Human Resources

Question 1

ADDIE model

Answer 1

Analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation; a systems approach to training.

Question 2

Allied health professionals

Answer 2

Health professionals such as therapists, medical and radiologic technologists, social workers, health educators, and other ancillary personnel.

Question 3

Alternative dispute resolution

Answer 3

A specified conflict resolution process used in place of litigation; often a clause in an employment contract.

Question 4

Arbitration

Answer 4

A binding type of dispute resolution in which both parties agree beforehand to abide by the decision of a neutral third party called an arbitrator.

Question 5

Civil Rights Act of 1991

Answer 5

A US labor law that prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin; an amendment of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Question 6

Compensable factor

Answer 6

A fundamental element of a job, such as skills, knowledge, effort, working conditions, or responsibility, that is used as a basis for assigning points to a job and establishing compensation levels within a point system.

Question 7

Compensation strategy

Answer 7

The set of rewards that organizations provide to staff in exchange for their performance of various organizational tasks and jobs.

Question 8

Contingent workers

Answer 8

Two categories of workers defined by the US Department of Labor as (1) independent contractors and on-call workers, who are called to work only when needed, and (2) temporary or short-term workers.

Question 9

Criterion deficiency

Answer 9

A focus on a single performance criterion to the exclusion of other important, but perhaps less quantifiable, performance dimensions.

Question 10

Defined contribution plan

Answer 10

A type of retirement plan in which the employer provides a contribution to an account based on the employee’s current salary/earnings, and the employee can draw on the account after retirement with reduced tax liability.

Question 11

Disparate impact

Answer 11

The result of a practice that may appear to be neutral but has a discriminatory effect.

Question 12

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

Answer 12

A federal agency responsible for ending employment discrimination; files lawsuits on behalf of alleged victims of discrimination in the workplace.

Question 13

Equity theory

Answer 13

The theory that the perceived fairness of the relationship between what an employee contributes to an organization and what the employee receives in return affects the employee’s motivation and performance.

Question 14

Fair Labor Standards Act

Answer 14

The 1938 law that establishes a federal minimum wage, establishes a standard 40-hour workweek, and contains provisions for work performed beyond the standard workweek; also sets limits on child labor.

Question 15

Family and Medical Leave Act

Answer 15

The 1993 labor law that requires employers to provide 12 weeks of unpaid leave for family and medical emergencies, childbirth, and other significant personal events.

Question 16

Flexible spending account

Answer 16

An account that allows an employee to tax-defer, via payroll deduction, an amount that can be used to offset qualified expenses for medical care or dependent care.

Question 17

Forced distribution

Answer 17

A performance evaluation method in which managers are required to assign a defined percentage of employees to particular predetermined performance categories; also called forced ranking or stack ranking.

Question 18

Functional training

Answer 18

Training that produces personnel who can perform tasks but who may not know the theory behind the practice.

Question 19

Hostile environment sexual harassment

Answer 19

Sexual harassment that interferes with a victim’s work performance or creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive working environment that affects the victim’s psychological well-being.

Question 20

HR metrics

Answer 20

Measures of human resources outcomes and performance.

Question 21

Human resources information system

Answer 21

An integrated information system designed to provide managers with information for human resources decision making.

Question 22

Impaired practitioner

Answer 22

A healthcare professional who is unable to carry out the required professional duties with reasonable skill and safety because of a physical or mental illness, including deterioration through aging, loss of motor skill, or excessive use of drugs or alcohol.

Question 23

Intrinsic rewards

Answer 23

Intangible aspects of compensation, such as public recognition; praise from a supervisor; and feelings of accomplishment, recognition, or belonging to an organization.

Question 24

Learning collaboratives

Answer 24

Cooperatives whereby people on multiple quality improvement teams come together to learn from the successes (or shortcomings) of others in similar organizations working on similar quality improvement projects.

