Human Resource Management Concepts

Flashcards covering key concepts in Human Resource Management.

Ability

An individual’s current, innate, or acquired capacity to perform specific tasks or functions within a job.

Action Programming

Plans out a sequence of events to be executed, could be internal or external programming.

Age Discrimination in Employment Act

Legislation that prohibits discrimination based on age, requiring that age be a determinative factor.

Americans with Disability Act

Legislation that prohibits discrimination based on disabilities if the individual can perform essential job functions with or without reasonable accommodation.

Assessment Centers

Methods that assess Knowledge, Abilities, Skills, Other Characteristics (KASOCs) through a series of work samples.

Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scale

Graphic rating scales that use specific behavioral descriptions as anchors instead of adjectives.

Bona Fide Occupational Qualification

Criteria that are reasonably necessary to the normal operation of the organization.

Cognitive Ability Tests

Tests that can cause disparate impact; challenging to justify their relevance to job performance.

Control and Evaluation

The process of monitoring Human Resource Planning by defining and measuring critical criteria.

Customer Assets

The concept of treating employees as the company's most valuable assets.

Customer Satisfaction

Assessment of how well a company's products, services, and overall experience meet or exceed customer expectations.

Defined Benefit Plan

A type of long-term capital accumulation plan (retirement plan).

Designs for Evaluating Training

Includes posttest only, pretest-posttest, posttest only with control group, and pretest-posttest with control group designs.

Disparate Impact

Employer practices that have a disproportionately negative effect on members of a protected group.

Disparate Treatment

When an employer intentionally treats one or more members of a protected class differently.

Distributive Justice

Perception of equity in the allocation of rewards and punishments.

Downsizing

The layoff of employees.

Employee Survey

A method to ensure that everyone’s voice is heard on topics like inclusion and wellness.

Employee Training and Development

Training involves gaining job-related knowledge, while development focuses on improvement.

Employment-at-Will

The principle that either the employer or employee may terminate the employment relationship at any time without specific contract stipulations.

Environmental Scanning

The process of monitoring and analyzing internal and external trends to identify risks and opportunities.

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

Agency of the US Department of Labor responsible for enforcing compliance with EEO laws.

Experiential Training Method

Training that utilizes experience and real-life situations.

External Pay Equity

The fairness of an organization's compensation relative to similar roles in the external job market.

Four-Fifths Rule

A guideline suggesting if the selection rate for a protected group is less than 80% of the highest group's rate, it indicates adverse impact.

Gap Analysis

Shows the forecast of labor demand and supply.

Graphic Rating Scale

Uses adjectives or numbers to anchor a rating on a specific competency.

Griggs vs. Duke Power

A landmark case where a company was found to have discriminated based on race in hiring and employee assignment.

Labor Demand Analysis

Projections of how business needs will affect HR needs using both qualitative and quantitative methods.

Labor Supply Analysis

Projections of resource availability from both internal and external sources.

Multiple Time-Series Design

A method used to analyze a sequence of observations taken over time.

Organizational Design

The process of structuring an organization to optimize effectiveness.

Organizational Development

A systematic approach to improving an organization's effectiveness and capability.

Organizational Exit

The process through which employees leave an organization.

Performance Management

The process through which managers ensure that employees’ activities and outputs contribute to achieving the organization’s goals.

Prima Facie

A legal term referring to evidence that is sufficient to prove a case unless disproven.

Procedural Justice

A judgement concerning the fairness of the methods used to determine employee consequences.

Psychological Assets

The mental and emotional resources that contribute to an employee’s performance.

Selection Ratio

The proportion of applicants selected for a position, calculated as the number of positions divided by the number of applicants.

Title VII of the 1964 U.S. Civil Rights Act

Legislation prohibiting discrimination based on race, color, national origin, and sex (gender), with provisions for religious accommodation.

Weighted Application Blanks (WABs)

An objective weighting system for applications that helps identify predictive relationships.

Whistleblowing Laws

Legislation allowing individuals to report misconduct to those with authority to act.

Yield Ratio

Reflects the ratio of applicants to hires at each step in the hiring process.