Civil Rights Act
Prohibits discrimination or segregation based on race, color, national origin, religion, and sex in terms of employment
Americans with Disabilities Act
Prohibits discrimination against a qualified individual with a disability because of their disability
Age Discrimination in Employment Act
Prohibits discrimination in employment against persons age 40 and over
USERRA
Requires that employers allow for continuation of certain benefits and employment by reason of service with the uniformed services
Systems Theory
Interacting parts that work together to absorb inputs, process them, and produce outputs
Blooms Taxonomy
Consists of six levels of cognitive learning
Maslows Hierarchy of Needs
Suggests that there are five basic human needs, arranged in a hierarchy. Physiological Needs e.g.: air, food, drink, shelter, sleep, sex; Safety & Security, Belonging and Love, Esteem e.g.: self and others; Self Actualization; listed from bottom to top.
Herzbergs's Motivation-Hygiene Theory
Theory that employees have two different categories of needs that are essentially independent of each other and effect behavior differently
McClelland's Theory
Theory that some people have an intense need to achieve while others do not.
Theory X and Y
Theory of two types of managers that either think employees inherently like to work or they don't like to work and need to be controlled.
Vroom's Expectancy Theory
Motivation Theory that states individuals link behaviors to outcomes and awards
Equity Theory
Theory that states people want to be treated fairly and so they make comparisons
Skinner's Behavioral Reinforcement Theory
Theory of behavioral reinforcement deals with how principles of behavior can be used in training or shaping behavior
SMART objectives
Consist of specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely objectives
Kirkpatricks Evaluation Levels
Focuses on evaluating effectiveness of program by looking at the levels of reaction, learning, behavior, and results
Succession Planning
A strategy to help identify and foster the development of high potential employees
Glass Ceilings
Barriers that have blocked the advancement of women and minorities within corporate hierarchies
Trait Theories
Theories that take the approach that leaders are born not made
Behavioral Theories
Theories that take the approach that how a person behaves determines the person's effectiveness
Blake Mountons Theory
Theory that uses two axes to describe leadership/management behaviors - concern for people vs concern for task
Hersey-Blanchard's Situational Leadership Theory
Theory suggests that leadership style should be matched to the maturity of the employees
Fielders Contingency Theory
Theory states that group performance is dependent upon the interaction between leadership style and situational favorableness
ADDIE model
Five-step instructional design process that governs the development of human resource development programs. Assesment, Design, Development, Implementation, Evaluation
Analysis
Level of learning characterized by understanding information to the level of being able to break it down and explain how it fits together.
Andragogy
Study of how adults learn.
Application
Level of learning characterized by ability to use learned information in a new situation.
Apprenticeship
Relates to technical skills training; often a partnership between employers and unions.
Aptitude
Ability to learn information or acquire a skill.
Asynchronous learning
Type of e-learning in which participants access information at different times and in different places.
Auditory learners
People who learn best by relying on their sense of hearing.
Bias
Occurs when an appraiser's values, beliefs, or prejudices distort performance ratings.
Blended learning
Planned approach to learning that includes a combination of methods such as classroom, e-learning, self-paced study, and performance support such as job aids or coaching.
Career development
Process by which individuals progress through a series of stages in their careers, each of which is characterized by relatively unique issues, themes, and tasks.
Career management
Preparing, implementing, and monitoring employees' career paths, with a primary focus on the goals of the organization.
Career planning
Actions and activities that individuals perform in order to give direction to their work life.
Cause-and-effect diagram
Diagram that maps out a list of factors that are thought to affect a problem or a desired outcome.
Central tendency error
Error that occurs when an appraiser rates all employees within a narrow range, regardless of differences in actual performance.
Check sheets
Simple visual tools used to collect and analyze data.
Competencies
Set of behaviors encompassing skills, knowledge, abilities, and personal attributes that are critical to successful work accomplishment.
Comprehension
Level of learning characterized by ability to translate or interpret information.
Contrast error
Error that occurs when an employee's rating is based on how his or her performance compares to that of another employee rather than objective standards.
Control chart
Chart that illustrates variations from normal in a situation over time.
Copyright
Form of protection provided by the U.S. government to authors of "original works" to exclude others from printing or otherwise duplicating, distributing, or vending copies of their literary, artistic, and other creative expressions.
