Dictionary-of-Human-Resources-Management

last quarter 153 leadership
most recently appointed are the first to
be made redundant. Abbr LIFO
last quarter /lɑst kwɔtə/ noun a
period of three months at the end of the
financial year
last week /lɑst wik/, last month
/lɑst mnθ/, last year /lɑst jIə/
noun the week or month or year before
this one Last week’s sales were the
best we have ever had. The sales managers
have been asked to report on last
month’s drop in unit sales. Last year’s
accounts have to be ready in time for the
AGM.
lateral /lt(ə)rəl/ adjective at the
same level or with the same status
Her transfer to Marketing was something
of a lateral move.
lateral relations /lt(ə)rəl rI-
leIʃ(ə)nz/ plural noun relations
between people of the same grade in
an organisation The struggle for
promotion has soured lateral relations.
lateral transfer /lt(ə)rəl
trnsf/ noun an act of moving an
employee to another job at the same
level in the organisation I was pleased
with my new job, even though it was a
lateral transfer and not a promotion.
law /lɔ/ noun 1. the law all the laws
of a country taken together to take
someone to law to tell someone to appear
in court to settle an argument inside
or within the law obeying the laws
of a country against or outside the
law not according to the laws of a country
The company is possibly operating
outside the law. to break the law to
do something which is not allowed by
law He is breaking the law by trading
without a licence. 2. a general rule
law courts /lɔ kɔts/ plural noun a
place where a judge listens to cases and
decides who is right legally
law of diminishing returns /lɔr
əv dImInIʃIŋ rItnz/ noun a general
rule that as more factors of production
such as land, labour and capital are
added to the existing factors, so the
amount they produce is proportionately
smaller
law of effect /lɔ əv Ifekt/ noun the
principle that behaviour which is rewarded
will be repeated Payment by
results was designed to put the law of effect
into practice.
law of supply and demand /lɔr
əv səplaI ən dImɑnd/ noun a general
rule that the amount of a product which
is available is related to the needs of potential
customers
lawsuit /lɔsut/ noun a case brought
to a court to bring a lawsuit against
someone to tell someone to appear in
court to settle an argument to defend
a lawsuit to appear in court to state your
case
lawyer /lɔjə/ noun a person who has
studied law and practises law as a
profession
lay /leI/ verb to put to lay an embargo
on trade with a country to forbid
trade with a country (NOTE: laying –
laid)
lay off /leI ɒf/ verb to dismiss employees
for a time (until more work is
available) The factory laid off half its
workers because of lack of orders.
‘…the company lost $52 million last year, and
has laid off close to 2,000 employees’
[Toronto Star]
lay-off /leI ɒf/ noun 1. an act of temporarily
dismissing an employee for a
period of more than four weeks The
recession has caused hundreds of
lay-offs in the car industry. 2. US same
as redundancy
lazy /leIzi/ adjective referring to a person
who does not want to work She is
too lazy to do any overtime. He is so
lazy he does not even send in his expense
claims on time.
leader /lidə/ noun a person who
manages or directs others the leader
of the construction workers’ union or
the construction workers’ leader
leaderless discussion /lidələs
dIskʃ(ə)n/ noun a way of assessing
candidates for a post, by putting them
together in a group and asking them to
discuss a problem, without appointing
one of them as chairman
leadership /lidəʃIp/ noun 1. a quality
that enables a person to manage or
administer others Employees showing
leadership potential will be chosen for