Your FREE SHRM-SCP Flashcards 2026 – 250+ Cards

The SHRM Body of Applied Skills and Knowledge — the framework defining the behavioral competencies and HR knowledge tested on the SHRM-CP and SHRM-SCP exams.

Nine, grouped into three clusters: Leadership, Interpersonal, and Business.

Leadership, Interpersonal, and Business.

Leadership & Navigation, Ethical Practice, and Inclusive Mindset.

The competency for setting and driving the HR vision and guiding the organization through it; at SCP level, shaping enterprise strategy.

Setting the organization-wide HR vision and shaping enterprise strategy with the executive team — not just executing a vision set by others.

Gaining commitment and support by framing initiatives in terms of others' interests and concerns.

Translating the organizational vision into clear, role-level expectations so each team has a line of sight from daily work to the goals.

The competency for integrating integrity, accountability, fairness, and transparency into HR decisions and organizational culture.

The willingness to take and defend an unpopular but ethically right stance and accept the consequences.

No. An action can be technically legal yet unethical — e.g., timing layoffs to meet notice rules while deliberately denying earned bonuses.

It sets shared expectations, supports consistent decisions across the organization, and signals leadership's commitment to integrity.

Acting ethically regardless of who is watching — not bending policy 'just this once.'

The competency for fostering an environment where all individuals are respected, valued, and able to contribute fully.

Consistent, criteria-based evaluation that surfaces and mitigates bias before decisions like ratings or promotions are final.

Integrity, accountability, fairness, and transparency.

HOW an HR professional applies knowledge on the job — the skills and attributes behind effective action.

Ethical Practice — protecting sensitive employee and organizational information.

The strategic, enterprise-level choice — the SCP tests senior, advanced proficiency.

Roughly half (including the situational judgment items, ~40%, plus ~10% competency-knowledge items).

Leading change sets direction and inspires adoption; managing organizes the resources and steps — Leadership & Navigation emphasizes the former.

It broadened toward an 'Inclusive Mindset,' combining earlier diversity-and-inclusion and global focus.

Leadership & Navigation — realigning the HR roadmap so it advances the organization's strategic objectives.

The senior HR leader (e.g., CHRO), who sets and drives the organization-wide HR vision.

Behavioral competencies are the HOW; HR functional knowledge is the WHAT.

134 — 80 knowledge items and 54 situational judgment items.

3 hours 40 minutes (220 minutes) of testing, split into two timed sections.

A scaled score of 200, on a 120-200 scale; the raw cut is set psychometrically.

A scenario-based question asking which response is most (or least) effective, scored against expert consensus.

About 40% — the largest single item type.

Read for the real problem and the stakeholders before judging any option.

Extremes — 'do nothing,' 'immediately escalate,' or 'unilaterally impose a fix.'

Proactive, ethical, root-cause-focused, collaborative, and aligned to strategy.

SHRM (Society for Human Resource Management) — not HRCI.

SHRM (CP/SCP) is competency-based with situational judgment; HRCI (PHR/SPHR) is knowledge-based recall.

A defined set of competencies needed for success in a role or profession — the BASK is SHRM's for HR.

A behavior describing what a competency looks like at a given level — operational (CP) or advanced/strategic (SCP).

Mission states why the organization exists now; vision describes the future it aims to create.

A leadership style focused on serving and developing people, removing obstacles so the team can succeed.

Inspiring and motivating followers toward a shared vision and higher performance through example and meaning.

Owning the consequences of decisions and being answerable for HR conduct and outcomes.

Being open about decisions, criteria, and information so stakeholders can trust HR's conduct.

When personal interests could improperly influence professional judgment; Ethical Practice requires disclosing it.

Legal protection for employees who report wrongdoing from retaliation by their employer.

Varied perspectives and ways of thinking that improve decisions — a goal of an inclusive mindset.

The exam is competency-based with situational judgment — it tests applying HR knowledge through the behavioral competencies.

To set the enterprise HR vision, advise the executive team, and tie HR to business strategy and outcomes.

