Gilmorewilliams2e Glossary

7/23/2019 Gilmorewilliams2e Glossary

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Gilmore and Williams: Human Resource Management

Oxford University Press, 2012. All rights reserved.

AppraisalFormal communication process to evaluate performance and plan how to proceed.

Arbitration, Conciliation, and Advisory Service (ACAS)A state body in the UK that works to prevent and resolve workplace disputes.

Assessment centreThis selection method usually involves some simulation of the main tasks involved withthe job, thus giving candidates a degree of insight as to what a post involves. Tests canvary in length from half a day to three or more days, and can take place at an externalcentre or be run by the prospective employer.

AssetsProperties of organizations that have value and can add value, including employees; theycan be tangible or intangible.

Best fitThese models are based on the idea that different kinds of people management areneeded for different kinds of business conditions. Therefore competitive advantage isgained when HRM policies and practices fit the organizations strategy, labour market,and other factors such as company structure and size.

Best practiceA particular set of HRM practices that engender improved performance for allorganizations. These are sometimes referred to as high-commitment HRM, high-involvement HRM, or high performance work systems. They can take a universalisticapproach or focus on the ways in which HRM practices are bundled together.

BroadbandingCompressing the number of grades in a graded pay strategy into a smaller number of

bands in order to increase pay flexibility and managerial discretion.

BureaucracyA way of coordinating organizational activities based on formal rules and procedures, rigidmanagerial hierarchies, and the specialization of job roles.

Bureaucratic dysfunctionalismThe adverse consequences of bureaucratic organization, particularly where it is appliedzealously.


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Business process re-engineering (BPR)An approach to organizational change based on redesigning processes in a way that addsvalue to the business, particularly by eschewing rigid and unwieldy bureaucracy.

Capability procedureA formal procedure for managing and supporting employees who are underperforming.

Categorical imperativeIn Kantian ethics, a behavioural requirement that must be followed for its own sake. Incontrast, a hypothetical imperative is one that should be followed if a particular outcomeis desired.

Collective bargainingThis term is used to refer to the process by which pay and other conditions of employmentare negotiated by an employer, or employers association, and one or more trade unions.

Communities of practiceThese are formed by people who engage in a process of collective learning in a sharedendeavour such as a workplace.

CompetenceEmployee capability-based combination of attitude, skills, and experience.

ConsequentialismThe perspective on ethics that looks for good or bad in the consequences of a proposedaction.

ConsultationA form of workplace and organizational decision-making under which managers submit

their proposals to employees, or their representatives, to gauge their views, but retain theright to make the final decision.

Contestable marketA term normally applied to product markets; it relates to the ease withwhich new firms can enter, and existing firms can exit, a market or industry.

Continuous professional development (CPD)A process whereby skills and knowledge are continuously updated and extended.


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ConvergenceThe growing degree of uniformity in HRM practices across national borders, as stimulatedby globalization.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR)An approach that recognizes that business owes duties to society as a whole, representedby the various stakeholder groups both inside and outside the firm.

DemocracyA system of government normally based on elections, with virtually all adults having theright to influence government policy, including the laws that are passed.

DeontologyThe view of ethics as duties or principlesgood or bad is evident in the act itself,irrespective of the consequences.

Direct discriminationRefers to situations where an employer treats an employee less favourably than others onaccount of some aspect of his or her social characteristics, such as age or gender.

Disciplinary procedureA formal arrangement that enables managers to deal with alleged poor performance ormisconduct of their staff.

Discretionary effortThe additional effort employees will go to on behalf of the organization to solve problems,take ownership of them, invest in their ideas, and go beyond contractual terms andconditions of employment.

Diversity managementAn approach to dealing with workplace inequality which emphasizes how organizationscan recognize, and benefit from, individual differences among their staff.

DownsizingThe reduction of organizational levels, functions, and job roles with the aim of streamliningoperations and realizing efficiency savings.

Early retirement


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A method of making workforce reductions whereby older employees are encouraged toretire earlier than planned with the offer of an appropriate financial incentive.

Effectiveness

The extent to which an intention is achieved.

EfficiencyTo achieve something with minimum waste or effort.

E-learningThe delivery of training, learning, or development programmes by a range of electronicmedia such as CD-ROM, DVD, the internet, or company intranets.

