| absenteeism | The failure of employees to report to work when they are scheduled to do so.
|
 |
|
|
| accident research | The systematic evaluation of the evidence concerning accidents and health hazards.
|
|
|
|
| adverse impact | A situation in which a significantly higher percentage of members of a protected group (women, African Americans, Hispanics) in the available population are rejected for employment, placement, or promotion.
|
|
|
|
| affirmative action | Preferential treatment in hiring, recruitment, promotion, and development for groups that have been discriminated against.
|
|
|
|
| AFL-CIO | A group of union members that merged membership in 1955 from the American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations.
|
|
|
|
| Age Discrimination Employment Act of 1967 (amended 1978 and 1986) | Protects workers between the ages of 40 and 70 against job discrimination.
|
|
|
|
| agency shop | A situation in which all employees pay union dues whether or not they are union members.
|
|
|
|
| AIDS | Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome; an infectious disease in which the body's immune system is damaged. Thus, AIDS victims are susceptible to many diseases.
|
|
|
|
| alternative dispute resolution (ADR) | A method for solving conflict or disputes that does not use the process and remedies of the legal system.
|
|
|
|
| American Federation of Labor (AFL) | A union group devoted to improving economic and working conditions for craft employees.
|
|
|
|
| Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 | A comprehensive antidiscrimination law aimed at integrating the disabled into the workplace. It prohibits all employers from discriminating against disabled employees or job applicants when making employment decisions.
|
|
|
|
| applicant tracking system | Computer programs that generate job requisition information and cross-reference applicants' qualifications with job openings.
|
|
|
|
| apprentice training | A combination of on-the-job and off-the-job training. The apprentice, while learning the job, is paid less than the master worker. Some of the jobs in which one serves as an apprentice include electrician, barber, tool and die maker, and plumber.
|
|
|
|
| arbitration | A quasijudicial process in which the parties agree to submit the irresolvable dispute to a neutral third party for binding settlement.
|
|
|
|
| assessment center | A selection technique that uses simulations, tests, interviews, and observations to obtain information about candidates.
|
|
|
|
| attitude (or opinion) survey | A set of written instruments completed by employees expressing their reactions to the employer's policies and practices.
|
|
|
|
| authorization card | A document indicating by a simple yes or no vote whether an employee wants to be represented by a union or employee association.
|
|
|
|
| autonomy | The degree to which the job provides substantial freedom, independence, and discretion to the individual in scheduling the work and in determining the procedures to be used in carrying it out.
|
|
|
|
| bargaining impasse | Failure to reach an agreement on a mandatory bargaining issue during contract negotiations or failure of the rank-and-file membership to ratify the new contract.
|
|
|
|
| bargaining unit | Two or more employees who share common employment interests and conditions and may reasonably be grouped together.
|
|
|
|
| behavior modeling | Learning by observing a role model's behavior. The fundamental characteristic of modeling is that learning takes place by observation or imagination of another individual's experience
|
|
|
|
| behavior modification | Individual learning through reinforcement.
|
|
|
|
| behavioral observation scale (BOS) | A method similar to the BARS that uses the critical incident technique to identify a series of behaviors that describe the job. A 1 (almost never) to 5 (almost always) format is used to rate the behaviors.
|
|
|
|
| behaviorally anchored rating scale (BARS) | A rating scale that uses critical incidents as anchor statements placed along a scale. Typically, 6 to 10 performance dimensions, each with 5 to 6 critical incident anchors, are rated per employee.
|
|
|
|
| biographical information blank (BIB) | A more detailed form used to supplement an application blank. Asks for information related to a much wider array of attitudes and experiences.
|
|
|
|
| bona fide occupational qualification (BFOQ) | A defense against discrimination only where age, sex, religion, or national origin is an actual qualification to perform the job.
|
|
|
|
| boycott | In a primary boycott, union members do not patronize the boycotted firm. In a secondary boycott, a supplier of a boycotted firm is threatened with a union strike unless it stops doing business with the firm. This latter type of boycott is illegal under the Taft-Hartley Act.
|
|
|
|
| broadbanding | A system for condensing compensation rate ranges into broader classifications.
|
|
|
|
| burnout | Severe state of stress that shows as exhaustion, depersonalization, and low accomplishment.
|
|
|
|
| career | Individually perceived sequences of attitudes and behaviors associated with work-related experiences and activities over the span of an individual's work life.
|
|
|
|
| career path | A sequence of positions through which an organization moves an employee.
|
|
|
|
| career stages | The distinct stages that individuals go through in their careers, typically including establishment, advancement, maintenance, and retirement.
|
|
|
|
| case method | A training technique in which a description (a case) of a real situation is analyzed by participants. The interaction of the participants and trainer is valuable in improving the degree of learning that occurs.
|
|
|
|
| CD-ROM | Compact disk used to hold text, graphics, and stereo sound.
|
|
|
|
| central tendency error | A rating tendency to give ratees an average rating on each criteria. That is, on a 1 to 7 scale, circling all 4s; or on a 1 to 5 scale, selecting all 3s.