Business Acumen, Consultation, and Analytical Aptitude.

The competency for understanding the organization's operations, finances, and strategy and using that to contribute to its success.

Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization — used to approximate operating cash generation.

The amount by which selling price exceeds variable cost per unit, contributing toward fixed costs and profit.

A measure of how much of the company is financed by debt versus owners' equity.

The percentage of total industry sales captured by the company.

Growth driven by expanding the company's own operations, sales, and customer base internally, rather than by acquisition.

By designing efficient processes, controlling labor cost per unit, and rewarding productivity and continuous improvement.

By attracting and retaining creative talent and building a culture that rewards innovation.

A unique, hard-to-imitate organizational capability — such as a deeply embedded culture of skilled, engaged talent.

It ensures HR initiatives advance the same priorities the organization is pursuing, reinforcing HR's value to leadership.

The competency for guiding stakeholders through HR problems by diagnosing the real issue and recommending workable solutions.

By asking iterative 'why' questions and gathering data to trace symptoms back to their underlying cause.

Shared ownership increases the leader's commitment and the sustainability of the change once HR steps back.

The gradual, uncontrolled expansion of a project's objectives beyond what was originally agreed.

The competency for gathering and interpreting data to make evidence-based HR decisions.

Critical Evaluation — renamed as HR became more data-driven.

Collecting and analyzing people data to inform and evaluate HR decisions and demonstrate impact.

Total benefits divided by total costs — e.g., $250,000 ÷ $100,000 = 2.5 to 1.

Total benefits minus total costs — e.g., $120,000 benefits over 3 years minus a $40,000 one-time cost = $80,000.

The net benefit of a program as a percentage of its cost, used to justify HR investments.

It lets HR speak the language of the business and tie its initiatives to measurable value.

Showing a company's assets, liabilities, and equity at a point in time — including debt versus equity financing.

Diagnosis — name the true root cause before recommending any solution.

Analytical Aptitude — evidence-based reasoning rather than intuition.

Same 134-item structure and BASK content, but SCP tests senior/strategic proficiency (CP tests operational).

Two testing windows per year (spring and winter), at Pearson VUE centers or online proctored.

Typically 3+ years in a strategic-level HR role (1,000+ hrs/year); no degree or HR title required.

Three years.

Earn 60 Professional Development Credits (PDCs) per three-year cycle, or retake the exam.

A Professional Development Credit — the unit SHRM uses for recertification.

~40% situational judgment, ~10% competency-knowledge, ~50% HR-knowledge items.

A measurable value tracking how effectively HR achieves a key objective (e.g., turnover, time-to-fill).

Assessing Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats to inform strategy.

Scanning Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal, and Environmental factors affecting the organization.

Comparing practices and metrics against peers or best-in-class organizations to find improvement targets.

Identifying who is affected by an initiative and their interests and influence, to plan engagement.

Strategy is the long-term direction and choices; tactics are the specific actions that execute it.

The sequence of activities a firm performs to create value for customers, used to find where HR adds value.

A framework measuring performance across financial, customer, internal-process, and learning-and-growth perspectives.

The collective knowledge, skills, and abilities of an organization's people, viewed as a strategic asset.

Efficiency is doing things with minimal resources; effectiveness is achieving the intended outcome.

Using people data and statistics to understand and improve workforce decisions and outcomes.

Relationship Management, Communication, and Global Mindset.

The competency for building a network of professional relationships and managing interactions, including negotiation and conflict management.

Negotiation, conflict management, and teamwork.

A single-issue negotiation where parties divide a fixed value — one side's gain is the other's loss.

The least favorable terms a party will accept; overlap between the two parties' points creates a deal zone.

An ambitious goal distinct from the walk-away point, used to anchor a negotiation in your favor.

An extra demand made after agreement seems settled, just before signing.

Presenting several complete offers of equal overall value at once to reveal the counterpart's preferences.

An agreement that ties terms to a future outcome, used to bridge a gap when parties remain far apart.

Instinctively rating a proposal as less valuable simply because of who proposed it.

