HR Glossary
Plain-English definitions of the HR terms you'll hear most — no jargon, no fluff. From onboarding to people analytics.
Applicant Tracking System (ATS)
Software that manages the recruiting process — collecting applications, screening resumes, scheduling interviews, and tracking candidates through each hiring stage.
At-Will Employment
An employment arrangement where either the employer or employee can end the relationship at any time, for any lawful reason, without notice. Standard in most U.S. states, with exceptions for discrimination and retaliation.
Attrition
The gradual reduction of a workforce when employees leave and are not replaced, as opposed to layoffs or terminations.
Background Check
A pre-employment screening that verifies a candidate's identity, work history, education, criminal record, or credit, subject to FCRA and state law requirements.
Benefits Administration
The process of managing employee benefits programs such as health insurance, retirement plans, and paid leave — including enrollment, compliance, and vendor management.
Compensation Benchmarking
Comparing your pay ranges against market data for similar roles, industries, and locations to keep salaries competitive and equitable.
Compliance Audit
A structured review of HR policies, records, and practices to verify they meet federal, state, and local employment laws.
DEI (Diversity, Equity & Inclusion)
Organizational practices aimed at building a workforce with varied backgrounds (diversity), fair treatment and access (equity), and a culture where everyone can contribute (inclusion).
Employee Engagement
The emotional commitment employees have to their organization and its goals. Engaged employees are more productive, stay longer, and deliver better customer outcomes.
Employee Handbook
A document that communicates company policies, expectations, benefits, and culture to employees, and serves as a key compliance and communication tool.
Employee Lifecycle
The stages an employee moves through with an organization: attraction, recruitment, onboarding, development, retention, and separation.
Employee Relations
The HR function focused on maintaining positive employer-employee relationships — handling conflicts, grievances, investigations, and workplace concerns.
Employee Value Proposition (EVP)
The unique set of rewards and benefits — pay, growth, culture, purpose — an employer offers in return for an employee's skills and commitment.
Employer Brand
Your company's reputation as a place to work, shaped by culture, reviews, candidate experience, and how you treat employees.
Exempt vs. Non-Exempt
A classification under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Non-exempt employees must receive overtime pay; exempt employees (meeting salary and duties tests) do not.
Exit Interview
A structured conversation with a departing employee to understand why they're leaving and gather feedback to improve retention.
FMLA (Family and Medical Leave Act)
A U.S. federal law giving eligible employees up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave per year for qualifying family and medical reasons.
Fractional HR
A model where experienced HR leaders work with a company part-time — providing senior-level strategy and execution without the cost of a full-time hire.
HRIS (Human Resources Information System)
Software that centralizes employee data and automates HR processes like payroll, benefits, time tracking, and reporting.
Job Architecture
A structured framework of job families, levels, and titles that supports consistent pay, career paths, and organizational design.
Job Description
A written summary of a role's responsibilities, required skills, qualifications, and reporting relationships — foundational for hiring, performance, and compliance.
KPI (Key Performance Indicator)
A measurable value that shows how effectively an individual, team, or company is achieving business objectives.
Offboarding
The structured process of separating an employee from the organization — final pay, benefits transitions, equipment return, knowledge transfer, and exit interviews.
Onboarding
The process of integrating new hires into the organization — paperwork, training, introductions, and goal-setting — typically over the first 30 to 90 days.
Organizational Design
The deliberate structuring of roles, teams, reporting lines, and workflows so the organization can execute its strategy effectively.
PEO (Professional Employer Organization)
A firm that co-employs a company's workforce to provide payroll, benefits, and HR compliance services under a shared-liability arrangement.
People Analytics
Using workforce data — hiring, engagement, performance, turnover — to make evidence-based decisions about people and organizational strategy.
Performance Improvement Plan (PIP)
A formal document outlining specific performance gaps, expectations, support, and a timeline for an employee to improve.
Performance Management
The ongoing process of setting goals, giving feedback, evaluating results, and developing employees to improve individual and company performance.
Progressive Discipline
A step-by-step approach to addressing workplace issues — typically verbal warning, written warning, final warning, then termination — designed to give employees a fair chance to improve.
Retention Rate
The percentage of employees who stay with the organization over a given period. High retention usually signals healthy culture, pay, and management.
Span of Control
The number of direct reports a manager supervises. Wider spans reduce cost but can dilute coaching; narrower spans allow closer management.
Succession Planning
Identifying and developing employees to fill key leadership and critical roles when they become vacant, reducing business disruption.
Talent Acquisition
The strategic process of finding, attracting, and hiring skilled people — including sourcing, employer branding, interviewing, and offer management.
Total Rewards
Everything an employee receives in exchange for their work: salary, bonuses, benefits, equity, recognition, development, and work-life programs.
Turnover Rate
The percentage of employees who leave an organization during a period. Calculated as separations divided by average headcount, and a key indicator of organizational health.
Upskilling
Training current employees to build new or deeper skills so they can grow into evolving roles instead of being replaced by outside hires.
Workforce Planning
Forecasting the talent the business will need — headcount, skills, and timing — and building hiring, development, and budget plans to meet it.
Wrongful Termination
Firing an employee in violation of the law or an employment agreement — for example, for discriminatory or retaliatory reasons.
360-Degree Feedback
A performance review method that gathers input from an employee's manager, peers, direct reports, and sometimes customers for a well-rounded view.