GLOSSARY

From BELCOURT/BOHLANDER/SNELL. Managing Human Resources, 7E. © 2014 Nelson Education Ltd.

9-Box Grid: A comparative diagram that includes appraisal and assessment data to allow managers to
easily see an employee's actual and potential performance (page 158)

Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR): A term applied to different types of employee complaint or
dispute resolution procedures (page 470)

Applicant Tracking System (ATS): A software application recruiters use to post job openings, screen
résumés, contact potential candidates for interviews via email, and track the time and costs related to
hiring people (page 170)

Apprenticeship Training: A system of training in which a worker entering the skilled trades is given
thorough instruction and experience, both on and off the job, in the practical and theoretical aspects of
the work (page 249)

Arbitration Award: Final and binding award issued by an arbitrator in a labour management dispute
(page 503)

Assessment Centre: A process by which individuals are evaluated as they participate in a series of
situations that resemble what they might need to handle the job (page 215)

Attrition: A natural departure of employees from organizations through quits, retirements, and deaths
(page 67)

Augmented Skills: Skills helpful in facilitating the efforts of expatriate managers (page 526)

Authorization Card: A statement signed by an employee authorizing a union to act as his or her
representative for the purposes of collective bargaining (page 486)

Balanced Scorecard (BSC): A measurement framework that helps managers translate strategic goals into
operational objectives (page 69)

Balance-Sheet Approach: A compensation system designed to match the purchasing power in a person's
home country (page 537)

Bargaining Power: The power of labour and management to achieve their goals through economic,
social, or political influence (page 497)

Bargaining Unit: Group of two or more employees who share common employment interests and
conditions and may reasonably be grouped together for purposes of collective bargaining (page 488)

Bargaining Zone: Area within which the union and the employer are willing to concede when bargaining
(page 496)
Behaviour Modelling: An approach that demonstrates desired behaviour and gives trainees the chance
to practise and role-play those behaviours and receive feedback (page 258)

Behaviour Modification: A technique that operates on the principle that behaviour that is rewarded, or
positively reinforced, will be exhibited more frequently in the future, whereas behaviour that is
penalized or unrewarded will decrease in frequency (page 248)

Behaviour Observation Scale (BOS): A behavioural approach to performance appraisal that measures
the frequency of observed behaviour (page 305)

Behavioural Description Interview (BDI): An interview in which an applicant is asked questions about
what he or she did in a given situation (page 205)

Behaviourally Anchored Rating Scale (BARS): A behavioural approach to performance appraisal that
consists of a series of vertical scales, one for each important dimension of job performance (page 304)

Benchmarking: The process of comparing the organization's processes and practices to those of other
companies (page 68)

Benchmarking: The process of measuring one's own services and practice against the recognized leaders
to identify areas for improvement (page 263)

Blended Learning: The use of multiple training methods to achieve optimal learning on the part of
trainees (page 252)

Bona Fide Occupational Qualification (BFOQ): A justifiable reason for discrimination based on business
reasons of safety or effectiveness (page 90)

Bonus: An incentive payment that is supplemental to the base wage (page 365)

Branding: A company's efforts to help existing and prospective workers understand why it is a desirable
place to work (page 156)

Burnout: The most severe stage of distress, manifesting itself in depression, frustration, and loss of
productivity (page 440)

Business Agent: Normally a paid labour official responsible for negotiating and administering the
collective agreement and working to resolve union members' problems (page 492)

Calibration: A process whereby managers meet to discuss the performance of individual employees to
ensure that their employee appraisals are in line with one another (page 289)

Career Counselling: The process of discussing with employees their current job activities and
performance, personal and career interests and goals, personal skills, and suitable career development
objectives (page 178)

Career Networking: The process of establishing mutually beneficial relationships with other
businesspeople, including potential clients and customers (page 181)
Career Paths: Lines of advancement in an occupational field within an organization (page 173)

Career Plateau: A situation in which, for either organizational or personal reasons, the probability of
moving up the career ladder is low (page 176)

Change Management: Change management is a systematic way of bringing about and managing both
organizational changes and changes on the individual level (page 6)

Chief Ethics Officer: A high-ranking manager directly responsible for fostering the ethical climate within
the firm (page 269)

