant at Tesco. Two colleagues you work with, one in trading and one in supply, have fallen out over a promotion whose cost came in well above plan. Each has told you separately that the other changed a number without saying so. Both have asked you what the other said. The figure has to be explained in Monday’s review, and you are the person who holds both versions of the file. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Ask each of them separately to walk you through their version of the change, then decide yourself which account the file supports and take that to Monday's review.
   2. Write up what the file shows and send it straight to the reviewer before Monday, leaving the two of them to sort out between themselves how the change happened and who made it.
   3. Tell each of them what the other has been saying about the change, so that both know where they stand before the review on Monday.
   4. Put both versions of the file in front of the two of them together and say what changed and when, so that they agree between them what Monday's review is told about the cost.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: D. Put both versions of the file in front of the two of them together and say what changed and when, so that they agree between them what Monday's review is told about the cost.

   Least effective: C. Tell each of them what the other has been saying about the change, so that both know where they stand before the review on Monday.

   A: Substitutes your own judgement for theirs: you arbitrate between two colleagues in private, and whichever way it lands, the loser hears the verdict at the review.

   B: Avoids the difficult conversation: the number is explained and the working relationship the next promotion depends on is left exactly as it is.

   C: Personalises the disagreement: it turns a question about a figure into a question about two people's accounts of each other, and does it in the way least likely to survive either of them repeating it.

   The most effective response is to put both versions of the file in front of the two of them together and ask them to agree what the review is told: the disagreement is about what the file shows, the file is in front of everybody, and the people who have to work together next month settle it themselves. It beats writing it up and sending it to the reviewer, because Monday is covered and nothing between the two colleagues is. It beats hearing each version separately and deciding which the file supports, because a private arbitration by the most junior person present leaves one of them told they were wrong by you. The least effective response is telling each of them what the other has been saying: the argument stops being about the promotion cost and becomes about what each said behind the other’s back, which is a different kind of wrong from ducking the conversation or over-reaching in it. The principle: put the evidence in front of both parties at once, and let the disagreement be about the thing rather than about each other.

4. Question 4 of 10

   You are a scheduling coordinator at Tesco. 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.

5. Question 5 of 10

   You are an insight assistant at Tesco. You hold a list of two thousand customers who gave their details to take part in research, and were told the details would be used for research only. A colleague in marketing has asked for the list to send a message about a new range, which he says is nearly the same thing and would perform far better than a cold list. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Send him the list on the understanding that he sends one message only, since a single message to people who have already engaged is a small step from what they agreed to.
   2. Say no, explain what those customers were told when they gave their details, and offer to ask the next research group whether they are happy to hear about new ranges.
   3. Tell him it is not something you can do and leave it there, since the answer is no and going into the reasons will only invite an argument about how big a difference it makes.
   4. Send the list over, given these customers have shown they are interested in the range and would probably want to hear about a new one.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: B. Say no, explain what those customers were told when they gave their details, and offer to ask the next research group whether they are happy to hear about new ranges.

   Least effective: D. Send the list over, given these customers have shown they are interested in the range and would probably want to hear about a new one.

   A: Attaches a condition to something that should not happen at all: the promise made to two thousand people is not repaired by limiting how often it is broken.

   C: Refuses without the reason or the alternative: he will ask somebody else who holds a similar list, and nothing has been built for next time.

   D: Breaches the basis on which people handed over their details: two thousand of them were told research only, and that is decided against them by somebody they never spoke to.

   The most effective response is to say no, explain what those customers were told, and offer to ask the next research group whether they want to hear about new ranges: the promise holds, the colleague understands why rather than being blocked, and a legitimate route exists for next time. It beats sending the list with a one-message condition, because a promise is not repaired by limiting how often it is broken. It beats refusing with no reason, because he simply asks somebody else. The least effective response is sending the list over because those customers have shown they are interested: two thousand people were told their details were for research, and that is decided against them by people they never spoke to, which is a different kind of wrong from half-refusing or from refusing unhelpfully. The principle: what people were told when they gave you their details is a promise, and no expected performance uplift outranks it.

