Dictionary-of-Human-Resources-Management

disciplinary action 79 discussion
disciplinary action /dIsIplInəri
kʃən/ noun an action taken to control
or punish bad behaviour by employees
Disciplinary action had to be taken to
prevent further disputes between workers
and managers. The union complained
that the disciplinary action was
too harsh.
disciplinary board /dIsIplInəri
bɔd/ noun a group of people who conduct
a disciplinary interview
disciplinary interview /dIsIplInəri
Intəvju/ noun an interview between
a manager and an employee to discuss a
breach of discipline (the worker may be
accompanied by a union representative)
disciplinary lay-off /dIsIplInəri
leI ɒf/ noun temporary dismissal of an
employee as a punishment
disciplinary measures /dIsI-
plInəri meʒəz/ plural noun same as
disciplinary action
discipline /dIsIplIn/ noun the
self-control needed to do a job
Working his way up the company ladder
gave him the discipline to take on further
management responsibilities.
Lack of discipline is responsible for
poor attendance figures. to keep discipline
to make sure that everyone
obeys the rules verb to punish an employee
for misconduct Three members
of staff were disciplined by the
manager.
disclosure /dIskləυʒə/ noun the act
of telling details The disclosure of the
takeover bid raised the price of the
shares.
disclosure of information /dIs-
kləυʒər əv InfəmeIʃ(ə)n/ noun
the giving of information to someone,
such as the union representatives in
collective bargaining, so that they know
all the relevant facts about a case before
presenting the defence
discontinuous shift system
/dIskəntInjuəs ʃIft sIstəm/ noun a
working system where three groups of
employees work morning, noon and
night shifts, but do not work at
weekends
discounted cash flow
/dIskaυntId kʃ fləυ/ noun a
calculation of forecast sales of a
product in current terms with reductions
for current interest rates
discretion /dIskreʃ(ə)n/ noun the
ability to decide correctly what should
be done I leave it to your discretion I
leave it for you to decide what to do at
the discretion of someone according to
what someone decides Membership is
at the discretion of the committee.
discretionary /dIskreʃ(ə)n(ə)ri/ adjective
which can be done if someone
wants the minister’s discretionary
powers powers which the minister
could use if they thought it necessary
discriminate /dIskrImIneIt/ verb to
treat people in different ways because of
class, religion, race, language, colour,
sex, or physical or mental ability The
management appeared to discriminate
against handicapped applicants.
discrimination /dIskrImIneIʃ(ə)n/
noun the practice of treating people in
different ways because of class, religion,
race, language, colour or sex
discriminatory /dIskrImInət(ə)ri/
adjective which shows discrimination
The appointment of only males to the
three posts was clearly discriminatory.
‘EEC legislation should formally recognize that
sexual harassment is discrimination on grounds
of sex’ [Personnel Management]
‘…she claimed she was a victim of sex
discrimination but this was rejected by the
industrial tribunal and the Court of Appeal’
[Personnel Today]
‘…discrimination in pensions is set to continue’
[Personnel Management]
discuss /dIsks/ verb to talk about a
problem They spent two hours discussing
the details of the contract.
The committee discussed the question of
import duties on cars. The board will
discuss wage rises at its next meeting.
We discussed delivery schedules with
our suppliers.
discussion /dIskʃ(ə)n/ noun the
act of talking about a problem After
ten minutes’ discussion the board
agreed the salary increases. We spent
the whole day in discussions with our
suppliers. to hold discussions to discuss
formally Management is holding
discussions with representatives of the
union.