HR Glossary: Essential Terms and Concepts for HR Managers

Welcome to the ultimate resource for HR managers seeking to deepen their understanding of essential HR terms, tools, and strategies. In today’s dynamic workplace, HR professionals play a critical role in managing talent, fostering workplace culture, ensuring compliance, and driving organizational success. This glossary has been carefully organized into logical groups, each focusing on specific areas like recruitment, employee relations, compensation, and performance management. Whether you’re looking to refine your hiring process, enhance employee engagement, or stay on top of industry trends, this comprehensive guide provides easy access to over 400 key HR concepts. Explore the categories below and empower your HR strategy with the insights and knowledge needed to succeed.

Recruitment Process & Sourcing

This section addresses the entire recruitment process, from sourcing talent to onboarding new hires. HR professionals can find key insights and tools to optimize the hiring pipeline and enhance candidate experience.

• Applicant Tracking System (ATS)
• Boolean Search in Recruitment
• Candidate Engagement
• Candidate Experience
• Candidate Journey
• Candidate Journey Mapping
• Candidate Persona
• Candidate Portal
• Direct Hire
• Direct Placement
• Contingency Recruiting
• Contract Recruiter
• CRM Software for Recruiters
• Crowdsourcing
• Passive Job Searching
• Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO)
• Talent Acquisition
• Talent Community
• Talent Pipeline
• Talent Pool
• Applicant files
• Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSA)
• Job Hopper
• Outbound Hiring
• DOE – Depends on Experience
• Acqui-hiring
• Personality tests – psychometric testing
• Hidden Job Market
• Placement
• Random Testing
• Behavioral Interview
• Applicant flow data
• Facebook Recruiting
• Talent Sourcing
• Job Advertisement
• Snagajob

Compensation & Benefits

Understanding how to structure employee compensation and benefits is crucial for HR professionals. This group focuses on various compensation models, retirement plans, and benefits that can enhance employee satisfaction and retention.

• 401(k) Plan
• 403(b) Plan
• Base Wage Rate
• Deferred Compensation
• Defined Benefit Plan
• Defined Contribution
• Back Pay
• Bereavement Leave
• Cafeteria Plan
• Compensatory Time-Off Plan
• Employee Referral Program
• Benefits Administration
• Flexible Spending Account (FSA)
• Health Care Flexible Spending Account (FSA)
• Health Savings Accounts (HSA)
• Voluntary Benefits
• Long-Term Care Insurance
• Supplemental Unemployment Benefits (SUB)
• Full-time equivalent (FTE)
• Functional job analysis
• Reputation Management
• Floating Holiday

Workplace Culture & Employee Relations

The employee experience is shaped by workplace culture and strong HR practices. These terms focus on maintaining positive employee relations, fostering a culture of respect, inclusion, and productivity, and managing conflict when necessary.

• Company Culture
• Workplace Diversity
• Workplace Nepotism
• Work-Life Balance
• Employee Relations
• Employee Self-Service
• Employee Retention
• Employee Turnover
• Employee Referral
• Absence management
• Replacement charts
• Cost of Living Adjustment
• Labor turnover
• Micromanagement
• Availability analysis
• Yield ratio
• Forced Ranking

HR Strategy & Workforce Planning

This group delves into the strategic aspects of HR, including workforce planning, talent management, and leadership development. These topics help HR managers align HR goals with organizational objectives.

• Strategic Human Resource Management
• Succession Planning
• Workforce Planning
• HR Audit
• Leadership Development
• HR Software
• Human Resource Information System (HRIS)
• Human Resource Outsourcing (HRO)
• Talent Management
• Career planning
• Career plateau
• De minimis rule
• Bradford Formula
• V-time
• Skill-based Pay
• Turnover costs
• Labor piracy
• Action-reflection learning (ARL)
• Direct Report
• Redundancy

Diversity & Inclusion

Diversity and inclusion are top priorities for modern HR managers. This group addresses strategies for creating a workplace that embraces diversity, equality, and inclusion, enhancing both culture and performance.

• Diversity
• Dimensions of Diversity
• Diversity Training
• Affirmative Action
• Affirmative Action Plan (AAP)
• Age Discrimination
• Glass Ceiling
• Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO)
• Freedom of Association
• Genetic-Based Discrimination

Explore More: Your Complete HR & Recruitment Guide

Looking to deepen your HR and recruitment knowledge? The TalentLyft HR & Recruitment Guide provides expert insights across a wide range of essential topics to help HR professionals refine their strategies and optimize hiring practices. Explore over 20 topics that cover everything from improving candidate engagement to leveraging the latest technology in recruitment.

• Candidate Engagement – Learn how to keep candidates actively interested throughout the recruitment process.
• Employer Branding – Discover how to build a strong employer brand that attracts top talent.
• Workplace Diversity – Strategies to promote diversity and inclusion in your organization.
• AI in Recruitment – Understand how artificial intelligence is transforming recruitment processes.
• Recruitment Marketing – How to attract candidates by applying marketing principles to recruitment.
• Onboarding – Learn effective techniques for welcoming new employees.
• Talent Sourcing – Discover the best methods for sourcing talent efficiently.
• Pre-employment Screening – Ensure you’re hiring the right person through robust screening processes.
• Data-Driven Recruiting – Leverage analytics to make smarter hiring decisions.
• Interview Techniques – Improve your interview strategies to better evaluate candidates.
• Employee Retention – Best practices for retaining top talent and reducing turnover.
• Compensation and Benefits – Design competitive packages that attract and keep the best employees.
• Remote Hiring – Adapt to the rise of remote work with effective remote hiring strategies.
• Job Ad Optimization – Craft job ads that attract qualified candidates.
• Social Media Recruiting – Tap into social media channels to find and engage candidates.
• Employee Value Proposition (EVP) – Build a compelling EVP to differentiate your company from competitors.
• HR Analytics – Use HR analytics to measure success and improve recruitment outcomes.
• Employer Value Proposition – Craft a strong EVP to draw in top-tier talent.
• Passive Candidates – Learn how to engage passive candidates effectively.
• Employee Engagement – Improve engagement and performance within your team.
• Mobile Recruiting – Optimize your recruitment strategy for mobile users.
• Video Interviewing – Conduct efficient interviews using video technology.

Enhance your HR strategies by exploring these topics and more. Visit the TalentLyft HR & Recruitment Guide now to stay ahead of industry trends and empower your recruitment process!