Chief Learning Officer: A high-ranking manager directly responsible for fostering employee learning and
development within the organization (page 239)

Codetermination: Representation of labour on the board of directors of a company (page 544)

Collaborative Software: Software that allows workers to interface and share information with one
another electronically (page 10)

Collective Agreement: An employment contract between an employer and a union that sets out
the terms of employment of a group of the employer's employees represented by the union (page 452)

Collective Bargaining Process: Process of negotiating a collective agreement, including the use of
economic pressures by both parties (page 494)

Combined Salary And Commission Plan: A compensation plan that includes a straight salary and a
commission (page 369)

Common Law Of Employment: The body of case law in which courts interpret employment contracts
and the legal principles taken from those cases that guide the interpretation of employment contracts
(page 450)

Compensatory Model: A selection decision model in which a high score in one area can make up for a
low score in another area (page 224)

Competence-Based Pay: Pay based on an employee's skill level, variety of skills possessed, or increased
job knowledge (page 346)

Competency Assessment: Analysis of the sets of skills and knowledge needed for decision-oriented and
knowledge-intensive jobs (page 241)

Compulsory Binding Arbitration: Binding method of resolving collective bargaining deadlocks by a

neutral third party (page 493)

Concentration: Term applied to designated groups whose numbers in a particular occupation or level are
high relative to their numbers in the labour market (page 100)
Concurrent Validity: The extent to which test scores (or other predictor information) match criterion
obtained at about the same time from current employees (page 220)

Construct Validity: The extent to which a selection tool measures a theoretical construct or trait (page
221)

Constructive Dismissal: When an employer commits a fundamental breach of the contract, such as by
unilaterally changing a key term of the contract, the employee can treat the breach as a termination
(page 453)

Consumer Price Index (CPI): A measure of the average change in prices over time in a fixed market
basket of goods and services (page 337)

Content Validity: The extent to which a selection instrument, such as a test, adequately samples the
knowledge and skills needed to perform a particular job (page 220)

Contrast Error: A performance rating error in which an employee's evaluation is biased either upward or
downward because of comparison with another employee just previously evaluated (page 298)

Contributory Plan: A pension plan in which contributions are made jointly by employees and employers
(page 404)

Cooperative Training: Training program that combines practical on-the-job experience with formal
educational classes (page 250)

Core Capabilities: Integrated knowledge sets within an organization that distinguish it from its
competitors and deliver value to customers (page 47)

Core Skills: Skills considered critical to an employee's success abroad (page 526)

Core Values: The strong and enduring beliefs and principles that the company uses as a foundation for
its decisions (page 42)

Corporate Social Responsibility: The responsibility of the firm to act in the best interests of the people
and communities affected by its activities (page 10)

Craft Unions: Unions that represent skilled craft workers (page 491)

Criterion-Related Validity: The extent to which a selection tool predicts, or significantly correlates with,
important elements of work behaviour (page 220)

Critical Incident: An unusual event that denotes superior or inferior employee performance in some part
of the job (page 303)

Critical Incident Method: A job analysis method by which important job tasks are identified for job
success (page 127)
Cross-Training: The process of training employees to do multiple jobs within an organization (page 268)

Cross-Validation: Verifying the results obtained from a validation study by administering a test or test
battery to a different sample (drawn from the same population) (page 220)

Cultural Audits: Audits of the culture and quality of work life in an organization (page 51)

Cultural Environment: The communications, religion, values and ideologies, education, and social
structure of a country (page 514)

Culture Shock: Perpetual stress experienced by people who settle overseas (page 532)

Cumulative Trauma Disorders: Injuries involving tendons of the fingers, hands, and arms that become
inflamed from repeated stresses and strains (page 434)

Customer Appraisal: A performance appraisal that, like team appraisal, is based on total quality
management concepts and seeks evaluation from both external and internal customers (page 293)

Defined-Benefit Plan: A pension plan in which the amount an employee is to receive on retirement is
specifically set forth (page 404)

Defined-Contribution Plan: A pension plan that establishes the basis on which an employer will
contribute to the pension fund (page 404)

Depression: Negative emotional state marked by feelings of low spirits, gloominess, sadness, and loss of
pleasure in ordinary activities (page 437)

Designated Groups: Women, visible minorities, Aboriginal people, and persons with disabilities who
have been disadvantaged in employment (page 84)