|
|
|
|
| Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII) | An important law that prohibits employers, unions, employment agencies, and joint labor–management committees controlling apprenticeship or training programs from discriminating on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.
|
|
|
|
| Civil Rights Act of 1991 | Allows for compensatory and punitive damages in intentional discrimination cases; allows for jury trials when damages are sought.
|
|
|
|
| classification or grading system | A job evaluation method that groups jobs together into a grade or classification.
|
|
|
|
| closed shop | A situation in which a new employee must be a union member when hired. Popular in the construction, maritime, and printing industries.
|
|
|
|
| COBRA | The Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 requires that employers with more than 20 employees must offer continuation of health care coverage for 18 to 36 months after an employee quits, dies, or is terminated.
|
|
|
|
| codetermination | The concept of workers playing a direct, major role in corporate decision making.
|
|
|
|
| collective bargaining | The process by which representatives of the organization meet and attempt to work out a contract with representatives of the union.
|
|
|
|
| commission | A commission is compensation based on a percentage of sales in units or dollars.
|
|
|
|
| Commonwealth v. Hunt | The Massachusetts Supreme Court decision that decided that criminal conspiracy did not exist if unions did not use illegal tactics to achieve goals.
|
|
|
|
| comparable worth | An issue that has been raised by women and the courts in recent years. It means that the concept of equal pay for equal jobs should be expanded to the notion of equal pay for comparable jobs. If a job is comparable to other jobs as determined by job content analysis, that job's pay should be comparable.
|
|
|
|
| compensation | Compensation is the HRM function that deals with every type of reward that individuals receive in return for performing organizational tasks.
|
|
|
|
| competency | An underlying characteristic of a person that contributes to successful job and organizational performance. While related to KSAOs, competencies are more broad in nature and are necessary for employees to do well in multiple jobs within an organization.
|
|
|
|
| competency modeling | Process of identifying key characteristics that not only lead to successful job performance, but also support the organization's culture, goals, and strategies. Competency modeling helps with the development of training programs, performance management systems, and career development tracks.
|
|
|
|
| concession bargaining | Bargaining in which something of importance is given back to management by the union.
|
|
|
|
| conciliation | The first step in the mediation continuum, which involves an attempt to persuade disputing parties to meet and discuss their problems.
|
|
|
|
| Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) | A union formed by John L. Lewis, president of the United Mine Workers, to organize industrial and mass-production workers; it was devoted to improving economic and working conditions.
|
|
|
|
| construct validity | A demonstrated relationship between underlying traits inferred from behavior and a set of test measures related to those traits.
|
|
|
|
| content validity | The degree to which a test, interview, or performance evaluation measures skills, knowledge, or ability to perform.
|
|
|
|
| contingent workers | These include temporaries, part-timers, contract, leased (outsourced), and other workers who are hired to handle extra job tasks or workloads.
|
|
|
|
| contrast effect | A rating error that occurs when a rater allows an individual's prior performance or other recently evaluated individuals to affect the ratings given to an employee.
|
|
|
|
| cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) | Wage increase or decrease pegged to the rise and fall in the cost-of-living index.
|
|
|
|
| craft union | A group of individuals who belong to one craft or closely related group of occupations (e.g., carpenters, bricklayers).
|
|
|
|
| criteria relevance | A good measure of performance must be reliable, valid, and closely related to an employee's actual level of productivity.
|
|
|
|
| criteria sensitivity | A good measure of performance should reflect actual differences between high and low performers.
|
|
|
|
| criterion-related validity | The extent to which a selection technique is predictive of or correlated with important elements of job behavior.
|
|
|
|
| critical incident rating | The system of selecting very effective and ineffective examples of job behavior and rating whether an employee displays the type of behaviors specified in the critical incidents.
|
|
|
|
| culture shock | The feelings of frustration and confusion that result from being constantly subjected to strange and unfamiliar cues about what to do and how to get it done when trying to live in a new culture.
|
|
|
|
| decertification election | An election in which employees who are represented by a union vote to drop the union.
|
|
|
|
| defined benefit pension | A pension plan that specifies the benefit workers will get at retirement.
|
|
|
|
| defined contribution pension | A pension plan that usually specifies the employer's contribution but cannot predetermine the employee's actual pension benefit.
|
|
|
|
| delayering | Allowing workers to move among a wider range of tasks without having to adjust pay with each move.
|
|
|
|
| differential piece rate (Taylor plan) | A piecework plan that pays on the basis of two separate piecework rates: one for those who produce below or up to standard and another for those who produce above standard.
|
|
|
|
| disparate treatment | The view that discrimination occurs due to different treatment given to a person because of race, sex, national origin, age, or disability factors.
|
|
|
|
| distributive bargaining | Occurs when labor and management are in conflict on an issue and when the outcome is a win-lose situation.
|
|
|
|
| distributive justice theory | A theory of motivation that argues that a major determinant of an employee's productivity and satisfaction arises from the degree of equity in the workplace, defined in terms of a ratio of an employee's inputs (effort, attendance, and so on) to outcomes (pay, benefits, and so on) as compared with a similar ratio for a relevant other.