A win-win, problem-solving orientation rather than a purely competitive one.

It pays off across future rounds when the same counterpart is negotiated with repeatedly.

Continuing to concede because of time and effort already invested — throwing good resources after a deteriorating deal.

They push parties toward hasty concessions and away from value-creating exploration.

Exchanging information effectively with stakeholders, tailoring message, channel, and tone to the audience and purpose.

Different situations need different channels — a chat, a workshop, a written policy, or a town hall — to land the message.

Poor or misunderstood communication.

Fully attending to, understanding, and responding to a speaker — a core communication skill, not just waiting to talk.

The competency for valuing and applying perspectives and practices across cultures and geographies.

Adapting HR approaches to different legal, cultural, and economic contexts rather than imposing one template.

Managing a Global Workforce — the mindset is the 'how,' the functional area is the practice.

Cultural effectiveness — adapting how you lead and decide, not just being aware of differences.

Strong relationships are the channel through which initiatives actually get adopted across the organization.

Identifying and resolving disputes constructively to preserve working relationships and outcomes.

Two-way communication is how the vision gets cascaded and how HR builds cross-functional trust.

It tests advanced (senior) proficiency indicators in the BASK — enterprise-level decision-making.

Three knowledge domains: People, Organization, and Workplace.

The capability to relate and work effectively across cultures — central to a global mindset.

A model comparing national cultures on dimensions like power distance, individualism, and uncertainty avoidance.

A neutral third party helping disputing parties reach a voluntary agreement, common in conflict management.

A neutral third party hearing a dispute and issuing a decision, often binding, used in labor relations.

Best Alternative To a Negotiated Agreement — your fallback if no deal is reached; it sets your walk-away leverage.

Zone Of Possible Agreement — the range where both parties' reservation points overlap and a deal can be struck.

Expanding value so both parties gain, by trading across issues they weigh differently.

The first number put on the table, which strongly influences the final outcome.

Understanding each party's real interests, which surfaces options and de-escalates the dispute.

Recognizing and managing one's own and others' emotions — underpinning relationship management and influence.

How the organization attracts, develops, rewards, and keeps talent — across five functional areas.

HR Strategy, Talent Acquisition, Employee Engagement & Retention, Learning & Development, and Total Rewards.

Aligning the people plan to the business strategy so HR initiatives advance organizational objectives.

The full set of rewards and experiences an organization offers in exchange for employees' skills and effort.

Compensation, benefits, work content, career growth, and affiliation.

Tailoring the value promise to different talent groups (e.g., early-career value growth; senior value autonomy).

How an organization presents itself as an employer — externally to job seekers and internally to current employees.

The brand experience cultivated among current employees, distinct from the external brand shown to applicants.

It provides credible external validation of the employer brand.

Analyzing current and future talent needs and deciding whether to build, buy, or borrow capabilities.

Developing several alternative workforce projections under optimistic, expected, and pessimistic assumptions when demand is uncertain.

The systematic process of identifying and developing talent to fill key roles when they become vacant.

Immediate, temporary coverage for an unexpected vacancy, separate from longer-term successor development.

A group of high-potential employees developed to move into several key roles, rather than one named heir per role.

Giving applicants honest information about both the positives and negatives of a role to set expectations and reduce early turnover.

The percentage of candidates who advance from one hiring stage to the next, used to find funnel bottlenecks.

The integrated mix of compensation, benefits, well-being, recognition, and development used to attract, motivate, and retain talent.

Inside total rewards — they address employees' physical, financial, and mental health alongside pay.

Rewards like stock options that vest over several years to encourage retention and align employees with shareholders.

The emotional commitment employees have to the organization and its goals, a driver of retention and performance.

The functional area building employee skills and capability through training, coaching, and development programs.

The functional area for sourcing, recruiting, selecting, and onboarding the talent the organization needs.

Different talent groups value different things, so a segmented EVP attracts and retains each group more effectively.

Keeping valued employees through engagement, development, fair rewards, and a strong employee experience.

Both align HR to the organization's strategic objectives — strategy is the plan, acumen is the business understanding behind it.

