Unit 5: Employee Relations and Risk Management Practice Flashcards

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering employee relations, engagement, job satisfaction, involvement strategies, DEI, grievance systems, discipline, and risk management based on the Unit 5 lecture notes.

Employee Relations

The working relationship between an employer and employee throughout the time the individual is associated with the organization.

Employee Life Cycle

A model that outlines the HR functions an organization performs relative to an individual's employment, including recruitment, selection, orientation, training, development, retention, and separation.

Employee Engagement

The degree to which employees are committed to their jobs and the organization, their willingness to remain and work hard, and their enthusiasm in completing work and helping co-workers.

Organizational Citizenship Behaviors

Also called extra-role behaviors, these are actions where employees are willing to go above and beyond their job requirements to help the company succeed.

Thriving at Work

A state of engagement where employees work with vigor (high energy), dedication (determination), and absorption (deep focus).

Quiet Quitting

A state where employees are not engaged, putting in their time with little energy or passion, but without interfering with others.

Loud Quitting

A state where actively disengaged employees are unhappy, gripe and complain about their job, and undermine the efforts of engaged colleagues.

Fulfillment Theory

A theory suggesting that job satisfaction is a function of need satisfaction and the degree to which an individual's needs are met by the job.

Reward Theory

A theory suggesting that job satisfaction is a function of the rewards individuals receive, including the amount and timing of those rewards.

Discrepancy Theory

A theory claiming that job satisfaction results from a comparison between what an employee feels 'ought to be' and 'what is.'

Equity Theory

A theory explaining job satisfaction based on a relative comparison of the inputs and outcomes an individual receives versus those of others.

Exit Interviews

Interviews conducted with departing employees to receive feedback on morale and learn about conditions causing problems.

Semantic Differential Scales

A questionnaire format for measuring job satisfaction using a series of bipolar adjectives, such as 'Appreciated' versus 'Unappreciated.'

Likert Scales

A popular survey format where respondents indicate their level of agreement on a scale ranging from 'Strongly Disagree' to 'Strongly Agree.'

Simple Random Sample

A sampling method where all employees in a population have the same probability of being selected without regard to demographic or job characteristics.

Stratified Random Sample

A sampling method involving categorizing employees into specified groups (such as job classification) and then selecting individuals randomly within each group.

Standard Deviation (Survey Analysis)

A statistic showing the amount of dispersion in responses around the mean; a small value suggests similar attitudes while a large value suggests diversity of opinion.

Face Validity

A form of justification where an analyst examines survey items and concludes they appear to measure the same concept.

Cronbach's Alpha

A reliability statistic showing high inter-correlations between survey items, used to justify combining items into a composite score.

Action Research Model

A cyclical organizational development process involving data collection, feedback to members, action planning, implementation, and reevaluation.

Likert's System 4

A questionnaire measuring organizational processes where structures range from System 1 (autocratic) to System 4 (participative).

Self-directed Work Teams

Also called autonomous work teams, these are small groups of workers (fewer than 15 or 20) responsible for a series of jobs and directed by informal leadership.

Quality Circles

A process where a group of workers meets periodically (usually one hour per week on company time) to discuss and solve productivity and quality problems.

Ergonomics

Also called biotechnology, this discipline is concerned with the application of biology and engineering to the mutual adjustment of people and machines.

Job Specialization

Also called job simplification, this strategy simplifies a job by reducing the number of elements performed by the worker.

Job Enrichment

A job redesign strategy that makes a job more complex by combining elements or increasing the level of responsibility to increase motivation.

Job Enlargement

Making a job larger in scope by adding more of the same kinds of tasks, primarily increasing the length of the work cycle.

Skill Variety

The degree to which a job allows workers to develop and use different skills to avoid monotony.

Task Identity

The degree to which a task consists of a whole or complete unit of work rather than a small, specialized act.

Task Significance

The degree to which a task has a significant impact on the organization, the community, or the lives of others.

Autonomy

The degree to which workers are free of direct supervision and can exercise discretion in scheduling and work methods.

Horizontal Loading

Combining tasks to eliminate highly specialized jobs and create larger work modules.

Vertical Loading

Giving workers greater authority and discretion by allowing them to perform functions previously reserved for management.

Multiskilling

Also called cross-training, the practice of training workers to perform a variety of tasks so they can be redeployed as needed.

Employee Suggestion System

A formal program that encourages employees to submit ideas for improving efficiency or profitability, often providing monetary rewards.

Participative Management

Also called Participative Decision Making (PDM), it allows employees to share in making managerial decisions and innovative suggestions.

Six Sigma

A process improvement program designed to reduce variability so that errors are less than $3.4$ defects per million.

DMAIC

The five steps of the Six Sigma approach: Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control.

Flextime

An alternative work schedule where employees choose their arrival and departure times within limits set by management, usually around a core period.

Compressed Workweek

Scheduling a full-time job in fewer than five days, such as the 4/40 alternative (four ten-hour days).

Kurzarbeit

A German 'short-work' policy where companies move employees to reduced schedules during weak demand, with government income replacement for lost hours.

