HR Glossary
Clear, practical definitions of HR, payroll and compliance terms — from absconding and CTC to EPFO and exit interviews. Written for HR professionals, founders and managers running teams in India.
Popular HR Terms
The terms HR and payroll teams look up most often.
CTC (Cost to Company)
CTC, or Cost to Company, is the total amount an employer spends on an employee annually — encompassing not…
EEarned Leave
Earned Leave (EL), also called Privilege Leave (PL) in some states, is a paid leave category that an employee…
EEmployee Self Service (ESS)
Employee Self Service (ESS) is a feature within an HRMS that allows employees to directly access, view, and…
AApplicant Tracking System (ATS)
An Applicant Tracking System (ATS) is HR software that automates and manages the end-to-end recruitment…
EESI (Employee State Insurance)
ESI, or Employee State Insurance, is a self-financing social security and health insurance scheme…
EEmployee Retention
Employee retention refers to an organization's ability to keep its employees over time, minimizing voluntary…
HR Terms Starting with A
15 termsAbsconding
Absconding refers to an employee leaving their job without prior notice, without approval, and without informing the employer — typically without…
Attendance ManagementAbsence Management
Absence management is the systematic process an organization uses to track, monitor, and control employee absences — including planned leave, sick…
Attendance ManagementAbsenteeism Policy
An absenteeism policy is a formal, written HR document that defines what counts as authorized vs. unauthorized absence, the notification process…
Attendance ManagementAccrued Leave
Accrued leave refers to paid leave — typically Earned Leave (EL) or Privilege Leave (PL) — that an employee earns incrementally over a period of…
Leave ManagementAcqui-Hiring
Acqui-hiring — a blend of 'acquisition' and 'hiring' — is when a company acquires another, usually a startup, primarily to gain its talent (founders…
Recruitment & HiringActive Candidate
An active candidate is a job seeker who is actively searching and applying for jobs — updating their resume, browsing job boards, and attending…
Recruitment & HiringAd Hoc
'Ad hoc' (Latin for 'for this') refers to something created or done for a specific, one-time purpose rather than as part of a regular, ongoing…
HR OperationsAgeism
Ageism is discrimination, prejudice, or stereotyping against individuals or groups based on their age. At work, this typically shows up as bias…
Culture & EngagementAgency Recruiters
Agency recruiters, also called third-party or external recruiters, work for a staffing or recruitment agency and are engaged by client companies — on…
Recruitment & HiringAllowance
An allowance is a fixed, monetary component paid by an employer to an employee, in addition to basic salary, to cover specific expenses or as a…
Salary & CompensationAnalytical Thinking
Analytical thinking is the ability to break down complex information, problems, or data into smaller components, identify patterns and relationships…
Skills & DevelopmentAnnuity
An annuity is a financial product that provides a series of regular payments to an individual, typically post-retirement, in exchange for a lump-sum…
Salary & CompensationApplicant
An applicant is any individual who has formally submitted an application — a resume, cover letter, or completed application form — for a specific…
Recruitment & HiringApplicant Tracking System (ATS)
An Applicant Tracking System (ATS) is HR software that automates and manages the end-to-end recruitment process — job posting, resume collection…
HR TechnologyApplication Completion Rate
Application Completion Rate is a recruitment marketing metric measuring the percentage of candidates who start a job application and successfully…
Recruitment & HiringHR Terms Starting with B
8 termsBona Fide Occupational Qualification (BFOQ)
A Bona Fide Occupational Qualification (BFOQ) is a legally defensible job requirement — such as a specific gender, age, or physical characteristic…
Recruitment & HiringBonus
A bonus is an additional payment made to an employee, over and above their regular salary, typically linked to individual, team, or company…
Salary & CompensationBoomerang Employee
A boomerang employee is a former employee who leaves an organization and later returns to work for the same company, often in a different or more…
Recruitment & HiringBradford Formula
The Bradford Formula (also called the Bradford Factor) is a statistical method used in absence management to measure the impact of employee…
Attendance ManagementBring Your Own Device (BYOD)
Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) is a workplace policy that allows employees to use their personal smartphones, laptops, or tablets to access company…
