TK Maxx Assessment Tests

TK Maxx Situational Judgement Test

1. Question 1 of 10

   You are a commercial finance assistant at TK Maxx. A business customer has been charged twice for the same delivery and has rung to ask when the money will be back. The credit has to be raised by the billing team, who usually clear requests within two days but have a backlog this week. You can raise the request now. The customer is on the line and has already waited a week. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Explain that credits are raised by the billing team and give the customer their contact details, so that he can ask them directly how long the backlog is likely to take this week.
   2. Raise the credit request now with the duplicate reference attached, tell the customer it is with the billing team and that you will confirm the date once it is scheduled.
   3. Promise the customer the credit will be on tomorrow's statement, since requests like this usually clear overnight and it saves him ringing back a third time about the same delivery.
   4. Raise the credit request now and say nothing about timing, since any date you gave would be a guess while the billing backlog is as long as it is.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: B. Raise the credit request now with the duplicate reference attached, tell the customer it is with the billing team and that you will confirm the date once it is scheduled.

   Least effective: C. Promise the customer the credit will be on tomorrow's statement, since requests like this usually clear overnight and it saves him ringing back a third time about the same delivery.

   A: Sends the customer to do your chasing: he rang the business once and is asked to ring it again, and the request still has not been raised by anybody.

   C: Gives a date nobody has agreed: the billing backlog makes tomorrow unlikely, and the customer plans his own week on a certainty that was offered to end the call.

   D: Withholds what little you do know: he has waited a week and puts the phone down knowing only that somebody, at some point, will do something.

   The most effective response is to raise the credit request now with the duplicate reference attached and tell the customer it is with the billing team and that you will confirm the date: the request finally exists, he knows where it is, and the one thing you cannot promise is the one thing you have not promised. It beats giving him the billing team’s details, because he rang once and is being asked to ring again. It beats raising it and saying nothing about timing, because he has waited a week and deserves to know what happens next. The least effective response is promising the credit will be on tomorrow’s statement: the backlog makes that unlikely, he plans on it, and manufacturing a date to end a call is a different kind of wrong from deflecting him or from telling him too little. The principle: give the customer the true state of their case and a commitment you control, never a date somebody else would have to deliver.

2. Question 2 of 10

   You are a trading assistant at TK Maxx. 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.

3. Question 3 of 10

   You are a resourcing assistant at TK Maxx. You place temporary staff through three agencies. One of them has told you it pays fifty pounds for every candidate a client puts forward, and has offered to set that up for you personally. You already use that agency more than the others because their people turn up. The choice of agency is yours to make each time. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Decline it, tell your manager the offer was made, and ask whether the way agencies are chosen should be written down given what has just been offered.
   2. Accept the payment the agency offers for each candidate you put forward, since you would have used them anyway and the arrangement changes nothing about who gets placed.
   3. Decline it politely and say nothing to anybody, since you have turned it down and there is no need to make trouble for a contact you have to keep working with.
   4. Ask the agency to pay the fifty pounds into the team's social fund instead of to you, so that nobody is personally better off from any placement.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Decline it, tell your manager the offer was made, and ask whether the way agencies are chosen should be written down given what has just been offered.

   Least effective: B. Accept the payment the agency offers for each candidate you put forward, since you would have used them anyway and the arrangement changes nothing about who gets placed.

   B: Takes a payment the role forbids: whatever you would have done anyway, every placement from now on has a personal fifty pounds attached to it.

   C: Keeps a fact your manager needs: the same offer may be sitting with colleagues, and nobody who could look at that knows it was ever made.

   D: Redirects a benefit rather than refusing it: the agency is still paying the people who choose it, and the team now has a reason to prefer them.

   The most effective response is to decline it, tell your manager the offer was made, and ask whether the basis for choosing agencies should be written down: the offer is refused, the person responsible for how placements are made learns that an agency is trying to buy them, and the fix outlasts your own conscience. It beats declining quietly, because the same offer may be with colleagues and nobody can look at that if nobody knows. It beats redirecting the money to a team fund, because the agency is still paying the people who choose it. The least effective response is accepting the payment: every future placement carries a personal reason to pick one agency, which is a different kind of wrong from keeping quiet or from redirecting the money. The principle: when a supplier offers money to the person who chooses suppliers, refuse it and make sure it is on the record.