6. Question 6 of 10

   You are a customer experience graduate at Tesco. Working through complaints you notice that eleven in the last month all describe the same confusing step in the returns instructions. Nobody has connected them, and each was answered individually. Changing the instructions is not your job and belongs to a team you have never worked with. Your own queue is up to date. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Write up the eleven complaints with the wording that confuses people, send it to the team who own the instructions, and ask them what they need from you to get it changed.
   2. Give the eleven cases to your team leader and leave it with her to send on to whoever owns the instructions.
   3. Answer each new complaint with a fuller explanation of the confusing step in the returns instructions, so that customers who hit it in future at least get a clear account of what to do.
   4. Add a note about the pattern to the monthly complaints summary, where the team who own the instructions will see it alongside everything else that came up.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Write up the eleven complaints with the wording that confuses people, send it to the team who own the instructions, and ask them what they need from you to get it changed.

   Least effective: B. Give the eleven cases to your team leader and leave it with her to send on to whoever owns the instructions.

   B: Passes a finding on without owning it: she receives eleven case numbers without the pattern that makes them one problem, and the person who saw the pattern has stepped away from it.

   C: Treats the symptom eleven more times: every future customer still meets the same confusing instruction and still has to complain to get past it.

   D: Buries a specific fix in a general document: the summary is read broadly and acted on rarely, and nobody is asked for anything.

   The most effective response is to write up the eleven complaints with the wording that confuses people, send it to the team who own the instructions, and ask what they need from you: the pattern reaches the people who can end it, in a form they can act on, and you stay involved rather than handing over. It beats answering future complaints more fully, because that fixes each customer and none of the cause. It beats adding a note to the monthly summary, because a specific fix disappears into a general document. The least effective response is giving the cases to your team leader and leaving it with her: she gets eleven case numbers without the pattern that makes them one problem, and the only person who saw it has stepped out, which is a different kind of wrong from treating symptoms or from filing it in the wrong place. The principle: carry a pattern you have found to the people who own the cause, with the pattern attached.

7. Question 7 of 10

   You are a service recovery assistant at Tesco. A customer has rung about an order that has gone wrong twice. He has already been passed between three people this morning and is audibly at the end of his patience. His case is genuinely a complaints matter rather than a service one, and complaints have a queue of about a day. You can see the whole history in front of you. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Take the details yourself, tell him what you can put right today and what has to go to complaints, and raise the case there with the history attached.
   2. Explain that complaints handle cases like his, offer either to raise it for him or to give him the reference, and let him choose which he wants.
   3. Deal with the whole thing yourself outside the complaints process, since he has been passed around enough and the outcome will be quicker that way.
   4. Transfer the customer straight to the complaints team while he is still on the line, since they own cases like his and can hear the history from him directly.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Take the details yourself, tell him what you can put right today and what has to go to complaints, and raise the case there with the history attached.

   Least effective: D. Transfer the customer straight to the complaints team while he is still on the line, since they own cases like his and can hear the history from him directly.

   B: Offers a choice where a decision was needed: after three transfers he wants somebody to take the case, not another option to weigh.

   C: Keeps a case that needs the other route: it feels kinder, and his complaint never enters the system that records and answers complaints.

   D: Hands the customer on rather than the case: he becomes the fourth transfer of the morning and repeats a history that is already written down in front of you.

   The most effective response is to take the details yourself, tell him what you can put right today and what has to go to complaints, and raise it there with the history attached: the case reaches the right route, the customer stops carrying it, and something happens today rather than tomorrow. It beats offering him the choice of raising it himself, because after three transfers he needs somebody to take it rather than another decision to make. It beats dealing with the whole thing outside the complaints process, because his complaint then never enters the system meant to answer it. The least effective response is transferring him to complaints while he is on the line: he becomes the fourth handover of the morning and retells a history that is written down in front of you, which is a different kind of wrong from making him do the chasing or from keeping the case improperly. The principle: move the case, not the customer.