HR Policy & LegalBuddy System
A buddy system is a structured onboarding practice where a new employee is paired with an experienced peer — the 'buddy' — who helps them navigate…
Employee ManagementBusiness Agility
Business agility is an organization's ability to sense and respond quickly to internal and external change — market shifts, customer needs…
Workforce Planning & StrategyBusiness Process Outsourcing (BPO)
Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) is the practice of contracting specific business functions or processes — such as customer support, technical…
Workforce Planning & StrategyHR Terms Starting with C
43 termsCalibration
Calibration, in an HR context, is the structured process of bringing managers together to review and discuss employee performance ratings across…
Performance ManagementCampus Hiring
Campus hiring, also called campus recruitment, is the process of recruiting students directly from colleges and universities — typically final-year…
Recruitment & HiringCandidate Engagement
Candidate engagement refers to the ongoing communication and relationship-building efforts a company undertakes with job candidates throughout the…
Recruitment & HiringCandidate Experience
Candidate experience refers to a job applicant's overall perception and feelings about an organization, shaped by every interaction they have…
Recruitment & HiringCandidate Portal
A candidate portal is a self-service online platform that allows job applicants to track their application status, schedule interviews, upload…
HR TechnologyCareer Path
A career path is the planned or potential progression an employee can take through a series of roles within an organization or field, typically…
Skills & DevelopmentCareer Path Ratio
Career Path Ratio is a workforce planning metric that measures the number of potential higher-level positions available relative to the number of…
HR Metrics & AnalyticsCareer Plateau
A career plateau is a stage in an employee's career where they experience little to no advancement in responsibility, title, or scope for an extended…
Skills & DevelopmentCascading Goals
Cascading goals is a goal-setting methodology where high-level organizational objectives are systematically broken down and translated into…
Performance ManagementCasual Leave
Casual Leave (CL) is a short-duration paid leave category intended for unforeseen, urgent personal needs — such as a sudden family matter, personal…
Leave ManagementCasual Leave vs Earned Leave
Casual Leave (CL) and Earned Leave (EL) are two of the most commonly used — and most commonly confused — leave categories in Indian employment.…
Leave ManagementCEO vs COO
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) is the highest-ranking executive in a company, responsible for overall strategic direction, major corporate…
Leadership & OrganisationChief Financial Officer (CFO)
A Chief Financial Officer (CFO) is the senior executive responsible for managing an organization's overall financial strategy, including financial…
Leadership & OrganisationChief Operating Officer (COO)
A Chief Operating Officer (COO) is the senior executive responsible for overseeing an organization's day-to-day administrative and operational…
Leadership & OrganisationChurn Rate
Churn rate, borrowed from customer/business analytics but widely applied in HR, measures the percentage of employees who leave an organization within…
HR Metrics & AnalyticsC-Level Executive
A C-level executive is a top-tier corporate officer responsible for a major functional area of the business, holding company-wide decision-making…
Leadership & OrganisationC-Level Jobs
C-level jobs, also called the C-suite, refer to the most senior executive positions in an organization — roles whose titles conventionally begin with…
Leadership & OrganisationCompa Ratio
Compa ratio (short for 'comparative ratio') is a compensation benchmarking metric that compares an individual employee's actual salary to the…
Salary & CompensationCompany Policy
A company policy is a formally documented set of guidelines, rules, and principles established by an organization to govern employee conduct…
HR Policy & LegalCompensation and Benefits
Compensation and Benefits (C&B) is the HR function responsible for designing, managing, and administering an organization's total rewards package…
Salary & CompensationCompensatory Off (Comp Off)
Compensatory off, commonly called 'comp off,' is paid time off granted to an employee in exchange for working on a designated off day — such as a…
Leave ManagementCompetency
A competency is a measurable combination of knowledge, skills, abilities, and behaviors that enables an individual to perform effectively in a…
Performance ManagementCompliance Framework