Copyright Act
Act that defines the protection provided to authors of "original works" to exclude others from printing or otherwise duplicating, distributing, or vending copies of their literary, artistic, and other creative expressions, including through the various me
Core competencies
Skills, knowledge, and abilities that employees must possess in order to successfully perform job functions that are essential to business operations.
Decreasing Returns
Type of learning curve in which the amount of learning or skill level increases rapidly at first and then the rate of improvement slows.
Developmental activities
Activities that focus on preparing employees for future responsibilities while increasing their capacity to perform their current jobs.
Distance learning
Process of delivering educational or instructional programs to locations away from a classroom or site.
Diversity
Differences in characteristics of people; can involve personality, work style, race, age, ethnicity, gender, religion, education, functional level at work, etc.
Diversity training
Training designed to inform senior management and staff about diversity and to develop concrete skills that will facilitate enhanced productivity and communications among all employees.
Dual career ladders
Career development programs that identify meaningful career paths for professional and technical people whose preferences may be outside traditional management roles.
E-learning
Delivery of formal and informal training and educational materials, processes, and programs via the use of electronic media.
Emotional intelligence EI
Ability of an individual to be sensitive to and understanding of the emotions of others and to manage his or her own emotions and impulses.
Evaluation
Level of learning characterized by ability to make judgments.
Executive coaching
Coaching typically conducted by a third-party vendor to support managers in mastering the fundamental principles and practices for achieving extraordinary results and empowering staff success.
Expatriation
Process of sending employees abroad and supporting their ability to adapt to cultural changes and complete their international assignment.
External coaching
Coaching typically available to professional, exempt, and/or high-potential employees that is done in a private and confidential relationship with a trained or certified consultant/coach.
Extrinsic rewards
Rewards such as pay, benefits, bonuses, promotions, achievement awards, time off, more freedom and autonomy, special assignments, etc.
Fair use
Provision of the Copyright Act that allows the use of copyrighted work in certain circumstances.
Fast-track programs
Career development programs that involve identifying a pool of potential leaders and rapidly increasing their leadership skill development.
Goal
Clear statement, usually in one sentence, of the purpose and intent of a human resource development program.
Halo effect
Occurs when an employee is extremely competent in one area and is therefore rated high in all categories.
High-context culture
Society or group where people have close connections over a long period of time and where many aspects of behavior are not made explicit, because most members know what to do and think from years of interaction.
Histogram
Graphic representation of the distribution of a single type of measurement; data is represented by a series of rectangles of varying heights.
Horn effect
Occurs when an employee receives an overall low rating because of one weakness.
Human resource development HRD
Set of systematic and planned activities designed by an organization to provide its members with the necessary skills and/or competencies to meet current and future job demands.
Increasing returns
Type of learning curve in which progress is initially slow because basics are being learned but then performance takes off after the initial learning phase.
Internal coaching
Consists of ongoing meetings between supervisors and employees to discuss the employee's career goals.
Intrinsic rewards
Meaningful work, good feedback on performance, autonomy, and other factors that lead to high levels of satisfaction in the job.
Job enlargement
Broadening the scope of a job by expanding the number of different tasks to be performed.
Job enrichment
Increases the depth of a job by adding responsibility for planning, organizing, controlling, and evaluation.
Job rotation
Movement between different jobs.
Kinesthetic learners
People who learn best through a hands-on approach; also called tactile learners.
Knowledge
Level of learning characterized by ability to recall specific facts.
Knowledge management KM
Process of creating, acquiring, sharing, and managing knowledge to augment individual and organizational performance.
Leadership
Ability of an individual to influence a group or another individual toward the achievement of goals and results.
Learning management system LMS
System that holds course content information and has the capability of tracking and managing employee course registrations, career development, and other employee development activities.
Learning objects LOs
Learning elements that may be reused in a variety of contexts; examples include animated graphics, job aids, and print modules.
Learning organization
Organization characterized by a capability to adapt to changes in environment.
Learning styles
Ways individuals learn and process ideas.
Leniency errors
Errors that are the result of appraisers who don't want to give low scores.
