Human Resource Management Related Definitions

Human Resource Management 

Human Resource Management or HRM definitions at a glance:

Term	Definition
Central tendency error:	Rating all employees in a narrow range in the middle of the rating scale
Change agent	Individuals responsible for fostering the change effort, and assisting employees in adapting to the changes
Checklist:	Performance appraisal tool that uses a list of statements or words that are checked by raters
Citation	Summons informing employers and employees of the regulations and standards that have been violated in the workplace
Civil Service Reform Act	Replace Executive Order 11491 as the basic law governing labor relations for federal employees
Classification method	Method of job evaluation that focuses on creating common job grades based on skills, knowledge, and abilities
Clayton Act	Labor legislation that attempted to limit the use of injunctions against union activities
Closed shop:	A firm that requires individuals to join a union before they can be hired
Coaching	A development activity in which a manager takes an active role in guiding another manager
Coaching:	Training and feedback given to employees by immediate supervisors
Cognitive ability tests:	Test that measure an individual’s thinking, memory, reasoning, and verbal and mathematical abilities
Collective bargaining:	Process whereby representatives of management and workers negotiate over wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment
College placements	An external search process focusing recruiting efforts on a college campus
Commission:	Compensation computed as a percentage of sales in units or dollars
Communications programs	HRM programs designed to provide information to employees
Comparable worth	The concept by which women who are usually paid less than men can claim that men in comparable rather than strictly equal jobs are paid more
Compa-ratio:	Pay level divided by the midpoint of the pay range
Compensable factor:	Identifies a job value commonly present throughout a group of jobs
Compensation committee:	A subgroup of the board of directors composed of directors who are not officers of the firm
Compensatory time off:	Hours given in lieu of payment for extra time worked
Competencies:	Basic characteristics that can be linked to enhanced performance by individuals or teams
Competitive advantage	The basis for superiority over competitors and thus for hoping to claim certain customers
Complaint procedure	A formalized procedure in an organization through which an employee seeks resolution of a work problem
Complaint:	Indication of employee dissatisfaction
Compressed workweek:	One in which a full week’s work is accomplished in fewer than five days
Conciliation:	Process by which a third party attempts to keep union and management negotiators talking so that they can reach a voluntary settlement
Concurrent validity:	Measured when an employer tests current employees and correlates the scores with their performance ratings
Constraints on recruiting efforts	Factors that can affect maximizing outcome is recruiting
Construct validity:	Validity showing a relationship between an abstract characteristic and job performance
Constructive discharge:	Occurs when an employer deliberately makes conditions intolerable in an attempt to get an employee to quit
Content validity:	Validity measured by use of a logical, nonstatistical method to identify the KSAs and other characteristics necessary to perform a job
Continuous process improvement	A total quality management concept whereby workers continue toward 100 percent effectiveness on the job
Contract administration	Implementing, interpreting, and monitoring the negotiated agreement between labor and management
Contractual rights:	Rights based on a specific contractual agreement between employer and employee
Contrast error:	Tendency to rate people relative to others rather than against performance
Contributory plan:	Pension plan in which the money for pension benefits is paid in by both employees and employers
Controlled experimentation	Formal method for testing the effectiveness of a training program, preferable with before-and-after tests and a control group
Controlling	A management function concerned with monitoring activities
Co-payment:	Employee’s payment of a portion of the cost of both insurance premiums and medical care
Core competency:	A unique capability that creates high value and that differentiates the organization from its competition
Core-plus plans	A flexible benefits program whereby employees are provided core benefit coverage and then are permitted to buy additional benefits from a menu
Correlation coefficient:	Index number giving the relationship between a predictor and a criterion variable
Correlation coefficients	A statistical procedure showing the strength of the relationship between one’s test score and job performance
Cost-benefit analysis:	Comparison of costs and benefits associated with training
Craft union:	One whose members do one type of work, often using specialized skills and training
Criterion-related validity:	Validity measured by a procedure that uses a test as the predictor of how well an individual will perform on the job
Critical incident appraisal	A performance appraisal method that focuses on the key behaviors that make the difference between doing a job effectively or ineffectively
Critical incident method	Keeping a record of uncommonly food or undesirable examples of an employee’s work-related behavior and reviewing it with the employee at predetermined times
Cultural environments	The attitudes and perspectives shared by individuals from specific countries that shape their behavior and how they view the world
Cumulative trauma disorders (CTDs):	Muscle and skeletal injuries that occur when workers respectively use the same muscles to perform tasks
Cut score	A point at which applicants scoring below that point are rejected
Davis-Bacon Act	A law passed in 1931 that sets wage rates for laborers employed by contractors working for the federal government
Decentralized work sites	Work sites that exist away from an organization’s facilities
Decertification:	Process whereby a union is removed as the representative of a group of employees
Decline phase	The final stage in one’s career, usually marked by retirement
Defined-benefit plan:	One in which an employee is promised a pension amount based on age and service
Defined-contribution plan:	One in which the employer makes an annual payment to an employee’s pension account
Delegation	A management activity in which activities are assigned to individuals at lower levels in the organization
Deprivation	A state of having an unfulfilled need
Development:	Efforts to improve employees’ ability to handle a variety of assignments
Diary method	A job analysis method requiring job incumbents to record their daily activities
Dictionary of Occupational Titles	A government publication that lists more than 30,000 jobs
Differential piece-rate system:	A system in which employees are paid one piece-rate wage for units produced up to a standard output and a higher piece-rate wage for units produced over the standard
Differential validity	A special type of validation whereby a cut score is lower due to bias in the test
Disabled person:	Someone who has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits life activities, who has record of such an impairment, or who is regarded as having such an impairment
Discipline:	Form of training that enforces organizational rules
Disparate impact:	Occurs when substantial under representation of protected-class members results from employment decisions that work to their disadvantage