Business, Management, Human Resources Dictionary: C

Looking for a way to customize your benefits plan to the needs of your individual employees? A cafeteria plan is an employee benefits plan that allows your employees to choose among a variety of options to create a benefits plan that best meets their needs and those of their family. In a cafeteria plan, an employee receives a certain number of...

Career pathing is the process used by an employee to chart a course within an organization for his or her career path and career development.

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) is the highest ranking executive manager in a corporation or organization. The CEO has responsibility for the overall success of an entire organization. The CEO has the ultimate authority to make final decisions for an organization. Responsibilities of a CEO include these.

Interessted in knowing the plusses and minuses of the chain of command in an organization? Exactly what is it and how do organizations use the chain of command. Find out more.

Job classification is a system for objectively and accurately defining and evaluating the duties, responsibilities, tasks, and authority level of a job. The job classification, done correctly, determines the relative compensation for a job, so it is critically important to employees that job classification is fair and equitable. Find out more...

The first step in any effort to improve employee performance is counseling or coaching. Counseling or coaching is part of the day-to-day interaction between a supervisor and an employee who reports to her, or an HR professional and line managers. Coaching often provides positive feedback about employee contributions. But, coaching also helps an employee improve performance.

The Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) set forth regulations that give employees and their families, who lose their health benefits because of unemployment, the right to choose to continue group health benefits provided by their group health plan. These health care benefits may be extended for limited periods of time under certain circumstances according to the COBRA regulations.

A Code of Conduct is a written collection of the rules, principles, values, and employee expectations, behavior, and relationships that an organization considers significant and believes are fundamental to their successful operation. A code of conduct enumerates those standards and values that make an organization remarkable and that enable it...

Need a definition for communication? Communication has five components that impact its success or failure. The overall work environment also plays a role. Find out more.

Compensatory or comp time is time worked by an employee beyond their required number of work hours, often calculated at 40 for exempt employees. Comp time is calculated and recorded and employees expect some remuneration for the extra hours worked, most often paid as time off from work, or comp time which compensates for the extra hours worked...

Compensation is the total amount of the monetary and non-monetary pay and benefits provided to an employee by an employer in return for work performed as required. Compensation is based on market research about the worth of similar jobs, employee contributions and accomplishments, and the availability of employees with like skills in the...

A confidentiality agreement is a written legal contract between an employer and employee. The confidentiality agreement lays out binding terms and conditions that prohibit the employee from disclosing company confidential and proprietary information. A confidentiality agreement is in effect for the duration of an employee’s employment and for a...

A conflict of interest arises in the workplace when an employee has competing interests or loyalties that either are, or potentially can be, at odds with each other. A conflict of interest causes an employee to experience a struggle between diverging interests, points of view, or allegiances. See examples of potential workplace conflicts of interest.

Core values are traits or qualities that you consider not just worthwhile, they represent an individual's or organization's highest priorities, deeply held beliefs, and core, fundamental driving forces. Core values or guiding principles define what your organization believes and how you want your organization resonating with and appealing to...

Counseling (work coaching) is providing day-to-day feedback to employees about areas in which their performance at work can improve.

When you negotiate salary with a job candidate, you can expect that he or she will make a counter offer to your first job offer. If the counter offer made by the prospective employee seems reasonable, most employers will counter with their own revised offer. Find out more about providing a counter offer.

You can only understand the concept of cultural fit when you consider it within the following framework that describes culture and how an organization's culture is formed. A potential employee may express and exhibit the characteristics, language, and values that exist within the current organizational culture - or not. The candidate whose...

Want a solid definition of what employees are talking about when they discuss your workplace culture? Culture is the work environment that you supply for employees. Employees are motivated and most satisfied when their needs and values are consistent with those manifested in your workplace culture. Find out more about culture.