4. Question 4 of 10

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

5. Question 5 of 10

   You are a resourcing assistant at TK Maxx. A new starter is on tomorrow’s rota, and his induction record shows the safety module outstanding. Nobody may work a shift until it is signed as complete, and the next session is on Wednesday. The duty manager tells you the shift is already one person short and asks you to mark the module done, saying the starter can sit it later in the week. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Tell the duty manager today that the module is outstanding so cover can be arranged for tomorrow, and book the starter onto Wednesday's session yourself while you are in the system.
   2. Mark the safety module as complete so tomorrow's shift is covered, and make sure the starter actually sits the session on Wednesday as the duty manager suggested.
   3. Explain to the duty manager that you are not comfortable marking the module as complete, and leave tomorrow's rota gap with him to solve as he sees fit, since the shift is his to cover.
   4. Put the request in writing to the people team and wait for their ruling before doing anything about tomorrow, since the rule is theirs rather than yours.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Tell the duty manager today that the module is outstanding so cover can be arranged for tomorrow, and book the starter onto Wednesday's session yourself while you are in the system.

   Least effective: B. Mark the safety module as complete so tomorrow's shift is covered, and make sure the starter actually sits the session on Wednesday as the duty manager suggested.

   B: Certifies something that was not done: the record now says a check was completed when it was not, and everyone downstream who relies on that record is reading a statement that is untrue.

   C: Avoids the difficult half of the job: refusing is right, and stopping there leaves a manager with a shift to cover by tomorrow and no help from the person holding the induction diary.

   D: Escalates a settled point: the rule is not in doubt, and a ruling that arrives after tomorrow's shift leaves the gap unaddressed and the starter unbooked.

   The most effective response is to tell the duty manager today that the module is outstanding so cover can be arranged, and book the starter onto Wednesday’s session: it holds the line the record exists for and it deals with the manager’s real problem, which is the shift, rather than leaving him with it. It beats saying you are not comfortable and leaving the gap with him, because the refusal is only half the answer and the half you hold is the diary. It beats putting the request to the people team and waiting for a ruling, because nothing about the rule is unclear and the shift is tomorrow. The least effective response is marking the safety module as complete so tomorrow is covered: everything downstream treats that record as a statement that the check happened, and writing something untrue into it is a different kind of wrong from being unhelpful or slow. The principle: a record is a statement of fact, and the pressure to make one say something convenient is exactly when it matters that it does not.

6. Question 6 of 10

   You are a trading assistant at TK Maxx. A business customer has asked four times when new pricing will be issued, and each time you have said it is coming. The person who sets it has not given you a date and is not answering messages. The customer says he cannot plan his own ordering without it and is starting to sound as though he does not believe you. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Tell the customer honestly that you do not yet have a date, say what you are doing to get one and by when, and go to the pricing manager's team leader today.
   2. Stop replying until you have something concrete to tell him, since a fifth message that says the same thing as the other four will only make matters worse than they already are.
   3. Tell him the pricing is held up by the person who sets it and that you have chased repeatedly, so that he can see the delay is not something you control.
   4. Promise the customer the new pricing by Friday, since these usually come through within a week or so and a date is what he keeps asking you for.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Tell the customer honestly that you do not yet have a date, say what you are doing to get one and by when, and go to the pricing manager's team leader today.

   Least effective: D. Promise the customer the new pricing by Friday, since these usually come through within a week or so and a date is what he keeps asking you for.

   B: Answers a loss of confidence with silence: the customer is left to conclude that nobody is dealing with it at all, which is worse than a thin answer.

   C: Explains your own position instead of solving his: the customer still cannot plan, and he now knows the business does not answer its own people either.

   D: Gives a date nobody has agreed to: the one thing he still trusts is what you say, and Friday is invented to end a conversation rather than to be met.

   The most effective response is to tell him honestly that you have no date yet, say what you are doing about it and by when, and go to the pricing manager’s team leader today: he gets the truth and a commitment you control, and the blockage finally reaches somebody with the standing to clear it. It beats going quiet until there is something concrete, because silence reads as nobody dealing with it. It beats explaining that the hold-up is with the person who sets pricing, because that tells him about your problems rather than solving his. The least effective response is promising the pricing by Friday: no such date exists, he plans on it, and a fifth assurance that fails is the one that ends his belief in anything you say, which is a different kind of wrong from going silent or from explaining too much. The principle: when the only thing you can offer is honesty and a next step, offer those rather than a date you cannot deliver.