Differential Piece Rate: A compensation rate under which employees whose production exceeds the
standard amount of output receive a higher rate for all of their work than the rate paid to those who do
not exceed the standard amount (page 363)

Distress: Harmful stress characterized by a loss of feelings of security and adequacy (page 439)

Diversity Management: The optimization of an organization's multicultural workforce to reach business

objectives (page 107)

Downsizing: Planned elimination of jobs (page 6)

Eldercare: Care provided to an elderly relative by an employee who remains actively at work (page 408)

E-Learning: Learning that takes place via electronic media (page 254)

Emergency Action Plan: A plan an organization develops that contains step-by-step procedures for
dealing with various emergency situations (page 431)
Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs): Services provided by employers to help workers cope with a
wide variety of problems that interfere with the way they perform their jobs (page 406)

Employee Associations: Labour organizations that represent various groups of professional and white-
collar employees in labour management relations (page 491)

Employee Empowerment: Granting employees power to initiate change, thereby encouraging them to
take charge of what they do (page 135)

Employee Involvement Groups (EIs): Groups of employees who meet to resolve problems or offer
suggestions for organizational improvement (page 138)

Employee Leasing: The process of dismissing employees who are then hired by a leasing company
(which handles all HR-related activities) and contracting with that company to lease back the employees
(pages 17)

Employee Profile: A profile of a worker developed by studying an organization's top performers to

recruit similar types of people (page 154)

Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs): Stock plans in which an organization contributes shares of its
stock to an established trust for the purpose of stock purchases by employees (page 379)

Employee Teams: An employee contributions technique whereby work functions are structured for
groups rather than for individuals and team members are given discretion in matters traditionally
considered management prerogatives, such as process improvements, product or service development,
and individual work assignments (page 139)

Employment Equity: The employment of individuals in a fair and nonbiased manner (page 84)

Entrepreneur: Someone who starts, organizes, manages, and assumes responsibility for a business or
other enterprise (page 192)

Environmental Scanning: Systematic monitoring of the major external forces influencing the
organization (page 43)

Ergonomics: An interdisciplinary approach to designing equipment and systems that can be easily and
efficiently used by human beings (page 136)

Error Of Central Tendency: A performance rating error in which all employees are rated about average
(page 298)

Escalator Clauses: Clauses in collective agreements that provide for quarterly cost-of-living adjustments
in wages, basing the adjustments on changes in the consumer price index (page 338)

Essay Method: A trait approach to performance appraisal that requires the rater to compose a
statement describing employee behaviour (page 303)
Ethics: A set of standards of conduct and moral judgments that help determine right and wrong
behaviour (page 473)

Eustress: Positive stress that accompanies achievement and exhilaration (page 439)

Expatriates, Or Home-Country Nationals: Employees from the home country who are on an
international assignment (page 518)

Failure Rate: The percentage of expatriates who do not perform satisfactorily (page 527)

Fast-Track Program: A program that encourages new managers with high potential to remain with an
organization by enabling them to advance more rapidly than those with less potential (page 178)

Final Offer Arbitration: Method of resolving collective bargaining deadlocks whereby the arbitrator has
no power to compromise but must select one or another of the final offers submitted by the two parties
(page 493)

Flexible Benefits Plans (Cafeteria Plans): Benefits plans that enable individual employees to choose the
benefits that are best suited to their particular needs (page 391)

Flextime: Flexible working hours that permit employees the option of choosing daily starting and
quitting times provided that they work a set number of hours per day or week (page 143)

Flow Data: Data that provide a profile of the employment decisions affecting designated groups (page
99)

Focal Performance Appraisal: An appraisal system in which all of an organization's employees are
reviewed at the same time of the year rather than on the anniversaries of the individual hire dates (page
283)

Forced-Choice Method: A trait approach to performance appraisal that requires the rater to choose from
statements designed to distinguish between successful and unsuccessful performance (page 302)

Furloughing: A situation in which an organization asks or requires employees to take time off for either
no pay or reduced pay (page 15)

Gainsharing Plans: Programs under which both employees and the organization share financial gains
according to a predetermined formula that reflects improved productivity and profitability (page 376)

