Human Resource Management
Human Resource Management or HRM related definitions at a glance :
Term
|
Definition
|
4/5ths rule:
|
Rule stating that discrimination
generally is considered to occur if the selection rate for a protected group
is less than 80% (4/5ths) of the selection rate for the majority group or
less than 80% of the group’s representation in the relevant labor market
|
401(k) plan:
|
An agreement in which a percentage of
an employee’s pay is withheld and invested in a tax deferred account
|
Absolute standards
|
Measuring an employee’s performance
against some established standards
|
Accept errors
|
Accepting candidates who would later
prove to be poor performers
|
Action learning
|
A training technique by which
management trainees are allowed to work full time analyzing and solving
problems in other departments
|
Active practice:
|
The performance of job-related tasks
and duties by trainees during training
|
Adjective rating scales
|
A performance appraisal method that
lists a number of traits and a range of performance for each
|
Adverse impact
|
The overall impact of employer
practices that result in significantly higher percentages of members of
minorities and other protected groups being rejected for employment
placement, or promotion
|
Adverse selection
|
A situation in flexible benefits
administration where those in greatest need of a particular benefit choose
that benefit more often than the average employee
|
Adverse selection:
|
Situation in which only higher-risk
employees select and use certain benefits
|
Affirmative action
|
Steps that are taken for the purpose
of eliminating the present effects of past discrimination
|
Affirmative action plan (AAP):
|
Formal document that an employer
compiles annually for submission to enforcement agencies
|
Affirmative action:
|
Process in which employers identify
problem areas, set goals, and take positive steps to enhance opportunities
for protected-class members
|
Agency shop
|
A form of union security in which
employees who do not belong to the union must still pay union dues on the
assumption that union efforts benefit all workers
|
Albemarle Paper Company v. Moody
|
Supreme Court case in which it was
ruled that the validity of job tests must be documented and that employee
performance standards must be unambiguous
|
Alternation ranking method
|
Ranking employees from best to worst
on a particular trait
|
Apathy
|
Significant dysfunction tension
resulting in no effort being made
|
Applicant pool:
|
All persons who are actually
evaluated for selection
|
Applicant population:
|
A subset of the labor force
population that is available for selection using a particular recruiting
approach
|
Application form
|
The from that provides information on
education, prior work record, and skills
|
Appraisal interview
|
An interview in which the supervisor
and subordinate review the appraisal and make plans to remedy deficiencies
and reinforce strengths
|
Apprenticeship
|
A time – typically two to five years
– when an individual is considering to be training to learn a skill
|
Arbitration:
|
Process that uses a neutral third
party to make a decision
|
Arbitration:
|
Process that uses a neutral third
party to make a decision
|
Assessment center:
|
A collection of instruments and
exercises designed to diagnose individuals’ development needs
|
Attitude survey:
|
One that focuses on employees’
feelings and beliefs about their jobs and the organization
|
Attribution theory
|
A theory of performance evaluation
based on the perception of who is in control of an employee’s performance
|
Attrition
|
A process whereby the jobs of
incumbents who leave for any reason will not be filled
|
Authority
|
The right to make decisions, direct
others’ work, and give orders
|
Autonomy
|
The freedom and independence involved
in doing one’s job
|
Autonomy:
|
The extent of individual freedom and
discretion in the work and its scheduling
|
Availability analysis:
|
An analysis that identifies the
number of protected-class members available to work in the appropriated labor
markets in given jobs
|
Baby boomers
|
Those individuals born between 1946
and 1964
|
Baby busters
|
Those individuals born in 1965 and
years after. Often referred to as generation Xers
|
Background investigation
|
The process of verifying information
job candidates provide
|
Bargaining unit:
|
Employees eligible to select a single
union to represent and bargain collectively for them
|
Base pay:
|
The basic compensation an employee
receives, usually as a wage or salary
|
Behavior modeling
|
A training technique in which
trainees are first shown good management techniques in a film, are then asked
to play roles in a simulated situation, and are then given feedback and
praise by their supervisor
|
Behavior modeling:
|
Copying someone else’s behavior
|
Behavioral interview:
|
Interview in which applicants give
specific examples of how they have performed a certain task or handled a
problem in the past
|
Behavioral rating approach:
|
Assesses an employee’s behaviors
instead of other characteristics
|
Behavioral symptoms
|
Symptoms of stress characterized by
decreased productivity, increased absenteeism and turnover, and increased
smoking and alcohol/substance consumption
|
Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scales
(BARS)
|
A performance appraisal technique that
generates critical incidents and develops behavioral dimensions of
performance. The evaluator appraises behaviors rather than traits
|
Benchmark job:
|
Job found in many organizations and
performed by several individuals who have similar duties that are relatively
stable and require similar KSAs
|
Benchmarking:
|
Comparing specific measures of
performance against data on those measures in other “best practice”
organizations
|
Benefit:
|
An indirect reward given to an
employee or group of employees as a part of organizational membership
|
Benefit:
|
Indirect compensation given to an
employee or group of employees as a part of organizational membership
|
Benefits needs analysis:
|
A comprehensive look at all aspects
of benefits
|
Blind-box ad
|
An advertisement in which there is no
identification of the advertising organization
|
Blue Cross
|
A health insurer concerned with the
hospital side of health insurance
|
Blue Shield
|
A health insurer concerned with the
provider side of health insurance
|
Bona fide occupational qualification
(BFOQ):
|
Characteristic providing a legitimate
reason why an employer can exclude persons on otherwise illegal basis of
consideration
|
Bonus:
|
A one-time payment that does not
become part of the employee’s base pay
|
Boycott
|
The combined refusal by employees and
other interested parties to by or se the employer’s products
|
Broad banding:
|
Practice of using fewer pay grades
having broader ranger than in traditional compensation systems
|
Bulletin board
|
A means a company uses to post
information of interest to its employees
|
Burnout
|
The total depletion of physical and
mental resources caused by excessive striving to reach an unrealistic
work-related goal
|
Business agent:
|
A full time union official who
operates the union office and assists union members
|
Business necessity:
|
A practice necessary for safe and
efficient organizational operations
|
Career stages
|
An individual’s career moves through
five stages: exploration, establishment, mid-career, late-career, and decline
|
Career:
|
The series of work-related positions a
person occupies throughout life
|
Case study method
|
A development method in which the
manager is presented with a written description of an organizational problem
to diagnose and solve
|
Central tendency
|
A tendency to rate all employees the
same way, such as rating them all average
|