Five — HR Strategy, Talent Acquisition, Engagement & Retention, L&D, and Total Rewards.

A goal that is Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound.

A conversation with a current employee about why they stay and what might cause them to leave, used to boost retention.

The process of integrating a new hire into the organization, its culture, and their role to speed productivity and retention.

Systematically gathering information about a job's duties and requirements to support hiring, pay, and performance decisions.

Equality gives everyone the same; equity gives each what they need to reach a fair outcome.

To ensure the right number of people with the right skills are in the right roles to meet future strategy.

The percentage of employees who leave over a period; high turnover signals retention or engagement problems.

The number of days from posting a role to a candidate accepting it — a recruiting efficiency metric.

The sum of an employee's perceptions across their journey with the organization, from hire to exit.

The EVP is the promise; the employer brand is how that promise is communicated and perceived.

Analyzing the workforce to design benefits that fit employees' needs and the organization's budget.

When new or junior employees earn nearly as much as more experienced ones, often from market-rate hiring.

A pay raise tied to individual performance, distinct from across-the-board or cost-of-living adjustments.

Pay that fluctuates with performance — bonuses, incentives, and commissions — versus fixed base pay.

Turning survey results into targeted improvements and following up to show employees their input mattered.

A shared belief that the team is safe for interpersonal risk-taking, enabling candor and learning.

How the HR function and the organization itself are structured and improved.

Structure of the HR Function, Organizational Effectiveness & Development, Workforce Management, Employee & Labor Relations, and Technology Management.

The systematic approach to preparing, supporting, and helping individuals and the organization adopt and sustain change.

The organization level — leading a whole organization through change.

Create a sense of urgency.

Institute (anchor) the change in the culture so new behaviors stick.

To provide visible evidence the change is working and sustain momentum and support.

A powerful, cross-functional team of respected leaders formed to drive a change initiative (Kotter step 2).

The individual level — the sequence each person moves through to adopt a change.

Awareness, Desire, Knowledge, Ability, Reinforcement.

The gap is usually Ability — they need practice and support, not more awareness.

The change is never reinforced or anchored, so it fails to become institutionalized.

Unfreeze, change, refreeze — a simpler framing of the change arc.

A planned, systemwide effort to improve an organization's effectiveness and health using behavioral-science knowledge.

No — OD is diagnostic and systemic, targeting deep-rooted issues in collaboration, structure, or culture.

The degree to which an organization achieves its intended outcomes and goals efficiently.

Scheduling, productivity, performance, and the day-to-day deployment of people.

The employer-employee relationship, including unions, grievances, and collective bargaining.

Negotiation between an employer and a union over wages, hours, and working conditions.

HR information systems (HRIS) and people-analytics platforms that turn workforce data into decision evidence.

How HR itself is organized — centralized, decentralized, shared-services, or business-partner models — to deliver value.

Use Kotter for leading a whole organization; use ADKAR to diagnose where an individual is stuck.

Embedding the new behaviors into the culture, systems, and norms so they persist after attention moves on.

Embedding HR professionals within business units to align HR strategy with each unit's goals.

A formal complaint from an employee or union alleging a violation of policy, contract, or law.

Five — HR Structure, OE&D, Workforce Management, Employee & Labor Relations, and Technology Management.

The ongoing process of setting expectations, giving feedback, and evaluating and developing employee performance.

Performance feedback gathered from peers, subordinates, managers, and self to give a rounded view.

The number of direct reports a manager has; it shapes organizational structure and communication.

A structure where employees report along two lines (e.g., function and project), increasing flexibility and complexity.

Centralized HR concentrates decisions at the top; decentralized pushes them to business units.

Consolidating routine HR transactions into one center to gain efficiency and consistency.

It automates transactions and supplies analytics, freeing HR for strategic work and enabling evidence-based decisions.

To assemble enough leadership credibility and influence to drive and sustain an organizational change.

Natural pushback to change; address it with communication, involvement, support, and reinforcement, not force alone.