A compliance framework is a structured system of policies, processes, and controls that an organization establishes to ensure it consistently meets…
HR ComplianceCompliance Reports
Compliance reports are formal documents or system-generated outputs that demonstrate an organization's adherence to statutory and regulatory HR…
HR ComplianceConfirmation Letter
A confirmation letter is a formal document issued by an employer to an employee at the successful completion of their probation period, confirming…
Employee ManagementConsolidated Statement
A consolidated statement, in an HR and payroll context, is a summary document that aggregates multiple individual data points — such as salary…
PayrollContingent Worker
A contingent worker is an individual engaged by an organization on a non-permanent basis — typically through a fixed-term contract, staffing agency…
Workforce Planning & StrategyContinuous Feedback
Continuous feedback is a performance management approach where employees receive regular, ongoing feedback from managers and peers throughout the…
Performance ManagementContract Employee
A contract employee is an individual engaged to work for an organization for a fixed period or the duration of a specific project, under a defined…
Employee ManagementContract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act
The Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act, 1970 is a central Indian statute that regulates the employment of contract labour in specified…
HR ComplianceCore Values
Core values are the fundamental beliefs and guiding principles that define an organization's character, shape decision-making, and set behavioral…
Culture & EngagementCorporate Communication
Corporate communication is the strategic function responsible for managing an organization's messaging and information flow — both internally to…
Culture & EngagementCorporate Identification Number (CIN)
A Corporate Identification Number (CIN) is a unique 21-digit alphanumeric identifier assigned by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) to every…
HR ComplianceCost Centres
A cost centre is a specific department, function, or unit within an organization to which costs — including workforce-related costs like salaries…
HR Metrics & AnalyticsCost Per Hire
Cost Per Hire (CPH) is a recruitment metric that measures the total average cost an organization incurs to fill a single open position, encompassing…
HR Metrics & AnalyticsCover Letter
A cover letter is a brief, personalized document submitted alongside a resume during a job application, allowing a candidate to introduce themselves…
Recruitment & HiringCredit Voucher
A credit voucher is a financial document or system-generated entry that records an amount owed or credited to an employee's account — commonly used…
PayrollCrisis Management
Crisis management, in an HR context, is the structured process of preparing for, responding to, and recovering from significant, unexpected events…
Leadership & OrganisationCross-Functional Team
A cross-functional team is a group of employees drawn from different departments or functional areas — such as marketing, engineering, sales, and…
Leadership & OrganisationCTC (Cost to Company)
CTC, or Cost to Company, is the total amount an employer spends on an employee annually — encompassing not just the salary the employee actually…
Salary & CompensationCulture Add
Culture add is a hiring philosophy that evaluates whether a candidate will contribute new perspectives, experiences, and ways of thinking that…
Recruitment & HiringCulture Fit
Culture fit refers to how well a candidate's values, behaviors, and working style align with an organization's existing culture, norms, and ways of…
Recruitment & HiringCV vs Resume
A CV (Curriculum Vitae) is a comprehensive document detailing an individual's complete academic and professional history — including education…
Recruitment & HiringHR Terms Starting with D
18 termsData Breach
A data breach is an incident involving unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, or loss of sensitive data — in an HR context, this typically…
HR Policy & LegalDearness Allowance (DA)
Dearness Allowance (DA) is a cost-of-living adjustment allowance paid to employees — primarily in government and public sector organizations in India…
Salary & CompensationDefamation
Defamation is the act of making a false statement about an individual or entity that damages their reputation — legally categorized as either libel…
HR Policy & LegalDelphi Technique
The Delphi Technique is a structured, iterative method for gathering expert opinion and building consensus on a complex issue — used when direct…
Workforce Planning & StrategyDesk Audit
