Walgreens Assessment Tests

Walgreens Online Situational Judgement Test

1. Question 1 of 10

   You are a stock control assistant at Walgreens Online. A pallet of goods has arrived without its quality release, which has to be on the system before anything can be booked in. The supplier says the paperwork will follow tomorrow. The site needs the goods this afternoon, and your system access lets you book stock in without the release attached. Your supervisor is on a call for the next hour. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Book the pallet in without the release, since the paperwork is coming tomorrow and the site needs the goods this afternoon rather than in the morning.
   2. Turn the pallet away and tell the supplier to bring it back when the release is in the system, since the rule is clear and the vehicle is still on site.
   3. Hold the pallet where it is and ask the supplier to send the release now by email, so that your supervisor can weigh the site's deadline the moment her call ends.
   4. Leave the pallet in the receiving area unbooked and pick it up tomorrow when the paperwork arrives, without telling the site that their goods are on hold.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: C. Hold the pallet where it is and ask the supplier to send the release now by email, so that your supervisor can weigh the site's deadline the moment her call ends.

   Least effective: A. Book the pallet in without the release, since the paperwork is coming tomorrow and the site needs the goods this afternoon rather than in the morning.

   A: Breaches a stated control: the release exists so that nothing reaches the site unchecked, and the access that makes it easy to skip is not a reason to skip it.

   B: Applies the rule without solving the problem: the goods leave the area, the site still needs them this afternoon, and nobody has tried the hour that was actually available.

   D: Hides a delay somebody is planning against: the site expects the goods this afternoon and finds out they are not coming only when they do not arrive.

   The most effective response is to hold the pallet, ask the supplier to send the release now, and put the site’s deadline to your supervisor as soon as her call ends: it keeps the control intact, it uses the hour rather than spending it, and the person who can authorise an exception hears about it while there is still time to make one. It beats turning the pallet away, because the vehicle leaving makes the afternoon impossible and nobody has yet asked the supplier for the one document that would fix it. It beats leaving the pallet unbooked and saying nothing until tomorrow, because the site is planning around goods that are not coming. The least effective response is booking the pallet in without the release: the check that stops unverified goods reaching a site is stepped around because your access happens to allow it, which is a different kind of wrong from being rigid or being quiet. The principle: a control you personally can bypass is still a control, and the way round it is an exception somebody authorises, not one you take.

2. Question 2 of 10

   You are a commercial graduate at Walgreens Online. 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.

3. Question 3 of 10

   You are a trading assistant at Walgreens Online. 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.

4. Question 4 of 10

   You are an availability analyst at Walgreens Online. By four o’clock you owe the trading team a report on what will be short this weekend, and you have also promised a colleague you would rebuild her forecast template today. At two o’clock a site tells you a delivery has been turned away and two hundred cases are sitting on a vehicle with nowhere to go. Only the report has a stated deadline. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Sort the turned-away delivery first, tell the trading team the report will be twenty minutes late and why, and let your colleague know the template moves to tomorrow.
   2. Finish the report for four o'clock as promised and then deal with the vehicle, since the report is the only piece of work today that has a stated deadline attached to it.
   3. Start all three, moving between the report, the vehicle and the template so that everybody sees progress before the end of the afternoon.
   4. Hand the vehicle problem to a colleague on the supply desk without saying what has already been tried, and carry on with the report and the template.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Sort the turned-away delivery first, tell the trading team the report will be twenty minutes late and why, and let your colleague know the template moves to tomorrow.

   Least effective: D. Hand the vehicle problem to a colleague on the supply desk without saying what has already been tried, and carry on with the report and the template.

   B: Treats a stated deadline as the only claim on your time: the report is delivered on the hour and two hundred cases spend the afternoon on a vehicle that could have been redirected.

   C: Splits effort so nothing finishes: the delivery needs a decision in one go, and three part-finished jobs at five o'clock help nobody.

   D: Passes the problem on without owning it: the colleague restarts from nothing while the vehicle waits, and the person who took the call keeps the easier two jobs.

   The most effective response is to sort the turned-away delivery first and tell the trading team the report will be twenty minutes late and why: the vehicle is the only item that gets worse by the hour, twenty minutes is a cost the reader can plan around once they are told, and nothing is dropped silently. It beats finishing the four o’clock report before touching the vehicle, because a stated deadline is not the same as the most urgent thing and two hundred cases are stranded meanwhile. It beats starting all three at once, because the delivery needs one uninterrupted decision and three half-finished jobs serve nobody. The least effective response is handing the vehicle problem to the supply desk without saying what has been tried: the colleague starts from nothing, the vehicle waits longer than under any other response, and the person who owns the problem keeps the two jobs that suit them. The principle: order the work by what degrades, and where something slips, say so to the person waiting for it.