Aligning cultures, retaining key talent, integrating systems and rewards, and managing change through the transition.

The shared values, beliefs, and norms shaping how people behave in an organization.

An organization skilled at creating, acquiring, and transferring knowledge and modifying behavior accordingly.

Capturing, organizing, and sharing organizational knowledge so it isn't lost and can be reused.

An integrated set of HR practices that together raise employee capability, motivation, and performance.

The broader context HR operates in — global workforce, risk, social responsibility, and U.S. employment law.

Managing a Global Workforce, Risk Management, Corporate Social Responsibility, and U.S. Employment Law & Regulations.

Identifying, assessing, and mitigating risks to the workforce and organization — health, safety, security, and compliance.

An organization's obligation to operate ethically and contribute to the well-being of society and the environment.

Economic (base), legal, ethical, and philanthropic (top).

Economic responsibility — to be profitable, the foundation the others rest on.

Acting fairly and avoiding harm even when no law compels it — beyond mere legal compliance.

Measuring organizational performance against people, planet, and profit rather than profit alone.

A company that has met verified standards of social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency.

The Family and Medical Leave Act — up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave for specified family and medical reasons.

An employee returning from leave is restored to the same or an equivalent job.

Only narrowly — e.g., a salaried 'key employee' in the highest-paid 10% whose restoration would cause substantial and grievous economic injury.

They may be limited to a combined total of 12 weeks for birth and bonding.

When it doubts a certification — at its own expense, from a provider it selects (and a third if the two disagree).

The Americans with Disabilities Act — prohibits disability discrimination and requires reasonable accommodation.

A significant risk of substantial harm to health or safety that cannot be eliminated by reasonable accommodation, permitting exclusion.

High — significant risk of substantial harm, individually assessed on objective medical evidence, not mere possibility.

Keep it confidential in separate medical files, apart from the regular personnel file.

After a conditional job offer, if required of all entering employees in that job category.

Treating someone adversely because of their relationship with a person with a disability — prohibited.

A change to a job or workplace that lets a qualified person with a disability perform essential functions, absent undue hardship.

Strategies and practices for operating across countries and cultures — laws, pay norms, benefits, expatriates, and dispersed teams.

The competency (Global Mindset) is the mindset; the functional area is the practice of running a global workforce.

Employment laws, cultural norms, and pay practices vary by country, so policies must adapt to be effective and compliant.

Ethics is acting fairly and avoiding harm beyond legal duty; philanthropy is voluntarily contributing resources to the community.

Four — Global Workforce, Risk Management, CSR, and U.S. Employment Law.

The Fair Labor Standards Act — sets minimum wage, overtime pay, recordkeeping, and child-labor standards.

Nonexempt employees are entitled to overtime under the FLSA; exempt employees (meeting duties and salary tests) are not.

The portion of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 barring employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.

A neutral policy that disproportionately harms a protected group and isn't job-related and consistent with business necessity.

Intentionally treating someone less favorably because of a protected characteristic.

The Age Discrimination in Employment Act — protects workers age 40 and older from age discrimination.

A fundamental duty of a position; accommodation must enable performance of these, not remove them.

A good-faith dialogue between employer and employee to identify a reasonable accommodation.

Significant difficulty or expense that excuses an employer from providing a specific accommodation.

An organization-wide approach to identifying, prioritizing, and managing risks across all functions.

A plan to keep critical operations running during and after a disruption or disaster.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration sets and enforces workplace safety and health standards.

Unwelcome conduct based on a protected characteristic that is severe or pervasive enough to create a hostile environment.

Adverse action against an employee for engaging in protected activity, such as reporting discrimination.

An employee assigned to work in a country other than their home country, requiring tailored support and pay.

Reintegrating an expatriate employee back into the home organization after a foreign assignment.

The triple bottom line.

A disclosure of an organization's environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance and commitments.

Environmental, Social, and Governance criteria used to evaluate an organization's responsible practices.

Philanthropy voluntarily gives resources; the ethical layer means acting fairly and avoiding harm beyond legal duty.