Emotional labourA term used to describe a form of work that requires the employee to suppress orstimulate emotions to suit the organizations endsas witnessed in jobs such as nursingor in flight attendants. It is increasingly built into the design of many jobs and job training,and can also involve the employee proving his or her worth, loyalty, and commitment byengaging continuously and successfully in such emotional performances.

Employee Assistance Programmes (EAPs)Counselling and assistance interventions provided by a third party and directed at staff inan organization.

Employee engagementA positive attitude held by an employee towards the organization and its values. Anengaged employee is aware of the organizations business context and works with staff toimprove performance within the job for the benefit of the organization as well as forhim/herself. Such a relationship requires nurture on behalf of the organization to secureand maintain it, as it is a two-way process.

Employee involvementManagerial interventions, such as direct communication techniques, that are designed toencourage greater organizational commitment from employees.

Employee referral schemeThese schemes usually involve existing staff being offered a cash incentive to recommendcontacts to fill vacancies within the company.

Employment benefits


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Financial rewards other than pay, such as holidays, pensions, staff discounts, andpensions.

Employment tribunal

A body that adjudicates upon disputes between employers and employees in the UK.

EmpowermentThe devolution of some supervisory tasks from managers to workers, with the latter givenmore discretion over their jobs.

Equal opportunityThe provision of a level organizational playing field on which all staff are treated the same,regardless of their social characteristics, with regard to recruitment, selection, promotion

decisions, etc.

Ethical relativismThe view that the definitions of good and bad depend strongly upon the time and placewhere the judgement is being made. In the extreme form of this version of ethics, thereare no universal ethical truthseverything depends upon the local convention at the time.

EthnocentricAn approach to HRM in multinational companies that focuses on the dominance of homecountry practices throughout their foreign subsidiaries.

Evolutionary approachesThese approaches towards strategy formation argue that markets will ensure that only thebest performers will survive, whatever methods managers adopt in developing strategy. Itis often likened to the Darwinian ideas of survival of the fittest.

Expatriate

An employee, generally a manager, who is assigned, usually on a temporary basis, towork in a foreign location.

ExtrinsicReward bestowed on the employee and normally tangible, such as pay, holidays, andpensions.

Feedbackcommunication of information that informs an individual or group about their performance.


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360 degree feedbackFeedback from superiors, subordinates, peers, and customers that provides a roundedimpression of performance.

Final salary pensionsA pension that has defined benefits and is calculated using years of service and final pay.

Financial rewardPay and employment benefits.

FinancializationA term used to describe the dominance of profit-making mechanisms that rely on financial

transactions in the global finance markets rather than on trading and commodity/serviceproduction.

Fiscal policyA governments policies on its taxation, expenditure, and overall budget with the aim ofmanaging economic activity.

Flexible benefitsAn arrangement whereby employees can select from a portfolio of employment benefitsaccording to personal need.

Forward diffusionThe transfer of HRM practices from the home base of a multinational company to itssubsidiaries in foreign locations.

GeocentricAn approach to HRM in multinational companies that focuses on the dissemination of best

practice on a global basis.

GlobalizationA set of processes (economic, financial, political, and social) that are causing countries ofthe world to be increasingly integrated and interdependent.

Goal displacementA form of bureaucratic dysfunctionalism that refers to situations where an excessiveconcern with complying with formal rules directs managerial attention away from the

activities that advance the interests of the organization.


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Graded payA pay strategy where jobs are ranked according to an evaluation of their relative worth tothe organization and employees are paid at the rate for the job following a process of job

evaluation.

Grievance procedureA formal arrangement for handling complaints from employees concerning their treatmentat work.

HarassmentUnwanted conduct that violates a persons dignity or creates an intimidating, hostile,degrading, humiliating, or offensive environment.

High-commitment/high-road HRMThe idea that a particular set or number of HR practices has the ability to bring aboutimproved organizational performance, often through the unlocking of discretionary effortand securing employee identification with and commitment to the goals and values of theorganization.

High-performance work practices (HPWPs)Work practices associated with increasing effectiveness and efficiency, resulting inincreased performance and productivity.

Hot-deskingAn arrangement whereby workers use shared facilities, rather than having their owndedicated work spaces.

Human capitalThe stock of skills, knowledge, and personal attributes embodied in an organizations

workforce to perform work that produces economic value.

Human relationsAn approach to managing people at work that holds that increased levels of employeemotivation and commitment are best secured by recognizing their social needs.

