Free Access HRCI SPHR New Release

These elements are directly tied to compensation and benefits design—especially when focusing on cafeteria plans, market-based pay, and performance-based incentives. The SPHR Total Rewards domain highlights reengineering compensation systems to reflect strategic objectives and market competitiveness.

Effective recognition ties directly to behavioral reinforcement. Recognizing behaviors that exemplify core organizational values ensures alignment between culture and performance.

Extract from HRCI-aligned HR knowledge (Total Rewards):

SPHR candidates must link rewards to strategic outcomes: “Recognition should reinforce desired behaviors and values that contribute to culture and organizational success.” Budget and champions matter, but the behavioral alignment is central.

CSR strategy must align with both internal values and external realities. HR should start by understanding the business’s environmental, social, and stakeholder landscape, ensuring relevance and authenticity.

Extract from HRCI-aligned HR knowledge (Leadership and Strategy):

SPHR candidates must demonstrate the ability to “align CSR with the broader social, political, and market environment in which the organization operates.” Misaligned CSR initiatives can be perceived as disingenuous or ineffective.

The best strategy to mitigate pay compliance issues is to implement equity adjustments (B). At the SPHR level, pay compliance focuses on ensuring compensation practices comply with equal pay, nondiscrimination, and internal equity standards.

Equity adjustments directly address identified disparities that cannot be justified by job-related factors such as experience, education, performance, or geographic differences. Once inequities are identified through audits or analyses, corrective adjustments reduce legal risk and demonstrate good-faith compliance.

Market analysis (D) supports competitiveness but does not address internal inequities. Evaluating seniority (A) and adjusting job scope (C) may support classification accuracy but do not resolve pay gaps once identified.

SPHR exam content emphasizes that organizations must move beyond analysis to corrective action to effectively mitigate compliance risk, especially under equal pay and anti-discrimination laws.

References :

HRCI SPHR Exam Content Outline — Functional Area: Total Rewards (pay equity; compliance).

HRCI SPHR Study Guide — Compensation audits and equity remediation.