Global Compensation System: A centralized pay system whereby host-country employees are offered a
full range of training programs, benefits, and pay comparable to those of a firm's domestic employees
but adjusted for local differences (page 536)

Global Corporation: A firm that has integrated worldwide operations through a centralized home office
(page 517)

Global Manager: A manager equipped to run an international business (page 525)

Global Sourcing: The business practice of searching for and utilizing goods sources from around the
world (page 156)

Globalization: The trend to opening up foreign markets to international trade and investment
(page 8)

Graphic Rating Scale Method: A trait approach to performance appraisal whereby each employee is
rated according to a scale of characteristics (page 301)

Grievance Procedure: Formal procedure that provides for the union to represent members and
nonmembers in processing a grievance (page 502)

Guest Workers: Foreign workers invited to perform needed labour (page 522)

Hay Profile Method: A job evaluation technique using three factors; knowledge, mental activity, and
accountability to evaluate executive and managerial positions (page 341)

Hiring Freeze: A practice whereby new workers are not hired as planned or workers who have left the
organization are not replaced (page 67)

Home-Based Pay: Pay based on an expatriate's home country's compensation practices

(page 537)

Host-Based Pay: Expatriate pay comparable to that earned by employees in a host country (page 538)

Host Country: A country in which an international corporation operates (page 514)

Host-Country Nationals: Employees who are natives of the host country (page 518)

Hourly Work: Work paid on an hourly basis (page 333)

Human Capital: The knowledge, skills, and capabilities of individuals that have economic value to an
organization (page 4)

Human Capital Readiness: The process of evaluating the availability of critical talent in a company and
comparing it to the firm's supply (page 59)

Human Resources Information System (HRIS): A computerized system that provides current and
accurate data for purposes of control and decision making (page 12)

Human Resources Management (HRM): The process of managing human talent to achieve an
organization's objectives (page 4)

Human Resources Planning (HRP): The process of anticipating and providing for the movement of
people into, within, and out of an organization (page 40)

Implied Contract Terms: Terms judges read into employment contracts when the written contract does
not expressly deal with the matter (page 450)
Industrial Disease: A disease resulting from exposure to a substance relating to a particular process,
trade, or occupation in industry (page 423)

Industrial Engineering: A field of study concerned with analyzing work methods and establishing time
standards (page 136)

Industrial Unions: Unions that represent all workers; skilled, semiskilled, unskilled, employed along
industry lines (page 491)

Informational Interview: An informal meeting with someone in an occupation that interests you (page
191)

Instructional Objectives: Desired outcomes of a training program (page 244)

Interest Arbitrator: Third-party neutral who resolves a labour dispute by issuing a final decision in the
disagreement (page 501)

Interest-Based Bargaining (IBB): Problem-solving bargaining based on a win-win philosophy and the
development of a positive long-term relationship (page 497)

Internal Labour Market: Labour market in which workers are hired into entry-level jobs and higher levels
are filled from within (page 155)

International Corporation: A domestic firm that uses its existing capabilities to move into overseas
markets (page 517)

Internship Programs: Programs jointly sponsored by colleges, universities, and other organizations that
offer students the opportunity to gain real-life experience while allowing them to find out how they will
perform in work organizations (page 251)

Job: A group of related activities and duties (page 122)

Job Analysis: The process of obtaining information about jobs by determining the duties, tasks, or
activities of jobs (page 124)

Job Characteristics Model: A job design theory that purports that three psychological states
(experiencing meaningfulness of the work performed, responsibility for work outcomes, and knowledge
of the results of the work performed) of a jobholder result in improved work performance, internal
motivation, and lower absenteeism and turnover (page 134)

Job Classification System: A system of job evaluation in which jobs are classified and grouped according
to a series of predetermined wage grades (page 339)

Job Description: A statement of the tasks, duties, and responsibilities of a job to be performed (page
122)
Job Design: An outgrowth of job analysis that improves jobs through technological and human
considerations to enhance organization efficiency and employee job satisfaction (page 133)

Job Enrichment: Enhancing a job by adding more meaningful tasks and duties to make the work more
rewarding or satisfying (page 134)

Job Evaluation: A systematic process of determining the relative worth of jobs to establish which jobs
should be paid more than others within an organization (page 338)

Job Family: A group of individual jobs with similar characteristics (page 122)

