HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT BASIC VOCABULARIES 1.

Human Resource Management encompasses all activities designed to provide for and coordinate the human resources of an organization 2. Personnel Management much narrower and more clerically-oriented than HRM 3. Human Resource Generalist person who devotes majority of working time to human resource issues, but does not specialize in any specific areas 4. Human Resource Specialist person specially trained in one or more areas of HRM 5. Staff Function a function of HRM which acts only in an advisory capacity 6. Line Function a function of HRM which focuses on its administrative roles 7. Diversity encompasses many different dimensions, including, but not limited to, gender, race, national origin, religion, age, and disability 8. Downsizing laying off large numbers of managerial and other employees 9. Outsourcing subcontracting work to an outside company that specializes in that particular type of work 10. Rightsizing continuous and proactive assessment of mission-critical work and its staffing requirements 11. Electronic HR web-based HR systems that allow employees to complete many HR-related tasks online 12. Telecommuting working at home by using an electronic linkup with a central office 13. Empowerment form of decentralization that involves giving subordinates substantial authority to make decisions 14. Self-Managed Work Teams groups of peers who do not report to a single manager but are responsible for a particular area or task 15. Equal Employment Opportunity the right of all persons to work and to advance on the basis of merit, ability, and potential 16. Equal Pay Act prohibits gender-based discrimination in rates of pay for men and women working on the same or similar jobs 17. Disparate Treatment intentional discrimination and treating one class of employees differently from other employees 18. Rehabilitation Act prohibits discrimination against handicapped individuals 19. Reverse Discrimination condition under which there is alleged preferential treatment of one group (minority or women) over another group rather than equal opportunity 20. Sexual Harassment unwelcome sexual conduct that has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with an individuals work performance or creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work environment 21. Job Analysis process of determining and reporting pertinent information relating to the nature of a specific job 22. Job Design process of structuring work and designating the specific work activities of an individual or group of individuals to achieve certain organizational objectives 23. Duties one or more tasks performed in carrying out a job responsibility 24. Responsibilities obligations to perform certain tasks and assume certain duties 25. Position collection of tasks and responsibilities constituting the total work assignment of a single employee 26. Job group of positions that are identical with respect to their major or significant tasks and responsibilities and sufficiently alike to justify their being covered by a single analysis; may be performed by more than one employee 27. Occupation a grouping of similar jobs or job classes 28. Recruitment process of seeking and attracting a pool of people from which qualified candidates for job vacancies can be chosen 29. Selection process of choosing from those available the individuals who are most likely to perform successfully in a job 30. Orientation introduction of new employees to the organization, work unit, and job 31. Training learning process that involves the acquisition of skills, concepts, rules, or attitudes to increase employee performance

32. Job Description written synopsis of the nature and requirements of a job 33. Job Specification description of the competency, educational, and experience qualifications the incumbent must possess to perform the job 34. Job Scope number and variety of tasks performed by the jobholder 35. Job Depth freedom of jobholders to plan and organize their own work, work at their own pace, and move around and communicate 36. Flexitime flexible working hours, allowing employees to choose, within certain limits, when they start and end their workday 37. Job Sharing 2 or more part-time individuals perform a job that would normally be held by one full-time person 38. Human Resource Planning process of determining the human resource needs of an organization and ensuring that the organization has the right number of qualified people in the right jobs at the right time 39. Skills Inventory consolidated list of biographical and other information on all employees in the organization 40. Succession Planning technique that identifies specific people to fill future openings in key positions throughout the organization 41. Human Resource Information System a database system that contains all relevant human resource information and provides facilities for maintaining and accessing these data 42. Job Posting and Bidding a type of internal sourcing where employees are informed of job vacancies by posting a notice in central locations, and giving a specified period to apply for the job 43. Job Advertising a type of external sourcing where help-wanted advertisements are placed in daily newspapers, in trade and professional publications, or on radio and television 44. Realistic Job Previews a method of providing complete information, both positive and negative, to the job applicant 45. Training Needs Analysis a systematic analysis of the specific training activities the organization requires to achieve its objectives 46. Coaching method of management development conducted on the job that involves experienced managers advising and guiding trainees in solving managerial problems 47. Job Rotation designed to give an individual broad experience through exposure to many different areas of the organization 48. Organizational Development planned effort managed from the top, with the goal of increasing organizational performance through planned interventions and training experiences 49. Career Planning process by which an individual formulates career goals and develops a plan for reaching those goals 50. Career Pathing a series of developmental activities involving formal and informal education, training, and job experiences that help make an individual capable of holding a more advanced job in the future 51. Career Plateau the point in an individuals career where the likelihood of a promotion is very low 52. Outplacement benefit provided by an employer to help an employee leave the organization and get a job someplace else 53. Glass Ceiling Effect the invisible yet real or perceived barriers found in many organizations that appear to pose a problem in the executive advancement opportunity of women and minorities 54. Performance degree of accomplishment of the tasks that make up an employees job 55. Performance Appraisal process by which, through observation by the appraiser, the individual workers efficiency in performing his duties and responsibilities during a given period of time is evaluated based on pre-determined performance standards or established goals mutually set by the employee and his superior 56. Leniency managers ratings are grouped at the positive end (high ratings) 57. Central Tendency managers tendency to rate performance near the middle of the performance scale 58. Serenity managers ratings are grouped at the negative end (low ratings)