5. Question 5 of 10

   You are a scheduling coordinator at Walgreens Online. It is your first week covering the shift line on your own. In twenty minutes three people have called in sick for tonight, a manager has rung twice about a rota he says is wrong, and the system you book cover in has slowed to a crawl. Tonight’s cover has to be confirmed by four o’clock. You are aware of how far behind you are. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Assume the manager's rota query has been picked up by somebody else on the team, and work through the sickness calls in the order they arrived until four o'clock.
   2. List the three gaps and the rota query, tell your team leader which you are taking first, and ask her to pick up the manager so that nothing is dropped in silence.
   3. Work steadily through everything yourself in the order it came in, and tell your team leader at the end of the day how far you managed to get.
   4. Ring the manager back first to settle the rota he is unhappy about, then start on tonight's cover with whatever time is left before four o'clock.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: B. List the three gaps and the rota query, tell your team leader which you are taking first, and ask her to pick up the manager so that nothing is dropped in silence.

   Least effective: A. Assume the manager's rota query has been picked up by somebody else on the team, and work through the sickness calls in the order they arrived until four o'clock.

   A: Assumes a live problem away: nobody else knows the manager rang, so the only person aware of an unanswered query has decided it belongs to someone unnamed.

   C: Reports after the deadline instead of before it: four o'clock passes with three gaps part-filled, and the position is shared when nobody can act on it.

   D: Lets the loudest voice set the order: the rota query has no deadline today and the three uncovered shifts have one at four o'clock.

   The most effective response is to list the three gaps and the rota query, tell your team leader what you are taking first and that the system is slow, and ask her to pick up the manager: the cover deadline is protected, the query is answered by somebody, and the person who can reallocate work knows the position while it can still be changed. It beats working steadily through everything alone, because four o’clock does not move and asking is what makes the difference. It beats ringing the manager back first, because his query has no deadline today and three shifts do. The least effective response is assuming somebody else has picked the manager up: nobody else knows he called, so an open problem is quietly transferred to a person who does not exist, which is a different kind of wrong from struggling on alone or from taking the calls in the wrong order. The principle: under pressure, make the position visible to somebody who can act on it rather than deciding alone what can safely be dropped.

6. Question 6 of 10

   You are a brand assistant at Walgreens Online. Checking a set of artwork proofs that an agency has sent for approval, you notice the price shown on one of them is last season’s. Approvals are done by your manager, who is on a call, and the proofs go to print tomorrow morning. The agency has asked for sign-off by five o’clock today. It is half past three. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Send the agency the correction now with a note that sign-off itself still has to come from your manager, and put the proof in front of her the moment her call ends.
   2. Approve the proofs yourself before five so the print date holds, and tell your manager afterwards which price you corrected and why it could not wait.
   3. Reply to the agency that the proofs cannot be signed off today and ask them to resend the set tomorrow once the pricing has been checked properly at this end.
   4. Assume the agency has already spotted the old price and is working from a newer file, and pass the proofs on for approval as they stand.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Send the agency the correction now with a note that sign-off itself still has to come from your manager, and put the proof in front of her the moment her call ends.

   Least effective: D. Assume the agency has already spotted the old price and is working from a newer file, and pass the proofs on for approval as they stand.

   B: Takes an approval that is not yours: the print date is protected by substituting your judgement for the person whose sign-off the process asks for.

   C: Buys certainty with the print date: a whole day is spent on a correction that takes a sentence, and the agency reworks a set that needs one figure changed.

   D: Assumes away the one thing you checked: the only person who has seen the error decides it has probably been seen by somebody else, and the proof goes to print with last season's price on it.

   The most effective response is to send the agency the correction now with a note that sign-off still has to come from your manager, and put the proof in front of her as soon as she is free: the error is fixed inside the ninety minutes available, the approval stays with the person who owns it, and nobody is waiting on a decision you cannot make. It beats approving the proofs yourself, because the print date does not transfer the sign-off to you. It beats telling the agency to resend tomorrow, because a whole day is spent on a one-figure correction. The least effective response is assuming the agency has spotted it and passing the proofs on as they stand: the one person who saw the error decides somebody else probably did too, which is a different kind of wrong from over-reaching or from being over-cautious, because it is the only response where the wrong price is printed. The principle: what you have actually seen is worth more than what you assume somebody else has seen.