Job Progressions: The hierarchy of jobs a new employee might experience, ranging from a starting job to
jobs that successively require more knowledge and/or skill (page 173)

Job Ranking System: The simplest and oldest system of job evaluation by which jobs are arrayed on the
basis of their relative worth (page 338)

Job Shadowing: The process of observing an employee in his or her work environment to obtain a better
understanding of what the employee does (page 191)

Job Sharing: The arrangement whereby two part-time employees perform a job that otherwise would be
held by one full-time employee (page 143)

Job Specification: A statement of the needed knowledge, skills, and abilities of the person who is to
perform the job (page 122)

Just-In-Time Training: Training delivered to trainees when and where they need it to do their jobs,
usually via computer or the Internet (page 254)

Knowledge Workers: Workers whose responsibilities extend beyond the physical execution of work to
include planning, decision making, and problem solving (page 11)

Labour Arbitrator: A person assigned to interpret and decide disputes (grievances) about the meaning,
interpretation, and application of a collective agreement governing employees in a unionized workplace
(page 452)

Labour Relations Process: Logical sequence of four events: (1) workers desire collective representation;
(2) the union begins its organizing campaign, which may lead to certification and recognition; (3)
collective negotiations lead to a contract; and (4) the contract is administered (page 483)

Learning Management System (LMS): Online system that provides a variety of assessment,
communication, teaching, and learning opportunities (page 254)

Leniency Or Strictness Error: A performance rating error in which the appraiser tends to give employees
either unusually high or unusually low ratings (page 298)

Line Managers: Non-HR managers who are responsible for overseeing the work of other employees
(page 25)
 Localization: Adapting pay and other compensation benefits to match those of a particular country
(page 538)

Lump-Sum Merit Program: Program under which employees receive a year-end merit payment, which is
not added to their base pay (page 366)

Management By Objectives (MBO): A philosophy of management that rates performance on the basis of
employee achievement of goals set by mutual agreement of employee and manager (page 306)

Management Forecasts: The opinions (judgments) of supervisors, department managers, experts, or

others knowledgeable about the organization's future employment needs (page 55)

Management Rights: Decisions regarding organizational operations over which management claims
exclusive rights (page 490)

Manager and/or Supervisor Appraisal: A performance appraisal done by an employee's manager and
often reviewed by a manager one level higher (page 291)

Markov Analysis: A method for tracking the pattern of employee movements through various jobs (page
56)

Mediation: The use of an impartial neutral to reach a compromise decision in employment disputes
(page 472)

Mediator: A third party in an employment dispute who meets with one party and then the other to
suggest compromise solutions or to recommend concessions from each side that will lead to an
agreement (page 472)

Mentors: Individuals who coach, advise, and encourage individuals of lesser rank (page 179)

Merit Guidelines: Guidelines for awarding merit raises that are tied to performance objectives (page
366)

Mission: The basic purpose of the organization as well as its scope of operations (page 41)

Mixed-Standard Scale Method: A trait approach to performance appraisal similar to other scale
methods but based on comparison with (better than, equal to, or worse than) a standard (page 302)

Multinational Corporation (MNC): A firm with independent business units operating in multiple
countries (page 517)

Multiple Cutoff Model: A selection-decision model that requires an applicant to achieve some minimum
level of proficiency on all selection dimensions (page 224)

Multiple Hurdle Model: A sequential strategy in which only the applicants with the highest scores at an
initial test stage go on to subsequent stages (page 224)

Nearshoring: The process of moving jobs closer to one's home country (page 16)
Nepotism: A preference for hiring relatives of current employees (page 163)

Noncontributory Plan: A pension plan in which contributions are made solely by the employer (page
404)

Nondirective Interview: An interview in which the applicant is allowed the maximum amount of
freedom in determining the course of the discussion, while the interviewer carefully refrains from
influencing the applicant's remarks (page 204)

Occupational Illness: Any abnormal condition or disorder, other than one resulting from an occupational
injury, caused by exposure to environmental factors associated with employment (page 418)

Occupational Injury: Any cut, fracture, sprain, or amputation resulting from a workplace accident or
from an exposure involving an accident in the work environment (page 418)

Offshoring: The business practice of sending jobs to other countries (page 16)

