Dictionary-of-Human-Resources-Management

policy 202 post
someone has been convicted He did
not say that he had a police record.
(NOTE: also called criminal record)
policy /pɒlIsi/ noun 1. a course of action
or set of principles 2. a contract for
insurance
policyholder /pɒlIsi həυldə/ noun
a person who is insured by an insurance
company
polite /pəlaIt/ adjective behaving in a
pleasant way We insist on our sales
staff being polite to customers. We
had a polite letter from the MD.
politely /pəlaItli/ adverb in a pleasant
way She politely answered the customers’
questions.
polygraph /pɒliɡrɑf/ noun a lie detector,
a machine which tells if a person
is lying by recording physiological
changes which take place while the person
is being interviewed
polygraphy /pəlIɡrəfi/ noun the
practice of using a polygraph to check
members of staff
pool /pul/ noun an unused supply a
pool of unemployed labour or of
expertise
poor /pɔ/ adjective 1. without much
money The company tries to help the
poorest members of staff with loans. It
is one of the poorest countries in the
world. 2. not very good poor quality
poor service poor performance by
office staff poor organisation of working
methods
poorly /pɔli/ adverb badly The offices
are poorly laid out. The plan was
poorly presented. poorly-paid staff
staff with low wages
population /pɒpjυleIʃ(ə)n/ noun 1.
the number of people who live in a
country or in a town Population statistics
show a rise in the 18–25 age
group. Population trends have to be
taken into account when drawing up
economic plans. The working population
of the country is getting older. 2.
the group of items or people in a survey
or study
population growth /pɒpjυleIʃ(ə)n
ɡrəυθ/ noun an increase in the
population
population trends /pɒpjυleIʃ(ə)n
trendz/ plural noun developments in
the size and make-up of the population
To assess the future employment market,
the human resources department
studied population trends. Judging by
present population trends, there will be
a labour shortage in five years’ time.
portable /pɔtəb(ə)l/ adjective which
can be carried a portable computer
portable pension /pɔtəb(ə)l
penʃən/, portable pension plan
/pɔtəb(ə)l penʃən pln/ noun a pension
entitlement which can be moved
from one company to another without
loss (as an employee changes jobs)
portfolio working /pɔtfəυliəυ
wkIŋ/ noun a way of organising your
working life in which, instead of working
full-time for one employer and pursuing
a single career, you work for
several different employers, do several
different jobs and follow several different
career paths all at the same time
position /pəzIʃ(ə)n/ noun 1. a point
of view What is the union’s position
on the issue of the closed shop? 2. a job
or paid work in a company to apply
for a position as manager We have
several positions vacant. All the vacant
positions have been filled. She
retired from her position in the accounts
department.
position of authority /pəzIʃ(ə)n
əv ɔθɒrIti/ noun a job where the employee
has authority over other
employees
positive /pɒzItIv/ adjective meaning
‘yes’ The board gave a positive reply.
positive discrimination /pɒzItIv
dIskrImIneIʃ(ə)n/ the practice of giving
more favourable treatment to a minority
to help them be more equal The
company’s policy of positive discrimination
is to enable more women to
reach senior management posts.
positive vetting /pɒzItIv vetIŋ/
noun the close examination of a person
working with secret information who
may not be reliable
post /pəυst/ noun 1. a system of sending
letters and parcels from one place to
another to send an invoice by post