|
|
|
|
| diversity (1) | The condition that describes the variety of people who make up the contemporary workforce (i.e., African Americans, Hispanics, Asians, Caucasians, and so on). (2) Any mixture of themes characterized by differences and similarities.
|
|
|
|
| downshifters | People who want to slow down at work so that they can enjoy nonwork time and leisure.
|
|
|
|
| downsizing | A reduction in a company's workforce.
|
|
|
|
| dual-career couple | A situation in which a husband and wife both have careers.
|
|
|
|
| early retirement | Retirement before the usual age of 65.
|
|
|
|
| E-commerce | Electronic or Internet transactions that result in the exchange of goods and services.
|
|
|
|
| economic man theory | A theory of motivation that holds that people work only for money.
|
|
|
|
| elder care | Care provided to an elderly relative by a full or part-time employee.
|
|
|
|
| employee assistance program (EAP) | A program designed to help employees with personal, family, and work problems. Although these programs are voluntary, managers are instructed on how to confront the problems when they occur.
|
|
|
|
| employee leasing | Paying a leasing firm to provide the organization with a ready-made pool of human resources.
|
|
|
|
| employment at will | A condition under which an employer is free to terminate the employment relationship for some specific reason or even for no reason at all. In a growing number of courts, the employer's right to terminate at will is being challenged.
|
|
|
|
| Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) | The Civil Rights Act, Title VII, 1964, gave the EEOC limited powers to resolve charges of discrimination and interpret the meaning of Title VII. In 1972, Congress gave the EEOC the power to sue employers in the federal courts.
|
|
|
|
| equal employment opportunity programs (EEO) | Programs implemented by employers to prevent employment discrimination in the workplace or to take remedial action to offset past employment discrimination.
|
|
|
|
| equal pay | Equal pay for equal work for men and women. Equal work is defined as work requiring equal skills, effort, and responsibility under similar working conditions.
|
|
|
|
| Equal Pay Act | The Equal Pay Act requires equal pay for equal work performed by men and women.
|
|
|
|
| equity theory | A motivation theory that argues that a major determinant of employees' productivity and satisfaction arises from the degree of fairness or unfairness that they perceive in the workplace.
|
|
|
|
| ERISA | Employment Retirement Income Security Act of 1974; covers practically all employee benefit plans of private employees, including multiemployer plans.
|
|
|
|
| ESOP | An employee stock ownership plan authorized by Congress and funded through the mechanism of an employee stock ownership trust (ESOT).
|
|
|
|
| ethnocentric HRM perspective | A view of HRM whereby an organization thinks that the way of doing things in the parent country is the best way, no matter where business is done.
|
|
|
|
| exchange theory | See distributive justice theory.
|
|
|
|
| executive information system (EIS) | A specialized information system used by top executives in HR planning.
|
|
|
|
| executive search firm | A head-hunting firm that specializes in upper-level executive recruitment. Executive search firms are usually on retainer and charge higher fees than regular employment agencies.
|
|
|
|
| exempt employee | A person working in a job that is not subject to the provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (1938) with respect to minimum wage and overtime pay. Most professionals, executives, administrators, and outside salespeople are classified as exempt.
|
|
|
|
| expatriate manager | A manager who is on assignment in a country other than the parent country of the organization. This person is also called a parent country national (PCN).
|
|
|
|
| external HRM influences | The environmental forces outside the organization, such as unions, government, and economic conditions.
|
|
|
|
| extinction | A decline in the rate of a response brought about by nonreinforcement.
|
|
|
|
| fact-finding | An impasse resolution technique involving a neutral third party who studies the issues in a dispute and recommends a reasonable settlement.
|
|
|
|
| factor comparison method | A job evaluation method that uses a factor-by-factor comparison. A factor comparison scale, instead of a point scale, is used. Five universal job factors used to compare jobs are responsibility, skills, physical effort, mental effort, and working conditions.
|
|
|
|
| Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) | A 1938 law that set specific minimum wage and overtime pay rates.
|
|
|
|
| Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) | Social legislation that stipulates that most employers with 50 or more employees must provide up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave to eligible employees during any 12-month period. The purpose is to allow employees to balance the demands of the workplace with the needs of family members.
|
|
|
|
| Family Medical Leave Act of 1993 | Allows employees to take off any amount of time as a result of a disability from pregnancy or serious illness of the employee, spouse, child, or parent with a guarantee of reinstatement to their old jobs or similar jobs when they return.
|
|
|
|
| FASS 106 | An accounting procedure that requires companies to begin accruing the projected cost of postretirement benefits during the employee's working career.
|
|
|
|
| feedback | The degree to which carrying out the work activities required by the job results in the individual's obtaining direct and clear information about the effectiveness of his or her performance.
|
|
|
|
| financial core | Members of a union who pay union dues but choose not to engage in any other union-related activity.
|
|
|
|
| flexible (cafeteria) benefits plan | A benefits plan that allows employees to choose between two or more types of benefits.
|
|
|
|
| forced-choice ratings | A type of individually oriented rating format whereby the rater must choose which of several statements about work behavior is most descriptive of an employee.