Ombudsperson: A designated individual from whom employees may seek counsel for resolution of their
complaints (page 472)

Onboarding: The process of systematically socializing new employees to help them go onboard with an
organization (page 266)

On-The-Job Training (OJT): A method by which employees are given hands-on experience with
instructions from their supervisor or other trainer (page 249)

Open-Door Policy: A policy of settling grievances that identifies various levels of management above the
immediate supervisor for employee contact (page 471)

Organization Analysis: Examination of the environment, strategies, and resources of the organization to
determine where training emphasis should be placed (page 239)

Organizational Capability: The capacity of the organization to act and change in pursuit of sustainable
competitive advantage (page 71)

Orientation: The formal process of familiarizing new employees with the organization, their jobs, and
their work units (page 264)

Outplacement Services: Services provided by organizations to help terminated employees find a new job
(page 175)

Outsourcing: Contracting out work that was formerly done by employees (page 6)

Panel Interview: An interview in which a board of interviewers questions and observes a single
candidate (page 206)

Passive Job Seekers: People who are not looking for jobs but could be persuaded to take new ones given
the right opportunity (page 161)
Pay Equity: Equal pay for work of equal value (page 348)

Pay Grades: Groups of jobs within a particular class that are paid the same rate (page 344)

Peer Appraisal: A performance appraisal done by one's fellow employees, generally on forms that are
compiled into a single profile for use in the performance interview conducted by the employee's
manager (page 292)

Peer-Review System: A system for reviewing employee complaints that utilizes a group composed of
equal numbers of employee representatives and management appointees, which functions as a jury
because its members weigh evidence, consider arguments, and, after deliberation, vote independently
to render a final decision (page 471)

Performance Appraisal: The result of an annual or biannual process in which a manager evaluates an
employee's performance relative to the requirements of his or her job and uses the information to show
the person where improvements are needed and why (page 282)

Performance Management: The process of creating a work environment in which people can perform to
the best of their abilities (page 282)

Perquisites: Special nonmonetary benefits given to executives; often referred to as perks (page 373)

Person Analysis: Determination of the specific individuals who need training (page 243)

Piecework: Work paid according to the number of units produced (page 333)

Point System: A quantitative job evaluation procedure that determines the relative value of a job by the
total points assigned to it (page 339)

Position: The different duties and responsibilities performed by only one employee (page 122)

Position Analysis Questionnaire (PAQ): A questionnaire covering 194 different tasks that, by means of a
five-point scale, seeks to determine the degree to which different tasks are involved in performing a
particular job (page 127)

Positive, Or Nonpunitive, Discipline: A system of discipline that focuses on early correction of employee
misconduct, with the employee taking total responsibility for correcting the problem (page 468)

Predictive Validity: The extent to which applicants' test scores match criterion data obtained from those
applicants/employees after they have been on the job for an indefinite period (page 220)

Preemployment Test: An objective and standardized measure of a sample of behaviour that is used to
gauge a person's knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics (KSAOs) relative to other
individuals (page 214)

Proactive Change: Change initiated to take advantage of targeted opportunities (page 7)

Profit Sharing: Any procedure by which an employer pays, or makes available to all regular employees, in
addition to base pay, special current or deferred sums based on the profits of the enterprise (page 376)

Progressive Discipline: Application of corrective measures by increasing degrees (page 468)

Promotion: A change of assignment to a job at a higher level in the organization (page 175)

Quality Of Fill: A metric designed to assess how well new hires are performing on the job (page 56)

Reactive Change: Change that occurs after external forces have already affected performance (page 7)

Real Wages: Wage increases larger than rises in the consumer price index; that is, the real earning power
of wages (page 338)

Realistic Job Preview (RJP): Informing applicants about all aspects of the job, including both its desirable
and undesirable facets (page 167)

Reasonable Accommodation: Attempt by employers to adjust the working conditions or schedules of

employees with disabilities or religious preferences (page 103)

Recency Error: A performance rating error in which the appraisal is based largely on the employee's
most recent behaviour rather than on behaviour throughout the appraisal period (page 298)

Recruiting Process Outsourcing (RPO): The practice of outsourcing an organization's recruiting function
to an outside firm (page 154)

Red Circle Rates: Payment rates above the maximum of the pay range (page 345)

