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HR Glossary

A comprehensive reference of employee engagement, performance management, and people analytics terms — written for HR leaders, people operations teams, and anyone building a better workplace.

Engagement

Concepts related to how emotionally invested and committed employees are to their organization and its goals.

Employee Engagement

The emotional commitment and psychological investment an employee has toward their organization, its goals, and its values.

Employee Net Promoter Score (eNPS)

A single-question metric that measures how likely employees are to recommend their organization as a place to work, scored from -100 to +100.

Employee Satisfaction

The degree to which employees feel content with their job conditions, compensation, benefits, and work environment.

Employee Experience

The sum of every interaction, perception, and feeling an employee has throughout their journey with an organization — from recruiting through exit.

Employee Voice

The ability and willingness of employees to express ideas, concerns, and feedback to influence organizational decisions.

Discretionary Effort

The voluntary extra effort employees choose to invest beyond what is formally required by their job description.

Engagement Survey

A structured questionnaire designed to measure employees' emotional commitment, motivation, and connection to their organization.

Pulse Survey

A short, frequent survey — typically 5-15 questions — used to capture real-time employee sentiment between comprehensive engagement surveys.

Organizational Commitment

The psychological bond between an employee and their organization that influences their decision to stay and contribute.

Performance

Frameworks and processes for setting expectations, evaluating work, and developing employee capabilities.

Performance Management

The ongoing process of setting expectations, monitoring progress, developing capabilities, and evaluating results to align individual and organizational performance.

Performance Review

A formal assessment where a manager evaluates an employee's work performance, achievements, and areas for development over a defined period.

Continuous Feedback

An ongoing practice of giving and receiving performance feedback in real-time rather than waiting for formal review cycles.

Goal Setting

The process of defining specific, measurable objectives that guide employee effort and align individual work with organizational priorities.

OKR (Objectives and Key Results)

A goal-setting framework where ambitious qualitative objectives are paired with measurable key results that define success.

SMART Goals

A goal-setting framework requiring objectives to be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound.

Performance Improvement Plan (PIP)

A formal, documented plan that outlines specific performance gaps, expected improvements, support provided, and a timeline for achieving acceptable performance.

Competency Framework

A structured model that defines the skills, behaviors, and knowledge required for successful performance in specific roles or across the organization.

Talent Calibration

A collaborative process where leaders review and align performance and potential assessments across teams to ensure consistency and fairness.

Nine-Box Grid

A talent assessment matrix that plots employees on two axes — performance and potential — to categorize them into nine segments for development and succession planning.

Feedback

Methods and practices for giving, receiving, and acting on workplace feedback at every level.

360-Degree Feedback

A feedback method that collects performance input from an employee's manager, peers, direct reports, and sometimes external stakeholders to create a comprehensive view.

Peer Feedback

Performance or behavioral feedback exchanged between colleagues at the same organizational level who work together regularly.

Upward Feedback

Feedback provided by employees about their direct manager's leadership, communication, and management effectiveness.

Skip-Level Meeting

A meeting between an employee and their manager's manager, bypassing the direct reporting line to surface concerns, share ideas, and build organizational visibility.

One-on-One Meeting

A recurring private meeting between a manager and their direct report focused on progress, obstacles, development, and relationship building.

Constructive Feedback

Specific, actionable feedback focused on behaviors and outcomes that aims to help the recipient improve their performance or approach.

Real-Time Feedback

Immediate feedback delivered in the moment or shortly after an event, enabling rapid learning and behavioral adjustment.

Anonymous Feedback

Feedback collected without identifying the respondent, designed to encourage candid input on sensitive topics like management quality or organizational culture.

Analytics

Data-driven approaches to understanding workforce trends, predicting outcomes, and informing people decisions.

People Analytics

The practice of using data analysis and statistical methods to understand workforce patterns, predict outcomes, and make evidence-based people decisions.

