Raising an issue to a manager with the facts, impact and options so they can decide quickly.
Good work shows: States the issue and impact briefly; gives dates, amounts and sources; offers options or a recommendation.
Escalating with the facts is one of the judgement skills on FinderK.
The job simulations and Skill Paths below include work that is checked for this skill. You do the work in an original fictional company and get feedback on it.
Customer support associate at Hearth Box
About 50 minutes. Included in Plus.
Six customers wrote in overnight after a bad delivery day. Sort the queue, apply the credit policy, reply honestly to an angry customer and escalate a food safety report with the facts.
Skills: Sort a support queue by urgency and impact; Apply a credit policy and approval limits; Write an honest customer reply under pressure; Escalate a food safety report with the facts
Nurse in charge, night shift at St Aldhelm's Hospital
About 54 minutes. Included in Plus.
A registered nurse has called in sick and a confused patient now needs someone with him all night. Work out what the ward needs, get cover through the escalation route, and allocate the night safely.
Skills: Calculate safe staffing from patients' care levels; Escalate a staffing gap in writing with SBAR; Allocate patients within load and competency limits; Plan for the time before cover arrives
Social media coordinator at Wren and Dale Garden Centres
About 65 minutes. Included in Plus.
The agency says photos are the garden centre's best posts and wants more of them. Measure October properly, plan November's biggest moments within budget and the advertising rules, and handle a complaint that is spreading in the comments.
Skills: Compare content performance like for like; Plan content around business moments within a budget; Follow advertising and giveaway rules; Handle a public complaint without promising or arguing
Outpatient booking coordinator at Riverside General Hospital
About 55 minutes. Included in Plus.
A consultant is off sick for two weeks and sixteen patients need rebooking. Put them in the right order with the right clinicians before their target dates, look after a patient who cannot make the only slot, and tell the manager about any breach.
Skills: Prioritise patients by access targets and policy; Match patients to the right clinician and time; Talk to patients about changes without causing alarm; Report a breach early with the facts
Legal operations assistant at Kittering Homes
About 60 minutes. Included in Plus.
A supplier has sent back your company's contract with fifteen changes and the sales team wants it signed by Friday week. Sort the changes against the playbook, escalate what you cannot agree, and answer the supplier without giving away more than you may.
Skills: Review contract changes against a playbook; Spot a change of meaning hidden in a definition; Escalate with a clear risk and recommendation; Negotiate in writing within your authority
Software engineer at Gatehouse Tickets
About 60 minutes. Included in Plus.
A colleague's change will issue partial refunds to thousands of festival customers, and all its tests pass because they check the code against itself. Work out the right refunds from the finance policy, review the change, and hold the line on a money bug when the release date is used as pressure.
Skills: Check code against the rule it implements, not its own tests; Work out expected money values exactly from a policy; Write review comments an author can act on; Hold a safety decision under release pressure
Paralegal at Ashby Kerr Solicitors
About 55 minutes. Included in Plus.
A client has sent sixteen documents for an employment tribunal claim and wants the damaging ones left out. Review each for relevance and privilege, raise the hard calls with the solicitor, and draft the list, explaining kindly to the client why a manager's message has to go in.
Skills: Decide relevance against the issues in a case; Recognise privileged and without prejudice documents; Escalate a legal question instead of deciding it; Explain a disclosure duty to an unhappy client
Assistant restaurant manager at The Gannet Kitchen
About 55 minutes. Included in Plus.
The weekly food cost has jumped from 31 to 40.5 percent and head office sees it on Wednesday. Find what is wrong in the records, query the supplier, and explain what is really driving the cost.
Skills: Check purchases and stock records for errors; Calculate a weekly food cost percentage; Query a supplier politely and within authority; Explain the cause of a cost rise with figures and options
Customer services officer at Northbrook Borough Council
About 55 minutes. Included in Plus.
Fourteen missed bin reports after a breakdown and a short staffed route. Decide who gets a crew back under the policy, reply honestly to residents, and answer a councillor without promising special treatment.
Skills: Apply a published service policy case by case; Protect vulnerable residents through escalation; Reply to residents honestly without blame; Answer an elected member within the rules
Facilities helpdesk coordinator at Brightstone Property Services
About 50 minutes. Included in Plus.
Twelve requests after a wet weekend: a trapped person, a leak onto a desk, a stuck fire exit, cold offices and a few things that are not yours to fix. Triage them, get approval where you need it, and tell tenants the truth about who pays.
Skills: Prioritise building faults by risk and service level; Decide responsibility using lease clauses; Act on safety first and get approval for spending; Say no to a tenant politely and with the clause
Housing officer, repairs at Calderbrook Homes
About 70 minutes. Included in Plus.
Twelve repair requests, a cold snap from Wednesday and a contractor who will soon be fully booked. Triage them under the policy, answer a resident who has been told the wrong thing, and get a decision on a roof above your limit.
Skills: Triage repairs by risk to the household under a policy; Keep repairs separate from rent arrears; Write to a resident honestly about a repeat problem; Request approval with options, costs and interim safety
Farm assistant, grain store at Hollins Farm Partnership
About 55 minutes. Included in Plus.
Eight lorries are booked for this week's wheat. Check every bin against the contract, decide what needs drying or checking and what that costs, and tell the merchant honestly what is coming.
Skills: Check stored grain against a contract on every measure; Spot a risk in a trend, not just a reading; Compare the cost of acting now with the cost later; Change bookings honestly within authority
Practise the core work of a data analyst: questioning a metric, finding a cost driver and calculating figures from raw records.
Practise the core work of a healthcare administrator: rebooking clinics, staffing wards and preparing for a trial monitoring visit.
Practise the core work of hotel and events coordination: an overbooked night, a conference dinner and a busy front of house.
Practise the core work of IT support: a busy helpdesk queue, a facilities helpdesk and an outage review.
Practise the core work of a public services officer: restoring a service, covering staff and running a fair procurement.
Practise the core work of a store manager: missing stock, rising costs and planning stock for the busy season.
Protect and grow a brand.
Look after buildings and the people in them.
Practise the careful quality work of clinics, pharmacies and trials.
Practise communication work where every word matters.
Learn the careful work behind contracts and good governance.
Prepare for a first job in customer support or operations.
Turn data into decisions people can trust.
Run the buildings people work and live in.
Practise the work that keeps clinics, wards and pharmacies running safely.
Take on the busy work of hotels, restaurants and events.
Learn the careful work of legal support teams.
Keep deliveries moving when things go wrong.
Understand customers and reach them well.
Keep services running when plans fall apart.
Practise the work of councils, schools and public bodies.
Learn the decisions small business owners face.
Learn to help people well when things have gone wrong.
Practise the daily judgement of software teams.
Practise putting the right people in the right place.
Use spreadsheets to answer real business questions.