HR Glossary: 30 Definitions and Terms to Know from A to Z
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Considering a career in Human Resources, or simply aiming to stay on top of the latest developments shaping the profession? Then understanding key HR terminology is essential. To help you navigate this evolving landscape, HR Challenges brings you a comprehensive HR glossary featuring 30 must-know concepts and definitions.
A – D
Absenteeism
Absenteeism refers to all unplanned employee absences, including illness, accidents or unjustified absences. It is a major HR indicator as it can reflect deteriorating workplace climate, excessive workloads, declining engagement or organisational inefficiencies. Companies typically monitor absenteeism monthly or annually in order to adjust their prevention and workforce management policies.
Annual / Development Review
The annual performance review assesses an employee’s achievements and objectives. The development review (or professional interview) focuses on skills, career aspirations and training needs. Both are key tools for aligning talent development with organisational goals.
Bore-out (Burnout from Boredom)
Bore-out is a form of professional exhaustion caused not by work overload — as is the case with burnout — but by boredom, lack of stimulation and underutilisation of skills.
Burnout (Professional Exhaustion)
Burnout is characterised by physical and emotional exhaustion resulting from prolonged stress. It is frequently linked to work overload, but can also stem from loss of meaning or internal tensions. Recognised as a major psychosocial risk, it requires both collective prevention measures and individual support.
Change Management Support
This term refers to the methods, tools and managerial practices designed to support employees during organisational transformation — new structures, digitisation, new tools or leadership styles. Beyond technical training, effective change support relies on transparent communication, active listening and managerial preparation to reduce resistance and foster collective buy-in.
Corporate Culture
Corporate culture encompasses the shared values, behaviours and rituals within an organisation. It influences decision-making, leadership approaches and daily work practices. A strong culture fosters cohesion and engagement, but requires consistency between stated values and everyday actions.
E – H
Employee Engagement
Engagement reflects an employee’s motivation, satisfaction and level of involvement in their role and the organisation. Engaged employees show initiative, accountability and contribute actively to collective success. As a human-centred metric, engagement provides powerful insights into organisational health.
Employee Experience
Employee experience captures the overall perception of an employee throughout their journey—from recruitment to offboarding. Inspired by customer experience principles, it aims to create a qualitative, continuously improved environment informed by feedback and data.
Employee Well-being
Employee well-being encompasses the physical, psychological and social conditions that enable employees to feel healthy and supported at work. It is shaped by factors such as management quality, work-life balance, autonomy and recognition. Well-being is directly linked to engagement, performance and retention.
Employer Attractiveness
Employer attractiveness describes an organisation’s ability to attract talent through its reputation, HR practices, employee benefits, leadership style or societal commitments. In a labour market marked by talent shortages, employer attractiveness has become a strategic metric at the core of modern HR strategies.
Flex Office
The flex office eliminates fixed workstations in favour of modular zones. Increasingly adopted, it aims to optimise office space, encourage collaboration and support hybrid working models. When well implemented, it boosts flexibility without compromising productivity.
Hybrid Work
Hybrid work combines remote and on-site work. Beyond simply balancing home and office presence, hybrid work prompts organisations to rethink structures, tools, leadership, spaces and collaboration rules. When well mastered, it supports well-being and performance simultaneously.
Human Sustainability
A recent concept encouraging organisations to measure their impact on employees’ health, well-being, skills and career development — going beyond traditional CSR approaches. Human sustainability places long-term workforce resilience at the centre of business strategy.
I - P
Inclusion
Inclusion aims to create an environment where everyone — regardless of their characteristics — can contribute fully and be treated equitably. Inclusion goes beyond diversity by emphasising individual recognition and a sense of belonging for every employee.
Internal Mobility
Internal mobility refers to role, position or departmental changes within the same organisation. A strong internal mobility strategy helps retain talent, avoid stagnation, develop skills and address organisational needs — making it mutually beneficial for both employees and employers.
Leadership
Leadership is the ability of a manager to inspire and unite a team. Beyond hierarchical authority, leadership is a soft skill rooted in communication, listening, role modelling and empathy. Modern leadership trends emphasise collaboration, transparency and adaptability.
Offboarding
Offboarding refers to the structured process of managing an employee’s departure — the counterpart of onboarding. While onboarding impacts integration and performance, offboarding influences employer branding and employee advocacy, even after departure.
Onboarding
Onboarding includes all steps that help new employees integrate quickly: welcome processes, training, introductions and managerial support. A well-designed onboarding journey reduces early turnover and accelerates skill acquisition.
Participative Management
This management style involves employees in decision-making and problem-solving. By creating collective awareness around issues and decisions, participative management fosters autonomy, accountability and ownership.
People Analytics
People analytics refers to the use of HR data to guide decisions and anticipate workforce needs. It helps identify trends, detect risks and optimise HR policies while respecting ethical and data-protection standards.
Presenteeism
Presenteeism occurs when an employee is physically present but performing below capacity, or when they work despite temporary incapacity — often at the expense of their health. It can also refer to employees consistently working far beyond expectations, jeopardising work-life balance. Like absenteeism, presenteeism must be carefully monitored.
Professional Training & Development
Professional training covers all actions aimed at developing employees’ knowledge and skills. It ranges from internal training programmes to certification pathways. Training is both a key employability driver and a major contributor to employee satisfaction and long-term skill development.
Q – Z
Quiet Hiring
Quiet hiring occurs when an organisation assigns new responsibilities to existing employees instead of recruiting externally. Beyond agile skills allocation, quiet hiring can destabilise teams if poorly managed.
Quiet Quitting
Quiet quitting refers to an employee’s silent decision to limit their engagement strictly to their job description, withdrawing from initiative-taking and emotional involvement. It can signal lack of recognition, repeated overload or disengagement — requiring managerial attention.
QVCT (Quality of Life and Working Conditions)
QVCT encompasses all initiatives aimed at improving both work-related and overall living conditions for employees. It goes further than traditional QWL by considering the broader environment that influences personal life as well as professional life.
Skills-Based Approach
This model prioritises actual skills over job titles when defining roles, missions and sometimes compensation. It is particularly common in fast-growing, innovative organisations such as start-ups.
Skills (Hard Skills / Soft Skills)
Hard skills refer to the technical competencies required for a given role. Soft skills — now highly valued — include behavioural abilities such as communication, empathy, teamwork or conflict resolution. Modern HR strategies increasingly integrate both dimensions in recruitment and development frameworks.
Strategic Workforce Planning (GPEC)
Strategic workforce planning (GPEC) anticipates changes in roles, workforce needs and required skills in alignment with organisational strategy. It relies on forward-looking analysis, skills mapping, training plans and internal mobility initiatives.
Talent Management
Talent management covers all practices aimed at attracting, developing and retaining key employees. It includes recruitment, career management, learning programmes and high-potential identification.
Workplace Climate
Workplace climate reflects the quality of internal relations and dialogue between employees, managers and the employer. A positive climate increases engagement and reduces conflict, stress and turnover.