Human Resource Management (HRM)HRM can refer to all the varied activities involved in managing people in organizations. Italso denotes a specific approach towards this activity, seeing it as operating from a


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managerial perspective, and often argues for the need to establish a series of integratedpersonnel policies designed to achieve the organizations strategic goals.

Hybridization of pay strategies

The design of a pay strategy that incorporates elements of graded pay, market-relatedpay, and performance-related pay.

Indirect discrimination:The use of apparently neutral criteria or practices, which mean that people with particularsocial characteristics are treated less favourably than others, and which cannot be justifiedon objective grounds.

Industrial relations

A term that can be used to refer to relations between three main parties in theemployment relationship: trade unions, management, and government. Within thisdefinition, specific attention may be directed towards industrial conflict or its regulationthrough the formulation of work rules or agreements.

InflationA continuous rise in the general level of prices in an economy.

Institutional frameworkThe political, legal, educational, and business systems of a country.

IntangibleSomething difficult to define, characterize, and measure.

IntegrationTo include and connect componentsfor example, work processes and practices in asystem.

Intrinsic rewardA feel-good reward such as praise and recognition, challenging work, and a degree ofempowerment.

Job descriptionWritten statement that describes job duties, the most important contributions andoutcomes needed from a position, and the required qualifications, and the posts reportingrelationships.


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Job evaluationA systematic process whereby jobs in an organization are ranked according to theirrelevant importance.

Joint regulationTerm used to refer to the process by which terms and conditions of employment aredetermined jointly as a result of bargaining between employers, or employersassociations, and one or more trade unions.

Knowledge managementThis term refers to the process of systematically and actively managing and leveraging thestores of knowledge in an organization.

Labour marketWhere organizations that wish to hire a particular type of labour meet individuals who wishto supply the particular type of labour services, normally for financial gain.

Lean manufacturingThis term is often associated with just-in-time production methods, which avoid the bulkholding of stock and shorten times to market, as well as with continuous improvement orkaizen, problemsolving teams, instant problem rectification, and powerful first-linesupervision.

Learning organizationAn organization which facilitates the learning of all its members and continuouslytransforms itself (Pedler, Burgoyne, and Boydell 1991:3).

LibertarianismA view of life that advocates freedom above allthe best solution is the one thatsafeguards the freedom of individuals to choose for themselves.

Line managerA manager who has direct responsibility for employees and their work.

Macro-economyAll the economic activity that occurs within a countrys boundaries, plus theinvolvement of a countrys organizations and citizens overseas.

Managerial prerogative


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The right of managers to exercise unilateral control over workplace relations.

Market-related payA pay strategy where the going rate for a job within the labour market is established

following the gathering of labourmarket intelligence. It rewards employees according totheir commercial worth.

MediationA non-judgemental approach whereby an impartial third party helps two or more people ina dispute to attempt to reach an agreement.

MigrationThe geographical movement of people from one area to another where they settle

permanently.

Monetary policyMoney supply or interestrate policies normally carried out by a central bank on behalf ofgovernment with the aim of managing economic activity.

Money purchase pensionsA pension that has defined contributions, but the pension will be dependent on level ofinvestment, investment performance, and annuity rates at the time of retirement.

Moral hazardAproblem in which the design of a system may provide an incentive to someone to behaveinappropriately (for example, taking a higher risk than can safely be managed).

Multinational company (MNC)A firm that operates in more than one country, particularly as an employer.

Multi-employer bargainingSituations where collective bargaining takes place between a group of employers, usuallyin the form of an employers association and one or more trade unions.

Multinational company (MNC)A firm that operates in more than one country, particularly as an employer.

Natural wastage


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A method of making workforce reductions that involves not replacing staff when theirpositions become vacant.

New pay

A term that describes the contemporary emphasis on reward of aligning organizationalstrategy with pay strategy.

Non-financial rewardsIntrinsic rewards relating to self-actualization, desirable work, and worklife balanceopportunities.

Occupational health and safetyA term that is used to refer to the health and safety issues that affect people in their jobs.

Off -the-job learningThis form of learning takes place away from the workplace and is often associated withinternally or externally provided courses but can also refer to other modes of learning suchas planned experiences with suppliers, competitors, or collaborators.

On-the-job learningRefers to processes of training and development that occur through doing aspects of thejob the trainee holds. This can involve a wide range of methods from observation toworkplace-based assignments.

