The department that turned firing into a growth opportunity.
Anonymous employee testimonies about company culture, used by HR to understand why they can't hire anyone. They rarely like what they find.
A website where employees anonymously trash-talk their employers and ruin the company's reputation before HR can intervene.
The practice of openly sharing salary ranges, pay equity data, and compensation structures with employees and job candidates. The trend that makes HR departments simultaneously proud and terrified.
A state of dissatisfaction that drives change; the opposite of complacency. When people are discontented, they're motivated to demand better conditions, though management usually wishes they'd just keep quiet.
A goal-setting framework where employees set ambitious targets they'll miss by 30% and pretend it's motivational.
A corporate initiative to improve workplace representation while maintaining that the hiring pool was 'just not diverse enough.'
When companies fire or force out unwanted employees instead of them voluntarily leaving; basically managed involuntary departure.
The period when an employee is fully paid but has no assigned project, secretly the best part of consulting life.
A visual representation of how many employees from a cohort remain with the company over time, typically plotted by hire date or tenure. The downward trajectory that makes CFOs weep.
The software that filters job applications using algorithms, responsible for 75% of qualified candidates never being seen by human eyes.
Scientific evaluation using tests to measure personality, intelligence, or job fit; supposedly objective but often validates whatever bias you already had.
Working whenever, wherever you want—as long as it's basically 9-5 in your home office instead of the corporate office.
The framework determining how and how much employees are paid, including base salary, bonuses, commissions, and equity. The secret formula you'll never fully understand because HR refuses to make salary bands public.
A shortage of employees with skills essential to organizational survival or competitive advantage, requiring urgent action. When you realize your entire roadmap depends on a skill set exactly two people on Earth have.
A third-party organization that legally employs staff on behalf of another company, handling payroll, benefits, and compliance. When you want employees but don't want the legal responsibility of actually employing them.
The formal act of cutting ties—whether that's employment, a business relationship, or negotiations. It's the corporate way of saying 'we're done here' with legal documentation and usually an awkward conversation.
The ongoing process of setting goals, monitoring progress, and documenting reasons to fire people later, usually disguised as 'development conversations.'
A company's ability to adapt quickly to change; loudly proclaimed in mission statements while organizational structures remain ossified.
Anonymous input from boss, peers, and reports about your performance—designed to be objective and usually just reveals who dislikes you. Surprisingly, people are nice when anonymous.
Compensatory time off in lieu of overtime pay; a way for companies to avoid paying while pretending to care about balance.
What a company claims to offer employees beyond salary, usually something vague like 'meaningful work' or 'growth opportunities.'
The company's noble belief that employees will move between departments, cities, and roles for development, assuming they don't have families.
The departure of high-performing, valuable employees—the type of turnover that actually hurts the organization. The kind of exit that makes managers say things like 'But we're the good guys!'
A comprehensive approach to employee compensation integrating base salary, bonuses, benefits, equity, wellness programs, and non-monetary rewards. HR's way of saying 'we're paying you less than you're worth, but look at all this other stuff!'