Human Resource Management, 3rd Edition

Glossary

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Absolute measures Performance ratings that assess an employee's contribution in comparison to a fixed standard or benchmark.

Acceptability A characteristic of selection methods that reflects applicants' beliefs about the appropriateness of the selection methods.

Achievement A selection approach emphasizing existing skills and past accomplishments.

Action planning A process in which employees plan how they will achieve their goals.

Adverse impact Discrimination that results from employer practices that are not discriminatory on their face but have a discriminatory effect.

Affinity group A group of similar employees that meets to support one another.

Affirmative action plan A plan aimed at increasing representation of employees from protected classes who have historically been victims of discrimination.

Agency shop An organization that requires employees to pay the equivalent of union dues even if they are not union members.

Agency theory An economic theory that uses differences in the interests of principals (owners) and agents (employees) to describe reactions to compensation.

Alignment The state in which organizational practices are in their proper place relative to other practices.

Alternate-forms method A process of estimating reliability that compares scores on different versions of a selection assessment.

Arbitration A process in which a neutral third party resolves a dispute by issuing a binding decision; in the context of labor relations, arbitration is generally ...