|
|
|
|
| forced distribution | A method of ranking similar to grading on a curve. Only certain percentages of employees can be ranked high, average, or low.
|
|
|
|
| Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977 (FCPA) | A law that makes it illegal for an American organization to pay bribes to foreign officials for the purpose of getting a competitive advantage in doing business.
|
|
|
|
| 401(k) | The section of the Internal Revenue Code that allows employees to save on a tax-deferred basis by entering into salary deferral agreements with an employer.
|
|
|
|
| 403(b) | The section of the Internal Revenue Code that allows employees of educational and other nonprofit organizations to make tax-deferred contributions toward retirement. The salary deferral agreements with employers are similar to those for the 401(k).
|
|
|
|
| functional job analysis (FJA) | A job analysis method that attempts to identify what a worker does in performing a job in terms of data, people, and things.
|
|
|
|
| gainsharing plans | Companywide group incentive plans that, through a financial formula for distributing organizationwide gains, unite diverse organizational elements in the common pursuit of improved organizational effectiveness.
|
|
|
|
| genetic testing | The use of blood and urine samples to determine whether a job applicant carries genetic traits that could predispose him or her to adverse health effects when exposed to certain chemicals or job-related toxins.
|
|
|
|
| geocentric HRM perspective | A view of HRM whereby nationality is ignored and managers are hired on the basis of qualifications.
|
|
|
|
| glass ceiling | A hypothetical barrier that seems to face minorities and women in advancing up the management hierarchy.
|
|
|
|
| global corporation | A corporation with a geocentric HRM perspective. National boundaries are ignored and HRM is viewed as a way of integrating operations all over the world.
|
|
|
|
| global HRM | The policies and practices related to managing people in an internationally oriented business.
|
|
|
|
| goal setting | A process that appears to motivate individuals to attempt to accomplish specific goals.
|
|
|
|
| grid OD | A program that involves six phases designed to improve organizational performance. The phases include determining the participants' leadership styles, team building, intergroup development, and evaluation.
|
|
|
|
| grievance | A complaint about a job that creates dissatisfaction or discomfort for the worker.
|
|
|
|
| guaranteed annual wage (GAW) | A plan in which the employer guarantees the employee a certain number of weeks of work at a certain wage after the worker has passed a probation period.
|
|
|
|
| halo error | A rating error that occurs when a rater assigns ratings on the basis of an overall impression (positive or negative) of the person being rated.
|
|
|
|
| harshness rating error | The tendency to rate everyone low on the criteria being evaluated.
|
|
|
|
| health | The state of physical, mental, and social well-being.
|
|
|
|
| health hazards | Aspects of the work environment that slowly and cumulatively (and often irreversibly) lead to deterioration of an employee's health.
|
|
|
|
| HMO | Health maintenance organization; a medical organization consisting of medical and health specialists; it stresses preventive medicine.
|
|
|
|
| host country national | An employee of an international organization who is from the local workforce rather than being from the parent country of the organization.
|
|
|
|
| hot cargo agreement | The employer permits union members to avoid working with materials that come from employers who have been struck by a union. This type of boycott is illegal.
|
|
|
|
| hot stove rule | A discipline program that is described in terms of touching a hot stove. It involves an immediate burn, a warning system, consistency, and impersonal application of discipline.
|
|
|
|
| HRM objectives | The ends an HRM department attempts to accomplish. Some of the specific HRM objectives are (1) to provide the organization with well-trained and well-motivated employees; (2) to communicate HRM policies to all employees; and (3) to employ the skills and abilities of the workforce efficiently.
|
|
|
|
| HRM policy | A general guide to decision making in important decision areas.
|
|
|
|
| HRM procedure | A specific direction to action. It tells a person how to do a particular activity.
|
|
|
|
| HRM strategy | The plan that integrates HRM objectives, policies, and procedures.
|
|
|
|
| human resource information system (HRIS) | The method used by an organization to collect, store, analyze, report, and evaluate information and data on people, jobs, and costs.
|
|
|
|
| human resource management (HRM) | A function performed in organizations that facilitates the most effective use of people (employees) to achieve organizational and individual goals. Terms used interchangeably with HRM include personnel, human resource management, and employee development.
|
|
|
|
| human resource planning | The process that helps to provide adequate human resources to achieve future organizational objectives. It includes forecasting future needs for employees of various types, comparing these needs with the present workforce, and determining the numbers or types of employees to be recruited into or phased out of the organization's employment group.
|
|
|
|
| Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) of 1986 | All employers are required to screen every job applicant's eligibility for lawful employment. Thus, the employer has a major responsibility for not permitting illegal immigrants to be or remain employed.
|
|
|
|
| indirect financial compensation | All financial rewards (benefits and services) that are not included in direct financial compensation.
|
|
|
|
| industrial union | Union in which all members are employees in a company or an industry.
|
|
|
|
| injunction | A court decree to stop an activity.
|
|
|
|
| integrative bargaining | Occurs when the two sides face a common problem and when the outcome of bargaining is a win-win situation.
|
|
|
|
| interest arbitration | An impasse resolution technique in which a neutral third party imposes a settlement on the disputing parties.