7. Question 7 of 10

   You are a customer care assistant at Walgreens Online. 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.

8. Question 8 of 10

   You are a supply chain graduate at Walgreens Online. An escalation about a missed delivery has taken your whole afternoon: four people want updates, the site is ringing every twenty minutes, and you have not eaten. You are due to leave at five and the delivery is now expected at six. You are the only person who has the full picture of what has happened today. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Stay until the delivery arrives at six whatever happens, since you have carried it all afternoon and handing it over now would mean explaining the whole day to somebody else.
   2. Send the four people chasing you a short update at five saying where the delivery stands and that you are back at seven tomorrow.
   3. Hand the escalation to a colleague at five with a quick verbal summary as you leave, and point him at the message trail.
   4. Write a short handover with the times, the promises and what happens at six and give it to the evening cover, so that the picture survives your leaving, then eat.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: D. Write a short handover with the times, the promises and what happens at six and give it to the evening cover, so that the picture survives your leaving, then eat.

   Least effective: C. Hand the escalation to a colleague at five with a quick verbal summary as you leave, and point him at the message trail.

   A: Treats the handover as a cost rather than the job: an hour of explanation is exactly what the evening shift needs, and going on alone when tired is how the last hour goes wrong.

   B: Updates the audience and leaves the job: four people know where things stand, and nobody is holding the six o'clock arrival.

   C: Passes on a live problem without what it is made of: the only person who knows the day leaves at five, and the colleague meets the six o'clock delivery with a message trail.

   The most effective response is to write a short handover with the times, the promises and what happens at six, give it to the evening cover and take twenty minutes: the picture survives your leaving, the people waiting keep getting answers, and you stop working on empty. It beats staying until six regardless, because a tired person carrying it alone is how the last hour goes wrong, and the handover has to be written anyway. It beats sending the four chasers a closing update, because it tells them where things stand and leaves the six o’clock arrival to nobody. The least effective response is handing it to a colleague with a verbal summary on the way out: the whole afternoon exists only in your head and the messages, and he meets a six o’clock delivery without it, which is a different kind of wrong from overworking or from deflecting. The principle: under pressure, the way to put something down is to write down what the next person needs.

9. Question 9 of 10

   You are a people team graduate at Walgreens Online. While building next month’s rota you notice that the coming Saturday has nobody rostered for the late cover, which is not your rota and not your month. The duty supervisor who owns Saturday is off until Friday. Cover this late is arranged by asking around, which takes a day or two, and Saturday is in four days. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Leave a note on the duty supervisor's desk describing the gap so that it is waiting for him on Friday, and carry on with next month's rota.
   2. Tell the duty supervisor by message that Saturday has been sorted, on the basis that somebody on the team usually picks these up, and go back to your own work.
   3. Flag the gap to the manager covering for him today, offer what you can see of who is available, and confirm back what has been arranged before you drop it.
   4. Fill the gap yourself by asking two colleagues you know are usually free at weekends, and tell the duty supervisor when he is back on Friday.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: C. Flag the gap to the manager covering for him today, offer what you can see of who is available, and confirm back what has been arranged before you drop it.

   Least effective: B. Tell the duty supervisor by message that Saturday has been sorted, on the basis that somebody on the team usually picks these up, and go back to your own work.

   A: Delivers a message to somebody who cannot act on it: Friday leaves one day to find cover for Saturday, and the note is timed to arrive when the easy options have gone.

   B: States as settled something you have not checked: he stops looking at Saturday because you told him it was handled, and nobody discovers otherwise until the day itself.

   D: Acts outside your own remit without saying so: the gap may close, but the person who owns Saturday learns on Friday that his rota was changed by somebody else.

   The most effective response is to flag the gap to the manager covering today, offer what you can see of who is available, and confirm back what has been arranged: the problem reaches somebody with the authority to fix it while the four days are still there, and you stay with it until it is actually closed rather than until it is passed on. It beats leaving a note for Friday, because the person it is addressed to cannot act until one day before. It beats quietly filling the gap with two colleagues, because the supervisor who owns Saturday finds his rota rearranged without being asked. The least effective response is messaging the supervisor that Saturday has been sorted when nobody has arranged anything: he stops looking, the assumption that somebody always picks it up is not a fact, and asserting it as one is a different kind of wrong from being slow or from over-reaching. The principle: taking ownership of something outside your remit means carrying it to somebody who can act and confirming the outcome, never announcing one.

10. Question 10 of 10

    You are an availability analyst at Walgreens Online. 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.