Reengineering: The fundamental rethinking and radical redesign of business processes to achieve
dramatic improvements in cost, quality, service, and speed (page 6)

Reliability: The degree to which interviews, tests, and other selection procedures yield comparable data
over time (page 199)

Relocation Services: Services provided to an employee who is transferred to a new location, which might
include help in moving, selling a home, orienting to a new culture, and/or learning a new language (page
175)

Repatriation: The process of employee transition home from an international assignment (page 533)

Replacement Charts: Listings of current jobholders and people who are potential replacements if an
opening occurs (page 57)

Rerecruiting: The process of keeping track of and maintaining relationships with former employees to
see if they would be willing to return to the firm (page 163)

Rights Arbitration: Arbitration over interpretation of the meaning of contract terms or employee work
grievances (page 503)
Sabbatical: An extended period of time in which an employee leaves an organization to pursue other
activities and later returns to his or her job (page 177)

Salary Plus Bonus Plan: A compensation plan that pays a salary plus a bonus achieved by reaching
targeted sales goals (page 370)

Selection: The process of choosing individuals who have relevant qualifications to fill existing or
projected job openings (page 198)

Selection Ratio: The number of applicants compared to the number of people to be hired (page 225)

Self-Appraisal: A performance appraisal done by the employee being evaluated, generally on an

appraisal form completed by the employee prior to the performance interview (page 291)

Sequential Interview: A format in which a candidate is interviewed by multiple people, one right after
another (page 206)

Severance Pay: A lump-sum payment given to terminated employees (page 67)

Severance Pay: A lump-sum payment given to terminated employees by an employer at the time of an
employer-initiated termination (page 402)

Sexual Harassment: Unwelcome advances, requests for sexual favours, and other verbal or physical
conduct of a sexual nature in the working environment (page 105)

Silver Handshake: An early retirement incentive in the form of increased pension benefits for several
years or a cash bonus (page 403)

Similar-To-Me Error: A performance rating error in which an appraiser inflates the evaluation of an
employee because of a mutual personal connection (page 299)

Situational Interview: An interview in which an applicant is given a hypothetical incident and asked how
he or she would respond to it (page 204)

Six Sigma: A set of principles and practices whose core ideas include understanding customer needs,
doing things right the first time, and striving for continuous improvement (page 6)

Skill Inventories: Files of personnel education, experience, interests, and skills that allow managers to
quickly match job openings with employee backgrounds (page 56)

Split Pay: A system whereby expatriates are given a portion of their pay in the local currency to cover
their day-to-day expenses and a portion of their pay in their home currency to safeguard their earnings
from changes in inflation or foreign exchange rates (page 538)

Spot Bonus: An unplanned bonus given for employee effort unrelated to an established performance
measure (page 365)
Spot Rewards: Programs that award employees ‘on the spot’ when they do something particularly well
during training or on the job (page 248)

Staffing Tables: Graphic representations of all organizational jobs, along with the numbers of employees
currently occupying those jobs and future (monthly or yearly) employment requirements (page 56)

Standard Hour Plan: An incentive plan that sets rates based on the completion of a job in a
predetermined standard time (page 364)

Statutory Rights: Legal entitlements that derive from government legislation (page 455)

Step-Review System: A system for reviewing employee complaints and disputes by successively higher
levels of management (page 470)

Stock Data: Data showing the status of designated groups in occupational categories and compensation
levels (page 99)

Straight Commission Plan: A compensation plan based on a percentage of sales (page 368)

Straight Piecework: An incentive plan under which employees receive a certain rate for each unit
produced (page 363)

Straight Salary Plan: A compensation plan that permits salespeople to be paid for performing various
duties that are not reflected immediately in their sales volume (page 368)

Strategic Human Resources Management (SHRM): The pattern of human resources deployments and
activities that enable an organization to achieve its strategic goals (page 40)

Strategic Planning: Procedures for making decisions about the organization's long-term goals and
strategies (page 40)

Strategic Vision: A statement about where the company is going and what it can become in the future;
clarifies the long-term direction of the company and its strategic intent (page 41)

Stress: Any adjustive demand caused by physical, mental, or emotional factors that require coping
behaviour (page 439)

Structured Interview: An interview in which a set of standardized questions with an established set of
answers is used (page 204)

