HRM & Industrial Relations flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

VRIN criteria

Resource-based view test for sustained competitive advantage: a resource must be Valuable, Rare, Inimitable, and Non-substitutable. Human capital can qualify when skills are firm-specific and embedded in team routines.

Horizontal and vertical fit

Horizontal fit is internal consistency among HR practices such as pay and appraisal. Vertical fit is alignment of the HR system with business strategy and the external environment.

AMO framework

Performance depends on employee Ability, Motivation, and Opportunity to contribute. HR systems bundle practices targeting all three; single practices typically show weak performance effects.

Miles and Snow typology

Four strategic types: Prospectors pursue innovation with flexible staffing, Defenders protect efficiency with internal development, Analyzers blend both, and Reactors lack a coherent strategy.

Markov transition matrix

Workforce planning tool that applies historical probabilities of staying, promoting, or leaving to current headcount by level, projecting future internal supply and likely gaps.

Yield ratio

Recruitment efficiency metric: the proportion of candidates at one stage progressing to the next, such as applications to interviews or interviews to offers.

Time to fill

Number of days from requisition approval to offer acceptance. It measures recruitment speed and is distinct from time to hire, which starts at candidate application.

Realistic job preview

Recruitment practice giving candidates balanced information about duties and drawbacks. It lowers inflated expectations, improving self-selection and reducing early voluntary turnover.

Training needs analysis levels

Three-level diagnosis: organisational (strategy and resources), task or operational (knowledge, skills, abilities the job requires), and person (which individuals need development).

Kirkpatrick evaluation levels

Four training outcomes: reaction, learning, behaviour, and results. Behaviour transfer depends on supervisor support, opportunity to apply, and accountability for using the training.

Goal-setting theory

Locke and Latham hold that specific, difficult goals with feedback outperform vague goals. Goal commitment and self-efficacy moderate the performance effect.

360-degree feedback

Multi-rater appraisal from managers, peers, subordinates, and self. It supports development best when anonymous and used formatively rather than for pay decisions.

Point-factor job evaluation

Systematic method scoring jobs on weighted compensable factors such as skill, effort, responsibility, and working conditions. Total points determine grade and pay structure placement.

Compa-ratio

Employee pay divided by the midpoint of the assigned pay grade. Values below one indicate pay under the range midpoint; above one indicates pay above it.

Expectancy theory

Motivation equals Expectancy multiplied by Instrumentality multiplied by Valence. If any one term is zero, motivation collapses regardless of the strength of the others.

Equity theory

Adams proposes employees compare their outcome-to-input ratio with referents. Perceived inequity motivates reducing effort, seeking more reward, or leaving the organisation.

Employment status tests

Control test examines supervision and direction; integration test examines whether work is part of the business; economic reality test weighs tools, risk, exclusivity, and payment method.

Procedural fairness in dismissal

For misconduct cases: investigate, state the allegation in writing, allow a response with representation, hold an impartial hearing, give a reasoned decision, and offer appeal.

Indirect discrimination

A neutral rule or criterion that disproportionately disadvantages a protected group and cannot be objectively justified by a legitimate aim using proportionate means.

Reasonable accommodation

Adjustment of the role, workplace, or arrangements for a disabled employee, required unless it imposes unjustifiable hardship on the employer.

Pluralist frame of reference

View that employers and employees have legitimate but competing interests, managed through collective bargaining, voice mechanisms, and agreed procedures rather than assumed harmony.

EVLN model

Responses to dissatisfaction: Exit (leave), Voice (raise concerns), Loyalty (wait hopefully), and Neglect (reduce effort). Voice mechanisms reduce costly exit.

Psychological contract

Unwritten reciprocal beliefs about mutual obligations between employee and employer. Breach reduces commitment and citizenship behaviour even without legal breach.

Hierarchy of controls

Risk control ranking from most to least effective: elimination, substitution, engineering controls, administrative controls, then personal protective equipment as the last resort.

Lost-time injury frequency rate

LTIFR equals lost-time injuries multiplied by one million, divided by hours worked in the period. It is a normalised lagging safety indicator for benchmarking.

Karasek demand-control model

Job strain arises from high psychological demands combined with low decision latitude or control. High-demand, high-control jobs are described as active rather than straining.

Bradford factor

Absence metric calculated as S squared multiplied by D, where S is the number of absence spells and D is total days absent. It penalises frequent short absences.

Cost per hire

Total recruiting costs, including advertising, agency fees, referral bonuses, and recruiter time, divided by the number of hires made in the same period.

Human capital ROI

Revenue minus non-compensation operating expense, divided by total compensation. It estimates the return generated on each unit of employee compensation spend.

Lewin change model

Three phases: unfreeze existing behaviour, implement the change, then refreeze new norms. Force-field analysis maps driving against restraining forces before acting.

Kotter eight-step model

Sequence: urgency, coalition, vision, communication, empowerment, short-term wins, consolidation, and anchoring in culture. Skipping early steps undermines later adoption.

Bridges transition model

Change is situational; transition is psychological. It moves through ending, a neutral zone of ambiguity, and a new beginning as people form new identities and routines.