Question 25

Mandatory bargaining issues

Answer 25

Topics related to wages, hours, and other conditions of employment that must be negotiated between the union and the employer as part of collective bargaining.

Question 26

Mediation

Answer 26

A nonbinding type of dispute resolution in which a neutral third party, called a mediator, attempts to assist in negotiations between the two primary parties.

Question 27

Multisource appraisal

Answer 27

A form of performance evaluation in which many individuals-such as supervisors, subordinates, other coworkers, customers, and patients-provide a richer description of an employee’s performance than may be obtained from a single rater; also referred to as 360-degree feedback or multirater assessment.

Question 28

Negligent hiring

Answer 28

A situation in which an employer could have discovered a new employee’s problematic conduct through due diligence but failed to do so, making the employer liable for damages caused by the employee.

Question 29

Performance standards

Answer 29

Indicators of what a job is meant to accomplish, how performance is measured, and what the expected levels of job performance are.

Question 30

Personnel replacement charts

Answer 30

Lists of key personnel in an organization and their possible replacements in the organization, including information about their current performance and promotability.

Question 31

Person-organization fit

Answer 31

An approach to employee selection that emphasizes the extent to which an applicant’s attitudes, behaviors, values, and beliefs align with the culture, norms, and values of an organization; usually more difficult to measure than person-job fit.

Question 32

Peter Principle

Answer 32

The theory that employees in an organization will be promoted to their highest level of competence and then be promoted to and remain at a level at which they are incompetent.

Question 33

Progressive discipline system

Answer 33

A disciplinary system in which an employee is made aware of problematic performance and the steps required to correct it; the employee usually has a reasonable amount of time to correct the problems and is made aware of the consequences of failure to do so.

Question 34

Psychological safety

Answer 34

Belief that one will not be rejected or humiliated in a particular setting or role; also an atmosphere in which people feel free to express work-relevant thoughts and feelings.

Question 35

Qualified retirement plan

Answer 35

A type of retirement plan with strict eligibility and vesting requirements and strict taxable limits, in which an employee receives more tax benefits than from a nonqualified plan; typically the employee and employer are not taxed until the time a distribution is made.

Question 36

Realistic job preview

Answer 36

A process in which applicants are given a true picture of a job, including its strengths and weaknesses, through verbal information, discussions with job incumbents, employee shadowing, and other methods.

Question 37

Reasonable accommodation

Answer 37

The concept that it is the employer’s responsibility to make adjustments‚ within reasonable limits‚ for employees with physical or mental disabilities; reasonableness is determined on a case-by-case basis.

Question 38

Retaliatory discharge

Answer 38

An attempt by an employer to prevent an employee from filing a claim of discrimination against the employer, or to punish an employee for participating in a legal activity.

Question 39

Selection tools

Answer 39

Information-gathering methods used in employee selection, including application forms, criminal records checks, psychological tests, interviews, employment verification, drug screening, educational background, reference checks, verification of professional certifications, motor vehicle records checks, and credit history.

Question 40

Short-term disability insurance

Answer 40

An optional benefit (for which the employee must pay) that covers an employee from the time that an illness, condition, or disability starts to the time that the eligibility period for long-term disability has been satisfied

Question 41

Strategic human resources management

Answer 41

The process of formulating and executing human resources policies and practices that produce employee competencies and behaviors required for an organization to achieve its strategic objectives; the organization needs to implement the right mix of recruitment, selection, compensation, performance appraisal, employee development, and other human resources strategies, policies, and practices.

Question 42

Training design

Answer 42

The unifying thread of all training modes, in which the grand plan is established, timelines are set, and the overall project outline is created.

Question 43

Training development

Answer 43

The step of the training design process in which the training materials, including the curriculum and learning outcomes, take shape; also includes a dry run and feedback.

Question 44

Turnover rate

Answer 44

A ratio that provides a summary of the gross movement in and out of staff in an organization during a specific time frame.