|
|
|
|
| internal HRM influences | The organization's internal environmental forces, such as goals, organizational style, tasks, work group, and the leader's style of influencing.
|
|
|
|
| Internet | A system of over 30 million computers all connected together and communicating with each other.
|
|
|
|
| intranet | A firm's internal electronic networks, similar to the Internet.
|
|
|
|
| IRA | An individual retirement account.
|
|
|
|
| job | A group of positions that are similar in their duties, such as computer programmer or compensation specialist.
|
|
|
|
| job analysis | The process of gathering, analyzing, and synthesizing information about jobs.
|
|
|
|
| Job Analysis Information Format (JAIF) | A questionnaire that provides core information about a job, job duties, and job requirements.
|
|
|
|
| job characteristics model | A mode of job design based on the view that three psychological states toward a job affect a person's motivation and satisfaction. These states are experienced meaningfulness, experienced responsibility, and knowledge of results. A job's skill variety, identity, and task significance contribute to meaningfulness; autonomy is related to responsibility; and feedback is related to knowledge of results.
|
|
|
|
| job description | The job analysis provides information about the job that results in a description of what the job entails.
|
|
|
|
| job enlargement | A method of designing jobs that increases the number of tasks performed by a job incumbent without increasing the level of responsibility. It is sometimes called horizontal job change.
|
|
|
|
| job enrichment | A method of designing a job so that employees can satisfy needs for growth, recognition, and responsibility while performing the job. The job characteristics model is used in establishing a job enrichment strategy.
|
|
|
|
| job evaluation | The formal process by which the relative worth of various jobs in the organization is determined for pay purposes.
|
|
|
|
| job family | A group of two or more jobs that have similar duties.
|
|
|
|
| job layoff | A condition that exists when no work is available and the employee is sent home, management views the situation as temporary, and management intends to recall the employee.
|
|
|
|
| job loss | A condition in which there is no work and the individual is sent home permanently.
|
|
|
|
| job posting | A listing of job openings that includes job specifications, appearing on a bulletin board or in company publications.
|
|
|
|
| job search | The set of activities a person (job candidate) initiates to seek and find a position that will be comfortable and rewarding.
|
|
|
|
| job security | The guarantee that, at least during the life of any union contract, an employee's job will continue to exist.
|
|
|
|
| job security agreement | A pact between GM and the UAW that guaranteed employees eliminated in one department jobs in another department at the same wage.
|
|
|
|
| job specification | A second product of job analysis. It is a written explanation of the knowledge, skills, abilities, traits, and other characteristics necessary for effective job performance.
|
|
|
|
| Knights of Labor | Founded in 1869, this was the first union to achieve significant size and influence in the United States.
|
|
|
|
| knowledge-based pay | Knowledge-based pay rewards employees for acquiring additional knowledge both within the current job and in new job categories.
|
|
|
|
| labor relations | The continuous relationship between a defined group of employees (e.g., a union or association) and an employer.
|
|
|
|
| labor union (employee association) | An organization of employees that uses collective action to advance its members' interests in wages and working conditions.
|
|
|
|
| Landrum-Griffin Act | A labor law passed in 1959 that is referred to as the bill of rights of union members. It was designed to regulate and audit the internal affairs of unions.
|
|
|
|
| learning | The act by which a person acquires skills, knowledge, and abilities that result in a relatively permanent change in his or her behavior.
|
|
|
|
| leniency rating error | The tendency to rate everyone high or excellent on all criteria.
|
|
|
|
| life events | Changes in a person's life that can contribute to stress.
|
|
|
|
| lockout | A management response to union pressures in which a skeleton crew of managerial personnel is used to maintain a workplace; the plant is closed to employees.
|
|
|
|
| management by objectives (MBO) | A managerial practice where managers and subordinates jointly plan, organize, control, communicate, and debate the subordinate's job and performance. As a performance evaluation technique, it focuses on establishing and measuring specific objectives.
|
|
|
|
| management development | The process by which managers gain the experience, skills, and attitudes to become or remain successful leaders in their organizations.
|
|
|
|
| management position description questionnaire (MPDQ) | A checklist of 208 items related to concerns and responsibilities of managers.
|
|
|
|
| managing diversity | Taking into consideration the differences in people and respecting these differences while working to optimize job and team performance.
|
|
|
|
| mandated benefits | Three types of benefits that an employer must provide employees because of state and federal regulations: unemployment insurance, Social Security, and workers' compensation.
|
|
|
|
| mandatory bargaining issue | Wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment.
|
|
|
|
| mediation | process in which a neutral third party helps through persuasion to bring together labor and management. The dispute is settled because of the skills and suggestions of a mediator.
|
|
|
|
| mentoring relationship | A relationship between a junior and senior colleague that is considered by the junior person to be helpful in his or her career development.
|
|
|
|
| merit pay | Individual pay increases based on the rated performance of the individual employee in a previous time period.
|
|
|
|
| midcareer plateau | A point reached during the adult stage of life where a person feels stifled and is not progressing as he or she had planned or would like.