Job Sharing

A variation of part-time employment where a full-time position is divided into two part-time positions.

Job Pairing

A form of job sharing where both part-time employees are held responsible for the whole job.

Phased Retirement

A program allowing workers to reduce their hours gradually to prepare for retirement while helping the company manage labor surpluses.

Telecommuting

Also called remote work, mobile work, or WFH, it involves working from home or a satellite office via phone and computer.

Virtual Teams

Teams whose members work together without meeting in person, often from different continents and time zones.

Equity (DEI context)

A form of equality that considers the characteristics, needs, circumstances, and context of individuals.

Employee Resource Groups (ERGs)

Also called affinity groups or business network groups, these are employee-run groups joined based on shared life experiences or characteristics.

Grievance

A work-related complaint or formal dispute brought to the attention of management.

Ombudsman

A politically neutral and independent person charged with hearing and attempting to resolve employee issues and complaints.

Open-Door Policy

A policy where employees have the right to discuss a complaint with top corporate officers without following the chain of command.

Whistle Blowers

Employees who observe illegal or immoral actions within an organization and make that information public.

Arbitration

The process of having a labor dispute resolved by an impartial third party whose decision is binding.

Submission Agreement

A statement prepared for arbitration that formally outlines the issues and grants final authority to the arbitrator.

Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR)

Methods for resolving disagreements outside of litigation, including negotiation, mediation, and binding arbitration.

The 'Hot Stove' Rule

A rule for administering punishment that suggests discipline should be immediate, consistent, impersonal, and include a warning.

Natural Consequences

A type of punishment that occurs through the laws of nature or society, such as being injured by following unsafe procedures.

Logical Consequences

Punishment that contains a logical relationship to the violated rule, such as losing a privilege related to the specific misbehavior.

Contrived Consequences

Punishment for wrongdoing that is unrelated to the specific misbehavior, such as a fine for missing practice.

Cognitive Structuring

Providing clear, reasonable explanations for punishment to help individuals understand why behavior was wrong and how it must change.

Retributive Justice

Fair punishment that fits the seriousness of the misbehavior as perceived by the offender and observers.

Progressive Discipline

A disciplinary process that follows a sequence of increasingly severe penalties, typically starting with a verbal warning and ending with discharge.

Due Process

The concept that disciplinary actions must follow an accepted procedure that protects an employee from arbitrary or unfair treatment.

Just Cause

The principle that disciplinary action should only be taken for good and sufficient reason, rather than for trivial issues.

Statute of Limitations (Discipline)

The length of time a written reprimand can remain untouched in an employee's personal file before being removed or countered.

Insubordination

The failure or refusal of an employee to follow a supervisor's clear and legitimate instruction.

Voluntary Absenteeism

Occurs when employees have a choice of working or not working and intentionally decide to miss work.

Involuntary Absenteeism

Occurs when employees miss work for reasons beyond their control, such as health problems or a death in the family.

Job Absence Rate Formula

$$\text{job absence rate} = \frac{\text{number of worker-days lost through job absences during the month} \times 100}{(\text{average number of employees}) \times (\text{number of workdays})}$$

Presenteeism

The practice of coming to work while ill and being unable to work at full capacity.

Offboarding

The process of managing an employee's departure from the organization, whether voluntary or involuntary.

Constructive Discharge

A legal claim by an employee that they were forced to quit because the employer made the work environment sufficiently unpleasant.

Risk Management

The process of assessing and measuring risk and developing strategies to protect a company's financial interests.

Good Samaritan Laws

Statutes that protect citizens from blame or prosecution when they provide aid to others who are injured or ill in good faith.

Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs)

Special programs typically provided by employers to help employees with personal problems such as drug abuse, marital conflict, or financial difficulties.

No-adverse-effect Level

The highest dose or exposure of a material that causes no ill effects.

Toxicity Threshold

The lowest dose level at which toxic effects can be demonstrated in toxicology research.

First Pass Effect

The process where substances absorbed in the intestines are taken to the liver for detoxification prior to exposure to the rest of the body.

Epidemiology

The study of diseases in the environment and conditions that may cause health problems.

Burnout

Demoralization, frustration, and reduced efficiency resulting from an inability to handle continued stress on the job.

General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS)

The stress response sequence described by Hans Selye consisting of three stages: alarm, resistance, and exhaustion.

Eustress

Positive stress, such as falling in love or receiving an award, which causes less damage to the body than negative stress.

Biofeedback

A relaxation technique using equipment to monitor internal body processes (like heartbeat) to help a person learn to control stress responses.

Vulnerability Analysis

Also called a risk analysis, the process of identifying a company's assets and analyzing potential threats to those assets.

Signal Detection Theory

A systematic approach to studying human vigilance and categorizing mistakes made by human monitors (Hits, False Alarms, Security Breaches, True Misses).

Inventory Shrinkage

The amount of actual inventory relative to what should be available based on purchase and sales records, often due to theft or error.

Honesty Tests

Psychological tests used in industry to measure an individual's orientation toward integrity and their propensity to engage in theft or dishonest acts.