Human resources are vital to the functioning of organisations of almost every size and every field of interest.
As a department, or as an individual, human resources is the beating heart of any business operation and has the important role of finding, hiring, training and firing staff, as well as facilitating communication between departments and keeping things on track.
One way of putting it is that Human Resources is responsible for overseeing the lifecycle of the employees at a company. As such, there is a great need for strong communication skills and a high level of organisation.
Because of these responsibilities and needs, it is imperative that anyone working in Human Resources has a concrete grasp on not only the written and spoken language, but additionally the specific business terminology and language used in the context of their work.
In this article we’ll be having a look at some of the most common and fundamental terminology/jargon used in HR in the UK and attempting to demystify the world of HR for you, the reader, to gain a good understanding of this cornerstone of the business world.
Crucial English Vocabulary for HR Specialists
The key to getting to grips with the HR specialists' expected vocabulary is to fully understand the so-called employee life cycle. Let’s take a look at this process in a step-by-step guide, using the marketing terminology as our steps so that we can get to know them.
- Scouting and or Recruitment: There are two main means by which a company can gain employees, and which one largely depends on what kind of activity the company does. Companies that need specific talent such as actors, models and comparable positions will more often than not go looking for their employees proactively. In this context, the company ‘scouts’ for their prospective talent by keeping a close eye on burgeoning professionals, and reaching out to veterans of the industry.
Recruitment on the other hand is when a company advertises a position, usually one that can be filled by many qualified people. This time, the applicants are the proactive ones and attempt to earn the position by demonstrating competence in interviews and trial periods.
Even though this is not always the case, we can think of scouting as the employee picking and choosing, and recruitment as the employee picking and choosing.
- Onboarding: Onboarding is the process by which HR welcomes new employees to an organisation. This includes a number of processes, mainly providing all of the relevant and necessary information to the new employee, in addition to giving them training and integrating them to the team via team building exercises and icebreakers. After all, a healthy social atmosphere is crucial to maintaining an efficient team of employees.
- Performance Review: Once an employee is settled into a company, it is the role of HR to monitor their performance and ensure that they are on track in terms of meeting their goals and deadlines. This is called ‘Performance Review’ or ‘Performance Management.' This is often more than simple monitoring, and HR can help employees by giving positive feedback to employees for good work, or reprimanding poor performance.
It is also the responsibility of HR to listen to employees and find out the cause of lacking motivation and underperformance. If a worker is not their usual self, HR can help them get back on track by finding out what’s wrong and offering possible solutions.
- Personal Development/PDP: Many modern companies with long-term employees expect their workers to consistently improve and diversify their skills over their careers. Employees sometimes do this via a ‘personal development plan’ or PDP, but in general, the development of employee skills is still a responsibility that HR oversees.
Personal development is a relatively modern concept in business, so familiarising yourself with this as a prospective HR specialist is a sure-fire way to stand out among applicants and peers.
It goes without saying that even the HR department themselves should always strive to develop alongside the individuals that they manage.
- Offboarding: There are of course times when employers need to be let go, and this inevitably represents the end of the employee life cycle. There are multiple kinds of ends to someone's employment, and the HR specialists must be familiar with all of them, since it is up to them to handle them with the same grace and efficiency that they handle onboarding.
| Retirement | Resignation | Termination |
|---|---|---|
| The most benign of the three, retirement occurs when an employee leaves the company for no other reason than they are either too old to keep working, or that they no longer need to work, because they are wealthy enough to retire, or can claim their pensions. In this instance, retirement is largely up to the worker, or determined by health reasons. HR takes them through standard paperwork for a resignation, and employees are expected to provide notice of their pending departure. | Resignation is when an employee decides to leave a company voluntarily. This can happen for a number of reasons and is often encouraged by HR departments as a healthier alternative to being fired. This is because termination is a bad look on both the company’s part, and for the employee’s CV after the fact. Employees that do this must hand in an early notice so that the company can prepare for their departure and reassign their responsibilities. | Unfortunately, some employment must end in termination. This is when an employee is no longer allowed to work at the company due to failure to work to the desired standard, failing to fulfil the terms of their contracts or even antisocial behaviours and social strains. In these circumstances, employers usually give their workers several warnings and reprimands before issuing the final termination notice. It is up to HR to handle these severances in such a way that the reason for termination is made clear to both parties and the departure is smooth and undramatic if possible. |
Compensation and Benefits: While not specific to a point in the life cycle, it's important to understand that benefits and compensation are also a responsibility of the HR department, especially in smaller companies. Some bigger companies actually use their own compensation and benefits departments, but they are operated by employees with the same or similar qualifications.
Using the information at hand, HR specialists must determine how much and which kind of benefits and compensation should be attributed to each worker, and they must additionally create and implement schemes to do so.
None of this is possible without acute attention to an employee's career and contributions over ever stage of the employee life cycle.
Handling HR Scenarios with Appropriate Language
Employee relations are often complicated affairs, as expected of anything which involves emotion and empathy. Small groups are complicated enough, but big teams are even trickier, since they are likely to be composed of many different and often clashing personalities.
It is up to the HR department to make sure everyone gets along and works together efficiently. Doing so is no mean feat. It requires a very good understanding of language and communication. HR specialists are known for their skills in choosing the right words to deliver both good and bad news.
When it counts, they are the glue that holds a company together.
While we can’t list every word in an HR specialist's vocabulary, we can look at some example phrases and how the HR department might change the delivery to achieve the best result.
| Standard or ‘Blunt’ Phrase | HR Delivery |
|---|---|
| I need you to do this. | Could you kindly take care of this task? It needs to be done promptly, thanks for your understanding. |
| You need to stop doing this. | It’s important that we address this behaviour… Here’s why this isn’t working… There could be consequences if this is unresolved. |
| Don’t mess this up again. | Please try to handle this type of matter with more care in the future. Reach out if you need help. |
| You’re fired. | Dear employee/[name], we sincerely regret to inform you that your employment is being terminated. (+ clear reasoning) |
| Your latest work was below standard. | We’ve identified some areas for improvement in your recent work, please implement our suggestions, or request additional training. |
| This is your last warning. | Dear employee/[name], this is a formal notice of concern regarding your latest infraction/problem/incident. Please address this as there might not be another. |
| You’re getting promoted. | As recognition for your hard work and contributions, we’ve decided to offer you a new position and salary… We’re confident you can handle the responsibilities. |
As you can see, the message in each example is unchanged, but the use of specific language helps to humanise the employee and show recognition for their efforts, even in traditionally negative situations.
Some key rules to follow when sending HR communications:
- Use humanising language
- Use empathetic/sympathetic language
- Avoid absolutes, positive or negative
- Recognise effort and contributions
- Offer solutions and make clear the options
- Preserve the dignity of the reader
Afterword
Thank you for reading our article on HR lingo. By now you should be a communication pro! If you want to learn more about business English skills, you may want to look into accounting vocabulary for ESOL learners.
While you’re here, why not check out Superprof’s premier service, which aims to get you in touch with the best tutors in your area. Did we mention that the first lesson is free? Try it now and expedite your learning progress.
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