A desk audit, in an HR context, is a structured review process where an HR professional or job analyst examines an employee's actual day-to-day…
Salary & CompensationDifference Between Gross Income and Net Income
Gross income is the total earnings an individual or business receives before any deductions — for an employee, this means total salary before tax…
PayrollDifference Between Gross Profit and Net Profit
Gross profit is a company's total revenue minus the direct cost of producing its goods or services (Cost of Goods Sold, or COGS) — it reflects how…
HR Metrics & AnalyticsDifference Between Gross Salary and CTC
Gross salary is the total salary an employee earns before statutory deductions like income tax (TDS), employee PF contribution, and Professional Tax…
Salary & CompensationDifference Between Training and Development
Training is a focused, typically short-term learning activity designed to help an employee acquire specific skills or knowledge needed to perform…
Skills & DevelopmentDirect Hire
Direct hire is a recruitment model where a company hires an employee directly as a permanent member of its own workforce, without going through a…
Recruitment & HiringDisciplinary Procedure
A disciplinary procedure is a formal, structured process an organization follows to address employee misconduct or performance issues — ensuring…
HR Policy & LegalDisengaged Employees
Disengaged employees are individuals who have become emotionally and mentally disconnected from their work, their team, and the organization's goals…
Culture & EngagementDisparate Treatment
Disparate treatment refers to intentional discrimination against an individual or group based on a protected characteristic — where an employer…
HR Policy & LegalDiversity Hiring
Diversity hiring is a recruitment approach and strategy focused on actively attracting, evaluating, and hiring candidates from a wide range of…
Recruitment & HiringDownshifting
Downshifting, in a career context, refers to an employee's deliberate choice to move to a less demanding, lower-stress role or reduced working hours…
Culture & EngagementDownsizing
Downsizing is the deliberate, planned reduction of an organization's workforce, typically undertaken to cut costs, improve operational efficiency, or…
HR ComplianceDual Labour Market
The dual labour market theory describes an economy where the workforce is effectively split into two distinct segments: a 'primary' labour market…
Workforce Planning & StrategyDue Diligence
Due diligence is a comprehensive investigation and verification process conducted before finalizing a significant business decision — most commonly a…
HR ComplianceHR Terms Starting with E
37 termsEarned Leave
Earned Leave (EL), also called Privilege Leave (PL) in some states, is a paid leave category that an employee accrues incrementally based on days…
Leave ManagementEarnings
Earnings, in a payroll context, refers to the total monetary amount an employee receives from their employer for work performed — encompassing all…
PayrollECR Return
ECR, or Electronic Challan cum Return, is the monthly return that employers in India must file with the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation…
HR ComplianceEFQM
EFQM (originally standing for the European Foundation for Quality Management) refers to a widely recognized organizational excellence framework and…
Leadership & OrganisationElectronic Signature
An electronic signature (e-signature) is a digital method of signifying agreement or approval on an electronic document, replacing a traditional…
HR TechnologyEmotional Intelligence
Emotional Intelligence (EI or EQ) is the capacity to recognize, understand, and manage one's own emotions, as well as to recognize, understand, and…
Skills & DevelopmentEmployee Assessment
Employee assessment is the structured process of evaluating an employee's skills, performance, potential, or behavioral competencies — used across…
Performance ManagementEmployee Assistance Program (EAP)
An Employee Assistance Program (EAP) is a confidential, employer-sponsored benefit that provides employees (and often their immediate family members)…
Culture & EngagementEmployee Branding
Employee branding refers to the process of shaping how current employees perceive, experience, and represent the organization — both internally in…
Culture & EngagementEmployee Clearance Procedure
The employee clearance procedure is the structured, cross-functional process an organization follows to formally close out an employee's tenure…
Employee ManagementEmployee Database
An employee database is a centralized, structured system that stores all relevant information about an organization's workforce — personal details…
HR TechnologyEmployee Empowerment
Employee empowerment is a management philosophy and practice that gives employees greater autonomy, decision-making authority, and ownership over…