|
|
|
|
| minimum wage | The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, as amended, states that all employers covered by the law must pay an employee at least a minimum wage. In June 2000, the minimum was $5.15 per hour.
|
|
|
|
| motivation | The attitudes that predispose a person to act in a specific goal-directed way. It is an internal state that directs a person's behavior.
|
|
|
|
| multimedia-based training | An interactive learning experience that incorporates the use of either CD-ROM or World Wide Web technology.
|
|
|
|
| multimethod job analysis approach | job analysis that combines interviews, on-site observation, task surveys, and statistical analysis of the survey responses.
|
|
|
|
| multinational corporation | An international organization with operations that are defined by national boundaries to a greater extent than in a global corporation.
|
|
|
|
| National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) | A government regulatory body that administers labor laws and regulations in the private and nonprofit sectors.
|
|
|
|
| negative reinforcement | An increase in the frequency of a response following removal of a negative reinforcer immediately after the response.
|
|
|
|
| nonexempt employee | A person working in a job that is subject to the minimum wage and overtime pay provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act. Blue-collar and clerical workers are two major groups of nonexempt employees.
|
|
|
|
| OBRA | The Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1989 modifies coverage under COBRA.
|
|
|
|
| Occupational Safety and Health Act (1970) | An act designed to protect the safety and health of employees. According to this act, employers are responsible for providing workplaces free from hazards to safety and health.
|
|
|
|
| Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) | The government agency responsible for carrying out and administrating the Occupational Safety and Health Act.
|
|
|
|
| online recruitment | The use of the Internet to provide information to prospective job applicants.
|
|
|
|
| open shop | A work situation in which a union is not present and there is no management effort to keep the union out.
|
|
|
|
| open system | A pay system where pay ranges and even an individual's pay are open to the public and fellow employees.
|
|
|
|
| orientation | The HRM activity that introduces new employees to the organization and to the employees' new tasks, superiors, and work groups.
|
|
|
|
| outplacement | Service provided by some firms to individuals who are asked to leave permanently. The services may include résumé preparation, counseling, and training.
|
|
|
|
| outsourcing | The practice of hiring another firm to complete work that is important and must be done efficiently.
|
|
|
|
| paired comparison | A method of ranking whereby subordinates are placed in all possible pairs and the supervisor must choose which of the two in each pair is the better performer.
|
|
|
|
| parent country national | An employee from the corporation's home country who is on assignment in another country. Usually called an expatriate.
|
|
|
|
| pay class | A convenient grouping of a variety of jobs that are similar in difficulty and responsibility.
|
|
|
|
| pay compression | A situation in which employees perceive too narrow a difference between their own pay and that of their colleagues.
|
|
|
|
| pay level | Pay set relative to employees working on similar jobs in other organizations.
|
|
|
|
| pay structure | Pay set relative to employees working on different jobs within the organization.
|
|
|
|
| pay surveys | Surveys of the compensation paid to employees by all employers in a geographic area, an industry, or an occupational group.
|
|
|
|
| Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation | Set up by ERISA to pay pensions to employees of firms whose pension plans become bankrupt; funded by taxpayers.
|
|
|
|
| performance analysis | A systematic procedure that is used to determine if training is needed to correct behavior deficiencies.
|
|
|
|
| performance evaluation | The HRM activity that is used to determine the extent to which an employee is performing the job effectively.
|
|
|
|
| personal bias rating error | The bias a rater has about individual characteristics, attitudes, backgrounds, and so on, that influence a rating more than performance.
|
|
|
|
| personality | The characteristic way a person thinks and behaves in adjusting to his or her environment. It includes the person's traits, values, motives, genetic blueprint, attitudes, abilities, and behavior patterns.
|
|
|
|
| picketing | Placing union members at the plant entrances to advertise the dispute and discourage people from entering or leaving the company's premises during a strike.
|
|
|
|
| point system | The most widely used job evaluation method. It requires evaluators to quantify the value of the elements of a job. On the basis of the job description or interviews with job occupants, points are assigned to the degree of various factors required to do the job.
|
|
|
|
| position | The responsibilities and duties performed by an individual. There are as many positions as there are employees.
|
|
|
|
| position analysis questionnaire (PAQ) | A structured questionnaire of 194 items used to quantitatively assess jobs. It assesses information input, mental processes, work output, relationships, job contacts, and various other characteristics.
|
|
|
|
| positive reinforcement | Anything that both increases the strength of response and induces repetition of the behavior that preceded the reinforcement.
|
|
|
|
| PPO | A managed health care plan based on agreements between doctors, hospitals, and other related medical service facilities with an employer or insurance company; it provides services for a fixed fee.
|
|
|
|
| preferential shop | The union is recognized and union members are given preference in some areas. These preferences violate the Taft-Hartley Act.
|
|
|
|
| Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978 | This law makes it illegal to discriminate on the basis of pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions in employment decisions.
|
|
|
|
| preventive (wellness) program | A program instituted within an organization to achieve a high level of wellness among employees and to decrease costs of impaired health. Programs typically involve health screening exams, stress testing, and physicians' recommendations.
