Glossary
The HR & performance glossary
Clear, plain-English definitions of the terms people leaders actually use, with the formulas, worked examples, and honest answers behind them.
Performance Management
6 terms
How companies set expectations, review work, and help people improve.
9-Box Grid
The 9-box grid is a talent review tool that plots employees on two axes: current performance and future potential, each rated low, medium, or high. That creates a 3x3 grid of nine boxes. Leaders use it to decide who to develop, promote, retain, or support, and to build succession plans. It is adapted from the GE-McKinsey matrix used in business strategy.
Bell Curve (in Performance Appraisal)
The bell curve, also called forced distribution or stack ranking, is a performance appraisal method that sorts employees into fixed rating buckets. A small share are rated top performers, most land in the middle, and a small share are rated low. A common split is 20% high, 70% average, and 10% low, regardless of how the team actually performed.
Managing Underperforming Employees
Managing underperformance is the process a manager follows when an employee consistently falls short of agreed expectations. It starts with finding the cause, moves through clear expectations, support, and regular check-ins, and only escalates to a formal performance improvement plan if things don't improve. The goal is to fix the performance, not build a paper trail.
Performance Improvement Plan (PIP)
A performance improvement plan (PIP) is a formal, written plan that sets out where an employee is falling short, what good performance looks like, the support they will get, and the deadline to improve. PIPs usually run 30, 60, or 90 days. At the end, the employee either meets the goals, gets an extension, or faces further action.
Performance Management
Performance management is the ongoing process of setting expectations, tracking progress, giving feedback, and reviewing results so employees and teams contribute to company goals. It is broader than the annual review. It covers goal setting, 1:1s, continuous feedback, development, recognition, and, when needed, formal improvement plans.
Performance Metrics
Performance metrics are the measures used to judge how well an employee, team, or organisation is doing against its goals. In people management, they usually cover four things: the quantity of work, its quality, its efficiency, and behaviours like collaboration. Good metrics are tied to goals, agreed upfront, and paired with context.
Goals, OKRs & KPIs
6 terms
How teams set direction and measure whether they got there.
KPI (Key Performance Indicator)
KPI stands for key performance indicator. It is a measurable value that shows how well a person, team, or company is performing against its most important ongoing objectives. "Key" is the important word: out of everything you could measure, KPIs are the handful that tell you whether the business is healthy.
OKR (Objectives and Key Results)
OKR stands for objectives and key results. It is a goal-setting framework where an objective describes what you want to achieve in plain, ambitious language, and 3 to 5 key results describe how you will measure it. OKRs are usually set quarterly, shared openly across the company, and scored at the end of the cycle.
Performance Goals
Performance goals are specific, measurable targets that define what an employee is expected to achieve in their role over a set period. They are agreed between manager and employee, tied to team or company priorities, and used to assess performance at review time. They focus on results in the current job, unlike development goals, which focus on growth.
Personal Goals for Work
Personal goals for work are targets an employee sets for themselves to improve how they work, grow as a person, or keep a healthy balance. They overlap with professional goals but are more self-directed: habits, mindset, confidence, boundaries, and wellbeing at work. Some are shared with a manager. Others stay private.
Professional Goals
Professional goals, or work goals, are targets an employee sets to improve their performance, build skills, or move their career forward. Some are about the current role, like hitting a quality target. Others are about growth, like learning a new skill or preparing for a promotion. The best ones are agreed with a manager and reviewed regularly.
SMART Goals
SMART goals are goals written to be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. The acronym is a checklist that turns a vague intention like "get better at sales" into a goal anyone can verify, such as "close 12 new mid-market deals by 31 March". It was first described by George T. Doran in 1981.
Engagement & Retention
19 terms
Why people stay, why they leave, and what keeps them invested.
Absenteeism
Absenteeism is a pattern of unplanned or habitual absence from work, beyond agreed time off like vacation or public holidays. Occasional sick days are normal. Absenteeism refers to absence that is frequent, unexplained, or rising, and it is often a signal of deeper issues such as burnout, disengagement, health problems, or caregiving pressure.
Attrition Rate
Attrition rate is the percentage of employees who leave an organisation over a set period, usually a month or a year. It covers resignations, retirements, and terminations. In many companies "attrition" specifically means departures where the role is not backfilled, while "turnover" covers all exits. Definitions vary, so state yours on every report.
Clan Culture
Clan culture is a type of organisational culture that is collaborative, people-focused, and feels like an extended family. Leaders act as mentors, loyalty and teamwork are highly valued, and decisions are often made by consensus. It is one of four culture types in the Competing Values Framework developed by Kim Cameron and Robert Quinn, alongside adhocracy, market, and hierarchy cultures.
Company Culture
Company culture, also called corporate or organisational culture, is the shared set of values, beliefs, behaviours, and unwritten rules that shape how people work together. It shows up in what gets rewarded, what gets tolerated, how decisions are made, and how people treat each other when things go wrong. It is what employees describe when they tell a friend what it is really like to work there.
