WGU D435: HR Technology and People Analytics | Objective Assessment (OA) Questions and
Correct Answers with Explanations | Graded A+ | New Update 2026/2027
SECTION A: ANALYTICS TYPES (10 Questions)
Question 1
A large retail organization notices that employee turnover increased by 15% over the past
quarter compared to the same quarter last year. The HR Director asks the analytics team to
examine the data to determine which departments, locations, and employee demographics
are most affected.
Which type of analytics is the HR Director requesting?
• □
A. Descriptive Analytics
• ☑
B. Diagnostic Analytics
• □
C. Predictive Analytics
• □
D. Prescriptive Analytics
Correct Answer: B — Diagnostic Analytics
Rationale: Diagnostic analytics answers the question "Why did it happen?" The HR Director
wants to understand the root causes of the turnover increase by examining patterns across
departments, locations, and demographics. Descriptive analytics (A) would only tell the
organization that turnover increased (the "what happened"). Predictive analytics (C) would
forecast future turnover rates. Prescriptive analytics (D) would recommend actions to reduce
turnover. The key indicator in this question is the effort to determine "which departments,
locations, and employee demographics are most affected," which is characteristic of diagnostic
analytics.
Question 2
,A global technology company has collected 10 years of employee performance data,
compensation history, and promotion patterns. The HR Director asks the analytics team to
build a model that identifies which employees are most likely to be promoted within the next
18 months based on historical patterns.
Which type of analytics is the HR Director requesting?
• □
A. Descriptive Analytics
• □
B. Diagnostic Analytics
• ☑
C. Predictive Analytics
• □
D. Prescriptive Analytics
Correct Answer: C — Predictive Analytics
Rationale: Predictive analytics answers the question "What will happen?" The analytics team
is using historical data to forecast which employees are most likely to be promoted in the
future. This is a classic predictive analytics application. Descriptive analytics (A) would
summarize historical promotion patterns. Diagnostic analytics (B) would explain why certain
employees were promoted. Prescriptive analytics (D) would recommend actions to increase
promotion likelihood for specific employees.
Question 3
A mid-sized manufacturing company has a high rate of work-related injuries in its production
facilities. The HR analytics team analyzes injury reports and discovers that 80% of injuries
occur on the third shift, and 70% occur within the first 30 minutes of the shift starting. The
team recommends implementing a mandatory stretching program during the first 10 minutes
of each shift.
Which type of analytics is the team using to make their recommendation?
• □
A. Descriptive Analytics
• □
,B. Diagnostic Analytics
• □
C. Predictive Analytics
• ☑
D. Prescriptive Analytics
Correct Answer: D — Prescriptive Analytics
Rationale: Prescriptive analytics answers the question "How can we make it happen?" The
team analyzed the data, identified patterns (diagnostic), and then recommended a specific
intervention (a mandatory stretching program). Descriptive analytics (A) would have shown that
injuries occurred (the "what"). Diagnostic analytics (B) would have identified the third shift and
the first 30 minutes as the key factors (the "why"). Predictive analytics (C) would forecast injury
likelihood for specific shifts or times. The recommendation of a stretching program is the
prescriptive element.
Question 4
A healthcare organization has experienced a 20% decline in employee engagement scores
over the past two years. The HR Director asks for a report summarizing the engagement
scores by department, tenure, and job level.
Which type of analytics is the HR Director requesting?
• ☑
A. Descriptive Analytics
• □
B. Diagnostic Analytics
• □
C. Predictive Analytics
• □
D. Prescriptive Analytics
Correct Answer: A — Descriptive Analytics
Rationale: Descriptive analytics answers the question "What happened?" The HR Director is
asking for a report that summarizes the current state of engagement scores by various
, dimensions. This is purely descriptive—it describes what the engagement scores are without
explaining why they declined or predicting future trends. Diagnostic analytics (B) would
investigate the causes of the decline. Predictive analytics (C) would forecast future engagement
trends. Prescriptive analytics (D) would recommend interventions to improve engagement.
Question 5
A technology startup wants to reduce attrition among its software engineering team, which
has a 40% annual turnover rate. The HR analytics team develops a model that predicts which
software engineers are at high risk of leaving within the next six months and recommends
tailored retention strategies for each high-risk employee.
Which combination of analytics types is the team using?
• □
A. Descriptive and Diagnostic only
• ☑
B. Predictive and Prescriptive
• □
C. Diagnostic and Descriptive
• □
D. Prescriptive only
Correct Answer: B — Predictive and Prescriptive
Rationale: The team is using Predictive analytics (identifying which engineers are at high risk
of leaving) and Prescriptive analytics (recommending tailored retention strategies). Descriptive
analytics (A, C) would simply report current turnover rates. Diagnostic analytics (A, C) would
explain why turnover is happening. The combination of predicting future outcomes and
recommending specific actions characterizes the advanced analytics maturity needed for
strategic HR decisions.
