Cost benefit analysis | Technique designed to determine the feasibility of a project or plan by quantifying its costs and benefits to allow comparison of the returns from alternative forms of investment. |
Demand side | Used in reference to the labour market to mean employers, as it is employing organisations who demand labour or workers. |
Economic activity | Economically active adults are in employment, or unemployed but actively seeking work and are available for work. The activity rate measures the proportion of a population engaged in economic activity. It is reached by dividing the labour force by the population of working age, Activity rates can also be calculated for specific groups. |
Economic inactivity | Economically inactive are people who are neither in employment or registered unemployed - e.g. those looking after the home / children or retired (and of working age) or those that have not sought work in the last four weeks and not available to start work. |
Employability | Employability encompasses all the things that enable people to increase their chances of getting a job, staying in and progressing further in work. Details of related policy initiatives in Scotland can be found on www.scotland.gov.uk |
Employee performance | An employee performance appraisal is part of a system of determining how well an individual employee is performing their duties - often linked to pay reviews |
Human Resources ( HR) | Within workplaces this refers to the individuals within the firm and to the portion of the firm's organisation that deals with recruitment, dismissal, training, and other personnel issues |
ILO unemployment
| Internationally agreed definition of unemployment, covering people aged 16 and over who are: - without a job, want a job, have actively sought work in the last four weeks and can start work in the next two weeks; or
- out of work, have found a job and are waiting to start it in the next two weeks
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Inertia | Momentum, or rather its lack. Used to describe how the difficulty of entering the labour market or finding a job increases over time for people with low employability |
Investors in People (IiP) | Investors in People (IiP) is a voluntary assessment scheme backed by the Scottish Government. IiP was developed in 1990 through a partnership of businesses and other national organisations. The scheme aims to improve organisational performance through better planning, implementation and evaluation of learning and development programmes, across organisations of all sizes and sectors. |
JIT production | Just In Time ( JIT) is an inventory strategy implemented to improve the return on investment of a business by reducing in-process inventory and its associated costs. The process is driven by a series of signals that tell production processes to make the next part. These are usually simple visual signals, such as the presence or absence of a part on a shelf. JIT can lead to dramatic improvements in a manufacturing organisation's return on investment, quality, and efficiency when implemented correctly. New stock is ordered when stock reaches the re-order level. This saves warehouse space and costs. However, one drawback of the JIT system is that the re-order level is determined by historical demand. If demand rises above the historical average planning duration demand, the firm could deplete inventory and cause customer service issues. |
| Job coaching | On the job coaching, training and support by a more experienced member of staff - usually one to one over a short period of time. |
| LMI Labour Market Intelligence | Labour Market Intelligence is factual information about a range of subjects to do with the world of work, employment and employers including information on, for example: - the world of work - what people do in their jobs, what employers want them to do;
- existing and potential workers - people in work, who are not working but want to, or will be looking for work in the future; and
- employers - companies, organisations, industries in the public, private and voluntary sectors.
Further details can be found at www.futureskillsscotland.org.uk |
| Occupations | The types of jobs that people do in terms of their role or
function - for example, engineer, driver, teacher, care worker. |
ONA
Organisational Needs Analysis | By using an ONA in the workplace, employers gain insight into what people the organisation will need, and what people are available to meet those needs. In creating this understanding of the gaps between an organisation's demand and the available workforce supply, organisations are able to create and target programmes, approaches and develop strategies to close the gaps through staff training and development, recruitment or revised work practices. |
| PieceworkProduction targets | Many industries, particularly manufacturing or service sector set targets which employees are encouraged/aim to meet. These are often linked to bonus schemes/rewards |
| Productivity levels | In a business or industrial context, the ratio of output production to input effort. The productivity ratio is an indicator of the efficiency with which an enterprise converts its resources (inputs) into finished goods or services (outputs). If the goal is to increase productivity, this can be done by producing more output with the same level of input. One problem with trying to measure productivity is that a decision must be made in terms of identifying the inputs and outputs and how they will be measured. This is relatively easy when productivity of an individual is considered, but it becomes difficult when productivity involves a whole company. |
| Return on investment | Return on Investment ( ROI) is the ratio of money gained or lost on an investment to the amount of money invested. The amount of money gained or lost may be referred to as interest, profit/loss, gain/loss, or net income/loss. The money invested may be referred to as the asset, capital, principal, or the cost basis of the investment. |
SDR
Staff Development and Review | Staff are given the opportunity to discuss their jobs and their careers at least once a year All staff receive on-going training and development as they and their jobs develop and are given appropriate training, development and support |
Sectors or Industries | The main types of activities that employing organisations are involved in. For example, financial services, construction, agriculture. |
Skill deficiency | Term used to collectively describe both skill shortages and gaps together. |
Skills' gaps | Emerge when the employer judges the skill(s) of an existing employee or workforce to fall short of the desired proficiency. |
Skills' shortage | Defined as a hard-to-fill vacancy that occurs when applicants lack the required skills, experience or qualifications. |
SME
Small Medium Enterprises | Small and medium-sized enterprises ( SMEs) There is no single definition of a small to medium sized firm, mainly because of the wide diversity of businesses. Whether a company is defined as being "small" or "medium" depends largely on the sector. It may be more appropriate to define size by the number of employees in some sectors but more suitable to use turnover in others.
Definition of SME's are: Small - no more than 50 employees Medium - no more than 250 employees |
Supply side | Term used to refer to people in the labour market - i.e. it is people who supply their labour. |
SVQs | Scottish Vocational Qualifications ( SVQs) are work-related, competence-based qualifications. Equivalent qualifications delivered in England and Wales are NVQs. |
TNA | Training Needs Analysis - an assessment of the training requirements of an organisation's workforce usually carried out by interviews and/or questionnaires. |
Training suppliers | A wide range of organisations and individuals who are equipped to provide training to meet employers' needs. |
ULR
Union Learning Representative | Union Learning Representatives are appointed by recognised trade unions with certain rights concerning learning in the workplace, as outlined in the Employment Act 2002. |
Wastage rates | Organisations sometimes suffer from high levels of 'wastage' - staff come and go more quickly than in other organisations. This can be expensive, as it costs money to recruit and train staff. But it can also be unsettling, as it can be difficult for other staff when their teams change rapidly. Can also refer to lost production through faulty goods which do not meet required quality standards. |
| Workless, jobless, worklessness, joblessness. | Terms used to describe all individuals without employment. These terms are broader than those encompassed in official unemployment counts or benefit entitlements. |