A

  • Applicant Tracking System (ATS) – any software that helps the company consolidate, track, and manage applicants during the recruiting process.
  • Attrition – this refers to anything that results in a reduction of the workforce. HR managers must be on top of attrition, resulting from
    terminations, deaths, or illnesses.

B

  • Burnout (as defined by the World Health Organization) – a syndrome resulting from chronic workplace stress that hasn’t been dealt with, either by the sufferer or their employer.
  • Benchmarking – the process of using a fixed reference point to make a comparison or measurement.

C

  • Compensatory Time Off – a means of paying employees for overtime work by extra paid time off.
  • Confidentiality Agreement – similar to a nondisclosure agreement, this serves as legal protection for a company from an employee disclosing confidential information and materials.
  • Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) – a shift in wages based on the change in the cost of living.

D

  • Deferred Compensation – a payment model in which an employee elects to postpone wage payment to a later date, often in regards to a retirement fund.
  • Disability – the benefits and compensation an employee receives when they have either a mental or physical condition which prevents them from working.
  • Due Diligence – refers to the thorough examination of a business and its content to ensure compliance with laws and regulations.

E

  • Electronic Recruiting Agents – tools used by recruiters to automatically search the internet for resumes that fulfill certain desires and qualifications.
  • Emotional Intelligence – the unique ability to understand and manage the emotions of oneself as well as others.
  • Employee Onboarding – the process of integrating a new employee with the company, a vital process that is crucial to the long-term retention of talent.

G

  • Grievance – a complaint by an employee who voices concern or dissatisfaction with working conditions or claims a violation of a policy or law occurred.

H

  • Hawthorne Effect – the idea that employee productivity increases with supervision, highlighting the importance of regular check-ins and performance reviews.
  • Human Capital Management – the strategic deployment of employees to maximize their economic value and their productivity.

N

  • Non-Compete Agreement – an agreement between an employer and employee that the employee will refrain from working at a competitor for a specified amount of time after leaving the company.

O

  • Objectives and Key Results (OKR) – a management style surrounded by a framework of setting goals and objectives.
  • Overtime – hours worked exceeding a government-defined number of hours. Employees must be compensated at a higher rate for overtime hours.

P

  • Paid Time Off (PTO) – a specified amount of time where an employee is paid for time not spent working. This generally applies to sick days, vacations, and personal days.
  • Performance Review – a formal evaluation of an employee’s performance based on a set of criteria. Often times, the review will detail positives and negatives about workers’ performance and define goals for the upcoming period.

R

  • Retention Strategy – a strategy formulated by a company to retain talented employees in the future.

S

  • Severance Package – an amount of money paid to an employee once he or she has been terminated from the company.
  • Succession Planning – planning for the future by identifying, recruiting and cultivating talent.

T

  • Time-to-Hire – an essential metric that provides how much time elapsed between a job posting and when it was filled.
  • Time Tracking – refers to how a specific organization tracks the hours worked by its employees. This is crucial to the calculation of salary.

V

  • Variable Pay – the portion of salary that is additional to the base: often dependant on the employer and the employee’s performance.

W

  • Workers’ Compensation – compensation received by an employee who suffered a job-related illness or injury. This is paid via insurance.
  • Wrongful Termination – when an employee is terminated for reasons that violate a contract, laws, or “good faith and fair dealing.”

Z

  • Zero-Base Forecasting – a means of determining a company’s future staffing requirements by using current employment levels as a reference point.