7. Question 7 of 10

   You are a commercial graduate at TK Maxx. A business customer has emailed you about a delivery that was short by six cases. Shortages are handled by the returns team through an online form, which the customer can complete himself. He has sent you the details and photographs already. He orders every week and this is the second shortage this month. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Refer the customer to the returns team and send him the link to the form, since shortages are theirs to settle and he already has all the details they will need.
   2. Complete the returns form yourself with what he has sent and tell him it is done and when he will hear, and flag the shortage since it is the second this month.
   3. Arrange for six cases to go out on his next delivery, and log the shortage on the returns form afterwards so that the record still exists.
   4. Reply that you have passed his email to the returns team, and leave them to contact him for anything else they need to process the claim.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: B. Complete the returns form yourself with what he has sent and tell him it is done and when he will hear, and flag the shortage since it is the second this month.

   Least effective: A. Refer the customer to the returns team and send him the link to the form, since shortages are theirs to settle and he already has all the details they will need.

   A: Hands the customer the work rather than the answer: he has already written the case out once, and the second shortage this month goes unnoticed by anybody who could look at the cause.

   C: Settles it before recording it: the customer is made whole, and the claim reaches the process only after the decision was taken outside it.

   D: Announces a handover instead of completing one: nothing has been logged, and he waits to be contacted by a team that has not been asked for anything specific.

   The most effective response is to complete the returns form yourself with what he has sent, tell him it is done and when he will hear, and flag the second shortage this month: he does not have to write his case out twice, the claim enters the process properly, and the pattern reaches somebody who can look at it. It beats sending six cases first and logging the shortage afterwards, because the decision is then taken outside the process that exists to make it. It beats telling him you have passed his email on, because nothing has actually been logged. The least effective response is sending him the link and asking him to fill the form in: he has already done the work once, and a second shortage in a month passes unseen, which is a different kind of wrong from being informally generous or from being vague. The principle: when the customer has already given you what the process needs, put it into the process yourself.

8. Question 8 of 10

   You are a procurement graduate at TK Maxx. Working through delivery notes for a different piece of work, you find that one supplier’s notes have been recording pack sizes that do not match what is actually arriving, and have done for at least six weeks. Nobody has raised it. The supplier is being reviewed in a fortnight, and the pack sizes feed the figures that review uses. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Correct the pack sizes in the figures yourself for the six weeks that you can see, so that the review in a fortnight at least starts from numbers that match what was delivered.
   2. Pass the whole thing to the manager who owns the supplier relationship without mentioning the review in a fortnight, and treat your part as finished.
   3. Raise it at the review itself in a fortnight, when the supplier and the manager are both in the room and the pack sizes are on the agenda anyway.
   4. Take it to the manager who owns the supplier today with the six weeks set out, say what it does to the review's figures, and offer to check how far back it goes.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: D. Take it to the manager who owns the supplier today with the six weeks set out, say what it does to the review's figures, and offer to check how far back it goes.

   Least effective: A. Correct the pack sizes in the figures yourself for the six weeks that you can see, so that the review in a fortnight at least starts from numbers that match what was delivered.

   A: Alters figures nobody asked you to alter: the numbers stop matching the notes that produced them, and the recording fault that caused it is now invisible to the person accountable for the supplier.

   B: Hands a finding on without what makes it urgent: the manager receives six weeks of notes with no mention of the review that is about to use them.

   C: Times the disclosure for the meeting it should have preceded: the review is prepared on figures everybody now knows are wrong, and the correction lands as a surprise.

   The most effective response is to take it to the manager who owns the supplier today with the six weeks set out, say what it does to the review’s figures, and offer to check how far back it goes: it reaches the person who can act while a fortnight is still enough time, and it carries the consequence rather than only the observation. It beats passing it across without mentioning the review, because the manager cannot act on a deadline nobody has told him about. It beats raising it at the review, because the preparation everybody does beforehand is built on figures already known to be false. The least effective response is correcting the pack sizes in the figures yourself: the numbers stop matching the notes behind them, the supplier carries on recording the wrong sizes, and the person accountable for that supplier can no longer see any of it, which is a different kind of wrong from handing the finding on bare or from raising it too late. The principle: something you found outside your own remit is carried to somebody who can act on it, with what it means attached, and never quietly repaired.

