Glossary
HR, Recruitment and Voice AI Glossary
81 terms explained simply: recruitment, HR, customer experience, education and voice AI.
Recruitment
25 termsAI InterviewAn AI interview is a recruitment interview conducted by an artificial intelligence agent, in writing or by voice, that asks candidates structured questions and produces a summary or score for a recruiter to review.Applicant Tracking System (ATS)An applicant tracking system (ATS) is software that centralises job postings, applications and candidate data, and tracks each candidate through the recruitment process from application to hire or rejection.Asynchronous InterviewAn asynchronous interview is an interview in which the candidate answers a set of questions on their own, at a time of their choice, by recording video, audio or text, and the recruiter reviews the answers later.Behavioral InterviewA behavioral interview is an interview in which candidates are asked to describe how they actually behaved in specific past situations, on the principle that past behaviour is the best guide to future performance.Blind RecruitmentBlind recruitment is a selection method that hides personal details unrelated to the job, such as name, photo, age or address, so that candidates are first assessed on skills and experience.Candidate Drop-Off RateCandidate drop-off rate is the share of candidates who leave a recruitment process before completing it, measured at a given stage such as the application form, an assessment or the interview.Candidate ExperienceCandidate experience is the sum of all the impressions a candidate has of your company during the recruitment process, from the job posting to the final answer, including communication, interviews and feedback.Candidate ScreeningCandidate screening is the first stage of recruitment, in which applicants are reviewed against the requirements of the job to decide who moves on to interviews and who does not.Candidate SourcingCandidate sourcing is the proactive search for and first contact with potential candidates, including people who are not actively applying, in order to build a pipeline of qualified profiles for current or future roles.Competency-Based InterviewA competency-based interview is an interview built around the specific competencies a role requires, where the candidate gives concrete examples of past situations and each competency is assessed against defined criteria.Cost per HireCost per hire is the average total amount a company spends to recruit one new employee, adding internal and external recruitment costs and dividing them by the number of hires in the period.CV ParsingCV parsing is the automatic extraction of information from a CV or resume, such as contact details, work history, education and skills, into structured fields in a database or applicant tracking system.Employer BrandingEmployer branding is the reputation and image of a company as a place to work, and the actions it takes to shape that image among current employees, candidates and the wider market.High-Volume RecruitmentHigh-volume recruitment is the hiring of a large number of people for the same or similar roles in a short period, which requires standardised, fast and repeatable screening and scheduling.Interview ScorecardAn interview scorecard is a form that lists the criteria a role requires and lets each interviewer rate the candidate on every criterion, with evidence, so that decisions rest on comparable notes.Offer Acceptance RateOffer acceptance rate is the percentage of job offers extended to candidates that are accepted, calculated by dividing accepted offers by offers made over a given period.Pre-Employment AssessmentA pre-employment assessment is a test or exercise given to candidates before a job offer, such as a skills test, work sample or questionnaire, to measure abilities that are relevant to the job.Quality of HireQuality of hire is a measure of how much a new employee contributes to the organisation, usually combining their performance, their ramp-up speed, their retention and the satisfaction of their manager.Recruitment FunnelA recruitment funnel is the sequence of stages candidates go through, from first awareness of a vacancy to hire, shown with the number of candidates remaining at each stage.Situational InterviewA situational interview is an interview format in which candidates are given realistic, hypothetical work scenarios and asked what they would do, to assess judgment and problem-solving before they have done the job.STAR MethodThe STAR method is a way of structuring an answer, or an interview question, around four elements: the Situation, the Task, the Action taken and the Result obtained, so that an experience is told with concrete evidence.Structured InterviewA structured interview is an interview in which every candidate for a role is asked the same job-related questions, in the same order, and answers are scored against predefined criteria.Talent PoolA talent pool is a database of qualified people, such as past applicants, silver medalists, referrals and contacts, whom a company has identified and keeps in touch with so that it can fill future openings faster.Time to FillTime to fill is the number of days between the opening of a job requisition and the day a candidate accepts the offer, showing how long a position stays vacant.Time to HireTime to hire is the number of days between the moment a candidate enters your recruitment process and the moment they accept your job offer.