Organizational cultureThe unwritten symbols, values, and beliefs that exist within organizations.

Organizational misbehaviourBehaviour in organizations that does not correspond to managerial expectations orstandards.

Organizational structureFormal arrangements for dividing up job roles and other organizational activities vertically,through managerial hierarchies for example, and also horizontally according to function,business orientation, or territory.

Organizational wellnessA phrase that is used to capture the notion that employee well-being and organizationalsuccess complement each other.


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OutcomesIndividual or organization consequences that have wider consequences than outputs andthat can relate to learning and development.

Outplacement servicesExternal firms that specialize in providing advice and support to workers affected byredundancy.

OutputsMeasurable individual or organization achievement based on quantified objectives.

Partnership agreementA term used to describe a formal relationship between an employer and a union that is

based on the importance of cooperation and shared interests, rather than conflict.

PerformanceA combination of effectiveness and efficiency in changing from an initial state to anotherstate, or in completing a specified action or task.

Performance managementMethods or interventions utilized to improve individual and organization performance.

Performance-related payA pay strategy where an assessment of individual employee performance determines thelevel of pay for a job. It rewards employees according to their individual worth.

Person specificationThis is derived from the job description and translates the components of it into the skillsand abilities needed to perform the job effectively.

Personnel managementA term used with reference to a specialist organizational function or departmentresponsible for determining and enacting all policies and procedures that determine thevarious aspects of employment from recruitment and selection through to termination ofemployment. It is also a term used to describe a particular approach to peoplemanagement prior to and coexisting with the arrival of HRM. See Storeys twenty-sevenpoints of difference as an example as to the ways in which personnel management wastypified.

Pluralism


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A perspective on employment relations that recognizes conflict is an inherent factor in theemployment relationship. Employers and employees may have conflicting interests, butthese can be resolved to the mutual benefit of both by means of formal procedures,particularly bargaining relationships with trade unions.

PolycentricAn approach to HRM in multinational companies that focuses on the way in which theirsubsidiaries adapt their practices to respond to national level circumstances.

Positive actionThe use of measures, such as targets, designed to improve the employment andorganizational prospects of people from disadvantaged social groups.

Positive discriminationActions taken by organizations whereby people who belong to disadvantaged socialgroups are given preference over others in relation to recruitment, selection, promotion,etc.

Post-bureaucracyAn approach to understanding organizations that emphasizes the greater flexibility anddecentralization that mark their activities, and the more limited role for formal rules,procedures, and managerial hierarchies.

PrivatizationThe complete or partial sale of publicly (i.e. government) owned organizations to private-sector individuals or companies.

ProcessAn action or activity that produces change (transformation), and has inputs and outputsfor example, appraisal process.

Processual approachSees strategy as emerging in incremental steps over time.It acknowledges the bounded rationality involved in decision-making and therefore seesstrategy formation as the product of political compromise.

Product marketThe coming together of sellers and buyers of goods or services with the aim of completingthe sale of the item from a supplier to a purchaser.


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ProductivityA measure of performance relating output to a defined time period.

Psychometric tests

Standardized procedures that attempt to quantify some psychological attribute orattributes of an individual, such as sensitivity, memory, intelligence, aptitude, orpersonality.

Rational planning approachesUsually depicted as occurring at corporate, strategic business unit, and operational level,using a range of assessments to arrive at objectives.

Recruitment

A process aiming to attract a pool of suitably qualified candidates for a given position.Successful recruitment will result in the possibility of selecting and appointing a candidateto a post.

RedeploymentA method of effecting workforce reductions in one part of an organization by transferringstaff elsewhere in the same organization, often with appropriate retraining.

RedundancyA method used by employers to dismiss employees in circumstances where fewer staffare needed to undertake a particular set of work activities.

RepatriationThe process of returning a member of staff undertaking an international assignment to hisor her home-country environment.

Repetitive strain injury (RSI)

A term used to refer to a range of different upper-limb disorders, often, but not always,caused by fast or repetitive finger, hand, or arm movements.

Resource-based viewHolds that organizations have unique bundles of assets, and that access to these, coupledwith the companys ability to make effective use of them, provides the source ofcompetitive advantage within the marketplace. The resource in question must add value,be unique or rare, be inimitable, and not be capable of substitution by another resource bycompeting firms.