Subordinate Appraisal: A performance appraisal of a superior by an employee, which is more

appropriate for developmental than for administrative purposes (page 291)

Succession Planning: The process of identifying, developing, and tracking key individuals for executive
positions (page 57)

Summary Dismissal: When a nonunion employer terminates an employee without notice because the
employee has committed a serious breach of the contract (page 455)

SWOT Analysis: A comparison of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats for strategy
formulation purposes (page 60)
Systemic Discrimination: The exclusion of members of certain groups through the application of
employment policies or practices based on criteria that are not job related (page 101)

Task Analysis: The process of determining what the content of a training program should be on the basis
of a study of the tasks and duties involved in the job (page 241)

Task Inventory Analysis: An organization-specific list of tasks and their descriptions used as a basis to
identify components of jobs (page 129)

Team Appraisal: A performance appraisal, based on total quality management concepts, that recognizes
team accomplishment rather than individual performance (page 292)

Team Incentive Plan: A compensation plan in which all team members receive an incentive bonus
payment when production or service standards are met or exceeded (page 374)

Telecommuting: Use of personal computers, networks, and other communications technology to do

work in the home that is traditionally done in the workplace (page 144)

Termination: Practice initiated by an employer to separate an employee from the organization

permanently (page 67)

Third-Country Nationals: Employees who are natives of a country other than the home country or the
host country (page 518)

Time-To-Fill Metric: The number of days from when a job opening is approved to the date the candidate
is selected (page 169)

Transfer: Placement of an individual in another job for which the duties, responsibilities, status, and
remuneration are approximately equal to those of the previous job (page 175)

Transfer Of Training: Effective application of principles learned to what is required on the job (page 261)

Transnational Corporation: A firm that attempts to balance local responsiveness and global scale via a
network of specialized operating units (page 517)

Transnational Teams: Teams composed of members of multiple nationalities working on projects that
span multiple countries (page 522)

Trend Analysis: A quantitative approach to forecasting labour demand based on an organizational index
such as sales (page 53)

Underutilization: Term applied to designated groups that are not utilized or represented in the
employer's workforce proportional to their numbers in the labour market (page 100)

Unfair Labour Practices (ULPs): Specific employer and union illegal practices that deny employees their
rights and benefits under federal and provincial labour law (page 488)

Union Shop: Provision of the collective agreement that requires employees to join the union as a
condition of their employment (page 483)
Union (Shop) Steward: Employee who as a nonpaid union official represents the interests of members in
their relations with management (page 492)

Validity: The degree to which a test or selection procedure measures a person's attributes (page 199)

Value Creation: What the firm adds to a product or service by virtue of making it; the amount of benefits
provided by the product or service once the costs of making it are subtracted (page 62)

Values-Based Hiring: The process of outlining the behaviours that exemplify a firm's corporate culture
and then hiring people who are a fit for them (page 52)

Variable Pay: Tying pay to some measure of individual, group, or organizational performance (page 360)

Vesting: A guarantee of accrued benefits to participants at retirement age, regardless of their

employment status at the time (page 405)

Video Résumés: Short video clips that highlight applicants' qualifications beyond what they can
communicate on their résumé (page 201)

Virtual Team: A team with widely dispersed members linked together through computer and
telecommunications technology (page 141)

Wage And Salary Survey: A survey of the wages paid to employees of other employers in the surveying
organization's relevant labour market (page 342)

Wage Curve: A curve in a scattergram representing the relationship between the relative worth of jobs
and wage rates (page 343)

Wage-Rate Compression: Compression of differentials between job classes, particularly the differential
between hourly workers and their managers (page 350)

Work Permit Or Visa: A government document granting a foreign individual the right to seek
employment (page 521)

Work Valuation: A job evaluation system that seeks to measure a job's worth through its value to the
organization (page 341)

Workers' Compensation Insurance: Insurance provided to workers to defray the loss of income and cost
of treatment resulting from work-related injuries or illness (page 399)

Wrongful Dismissal: A lawsuit filed in a court by an employee alleging that he or she was dismissed
without proper contractual or reasonable notice (page 455)

Yield Ratio: The percentage of applicants from a recruitment source that make it to the next stage of the
selection process (page 169)