8. Question 8 of 10

   You are a supply chain graduate at Tesco. You produce a weekly report that a planner uses to set orders. For three weeks running one line has come out short of what the sites asked for, and you have corrected it by hand each time without saying so. The planner reads the corrected number and is happy with it. Sending this week’s report is a five-minute job. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Correct the line by hand again this week and start keeping a note of each correction, so that there is a record to show somebody if it happens for a fourth or fifth week.
   2. Send the report with the pattern set out in the covering note, and take the three weeks of corrections to the planner today, since he is the one setting orders from that line.
   3. Send the report with the line corrected as usual, without mentioning that the same line has now been short three weeks running.
   4. Stop correcting the line and send the raw figure this week, so that the shortfall shows up in the planner's own numbers and he raises it himself.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: B. Send the report with the pattern set out in the covering note, and take the three weeks of corrections to the planner today, since he is the one setting orders from that line.

   Least effective: C. Send the report with the line corrected as usual, without mentioning that the same line has now been short three weeks running.

   A: Gathers evidence instead of raising it: the pattern is already three weeks old, and the planner keeps setting orders from a number somebody is quietly repairing.

   C: Withholds a pattern the reader is entitled to: the number looks trustworthy precisely because the repair is invisible, and the person who could fix the cause does not know there is one.

   D: Makes a point by letting something fail: the planner sets an order from a figure you know to be wrong, and learns about a three-week problem the hard way.

   The most effective response is to send the report with the pattern set out in the covering note and take the three weeks of corrections to the planner today: he is setting orders from that line, the repeated shortfall is the actual finding, and a five-minute job does not become a reason to keep it to yourself. It beats correcting it again and starting a note, because the evidence needed to raise it has existed for three weeks already. It beats sending the raw figure so the problem shows itself, because that teaches the planner by damaging his order. The least effective response is sending the corrected report and saying nothing about three weeks of shortfalls: the correction makes the number look sound, so nobody investigates a cause that is still there, which is a different kind of wrong from gathering evidence too long or from proving a point. The principle: a problem you have quietly worked around is still a problem, and the person relying on the output owns it with you.

9. Question 9 of 10

   You are a shift supervisor at Tesco. 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.

10. Question 10 of 10

    You are a duty supervisor at Tesco. A new process was explained at this morning’s briefing, but only half the team was there because the rest were dealing with a delivery. Your manager has asked whether the briefing covered everybody, as she is reporting on it this afternoon. The remaining half can be briefed tomorrow morning before they start. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

    1. Tell her the briefing covered everybody who was available and leave it there, since the ones who missed it were working and that is hardly a failure of the briefing.
    2. Brief the other half yourself before the end of today's shift and tell her afterwards that everybody has now been covered.
    3. Tell her the briefing has been done, and mention the delivery separately later on today when there is more time to explain.
    4. Tell her half the team was briefed and why, say the rest are booked for tomorrow morning, and ask whether she needs it done before her report goes in.
    Show the answer

    Most effective: D. Tell her half the team was briefed and why, say the rest are booked for tomorrow morning, and ask whether she needs it done before her report goes in.

    Least effective: C. Tell her the briefing has been done, and mention the delivery separately later on today when there is more time to explain.

    A: Answers with a form of words: it is technically defensible and she still reports this afternoon that the team has been briefed.

    B: Fixes the fact and delays the answer: she is reporting this afternoon and has to write it before she hears from you.

    C: States a completion that has not happened: she writes this afternoon's report on the strength of it, and the qualification arrives after the report she needed it for.

    The most effective response is to tell her half the team was briefed and why, say the rest are booked for tomorrow morning, and ask whether she needs it finished before her report: she gets the true position, the plan that fixes it, and the chance to say that this afternoon is the deadline that matters. It beats briefing the rest today and telling her afterwards, because her report goes in before she hears. It beats answering that everybody available was briefed, because that is a form of words designed to pass rather than to inform. The least effective response is telling her the briefing has been done and mentioning the delivery later: an incomplete briefing is reported as complete to somebody who is about to write it down, which is a different kind of wrong from answering slowly or from answering evasively. The principle: when somebody needs a fact for a report, give them the fact and the plan, in that order and at once.