Human Resource Management (HRM) Easy Definitions

Human Resource Management 

Human Resource Management or HRM definitions at a glance:

Term	Definition
Incentive plan	A plan in which a production standard is set for a specific work group, and its members are paid incentives if the group exceeds the production standard
Incident rate	Number of injuries, illnesses, or lost workdays as it relates to a common base of 100 full time employees
Independent contractors:	Workers who perform specific services on a contract basis
Individual performance-organizational goal relationship	The likelihood that successful performance on the job will lead to the attainment of organizational goals
Individual retirement account (IRA):	A special account in which an employee can set aside funds that will not be taxed until the employee retires
Individual-centered career planning:	Career planning that focuses on individuals’ careers rather than on organizational needs
Industrial union:	One that includes many persons working in the same industry or company, regardless of jobs held
Informal training:	Training that occurs through interactions and feedback among employees
In-house development centers	A company-based method for exposing prospective manager to realistic exercises to develop improved management skills
Insubordination	Willful disregard or disobedience of the boss’s authority or legitimate order; criticizing the boss in public
Integrated disability management program:	A benefit that combines disability insurance programs and efforts to reduce workers’ compensation claims
Integrative bargaining	A cooperative strategy in which a common goal is the focus of negotiations
Interest arbitration	An impasse resolution technique used to settle contract negotiation disputes
Intranet:	An organizational network that operates over the Internet
Job analysis:	Systematic way to gather and analyze information about the content, context, and the human requirements of jobs
Job criteria:	Important elements in a given job
Job description	Identification of the tasks, duties, and responsibilities of a job
Job design:	Organizing tasks, duties, and responsibilities into a productive unit of work
Job enlargement:	Broadening the scope of a job by expanding the number of different tasks to be performed
Job enrichment	Increasing the depth of a job by adding the responsibility for planning, organizing, controlling, and evaluating
Job evaluation:	The systematic determination of the relative worth of jobs within an organization
Job instruction training	A systematic approach to OJT consisting of four basic steps
Job posting:	A system in which the employer provides notices of job openings and employees respond to apply
Job rotation:	The process of shifting a person from job to job
Job rotation:	The process of shifting an employee from job to job
Job satisfaction:	A positive emotional state resulting from evaluating one’s job experience
Job specifications:	The knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) and individual needs to perform a job satisfactorily
Job:	Grouping of tasks, duties, and responsibilities that constitutes the total work assignment for employees
Jungian personality typology	Four dimensions of personality matched to work environments
Just cause:	Reasonable justification for taking employment-related action
Karoshi	A Japanese term meaning death fro overworking
Keogh plan:	A type of individualized pension plan for self-employed individuals
Labor force population:	All individuals who are available for selection if all possible recruitment strategies are used
Labor markets:	The external supply pool from which organizations attract employees
Landrum-Griffin Act	The law aimed at protecting union members from possible wrongdoing on the part of their unions
Late-career phase	A career stage in which individuals are no longer learning about their jobs, nor is it expected that they should be trying to outdo levels of performance from previous years
Leading	A management function concerned with directing the work of others
Learning curve	Depicts the rate of learning
Learning organization	An organization “skilled at creating, acquiring, and transferring knowledge and at modifying its behavior to reflect new knowledge and insights
Legislating love	Company guidelines on how personal relationships may exist at work
Leniency error	A means by which performance appraisal can be distorted by evaluating employees against one’s own value system
Line manager	A manager who is authorized to direct the work of subordinates and responsible for accomplishing the organization’s goals
Lock out/tag out regulations:	Requirements that locks and tags be used to make equipment inoperative for repair or adjustment
Lockout	A refusal by the employer to provide opportunities to work
Lockout	A situation in labor-management negotiations whereby management prevents union members from returning to work
Lockout:	Shutdown of company operations undertaken by management to prevent union members from working
Lump-sum increase (LSI):	A one-time payment of all or part of a yearly pay increase
Managed care:	Approaches that monitor and reduce medical costs using restrictions and market system alternatives
Management assessment centers	A situation in which management candidates are asked to make decisions in hypothetical situations and are scored on their performance.  It  usually also involves testing and the use of management games
Management by objectives (MBO):	Specifies the performance goals that an individual and her or his manager agree to try to attain within an appropriate length of time
Management development	Any attempt to improve current or future management performance by imparting knowledge, changing attitudes, or increasing skills
Management rights	Items that are not part of contract negotiations, such as how to run the company, or how much to charge for products
Management rights:	Those rights reserved to the employer to manage, direct, and control its business
Management thought	Early theories of management that promoted today’s HRM operations
Mandated benefits:	Ones that employers in the US must provide to employees by law
Mandatory issues:	Collective bargaining issues identified specifically by labor laws or court decisions as a subject to bargaining
Marginal functions:	Duties that are part of a job but are incidental or ancillary to the purpose and nature of a job
Market line:	The line on a graph showing the relationship between job value, as determined by job evaluation points and pay survey rates
Marshall v. Barlow, Inc	Supreme Court case that stated an employer could refuse an OSHA inspection unless OSHA had a search warrant to enter the premises
Massed practice:	The performance of all of the practice at once
Mature workers	Those workers born before 1946
Maturity curve:	Curve that depicts the relationship between experience and pay rates
McDonnell-Douglas Corp v. Green	A four-part test used to determine if discrimination has occurred
Mediation:	Process by which a third party assists negotiators in reaching a settlement
Mediation:	Process by which a third party assists negotiators in reaching a settlement
Membership-based rewards	Rewards that o to all employees regardless of performance
Mentoring:	A relationship in which experienced managers aid individuals in the earlier stages of their careers
Merit pay	An increase in one’s pay, usually give on an annual basis
Merit Pay (merit raise)	Any salary increase awarded to an employee based on his or her individual performance
Metamorphosis stage	The socialization stage whereby the new employee must work out inconsistencies discovered during the encounter stage
Mid-career phase	A career stage marked by a continuous improvement in performance, leveling off in performance or the beginning of deterioration of performance
Mission statement	The reason an organization is in business
Modular plans	A flexible benefit system whereby employees choose a pre-designed package of benefits
Motivating potential score	A predictive index suggesting the motivation potential of a job
Motivation:	The desire within a person causing that person to act
National emergency strike:	A strike that would impact the notional economy significantly
National emergency strikes	Strikes that might “imperil the national health and safety”