Employee Burnout
Employee burnout is a state caused by chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed. The World Health Organization describes it as an occupational phenomenon with three dimensions: exhaustion, increased mental distance from or cynicism about one's job, and reduced professional effectiveness. It builds over time and is driven mostly by how work is designed, not by individual weakness.
Employee Engagement
Employee engagement is the level of emotional commitment and energy employees bring to their work and their organisation. Engaged employees care about outcomes, put in discretionary effort, and want to stay. It is different from satisfaction: a person can be satisfied with their pay and perks and still not care much about the work.
Employee Engagement Metrics
Employee engagement metrics are the measures a company uses to track how committed, motivated, and connected employees are. They combine survey-based measures, like engagement scores and eNPS, with behavioural measures, like retention, absenteeism, and participation. No single metric tells the full story, so they are read together and tracked over time.
Employee Engagement Survey
An employee engagement survey is a questionnaire that measures how committed, motivated, and connected employees feel about their work and organisation. It usually combines rating-scale questions with a few open questions, is run anonymously, and is repeated over time so trends can be tracked. The results only matter if leaders share them and act on them.
Employee Experience
Employee experience (EX) is the sum of every interaction a person has with an organisation, from the job ad they first read to the exit interview on their last day. It includes the work itself, managers and colleagues, tools, physical or remote workspace, and policies. It is the employee version of customer experience.
Employee Retention
Employee retention is an organisation's ability to keep its employees over time. It is tracked as retention rate: the percentage of employees who were on the payroll at the start of a period and are still there at the end. Retention is the flip side of attrition, but it is measured on a fixed starting group, so new hires do not inflate it.
Employee Turnover
Employee turnover is the rate at which employees leave an organisation over a period and are typically replaced. It counts all separations: resignations, dismissals, layoffs, and retirements. Turnover rate is usually reported monthly or annually and broken into voluntary and involuntary turnover, because each points to different causes.
Employee Wellbeing
Employee wellbeing is the overall health and quality of life of employees, as shaped by their work and workplace. It usually covers four pillars: physical, mental, social, and financial wellbeing. It is broader than a wellness programme. Workload, manager behaviour, flexibility, and pay all affect wellbeing more than perks do.
eNPS (Employee Net Promoter Score)
eNPS (employee net promoter score) is a one-question measure of employee loyalty. Employees answer "How likely are you to recommend this company as a place to work?" on a scale from 0 to 10. The score is the percentage of promoters (9 to 10) minus the percentage of detractors (0 to 6). It ranges from −100 to +100. It is adapted from the customer Net Promoter Score.
Extrinsic Motivation
Extrinsic motivation is the drive to do something because of an outcome outside the activity itself: a reward to earn or a consequence to avoid. At work, that includes salary, bonuses, commissions, promotions, public recognition, and deadlines. It is the opposite of intrinsic motivation, where the work itself is the reward.
Intrinsic Motivation
Intrinsic motivation is the drive to do something because the activity itself is satisfying, interesting, or meaningful, not because of a reward or pressure from outside. At work, it looks like an engineer refactoring code because she enjoys making it clean, or a manager mentoring because he likes seeing people grow.
Occupational Wellness
Occupational wellness is the sense of satisfaction, purpose, and balance a person gets from their work. It is one of the commonly cited dimensions of overall wellness, alongside physical, emotional, social, financial, and others. It covers whether your work uses your skills, fits your values, offers growth, and leaves room for a life outside it.
Presenteeism
Presenteeism is when employees are at work, in person or online, but not functioning at full capacity because they are unwell, exhausted, stressed, or distracted. It includes working while sick and the habit of staying visibly "on" to look committed. It is harder to see than absenteeism, but often costs more in lost output.
Quiet Quitting
Quiet quitting means doing the work your job requires and nothing beyond it. No unpaid overtime, no extra projects, no answering messages after hours. The person has not resigned. They have stopped going above and beyond. The term went viral on social media in 2022 and became shorthand for disengagement.
Retention Bonus
A retention bonus is a one-time payment offered to an employee for staying with the company until a set date or milestone. Companies use them during mergers and acquisitions, restructures, major projects, or when a critical person is at risk of leaving. The money is usually paid only if the employee is still employed on the agreed date.
Feedback, Reviews & 1:1s
13 terms
How feedback and reviews actually drive growth, not just paperwork.
360-Degree Feedback
360-degree feedback, or a 360 review, is a process where an employee gets feedback from people all around them at work: their manager, peers, direct reports, and sometimes clients, plus their own self-assessment. Responses are usually anonymous and combined into one report. It is mainly used for development, especially for managers and leaders.
Coaching Leadership Style
The coaching leadership style is an approach where a manager focuses on developing people's long-term capability rather than just directing the task in front of them. Coaching leaders ask more than they tell, give regular feedback, and hand people stretch work. It is one of the six leadership styles Daniel Goleman described in his 2000 Harvard Business Review article "Leadership That Gets Results".
