Change management: Jargon buster

Section seven of the Personnel Today Management Resources one stop guide on change management, comprising a glossary of key terms. Other sections .

Action learning An approach to learning within an organisation context wherein practical work on real problems is the vehicle for learning.

Alignment A process of ensuring that all systems and procedures are effectively linked together.

Balanced scorecard A performance-reporting tool in which financial, market, employee and often change indicators are used to measure performance.

Client management A discipline focused on managing the relationship with key clients, often through effective client records, single-point contact with the client and a clear view about client strategy.

Competence model A model of any professional discipline based upon behaviourally anchored scales of the constituent skills for that profession, often defined at levels of competence from novice to 'mastery'.

Culture The ideas and values underpinning how employees see what is or is not appropriate in terms of how they should behave.

Customer intimacy A close understanding of the needs and concerns of customers, which goes beyond only understanding their current buying behaviour.

KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) Those measures which really get at the underlying success and failure of a business entity.

Human capital 'Human assets, the ideas, knowledge, skills and capabilities of employees - both actual and potential.

Information capital Assets based on customer and market knowledge captured via our 'information systems/intelligence arrangements.

Job diagnostic survey A well-known attitude survey instrument devised by US-based business school academics

Mind sets or maps Organised patters of thinking, perception and therefore cognition.

Organisation capital Other assets including patents, land resources, other forms of fixed capital and financial reserves.

Relationship building Establishing and developing strong business relationships to engender trust and understanding.

Shareholder value The underlying value of the business to shareholders based on the difference between asset value and all debt and other charges on the business.