|
|
|
|
| process chart | A chart that displays how jobs are linked or related to each other.
|
|
|
|
| production bonus system | An individual incentive system that pays an employee an hourly rate plus a bonus when the employee exceeds the standard.
|
|
|
|
| productivity | The output of goods and services per unit of input of resources used in a production process.
|
|
|
|
| profit sharing | Profit-sharing plans distribute a fixed percentage of total organizational profit to employees in the form of cash-deferred bonus amounts.
|
|
|
|
| progressive pattern of discipline | A discipline program that proceeds from less severe disciplinary actions (a discussion) to very severe action (being discharged). Each step in the progression becomes more severe.
|
|
|
|
| punishment | An uncomfortable consequence of a particular behavior.
|
|
|
|
| quid pro quo harassment | Form of harassment that occurs when submission to or rejection of sexual behavior is used as a basis for making a job-related decision.
|
|
|
|
| Railway Labor Act | A labor law passed in 1926 that provides railroad (and later airline) employees with the right to organize and bargain collectively with management.
|
|
|
|
| ranking of jobs | A job evaluation method often used in smaller organizations, in which the evaluator ranks jobs from the simplest to the most challenging—for example, clerk to research scientist.
|
|
|
|
| realistic job preview | A briefing that provides a job candidate with accurate and clear information about the attractive and unattractive features of a job. Being realistic so that expectations are accurate is the objective of a realistic job preview.
|
|
|
|
| recency-of-events rating error | A tendency to use the most recent events to evaluate performance instead of using a longer, more complete time frame.
|
|
|
|
| recruitment | The set of activities an organization uses to attract job candidates who have the abilities and attitudes needed to help the organization achieve its objectives.
|
|
|
|
| red circle rates | A pay rate above a wage or salary level that is considered maximum for the job class. This means that the job is overpaid and overrated.
|
|
|
|
| Rehabilitation Act of 1973 | An act that is enforced by the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP). It requires that all employers with government contracts of $2,500 or more set up affirmative action programs for the disabled.
|
|
|
|
| reimbursement account | An account into which employees can place tax-deferred funds that can be used to pay for expenses not covered by the regular benefits package.
|
|
|
|
| reliability | Refers to a selection technique's freedom from systematic errors of measurement or its consistency under different conditions.
|
|
|
|
| repatriation | The process of being reintegrated back into domestic operations after being on an international assignment outside of the organization's parent country.
|
|
|
|
| replacement chart | A display or chart usually of technical, professional, and managerial employees. It includes name, title, age, length of service, and other relevant information on present employees.
|
|
|
|
| representation election | A vote to determine if a particular group will represent the workers in collective bargaining.
|
|
|
|
| restricted shop | A practice initiated by management to keep a union out without violating labor laws. A restricted shop is an attitude rather than a formal arrangement.
|
|
|
|
| right-to-work laws | Laws that specify that two people doing the same job must be paid the same wages, whether or not they are union members. Nineteen states have right-to-work laws.
|
|
|
|
| role-playing | The acting out of a role by participants as others in the training session observe.
|
|
|
|
| safety hazards | Aspects of the work environment that have the potential of immediate and sometimes violent harm to an employee.
|
|
|
|
| salary | Pay calculated at an annual or monthly rate rather than hourly.
|
|
|
|
| secret system | A compensation system where pay is regarded as privileged information known only to the employee, the supervisor, and staff employees such as HRM and payroll.
|
|
|
|
| selection | The process by which an organization chooses from a list of applicants the person or people who best meet the selection criteria for the position available, considering current environmental conditions.
|
|
|
|
| SEP-IRA | Simplified employee pension IRAs; these can be implemented by small employers to help employees finance their retirement.
|
|
|
|
| severance pay | An income bridge from employment to unemployment and back to employment, provided by some employers.
|
|
|
|
| sexual harassment | Unwelcome sexual attention that causes the recipient distress and results in an inability on the part of the recipient to effectively perform the job.
|
|
|
|
| skill variety | The degree to which a job requires a variety of different activities in carrying out the work and involves the use of a number of an individual's skills and talents.
|
|
|
|
| skill-based pay | An alternative to job-based pay that sets pay levels on the basis of how many skills employees have or how many jobs they can do.
|
|
|
|
| skills gap | The mismatch between the high-skill demands of jobs and the lack of qualifications of job applicants.
|
|
|
|
| skills inventory | A list of the names, personal characteristics, and skills of the people working for the organization. It provides a way to acquire these data and makes them available where needed in an efficient manner.
|
|
|
|
| Social Security | The federally mandated pension fund designed to provide income to retired people to supplement savings, private pensions, and part-time work.
|
|
|
|
| spot gainsharing | A gainsharing system that focuses on a specific problem in a specific department rather than on performance improvements for the whole organization.
|
|
|
|
| standard-hour plan | An individual incentive plan that sets wages on the basis of completion of the job or task in some expected period of time.
|
|
|
|
| straight piecework | An individual incentive plan where pay fluctuates on the basis of units of production per time period.
|
|
|
|
| strategic job analysis | A form of job analysis that tries to predict what a job will took like in the future.