Coaching vs Mentoring
Coaching and mentoring are both one-to-one development relationships, but they work differently. Coaching is focused on specific goals or skills, usually over a set period, and the coach mostly asks questions to help the person find their own answers. Mentoring is a longer, broader relationship in which a more experienced person shares advice, perspective, and connections to guide someone's career.
Employee Feedback
Employee feedback is information given to an employee about their work, behaviour, or impact so they can keep doing what works and change what doesn't. It flows in several directions: from managers, from peers, and from employees back up to their managers. It can be informal and in the moment, or formal, as part of a review or 360.
Employee Recognition
Employee recognition is the act of acknowledging an employee's contribution, effort, or behaviour, publicly or privately. It can come from managers, peers, or leadership, and it can be informal (a specific thank-you in Slack) or part of a formal programme (awards, peer-nominated shout-outs). Rewards are tangible, like bonuses or gifts. Recognition is the acknowledgement itself.
GROW Coaching Model
The GROW model is a four-step framework for coaching conversations: Goal, Reality, Options, Will (sometimes "Way forward"). The coach helps the person define what they want, look honestly at where they are, explore possible paths, and commit to specific next steps. It was developed in the 1980s by Graham Alexander, Alan Fine, and Sir John Whitmore.
Interview Feedback
Interview feedback is the structured assessment an interviewer records after an interview, plus any feedback shared with the candidate. Internal feedback rates the candidate against the role's criteria, with evidence from the conversation, and a clear hire or no-hire recommendation. Candidate feedback explains the outcome and, ideally, one or two specific points they can use.
Leadership Coaching
Leadership coaching is a one-to-one development process in which a trained coach helps a manager or executive improve how they lead. Sessions focus on the leader's specific goals and challenges, such as delegating, giving feedback, managing conflict, or leading through change. Coaches mostly ask questions and offer frameworks rather than giving direct advice.
Performance Review
A performance review, also called a performance appraisal or evaluation, is a formal assessment of an employee's work over a set period, usually six or twelve months. The manager and employee look back at goals, results, and behaviours, agree on a rating or summary, and set goals for the next period. Reviews often feed pay and promotion decisions.
Performance Review Comments
Performance review comments are the written statements a manager (and often the employee) adds to a performance review to explain ratings, describe strengths, and set expectations. Good comments are specific, tied to goals, and backed by examples. Weak comments are adjectives like "great team player" that nobody can act on.
Positive Feedback
Positive feedback is specific recognition of something a person did well, given so they understand exactly what to repeat. It is different from praise. "Great job" is praise. "Your one-page summary let the exec team decide in ten minutes" is positive feedback, because it names the behaviour and its impact.
Self-Assessment
A self-assessment, or self-evaluation, is an employee's written review of their own performance over a set period, usually completed before a formal performance review. It covers results against goals, strengths, areas to improve, and goals for the next period. The manager reads it before the meeting so the conversation starts from both views.
Talent Review
A talent review is a structured meeting in which leaders discuss employees' performance, potential, and readiness for bigger roles. It is used to plan development, identify successors for key positions, spot retention risks, and make sure promotion decisions are consistent across teams. Many companies use the 9-box grid as the framework for the discussion.
Compensation & Rewards
2 terms
How pay is structured, benchmarked, and explained, from gross pay to OTE.
Gross Pay
Gross pay is the total amount an employee earns in a pay period before any taxes or deductions are taken out. It includes base wages or salary, overtime, bonuses, commissions, and taxable allowances. Net pay, or take-home pay, is what is left after deductions like income tax, social security, retirement contributions, and benefits premiums.
On-Target Earnings (OTE)
OTE (on-target earnings) is the total pay an employee can expect in a year if they hit 100% of their targets. It is base salary plus variable pay, usually commission or bonus. OTE is standard in sales job offers, where a role might be advertised as "$80k base, $160k OTE". It is a projection, not a guarantee.
HR Metrics & Formulas
4 terms
The numbers that measure your workforce: capacity, cost, and turnover.
FTE (Full-Time Equivalent)
FTE (full-time equivalent) is a unit that converts the hours worked by all employees into the number of full-time employees those hours represent. One FTE equals one person working a full schedule, usually 40 hours a week. A part-timer on 20 hours counts as 0.5 FTE. It lets you compare workload and cost across mixed teams.
Headcount
Headcount is the total number of individual people employed by an organisation at a specific point in time. Every person counts as one, whether they work full-time or part-time. Companies decide whether to include contractors, interns, and people on leave, and should state that rule in every report. Headcount is different from FTE, which measures work capacity in full-time units.
Salary Benchmarking
Salary benchmarking is the process of comparing the pay for your roles against market data for similar roles, at similar levels, in similar locations and industries. Companies use it to set salary ranges, make competitive offers, and check internal fairness. The output is usually a pay range per role and level, anchored to a target market percentile.
Span of Control
Span of control is the number of direct reports a manager is responsible for. A narrow span means few reports per manager and more layers in the organisation. A wide span means many reports per manager and a flatter structure. The right span depends on the type of work, team experience, and how much of the manager's time goes to their own individual work.
