DSST Human Resource Management key terms

The set of policies, practices, and systems that influence employees' behavior, attitudes, and performance, covering staffing, training, appraisal, pay, safety, and legal compliance.

Aligning HR practices with an organization's mission, goals, and competitive strategy so that people decisions support long-term performance rather than standing alone as administrative tasks.

The collective knowledge, skills, abilities, and experience of an organization's workforce, viewed as an asset that can be developed and that contributes to competitive advantage.

A systematic process of collecting information about the duties, tasks, responsibilities, working conditions, and required qualifications of a job, forming the foundation for most other HR activities.

A written document describing what a job entails, including its title, duties, tasks, reporting relationships, and working conditions, but not the personal qualifications of the holder.

A written statement of the minimum qualifications a person needs to perform a job, such as education, experience, skills, and physical requirements, derived from job analysis data.

The process of forecasting an organization's future demand for and supply of employees, then comparing the two to identify gaps and plan recruiting, training, or downsizing actions.

Identifying and preparing internal employees to assume key leadership or critical roles over time, reducing disruption when incumbents leave and supporting long-term staffing continuity.

The process of attracting and generating a pool of qualified applicants for open positions, using internal or external sources such as job postings, referrals, and employment agencies.

The process of gathering and evaluating information about applicants to choose the person most likely to perform well, typically using application reviews, tests, and interviews.

The extent to which a selection measure actually predicts job performance or measures the characteristic it is intended to measure, supporting defensible hiring decisions.

The consistency or dependability of a measurement, meaning it produces similar results across repeated administrations or across different raters and items.

An interview in which questions, sequence, and scoring criteria are predetermined and applied consistently to all candidates, improving comparability and reducing interviewer bias.

The initial activity that introduces new employees to the organization's policies, culture, coworkers, and job expectations, helping them adjust and become productive sooner.

Planned activities that help employees acquire the knowledge, skills, and behaviors needed to perform their current jobs effectively and safely.

Learning activities aimed at preparing employees for future responsibilities and broader roles, rather than improving performance in their present positions.

A three-level analysis of organization, tasks, and persons used to determine whether training is needed, what content it should cover, and who should receive it.

Training delivered at the work site while the employee performs actual job tasks, often by observing and working alongside an experienced employee or supervisor.

Ongoing efforts by the organization and individual to plan and support an employee's progression through roles over time, matching personal goals with organizational needs.

The systematic evaluation of an employee's work performance and behavior against established standards, usually documented and discussed in a formal review meeting.

Specific, measurable benchmarks that define acceptable levels of performance for each duty or goal, giving raters and employees a common basis for evaluation.

An appraisal method that combines numerical rating scales with specific examples of job behavior at each level, making ratings more concrete and easier to justify.

An appraisal approach that records specific examples of especially effective or ineffective employee behavior as they occur, then uses those incidents to evaluate performance.

A results-oriented appraisal process in which supervisor and employee jointly set specific, measurable goals and later evaluate performance against their achievement.

An appraisal approach that collects performance information from multiple sources, including supervisors, peers, subordinates, and sometimes customers or the employee themselves.

All forms of financial return and tangible benefits employees receive as part of an employment relationship, including base pay, incentives, and benefits.

A systematic procedure for determining the relative worth of jobs within an organization, used to build an internally equitable pay structure independent of the people holding the jobs.

A compensation approach in which some portion of pay is tied to individual, team, or organizational results, such as merit increases, bonuses, or commissions.

Variable compensation awarded for achieving specified performance targets, designed to motivate productivity and often paid as a bonus, commission, or piece-rate amount.

The idea that jobs requiring comparable levels of skill, effort, responsibility, and working conditions should receive comparable pay, even when the jobs differ in content.

Indirect compensation beyond wages and salaries, such as health insurance, retirement contributions, paid leave, and other perks provided as part of the total rewards package.

Federal law requiring employers to provide workplaces free from recognized serious hazards and establishing the agency that sets and enforces workplace safety standards.

Any condition, substance, or practice at work that can cause injury or illness, which employers must identify and control through engineering, administrative, or protective measures.

A state-administered insurance system that pays medical costs and wage replacement to employees injured on the job, generally without requiring the employee to prove employer fault.

The principle, enforced by federal law and agencies, that employment decisions must be based on job-related qualifications rather than characteristics such as race, sex, or religion.

Federal law prohibiting employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin and creating the agency that enforces most federal EEO statutes.

A substantially different selection rate for a protected group compared with the favored group, often assessed by the four-fifths rule and used as evidence of possible discrimination.

Federal law requiring men and women performing substantially equal work in the same establishment to receive equal pay, with narrow exceptions for seniority, merit, or performance.

Federal law giving eligible employees up to twelve weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave per year for specified family and medical reasons, with continuation of group health coverage.

An organization of workers formed to bargain collectively with management over wages, hours, and working conditions, typically through elected representatives.

The process in which union representatives and management negotiate a written agreement covering wages, benefits, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment.

A formal, step-by-step process defined in a labor agreement for resolving employee complaints about contract interpretation or application, often ending in arbitration.

Federal law protecting employees' rights to organize, join unions, and bargain collectively, and defining unfair labor practices by both employers and unions.

A dispute-resolution method in which a neutral third party hears both sides and issues a binding decision, commonly used for grievances arising under a labor agreement.