|
|
|
|
| strategic planning | In simple terms, the process of determining what an organization's mission is and how it plans to achieve the goals that are associated with the mission.
|
|
|
|
| strategy | What an organization's key executives hope to accomplish in the long run.
|
|
|
|
| stress | A person's physical, chemical, and mental reactions to stressors or stimuli in the environment—the boss, co workers, HRM policies, and so on.
|
|
|
|
| strike | An effort by employees to withhold their services from an employer in order to get greater concessions at the collective bargaining table.
|
|
|
|
| structured interview | An interview that follows a prepared pattern of questions that were structured before the interview was conducted.
|
|
|
|
| succession planning | Fills vacancies through a comprehensive career planning program.
|
|
|
|
| suggestion system | A formal method of obtaining employees' advice for improvement in organizational effectiveness; it includes some kind of reward based on the successful application of the idea.
|
|
|
|
| supplementary unemployment benefits (SUB) | The employer adds to unemployment compensation payments to help the employee achieve income security.
|
|
|
|
| Taft-Hartley Act | A labor amendment of the Wagner Act, passed in 1947, that guaranteed employees' bargaining rights and also specified unfair labor union practices that would not be permitted.
|
|
|
|
| task | A coordinated and aggregated series of work elements used to produce an output (units of production or service to a client).
|
|
|
|
| task identity | The degree to which the job requires completion of a "whole" and identifiable piece of work—that is, doing a job from beginning to end with a visible outcome.
|
|
|
|
| task significance | The degree to which the job has a substantial impact on the lives or work of other people, whether in the immediate organization or the external environment.
|
|
|
|
| team building | A development method that helps organization members work more efficiently or effectively in groups.
|
|
|
|
| telework | A work arrangement that permits a worker to perform tasks away from an office. The employee is connected through the use of e-mail, fax, computer, and/or teleconferencing.
|
|
|
|
| the 415 rule | Discrimination is likely to occur if the selection rate for a protected group is less than 4/5 of the selection rate for a majority group.
|
|
|
|
| third country national | An employee working for an international organization who is from a country other than the parent country of the organization or the host country in which the assignment is located.
|
|
|
|
| 360-degree feedback | A multisource performance appraisal approach. Self and others (boss, subordinate, peers, customers) rate a person and data/information is fed back on his/her ratings.
|
|
|
|
| total compensation approach | Total compensation is made up of base pay, variable pay, and indirect pay (benefits).
|
|
|
|
| total quality management (TQM) | An approach that involves everyone in the firm in developing and fine-tuning processes that are customer-oriented, flexible, and responsive to improving the quality of every activity and function of the organization.
|
|
|
|
| training | The systematic process of altering the behavior of employees in a direction that will achieve organizational goals.
|
|
|
|
| two-tiered compensation plans | Compensation plans that protect the wages of workers hired before a certain date but start new workers at a lower pay rate.
|
|
|
|
| type A behavior pattern | An action-emotion complex that can he observed in a person who is aggressive, in a struggle against time, competitive, and chronically impatient.
|
|
|
|
| unemployment insurance | A state-mandated insurance benefit designed to provide a subsistence payment to employees between jobs.
|
|
|
|
| union shop | A situation in which an employee is required to join a union after being hired.
|
|
|
|
| union steward | A union representative who works at the job site to resolve disputes that arise in connection with the labor-management contract.
|
|
|
|
| utility | Assessed using cost-benefit analysis, utility measures whether the use of a selection technique improves the quality of the people hired.
|
|
|
|
| variable pay | Any compensation plan that emphasizes a share focus on organizational success, broadens the opportunities for incentives to nontraditional groups (such as nonexecutives or nonmanagers), and operates outside the base pay increase system.
|
|
|
|
| vestibule training | A trainee learns a job in an environment that closely resembles the actual work environment. For example, pilots at United Airlines train in a jet simulation cockpit.
|
|
|
|
| vesting | A guarantee that retirement benefits will be provided when a person leaves or retires from the firm.
|
|
|
|
| virtual reality (VR) | A computer-based technology that enables users to learn in a three-dimensional environment.
|
|
|
|
| wage | Pay calculated at an hourly rate.
|
|
|
|
| Wagner Act | A labor law passed in 1935 that was designed to encourage the growth of trade unions and restrain management from interfering with that growth.
|
|
|
|
| web-based training | Online training that is delivered via the Internet or through a firm's intranet that is delivered on a web browser.
|
|
|
|
| weighted application blank | An application form designed to be scored and used in making selection decisions.
|
|
|
|
| whistle-blowing | Stating or presenting a grievance complaint, or allegation to some person or entity outside the work organization or work unit.
|
|
|
|
| work group | Two or more people who work together to accomplish a goal and who communicate and interact with each other.
|
|
|
|
| World Wide Web | An Internet service that links documents by providing links from server to server.
|
|
|
|
| workers' compensation | Disability and death benefits mandated and administered by the states.
|
|
|
|
| yellow-dog contract | A contract (now illegal) that required that a person (such as a job applicant) would not join or form a union.
|