59. Halo Effect a rater allows a single prominent characteristic of an employee to influence his judgment on each separate item in the performance appraisal 60. Intrinsic Rewards rewards internal to the individual and normally derived from involvement in certain activities or tasks 61. Extrinsic Rewards rewards that are controlled and distributed directly by the organization and are of a tangible nature 62. Job Satisfaction an employees general attitude toward the job 63. Compensation all extrinsic rewards that employees receive in exchange for their work (salary + incentives or bonuses + benefits) 64. Pay the actual money employees receive in exchange for their work 65. Salary hourly, daily, weekly, or monthly pay that employees receive for their work 66. Incentives rewards offered in addition to salary and usually directly related to performance 67. Benefits rewards employees receive as a result of their employment and position with the organization 68. Internal Equity addresses what an employee is being paid for doing a job compared to what other employees in the same organization are being paid to do their jobs 69. External Equity addresses what employees in an organization are being paid compared to employees in other organizations in the same industry performing similar jobs 70. Individual Equity addresses the rewarding of individual contributions (pay-for-performance) 71. Job Evaluation systematic determination of the value of each job in relation to other jobs in the organization 72. Job Ranking Method a job evaluation method that ranks jobs in order of their difficulty fro simplest to most complex 73. Job Classification Method determines the relative worth of a job by comparing it to a predetermined scale of classes or grades of jobs 74. Pay Grades classes or grades of jobs that, for pay purposes, are grouped on the basis of their worth to an organization 75. Pay Range Range of permissible pay, with a minimum and maximum, that is assigned to a given pay grade 76. Skill-Based Pay systems that compensate employees for the skills they bring to the job 77. Competency-Based Pay systems that compensate employees according to how they measure against competencies required of a job 78. Flexible Benefit Plan (Cafeteria Plan) allows employees to select from a wide range of options how their direct compensation and benefits will be distributed 79. Stress mental and physical condition that results from a perceived threat of danger (physical or emotional) and the pressure to remove it 80. Burnout occurs when work is no longer meaningful to a person; can result from stress or a variety of other work-related or personal factors 81. Employment at Will allows either the employer or the employee to terminate his employment relationship at any time for virtually any reason or for no reason at all 82. Discipline action taken against an employee who has violated an organizational rule or whose performance has deteriorated to the point where corrective action is needed 83. Progressive Discipline the normal sequence of actions taken by management in disciplining an employee: oral warning, written warning, suspension, and finally discharge 84. Just Cause requires that management initially bear the burden of proof of wrongdoing in discipline cases and that the severity of the punishment must coincide with the seriousness of the offense 85. Due Process right of an employee to be dealt with fairly and justly during the investigation of an alleged offense and the administration of any subsequent disciplinary action 86. Collective Bargaining process that involves the negotiation, drafting, administration, and interpretation of written agreement between an employer and a union for a specific period of time 87. Mediation process whereby both parties invite a neutral third party (called a mediator) to help resolve contract impasses; mediator has no authority to impose a solution on the parties

88. Arbitration process whereby the parties agree to settle a dispute through the use of an independent third party (called an arbitrator) 89. Lockout refusal of the employer to let its employees work 90. Strike collective refusal of employees to work