Human Resource Management (HRM) Guide

Human Resource Management 

Human Resource Management or HRM definitions at a glance:

Term	Definition
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)	The government agency that researches and sets OSHA standards
National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)	The agency created by the Wagner Act to investigate unfair labor practice charges ad to provide for secret-ballot elections and majority rule in determining whether or not a firm’s employees want a union
Negative reinforcement	An unpleasant reward
Nepotism:	Practice of allowing relatives to work for the same employer
NLRB v. Bildisco & Bildisco	Upheld the premise that a company could file for bankruptcy to have a labor contract nullified
Non-compete agreement:	Agreement that prohibits an individual who leave the organization from competing with the employer in the same line of business for a specified period of time
Non-contributory plan:	Pension plan in which all the funds for pension benefits are provided by the employer
Non-directive interview:	Interview that uses questions that are developed from the answers to previous questions
Non-exempt employees:	Employees who must be paid overtime under the Fair Labor Standards Act
Norms	Tells group members what they ought or ought not do in certain circumstances
Norris-LaGuardia Act	This law marked the beginning of the era of strong encouragement of unions and guaranteed to each employee the right to bargain collectively “free from interference, restraint, of coercion”
Norris-LaGuardia Act	Labor law act that set the stage for permitting individuals full freedom to designate a representative of their choosing to negotiate terms and conditions of employment
Observation method	A job analysis technique in which data are gathered by watching employees work
Occupational Safety and Health Act	The law passed by Congress in 1970 “to assure so far as possible every working man and woman in the nation safe and healthful working conditions and to preserve our human resources
Occupational Safety and Health Act	Set standards to ensure safe and healthful working conditions and provided stiff penalties for violators
Ombudsman:	Person outside the normal chain of command who acts as a problem solver for both management and employees
Open shop:	Workers are not required to join or pay dues
Operant conditioning	A type of conditioning in which behavior lead to a reward or prevents punishment
Opinion surveys	Communication devices that use questionnaires to regularly ask employees their opinions about the company, management, and work life
Organizational commitment:	The degree to which employees believe in and accept organizational goals and desire to remain with the organization
Organizational culture:	The shared values and beliefs of a workforce
Organizational culture:	The shared values and beliefs of a workforce
Organizational development (OD)	A method aimed at changing the attitudes, values, and beliefs of employees so that employees can improve the organization
Organization-centered career planning:	Career planning that focuses on jobs and on identifying career paths that provide for the logical progression of people between jobs in an organization
Orientation:	The planned introduction of new employees to their jobs, co-workers, and the organization
Outdoor training	Specialized training that occurs outdoors that focuses on building self-confidence and teamwork
Outplacement	A process whereby an organization assists employees, especially those being severed from the organization, in obtaining employment
Outplacement counseling	A systematic process by which a terminated person is trained and counseled in the techniques of self-appraisal and securing a new position
Paid time-off (PTO) plan:	Plan that combines all sick leave, vacation time, and holidays into a total number of hours or days that employees can take off with pay
Paired comparison	Ranking individuals’ performance by counting the number of times any one individual is the preferred member when compared with all other employees
Paired comparison method	Ranking employees by making a chart of all possible pairs of the employees for each trait and indicating which is the better employee of the pair
Panel interview:	Interview in which several interviewers interview the candidate at the same time
Participative management	A management concept giving employees more control over the day-to-day activities on their job
Pay compression	: Situation in which pay differences among individuals with different levels of experience and performance in the organization becomes small
Pay equity:	Similarity in pay for jobs requiring comparable levels of knowledge, skill, and ability, even if actual job duties differ significantly
Pay equity:	Similarity in pay for all jobs requiring comparable levels of knowledge, skills, and abilities, even if actual duties and market rates differ significantly
Pay grade:	A grouping of individual jobs having approximately the same job worth
Pay survey:	A collection of data on compensation rates for workers performing similar jobs in other organizations
Pay-for-performance	Rewarding employees based on their performance
Peer evaluation	A performance evaluation situation in which coworkers provide input into the employee’s performance
Peer orientation	Coworker assistance in orienting new employees
Peer review panel:	A panel of employees hear appeals from disciplined employees and make recommendations or decisions
Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation	The organization that lays claim to corporate assets to pay or fund inadequate pension programs
Pension plans:	Retirement benefits established and funded by employers and employees
Performance analysis	Verifying that there is a performance deficiency and determining whether that deficiency should be rectified through training or through some other means (such as transferring the employee)
Performance appraisal:	The process of evaluating how well employees perform their jobs when compared to a set of standards, and then communicating that information to employees
Performance consulting:	A process in which a trainer and the organizational client work together to boost workplace performance in support of business goals
Performance management systems:	Processes used to identify, encourage, measure, evaluate, improve, and reward employee performance
Performance simulation test	Work sampling and assessment centers focusing on actual job activities
Performance standards:	Indicators of what the job accomplishes and how performance is measured in key areas of the job description
Performance standards:	Expected levels of performance
Performance:	What an employee does or does not do
Permissive issues:	Collective bargaining issues that are not mandatory but relate to certain jobs
Perquisites (perks):	Special benefits – usually noncash items – for executives
Person-job fit:	Matching the KSAs of people with the characteristics of jobs
Personnel replacement charts	Company records showing present performance and promotability of inside candidates for the most important positions