Human Resource Management, Teamwork, and Communication

A comprehensive vocabulary review deck covering human resource management, recruitment, compensation, labour relations, employee motivation, teamwork, and organizational communication.

Human Resource Management (HRM)

The organizational function that attracts, develops, and retains employees who can perform the activities needed to meet organizational objectives.

Human Resource Inventory

A record of an organization's current employees that details characteristics such as age, gender, education, experience, training, and specialized skills.

Job Description

A document developed through job analysis that specifies the responsibilities, duties, and working conditions of a particular position.

Job Specification

A statement derived from job analysis that outlines the specific qualifications, skills, education, and experience necessary to perform a job.

Selection Stage

The phase in human resource management where an employer assesses each applicant to decide who will be offered a position.

360-Degree Performance Review

A performance appraisal method that gathers feedback from a review panel consisting of co-workers, supervisors, team members, subordinates, and sometimes customers.

Wage

Employee compensation based on an hourly rate or the specific amount of work accomplished.

Salary

Employee compensation calculated on a periodic basis, such as weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly.

Annual Incentive Plan

A pay plan that rewards the accomplishment of specific results, typically tied to expected outcomes identified at the beginning of the performance cycle.

Discretionary Bonus Plan

An incentive plan in which management determines the size of the bonus pool and the amounts allocated to individuals after a performance period.

Spot Awards

Incentive compensation that provides recognition for special contributions as they occur for a project or task, generally completed within a short period.

Profit-Sharing Plan

A compensation plan through which employees share in company profits, typically using a predetermined formula for allocating shares and distributing funds.

Gain-Sharing Plans

Incentive programs that share the financial results of productivity gains with employees as a group.

Retention Bonus

A payment or reward outside of regular salary offered to keep a key person on the job during a particularly crucial business cycle.

Project Bonus

Additional compensation paid to an employee or department for successfully completing a project within a designated time frame.

Paid Time Off (PTO)

A flexible leave policy that combines holidays, vacation days, sick days, and personal days into a single pool for employees to use as they choose.

Flextime

A work scheduling program that allows employees to choose their own arrival and departure times within boundaries set by the employer.

Compressed Workweek

A work arrangement that allows employees to work longer daily hours across fewer total days per week.

Job Sharing Program

A work arrangement that allows two or more employees to divide up the responsibilities and hours of one full-time job.

Voluntary Turnover

Separation that occurs when an employee decides to resign on their own, such as to retire, start a business, or accept an offer elsewhere.

Involuntary Turnover

Separation that occurs when an employer terminates a worker due to poor performance, unethical behaviour, or structural cost-cutting.

Downsizing

The process of reducing the number of employees within a firm by eliminating jobs.

Outsourcing

Contracting with outside vendors to perform services or produce goods that were previously handled internally or within the country.

Morale

The mental attitude and sense of purpose that employees maintain toward their jobs and employer.

Extrinsic Rewards

External rewards given for doing a job that originate outside of the work itself, including pay, benefits, and praise.

Intrinsic Rewards

Internal personal feelings of satisfaction and fulfillment directly related to performing the job, such as pride and a sense of achievement.

Self-Actualization Needs

The highest level in Maslow's hierarchy of needs, involving the fulfillment of one's personal dreams, potential, and capabilities through challenging or creative projects.

Labour Union

An organized group of workers that forms to achieve common goals in wages, working hours, and workplace conditions.

Canadian Labour Congress (CLC)

The largest national union organization in Canada, representing approximately 3 million of the nation's 4.6 million unionized workers.

Labour Relations Boards

A judicial body that oversees applications by worker groups to unionize and regulates organizational conduct during labour disputes.

Collective Bargaining Process

The process of formal negotiation between union representatives and management over wages, hours, benefits, and workplace conditions.

Mediation

A process for resolving labour-management disputes in which an impartial third party assists the negotiating parties in reaching an agreement.

Arbitration

A dispute resolution method where an impartial third party hears both sides and issues a legally binding decision.

Strike (or Walkout)

A temporary work stoppage by unionized employees designed to pressure management during a contract dispute.

Picketing

A union protest tactic in which workers march with signs in public areas outside an employer's facility.

Boycott

An organized campaign to discourage consumers and the general public from purchasing the goods or services of a targeted firm.

Lockout

A management tactic to put pressure on union members by temporarily shutting down the workplace and refusing to let employees work.

Employee Empowerment

The practice of giving employees shared authority, responsibility, and decision-making capabilities alongside their managers.

Employee Share Ownership Plans (ESOP)

Programs in which a company-sponsored trust fund holds shares of company stock for employees, providing an ownership interest that can be cashed in upon leaving or retirement.

Stock Options

Contracts that grant employees the right to purchase a specific amount of company stock at an established price within a defined time frame.

Work Teams

Relatively permanent groups of employees with complementary skills who carry out the day-to-day operations and core tasks of an organization.

Problem-Solving Teams

Temporary groups of knowledge workers assembled to resolve a specific issue or challenge and disbanded after completion.

Self-Managed Teams

Groups of employees empowered to plan, execute, and make decisions regarding their daily work, frequently cross-trained in each other's roles.

Cross-Functional Teams

Work teams composed of representatives from different departments or functional areas of an organization, such as finance, production, and marketing.

Virtual Teams

Groups of geographically or organizationally dispersed individuals who use telecommunication and information technologies to collaborate without frequent in-person meetings.

Team Cohesiveness

The degree to which members of a team feel committed to the group, identify with its goals, and desire to remain part of it.

Team Norms

Informal, shared standards of acceptable conduct and core values that guide member behaviour and set operational expectations within a team.

Cognitive Conflict

A form of team disagreement focused on problem-related differences of opinion that stimulates critical thinking and enhances team performance.

Affective Conflict

A form of interpersonal conflict characterized by emotional hostility, personal friction, and resentment that damages group cohesiveness and collaboration.

Grapevine

An unofficial, informal communication network within an organization that spreads information rapidly among employees outside authorized channels.