Culture & EngagementEmployee Goals
Employee goals are specific, defined objectives that an individual employee is expected to achieve within a set timeframe — typically aligned to…
Performance ManagementEmployee Induction
Employee induction is the initial, typically short-term process of formally introducing a new employee to the organization — covering essential…
Employee ManagementEmployee Job Satisfaction Survey
An employee job satisfaction survey is a structured questionnaire used to measure how content and fulfilled employees feel with various aspects of…
Culture & EngagementEmployee Lifecycle
The employee lifecycle is the complete journey an individual experiences with an organization — from their first interaction as a potential candidate…
Employee ManagementEmployee Net Promoter Score (eNPS)
Employee Net Promoter Score (eNPS) is a simple, widely-used metric that measures employee loyalty and advocacy by asking a single core question: 'On…
HR Metrics & AnalyticsEmployee Offboarding
Employee offboarding is the structured process an organization follows when an employee's tenure ends — whether through resignation, retirement, or…
Employee ManagementEmployee Orientation
Employee orientation is the process of introducing a new hire to the fundamental information they need to begin working — company policies, workplace…
Employee ManagementEmployee Poaching
Employee poaching refers to the practice of a company actively recruiting and hiring employees from a competitor organization, often by directly…
HR Policy & LegalEmployee Referral
An employee referral is a recruitment sourcing method where a current employee recommends a candidate from their personal or professional network for…
Recruitment & HiringEmployee Retention
Employee retention refers to an organization's ability to keep its employees over time, minimizing voluntary turnover — particularly the loss of…
Culture & EngagementEmployee Satisfaction
Employee satisfaction refers to how content and fulfilled employees feel with their job, work environment, and overall employment experience — a…
Culture & EngagementEmployee Self Service (ESS)
Employee Self Service (ESS) is a feature within an HRMS that allows employees to directly access, view, and manage their own HR-related information…
HR TechnologyEmployee Termination & Suspension
Employee termination is the formal, employer-initiated ending of an employment relationship — which can occur for reasons including poor performance…
HR Policy & LegalEmployee Turnover
Employee turnover refers to the rate at which employees leave an organization and are replaced by new hires — measuring the overall churn of the…
HR Metrics & AnalyticsEmployee Wellness
Employee wellness refers to an organization's holistic approach to supporting employees' physical, mental, emotional, and financial wellbeing…
Culture & EngagementEmployer Branding
Employer branding is the deliberate, strategic effort an organization undertakes to shape and manage its reputation as an employer — influencing how…
Recruitment & HiringEmployer Identification Number
An Employer Identification Number (EIN) is a term primarily used in the United States to refer to a unique number the tax authority assigns to a…
HR ComplianceEmployment Contract
An employment contract (or appointment letter) is a legally binding agreement between an employer and employee that formally establishes the terms…
HR Policy & LegalEPFO
EPFO stands for Employees' Provident Fund Organisation — a statutory body under India's Ministry of Labour and Employment responsible for…
HR ComplianceE-Recruitment
E-recruitment, or electronic recruitment, refers to the use of digital technology and online platforms — job boards, company career pages, social…
Recruitment & HiringERP (Enterprise Resource Planning)
ERP, or Enterprise Resource Planning, is an integrated software system that manages and connects an organization's core business processes…
HR TechnologyESI (Employee State Insurance)
ESI, or Employee State Insurance, is a self-financing social security and health insurance scheme administered by the Employees' State Insurance…
HR ComplianceEx Gratia Payment
An ex gratia payment is a voluntary payment made by an employer to an employee 'out of goodwill' or grace, without any legal obligation to do so…
PayrollExit Interview
An exit interview is a structured conversation or survey conducted with a departing employee, typically during their notice period, to gather honest…
Employee ManagementExternal Stakeholder
An external stakeholder is any individual or entity outside the organization who has an interest in, or is affected by, the organization's decisions…
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