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Return on investment (or shareholder return)The amount of money returned to individuals or groups that invest in an organizationcompared with the initial amount invested.

Return-to-work interviewA meeting between an individual employee and a manager following every instance ofabsence.

Reverse diffusionThe transfer of HRM practices from the subsidiary of a multinational company to its homebase and throughout the firm as a whole.

Reward

A contemporary HR term signalling that employees come to work for more than just pay.

Reward strategyThe alignment of reward policies and practices with the strategic direction of theorganization in order to elicit managerially desired behaviours and performance fromemployees.

Scientific managementAn approach to managing work in organizations that holds that efficiency is best gained bydividing up jobs into narrow tasks, and getting appropriately trained workers to do themunder a regime of strict managerial control, with the prospect of financial reward as themain motivation to work hard.

SelectionApplying appropriate techniques and methods with the view to select, appoint, and theninduct a competent person or persons into a job.

Statistical discriminationUnfavourable treatment of an individual based on stereotypical behaviours believed toapply to the group to which that individual belongs.

StrategyThe simplest definition of strategy sees it as the characteristic way a company copes withengaging in business; the more complex view sees strategy as being concerned with thelong-term direction and scope of an organization, and how it secures competitiveadvantage and fulfils stakeholder expectations by the way it configures resources at itsdisposal (see Chapter 2).


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StrikeThe temporary withdrawal of labour by a group of workers, undertaken in order to expressa grievance or to enforce a demand.

Survivor syndromeA term used to describe the negative consequences of redundancy exercises on themotivation, morale, commitment, and performance of remaining staff.

Systemic approachesHighlight the importance of national, regional, and local factors such as culture, legislation,etc. to strategy formation.

Systematic training cycleDescribes a means of structuring training and development activity through engagementin four inter-related activities: needs analysis, design, delivery, and evaluation.

Talent managementRefers to the ability of an organization to attract, retain, and integrate workers as well asdeveloping existing employees in order to meet current and future business goals. Talentmanagement activities might relate to the whole of an organizations workforce, or beviewed more narrowly and focus on a more elite segment of employees or roles.

TeamworkingArrangements that allow workers to organize collectively and operate their work activitiesthemselves.

TechnologyThe use of knowledge, particularly scientific knowledge, in the design and/or production ofgoods and services.

Total quality management (TQM)A method of manufacturing a product or delivering a service in which quality is built in atall stages, and responsibility for quality shared by all staff.

Total rewardA holistic term to describe a combination of pay, employment benefits, and non-financial(intrinsic) rewards.

Trade union


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A membership organization comprised mainly of workers that is principally concerned withrepresenting their interests at work and in society at large.

Transformational change

Large-scale change that may not have a clearly defined end-statefor example,modernization of public services.

UnemploymentOften measured as a percentage of the labour force, it is the number of people who arenot in work but are actively seeking work.

Union recognitionThe act of an employer who agrees to enter into a formal relationship, usually involving

collective bargaining, with a trade union.

UnitaryA perspective on employment relations that emphasizes the harmony of interests thatexists between employers and their employees.

UniversalizationThe principle that ethical propositions should be capable of being applied to any similarcase (in an attempt to exclude the influence of self-interest).

UtilitarianismA form of consequentialist ethics that requires us to seek actions that are likely to result inthe greatest good for the greatest number: act utilitarianismconsiders the consequencesof the proposed act only, while rule utilitarianismconsiders the consequences if theproposed act were to become commonplace.

Validity

Selection methods possess face validity if, on the face of it, they seem to assess the areasthat the test purports to measure and are relevant to the job. A selection method has ahigh construct validity if it is based on sound evidence or underpinning theory.

VictimizationUnfavourable treatment experienced by an employee, or a group of employees, as aresult of their making a complaint at work.

Vocational Education and Training (VET)


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O f d U i it P 2012 All i ht d

This is concerned with ensuring that the nation achieves the levels of skills it needs.Therefore VET policies and practices are focused on facilitating their development.

Voluntarism

In the training and development context, voluntarism refers to government approachesthat let employers decide the degree of investment they want to make in this domain.

Voluntary redundancyA method of effecting redundancies in which staff are encouraged to leave employmentwith an organization of their own accord with the promise of an attractive financialsettlement.

Work-related stress

Physical and psychological ill-health caused or exacerbated by the characteristics andpressures of jobs.

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Gilmorewilliams2e Glossary