Human Resources (HR)

Vocabulary used in the world of

Human Resources
1. Absence

noun | a period of time when someone is not present at a

place, job, etc.

E.g. He has had a substantial number of absences this

year.
2. (Hold) accountable

adjective | responsible for and having to explain your

actions.

E.g. The Director knew that he would be held accountable

for any flaws in the strategy.
3. Apply

verb | put yourself forward as a candidate for a job.

E.g. Fifty people applied for the analyst position.

4. (Performance) Appraisal

noun | a meeting in which an employee discusses his or

her progress, objectives, and needs at work with his or
her manager.

E.g. Our company carries out performance appraisals

once a year.
5. Asset

noun | something valuable owned by an organization

available for the payment of debts or to generate income |
a valuable quality.

E.g. We consider the company culture to be our most

valuable asset.
6. Attrition

noun | a term used to describe voluntary and involuntary

terminations, deaths, and employee retirements that
result in a reduction to the employer’s physical workforce.

E.g. The high attrition rates are something that we need to

resolve urgently.
7. Authoritarian

adjective | enforcing strict obedience to authority at the

expense of personal freedom.

E.g. His leadership style is on the authoritarian side.

8. Autonomous

adjective | independent and having the power to make

your own decisions.

E.g. Regarding the decision making, she has been very

autonomous.
9. Set the benchmark

collocation | a standard point or reference in which

something can be compared or evaluated.

E.g. We have set the benchmark for the succession plan

strategy.
10. Bias (towards)

noun | prejudice in favor of one thing or person compared

with another, in a way considered to be unfair.

E.g. The company has a bias towards younger people.

11. Breach

noun | an act of breaking a law, agreement, promise or

relationship.

E.g. The company was fined $10,000 for the breach of

contract with their supplier.
12. Briefing

noun | a meeting for giving information or instructions.

E.g. The new HR Manager gave a briefing this morning

about the new system which is going to be implemented.
13. Candidate

noun | a person who applies for a job or is competing for a

position.

E.g. There are five candidates competing for this position.

14. Cash flow

noun | the total amount of money moving into and out of

business.

E.g. The business will face a negative cash flow until

sales increase by around 50%.
15. Close

verb | to complete a business deal.

E.g. We decided to close the deal with our previous

supplier as they were offering the best price.
16. Cohesion

noun | when the members of a group are united.

E.g. The team is lacking cohesion.

17. Compulsory

adjective | when something must be done because of a

rule or law.

E.g. It isn’t compulsory to give our employees a private

health insurance benefit.
18. Conduct

noun | appropriate behavior of a person expected by the

organization they work for.

E.g. He was dismissed due to unsatisfactory conduct

around certain employees.
19. Confidential

adjective | to be kept secret.

E.g. Everything that was spoken in this meeting is

completely confidential.
20. Credible

adjective | able to be trusted.

E.g.I consider him to be a very credible person.

21. Cut

verb | a reduction in the amount or number of something.

E.g. Due to the crisis we have to cut costs.

22. Discrimination

noun | the practice of treating people differently from

others, especially in an unfair way.

E.g. The commission was set up to address issues of

discrimination in the workplace.
23. Dismiss

verb | to officially end the employment of someone.

E.g. The company dismissed two employees last month.

24. Doable

adjective | something that can be achieved.

E.g. I believe that this goal is perfectly doable.

25. Draw up

phrasal verb | to prepare something official in writing, e.g.

a contract.

E.g. We have selected the candidate, and all we have to

do now is draw up the contract for her to sign.
26. Enrolment (Or Enrollment -American English)

noun | the process of officially joining a course, training or

group.

E.g. For enrolment in the e-learning course you just have

to pay the fee before the 5th June.
27. Ethical

adjective | following accepted rules of behavior.

E.g. I don’t think his behaviour was ethical.

28. Evaluate

verb | to judge or calculate the value of something.

E.g. Let’s evaluate how much this strategy could cost us

in the long term.
29. Fall behind

phrasal verb | fail to do something in the expected

timeframe.