Low-context culture
Society where people tend to have many connections but of shorter duration and where behavior and beliefs may need to be spelled out explicitly so that those coming into the cultural environment know how to behave.
Management
Directing day-to-day organizational operations.
Mentoring
Developmentally oriented relationship between two individuals.
Motivation
Factors that initiate, direct, and sustain human behavior over time.
Needs assessment
Process by which an organization's needs are identified in order to help the organization accomplish its objectives; also called needs analysis.
Objectives
Results that participants will be able to perform at the end of a human resource development program.
Onboarding
Process of new employee assimilation into the organization, which often lasts up to six months or a year.
On-the-job training OJT
Training provided to employees at the work site utilizing demonstration and performance of job tasks.
Organizational culture
Shared attitudes and perceptions in an organization.
Organizational development OD
Process of enhancing the effectiveness of an organization and the well-being of its members through planned interventions.
Organizational learning
Certain types of learning activities or processes that may occur at any one of several levels in an organization.
Orientation
Initial phase of employee training that covers organizational goals and strategies, job responsibilities, and organizational policies.
Outplacement programs
Programs developed to assist displaced employees in finding jobs and adjusting to change.
Pareto chart
Vertical bar graph on which bar height reflects frequency or impact of causes.
Pedagogy
Study of the education of children.
Performance appraisal
Process that measures the degree to which an employee accomplishes work requirements.
Performance management
Process of maintaining or improving employee job performance through the use of performance assessment tools, coaching, and counseling as well as providing continuous feedback.
Performance standards
Expectations of management translated into behaviors and results that employees can deliver.
Pilot programs
Human resource development programs offered initially in a controlled environment with a segment of the target audience.
Plateau curve
Type of learning curve in which learning is fast at first but then flattens out with no apparent progress.
Plateaued career
Career state of employees who are no longer considered promotable.
Primacy error
Occurs when an appraiser gives more weight to an employee's earlier performance and discounts recent occurrences.
Process-flow analysis
Diagram of the steps involved in a process.
Public domain
Status of a work when copyright protection ends; in general, copyright protection covers the life of the author plus 70 years.
Recency error
Error that occurs when an appraiser gives more weight to recent occurrences and discounts an employee's earlier performance during the appraisal period.
Repatriation
Reintegrating employees into their home-country operations following an international assignment.
Replacement planning
Snapshot" assessment of the availability of qualified backup for key positions.
Reusable learning objects RLOs
Learning elements that may be reused in a variety of contexts; examples include animated graphics, job aids, and print modules.
Scatter diagram
Illustration that depicts possible relationships between two variables.
Six Sigma
Disciplined, data-driven approach and methodology for eliminating defects.
S-shaped curve
Type of learning curve in which learning occurs in a series of increasing and decreasing returns; usually seen when an employee is attempting to learn a difficult task that also requires specific insight.
Strictness
Error that occurs when an appraiser believes standards are too low and inflates the standards in an effort to make them meaningful.
Subject matter expert SME
Person who is well versed in the content of a human resource development program.
Synchronous learning
Type of e-learning in which participants interact together in real time.
Synthesis
Level of learning at which the learner is able to respond to new situations and determine trouble-shooting techniques and solutions.
Talent management
Development and integration of HR processes that attract, develop, engage, and retain the knowledge, skills, and abilities of employees that will meet current and future business needs.
Theory of constraints TOC
Systems management philosophy that states that every organization is hindered by constraints that come from its internal policies.
Title VII, Civil Rights Act of 1964
Prohibits discrimination or segregation based on race, color, national origin, religion, and sex in all terms and conditions of employment.
Total quality management TQM
Strategic, integrated management system for achieving customer satisfaction that involves all managers and employees and uses quantitative methods to continuously improve an organization's processes.
Trainability
Readiness to learn, combining students' level of ability and motivation with their perceptions of the work environment.
Training
Process of providing knowledge, skills, and abilities KSAs specific to a task or job.
Transactional leadership
Leadership style that offers the promise of reward or the threat of discipline to motivate employees.
Transfer of training
Effective and continuing on-the-job application of the knowledge and skills gained during a learning experience.
Transformational leadership
Leadership style that motivates employees by inspiring them to join in a mutually satisfying achievement.
Visual learners
People who learn best by relying on their sense of sight.