Question 6
An organization's HR team notices that employee absenteeism has increased across all
departments. They conduct exit interviews and discover that 65% of employees who recently
left cited "lack of work-life balance" as their primary reason. The team concludes that the
Correct Answers with Explanations | Graded A+ | New Update 2026/2027
SECTION A: ANALYTICS TYPES (10 Questions)
Question 1
A large retail organization notices that employee turnover increased by 15% over the past
quarter compared to the same quarter last year. The HR Director asks the analytics team to
examine the data to determine which departments, locations, and employee demographics
are most affected.
Which type of analytics is the HR Director requesting?
• □
A. Descriptive Analytics
• ☑
B. Diagnostic Analytics
• □
C. Predictive Analytics
• □
D. Prescriptive Analytics
Correct Answer: B — Diagnostic Analytics
Rationale: Diagnostic analytics answers the question "Why did it happen?" The HR Director
wants to understand the root causes of the turnover increase by examining patterns across
departments, locations, and demographics. Descriptive analytics (A) would only tell the
organization that turnover increased (the "what happened"). Predictive analytics (C) would
forecast future turnover rates. Prescriptive analytics (D) would recommend actions to reduce
turnover. The key indicator in this question is the effort to determine "which departments,
locations, and employee demographics are most affected," which is characteristic of diagnostic
analytics.
Question 2
,A global technology company has collected 10 years of employee performance data,
compensation history, and promotion patterns. The HR Director asks the analytics team to
build a model that identifies which employees are most likely to be promoted within the next
18 months based on historical patterns.
Which type of analytics is the HR Director requesting?
• □
A. Descriptive Analytics
• □
B. Diagnostic Analytics
• ☑
C. Predictive Analytics
• □
D. Prescriptive Analytics
Correct Answer: C — Predictive Analytics
Rationale: Predictive analytics answers the question "What will happen?" The analytics team
is using historical data to forecast which employees are most likely to be promoted in the
future. This is a classic predictive analytics application. Descriptive analytics (A) would
summarize historical promotion patterns. Diagnostic analytics (B) would explain why certain
employees were promoted. Prescriptive analytics (D) would recommend actions to increase
promotion likelihood for specific employees.
Question 3
A mid-sized manufacturing company has a high rate of work-related injuries in its production
facilities. The HR analytics team analyzes injury reports and discovers that 80% of injuries
occur on the third shift, and 70% occur within the first 30 minutes of the shift starting. The
team recommends implementing a mandatory stretching program during the first 10 minutes
of each shift.
Which type of analytics is the team using to make their recommendation?
• □
A. Descriptive Analytics
• □
,B. Diagnostic Analytics
• □
C. Predictive Analytics
• ☑
D. Prescriptive Analytics
Correct Answer: D — Prescriptive Analytics
Rationale: Prescriptive analytics answers the question "How can we make it happen?" The
team analyzed the data, identified patterns (diagnostic), and then recommended a specific
intervention (a mandatory stretching program). Descriptive analytics (A) would have shown that
injuries occurred (the "what"). Diagnostic analytics (B) would have identified the third shift and
the first 30 minutes as the key factors (the "why"). Predictive analytics (C) would forecast injury
likelihood for specific shifts or times. The recommendation of a stretching program is the
prescriptive element.
Question 4
A healthcare organization has experienced a 20% decline in employee engagement scores
over the past two years. The HR Director asks for a report summarizing the engagement
scores by department, tenure, and job level.
Which type of analytics is the HR Director requesting?
• ☑
A. Descriptive Analytics
• □
B. Diagnostic Analytics
• □
C. Predictive Analytics
• □
D. Prescriptive Analytics
Correct Answer: A — Descriptive Analytics
Rationale: Descriptive analytics answers the question "What happened?" The HR Director is
asking for a report that summarizes the current state of engagement scores by various
, dimensions. This is purely descriptive—it describes what the engagement scores are without
explaining why they declined or predicting future trends. Diagnostic analytics (B) would
investigate the causes of the decline. Predictive analytics (C) would forecast future engagement
trends. Prescriptive analytics (D) would recommend interventions to improve engagement.
Question 5
A technology startup wants to reduce attrition among its software engineering team, which
has a 40% annual turnover rate. The HR analytics team develops a model that predicts which
software engineers are at high risk of leaving within the next six months and recommends
tailored retention strategies for each high-risk employee.
Which combination of analytics types is the team using?
• □
A. Descriptive and Diagnostic only
• ☑
B. Predictive and Prescriptive
• □
C. Diagnostic and Descriptive
• □
D. Prescriptive only
Correct Answer: B — Predictive and Prescriptive
Rationale: The team is using Predictive analytics (identifying which engineers are at high risk
of leaving) and Prescriptive analytics (recommending tailored retention strategies). Descriptive
analytics (A, C) would simply report current turnover rates. Diagnostic analytics (A, C) would
explain why turnover is happening. The combination of predicting future outcomes and
recommending specific actions characterizes the advanced analytics maturity needed for
strategic HR decisions.
Question 6
An organization's HR team notices that employee absenteeism has increased across all
departments. They conduct exit interviews and discover that 65% of employees who recently
left cited "lack of work-life balance" as their primary reason. The team concludes that the