E.g. We have fallen behind schedule in the system

implementation. We need to come up with a new
deadline.
30. Fill in for someone

phrasal verb | to replace an employee during an absence.

E.g. I have to fill in for Sarah during her maternity leave.

31. Fire

verb | to remove someone from their job.

E.g. Two employees were fired after missing their sales

targets.
32. Foster

verb | to promote the growth or development of

something.

E.g. They were discussing the best way to foster a

positive work environment.
33. Framework

noun | the basic structure, system or process of

something.

E.g. We decided to restructure the communication

framework.
34. Ground-rule

noun | a basic rule or informal agreement about how

something should be done.

E.g. One of the ground rules to make our meetings more

creative is ‘nothing is personal’.
35. Impact

verb | to have a strong effect or influence on somebody or

something.

E.g. The new HR Director has had a huge impact on team

morale.
36. Incentive

noun | something which encourages or motivates a

person to do something.

E.g. We decided to invest more in Learning and

Development programs because we believe this is one of
the best incentives for our employees.
37. Innovation

noun | the introduction of a new idea or method.

E.g. One of our company’s core values is innovation.

38. Jargon

noun | the language used by a particular group of people.

E.g. “Thinking outside the box” is a jargon often used in

corporations.
39. Launch

noun | the official introduction of a new product or system.

E.g. Four new products will be launched this year.

40. Milestone

noun | an important stage in the development of

something

E.g. At the beginning of each month, we set milestones

for that particular month.
41. Misconduct

noun | unacceptable behavior by an employee.

E.g. The sales manager was found guilty of gross

professional misconduct.
42. Outsource

verb | when a company obtains a service from an outside

supplier.

E.g. The decision was made to outsource all IT-related

positions.
43. Overtime

noun | time spent working in addition to your normal

working hours.

E.g. Overtime pay increased by 10% in the last quarter.

44. Payroll

noun | the total amount of salaries that a company pays to

its employees

E.g. The monthly payroll is close to $1 million.

45. Position

noun | a job

E.g. I’m applying for the HR business partner position.

46. Promotion

noun | when someone is moved to a higher or more

important position in an organization.

E.g. Her promotion was based on exceptional results.

47. Resign

verb | to decide to leave a job or position.

E.g. He resigned as CEO.

48. Recruit

verb | to find suitable people to join a company or

organization.

E.g. Now that the economy is recovering, companies are

starting to recruit more.
49. Be made redundant

collocation | when you are no longer employed because

there is no more work available.

E.g. I was made redundant after working at the company

for twenty years.
50. Remuneration

noun | payment for work or services.

E.g. The remuneration package was below my

expectations so I declined the proposal.
51. Staff retention

noun | keeping employees in a position or job.

E.g. Our main focus this year is to increase staff retention.

52. Salary

noun | an amount of money that an employee is paid each

year.

E.g. This position has an excellent salary.

53. Shortage

noun | a situation in which there is not enough of

something.

E.g. There is a shortage of IT professionals in this country

so we need to hire from overseas.
54. Stakeholder

noun | a person who owns a share in a business.

E.g. The project faces opposition from a number of key

stakeholders.
55. Supplier

noun | a company or person that provides a service to an

organization.

E.g. We are a leading supplier for the automotive industry.

56. Systematic

adjective | done according to a particular system in an

organized way.

E.g. We adopted a systematic approach to recruiting.

57. Takeover

noun | taking control of a company by buying a sufficient

amount of its shares.

E.g. This company is a very attractive takeover target.

58. Turn down

phrasal verb | too refuse, not accept.

E.g. He turned down our 3% pay rise proposal.

59. Vacancy

noun | a job that is available in a company and that

people can apply for.

E.g. There are currently three vacancies in the

communications department.
60. Wage

noun | an amount of money that is paid either weekly,

fortnightly or monthly, to an employee for their work. It can
also describe an hourly rate of pay.

E.g. I accepted a 5% wage rise.