9. Question 9 of 10

   You are a customer care assistant at TK Maxx. A customer has been waiting three weeks for a replacement and has now rung for the fourth time. You can see a manager’s authorisation code in a shared document, left there for a different type of case, which would let you settle the whole thing today. Your team leader is in a meeting until three, and the customer is on the line now. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Settle the case now with the manager's authorisation code from the shared document, since the customer has waited three weeks and the outcome would be the same either way.
   2. Tell the customer that nothing can be done until your team leader is out of her meeting this afternoon, and ask him to ring the team back himself after three o'clock.
   3. Apologise, take the case number, and put a written request to your team leader so that she can look at it when her meeting finishes this afternoon.
   4. Tell the customer what you can do now and what needs approval, put an urgent note to your team leader with the case number, and commit to ringing him back before five.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: D. Tell the customer what you can do now and what needs approval, put an urgent note to your team leader with the case number, and commit to ringing him back before five.

   Least effective: A. Settle the case now with the manager's authorisation code from the shared document, since the customer has waited three weeks and the outcome would be the same either way.

   A: Breaches an authority that was never given to you: the code was left for another purpose, and a good outcome reached that way is still an approval nobody made.

   B: Ignores the customer's actual need: a fourth call is answered with a fifth call, and the work that could be done meanwhile is not started.

   C: Leaves the customer holding the uncertainty: the request is sound, and the person who has rung four times is told nothing about what will happen or when.

   The most effective response is to tell the customer what you can do now and what needs approval, put an urgent note to your team leader, and commit to ringing back before five: it gives a customer on his fourth call the two things he does not have, which are a picture and a time, and it moves the approval without pretending you hold it. It beats asking him to ring back after three, because the fifth call is his to make and nothing progresses meanwhile. It beats a written request with nothing said to him, because he is left holding the uncertainty for another afternoon. The least effective response is settling it now with a manager’s code found in a shared document: the outcome may be right and the approval is one nobody gave, which is a different kind of wrong from being unhelpful or slow. The principle: an authority you can reach is not an authority you have, and the customer’s wait is not the thing that grants it.

10. Question 10 of 10

    You are an availability analyst at TK Maxx. Two teams have each asked for a report by noon, and each says their meeting depends on it. You can produce one properly by noon, not both. It is ten o’clock. Both teams have asked you directly and are waiting to hear. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

    1. Produce a rough version of each by noon, with a note on both saying the numbers have not been checked and should be treated with care in the meetings.
    2. Tell both teams now that only one report can be ready by noon and ask which meeting cannot proceed without it, so that the people who know their meetings choose.
    3. Tell both teams their reports will be ready by noon, and decide later in the morning which one you actually finish.
    4. Start on the report for the team that asked first and let the other team hear at noon, since first come first served is the only fair rule you have to go on.
    Show the answer

    Most effective: B. Tell both teams now that only one report can be ready by noon and ask which meeting cannot proceed without it, so that the people who know their meetings choose.

    Least effective: C. Tell both teams their reports will be ready by noon, and decide later in the morning which one you actually finish.

    A: Splits the work so neither is usable: two unchecked reports go into two meetings, and the caveat does not stop anybody quoting the figures in them.

    C: Promises what cannot be delivered to buy quiet: both meetings are planned on a report arriving, and one of them finds out at noon that it was never coming.

    D: Applies a rule instead of asking: order of arrival has nothing to do with which meeting actually cannot proceed, and the second team learns too late to adapt.

    The most effective response is to tell both teams now that only one report can be ready, ask which meeting cannot proceed without it, and start on that one: the people who know what their meetings need make the choice, they make it at ten rather than at noon, and the report that matters most gets the full two hours. It beats producing rough versions of both, because unchecked numbers get quoted whatever the note on them says. It beats working to order of arrival, because who asked first has nothing to do with which meeting is stuck. The least effective response is telling both their reports will be ready and deciding later: two meetings are planned on a promise you know cannot hold, and one of them learns at noon, which is a different kind of wrong from doing both badly or from choosing by the wrong rule. The principle: when you can only do one, say so early and let the people affected choose which.