Predictive Analytics

The use of statistical models and machine learning to forecast future workforce outcomes such as turnover risk, performance trajectory, and engagement trends.

Sentiment Analysis

The use of natural language processing to automatically detect and categorize the emotional tone — positive, negative, or neutral — in employee feedback and communications.

Workforce Planning

The strategic process of analyzing current workforce capabilities, forecasting future talent needs, and developing plans to close the gap.

HR Metrics

Quantitative measurements used to track the effectiveness of human resources programs, processes, and their impact on organizational performance.

Turnover Rate

The percentage of employees who leave an organization over a specific period, typically expressed as an annual rate.

Absenteeism Rate

The percentage of scheduled work days lost due to unplanned employee absences over a given period.

Cost-Per-Hire

The total cost incurred to fill a vacant position, including advertising, recruiter fees, technology, interviewing time, and onboarding expenses.

Time-to-Fill

The number of calendar days between when a job requisition is opened and when an offer is accepted, measuring recruiting process efficiency.

Well-being

Factors that influence employee mental, emotional, and physical health in the workplace.

Employee Well-being

The holistic state of an employee's physical, mental, emotional, financial, and social health as influenced by their work experience.

Burnout

A state of chronic physical and emotional exhaustion caused by prolonged workplace stress, characterized by cynicism, detachment, and reduced professional efficacy.

Work-Life Balance

The equilibrium between professional responsibilities and personal life that allows employees to manage both without chronic stress or neglect of either domain.

Psychological Safety

The shared belief within a team that members can speak up, take risks, ask questions, and make mistakes without fear of punishment or humiliation.

Workplace Stress

The physical and emotional strain that occurs when job demands exceed an employee's resources, capabilities, or capacity to cope.

Employee Assistance Program (EAP)

A confidential workplace benefit that provides employees with free, short-term counseling and referral services for personal and work-related challenges.

Mental Health at Work

The state of employees' psychological and emotional well-being as shaped by workplace conditions, and the organizational practices that support it.

Culture

The shared values, behaviors, and practices that define how an organization operates and treats its people.

Company Culture

The shared values, beliefs, behaviors, and norms that define how people interact, make decisions, and experience work within an organization.

Employer Branding

The reputation and image an organization cultivates as an employer to attract, engage, and retain talent.

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI)

Organizational strategies and practices aimed at building a workforce that represents diverse backgrounds, ensures fair treatment, and creates a culture where everyone can belong and thrive.

Employee Value Proposition (EVP)

The unique set of benefits, rewards, and experiences an organization offers employees in exchange for their skills, capabilities, and contributions.

Organizational Values

The core principles and beliefs that guide an organization's behavior, decision-making, and priorities.

Belonging

The feeling of being accepted, valued, and included as an authentic member of a team or organization, beyond surface-level diversity.

Retention

Strategies and metrics for keeping top talent engaged, reducing unwanted turnover, and building long-term loyalty.

Employee Retention

An organization's ability to keep its employees over time, measured by the proportion of the workforce that remains during a given period.

Employee Turnover

The rate at which employees leave an organization and are replaced by new hires over a defined period.

Attrition

The gradual reduction of workforce size that occurs when departing employees are not replaced, distinct from turnover where positions are refilled.

Stay Interview

A proactive conversation between a manager and an employee aimed at understanding what keeps them engaged and what might cause them to leave.

Exit Interview

A structured conversation conducted with departing employees to understand their reasons for leaving and gather feedback about the organization.

Quiet Quitting

The practice of employees doing only the minimum requirements of their job — withdrawing discretionary effort without formally resigning.

Employee Loyalty

The deep sense of commitment and allegiance an employee feels toward their organization, driving them to stay, advocate, and contribute beyond expectations.

Talent Management

The strategic, integrated approach to attracting, developing, engaging, and retaining skilled employees to meet current and future organizational needs.

Put These Concepts Into Practice

Unmatched connects engagement surveys, performance reviews, 360 feedback, and well-being into one AI-powered platform.

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