HR & People
22 termsAbsenteeismAbsenteeism is the habitual or recurring absence of employees from work, measured as the share of working time lost to absence, and used by HR as an indicator of working conditions and organisational health.BurnoutBurnout is a state of prolonged exhaustion linked to chronic work stress, often with detachment from work and reduced effectiveness, which HR and managers address through prevention, workload and support towards professionals.Employee EngagementEmployee engagement is the degree to which people feel committed to their work, their team and their organisation, and are willing to put in discretionary effort beyond what the job strictly requires.Employee LifecycleThe employee lifecycle is the sequence of stages an employee goes through with an organisation, from attraction and recruitment to onboarding, development, retention and departure, used to structure HR actions at each stage.Employee Net Promoter Score (eNPS)Employee Net Promoter Score (eNPS) is a metric that asks employees how likely they are to recommend their organisation as a place to work, and is calculated by subtracting the percentage of detractors from promoters.Employee OnboardingEmployee onboarding is the structured process that welcomes a new hire, gives them what they need to do their job, and integrates them into their team and the organisation, from the offer acceptance to the first months.Employee RetentionEmployee retention is an organisation's ability to keep its employees over time, and the set of practices that give people good reasons to stay rather than leave.Employee TurnoverEmployee turnover is the rate at which employees leave an organisation over a given period and are replaced, usually expressed as a percentage of the average headcount.Exit InterviewAn exit interview is a structured conversation held with an employee who is leaving the organisation, to understand their reasons, collect their feedback and learn what could be improved for the people who remain.HR Business PartnerAn HR business partner, or HRBP, is an HR professional embedded alongside a business unit or leadership team, who advises managers on people matters and aligns HR practices with the unit's goals.Internal MobilityInternal mobility is the movement of employees to new roles, teams or locations within the same organisation, through promotion, lateral moves or projects, as an alternative to external hiring or departure.One-on-One MeetingA one-on-one meeting is a regular, private conversation between a manager and a team member, focused on the person's work, wellbeing, obstacles and growth rather than on a team agenda.People AnalyticsPeople analytics is the use of HR and workforce data to answer business questions about hiring, retention, engagement and performance, so that decisions about people rest on evidence as well as experience.Performance ReviewA performance review is a periodic, structured assessment in which a manager and an employee look back at results, behaviours and progress over a period, and agree on feedback, goals and development priorities.Probation PeriodA probation period is an initial period at the start of employment during which the employer and the new employee assess whether the job and the person are a good match, under conditions set by the contract and the law.Professional Development InterviewA professional development interview is a dedicated conversation between an employee and their manager or HR about the person's skills, career aspirations, training needs and future roles, separate from the assessment of their performance.Psychosocial RisksPsychosocial risks are work-related situations, such as excessive workload, poor management, conflict or insecurity, that can harm the mental and physical health of employees and that an employer must identify and prevent.Pulse SurveyA pulse survey is a short, frequent employee survey of a few questions that tracks how people feel about work between longer annual surveys, so that managers can spot changes and act quickly.Quality of Work LifeQuality of work life is the set of conditions that make work sustainable and meaningful for employees: workload, relationships, autonomy, working environment, work-life balance and the ability to express themselves about their job.Return to WorkReturn to work is the structured process of helping an employee come back after a long absence, such as illness or leave, with a planned conversation and, where needed, adjustments to their duties and workload.Stay InterviewA stay interview is a structured conversation between a manager or HR and a current employee, held to understand what keeps them in the company and what could make them leave, before they decide to go.Workforce PlanningWorkforce planning is the process of forecasting the people and skills an organisation will need in the future, comparing them with current staff, and deciding how to close the gaps through hiring, training or mobility.
Customer Experience
14 termsChurn InterviewA churn interview is a short conversation with a customer who has cancelled or not renewed, held to understand why they left and what could have changed their decision.Churn RateChurn rate is the percentage of customers lost during a given period, calculated by dividing the number of customers who left by the number of customers at the start of the period.Closed-Loop FeedbackClosed-loop feedback is a process in which a company collects customer feedback, acts on it, and then goes back to the customer to say what was done, so that the loop between listening and action is closed.Customer ChurnCustomer churn is the loss of a customer, which happens when they cancel a subscription, do not renew a contract or stop buying, and it is the main threat to recurring revenue.Customer Effort Score (CES)Customer effort score (CES) is a metric that measures how easy it was for a customer to get something done, such as solving a problem or completing a purchase, usually on a scale from very difficult to very easy.Customer Health ScoreA customer health score is a composite indicator, often expressed from 0 to 100, that combines signals such as usage, satisfaction and engagement to estimate how likely a customer is to stay and grow.Customer JourneyA customer journey is the full path a customer follows with a company, from first awareness through purchase and use to renewal or departure, including every touchpoint and the emotions felt along the way.Customer Lifetime Value (CLV)Customer lifetime value (CLV) is the total profit or revenue a company expects to earn from a customer over the whole relationship, usually estimated from average spend, margin and how long the customer stays.Customer OnboardingCustomer onboarding is the structured process that guides a new customer from signing up to first real value, covering setup, training and the first results, so that they adopt the product and stay.Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT)Customer satisfaction score (CSAT) is a metric that measures how satisfied customers are with a specific interaction, product or service, calculated as the share of satisfied answers among all survey responses.Customer SuccessCustomer success is a proactive approach in which a company helps its customers reach the results they bought the product for, in order to improve retention, renewals and growth of existing accounts.Net Promoter Score (NPS)Net Promoter Score (NPS) is a loyalty metric based on one question, how likely a customer is to recommend you from 0 to 10, and calculated as the percentage of promoters minus the percentage of detractors.Quarterly Business Review (QBR)A quarterly business review (QBR) is a structured meeting held every three months between a company and a customer to review results achieved, share progress against goals and agree on priorities for the next quarter.Voice of the Customer (VoC)Voice of the customer (VoC) is the practice of collecting, analysing and acting on what customers say about their needs, expectations and experience, through surveys, conversations, reviews and support exchanges.
Education
8 termsAcademic AdvisingAcademic advising is the guidance given to students about their programme choices, course planning, progress and goals, usually by a dedicated advisor, tutor or teacher, across their time at an institution.Early Warning SystemAn early warning system in education is a set of indicators and procedures that flags students showing signs of difficulty or disengagement early enough for staff to reach out and support them.Graduate EmployabilityGraduate employability is the set of skills, knowledge, experience and attributes that make a graduate able to find, keep and progress in work, together with how well a programme prepares them for it.Student DropoutStudent dropout is the situation in which a student leaves a programme of study before completing it, either by stopping altogether or by disengaging from classes long before an official withdrawal.Student EngagementStudent engagement is the degree to which students take part in their studies, through their attention, effort, participation and sense of belonging to their course and their school.Student RetentionStudent retention is the proportion of students who continue their studies from one period to the next, for example from the first year to the second, until they complete their programme.Student Well-BeingStudent well-being is the overall state of a student's physical and mental health, social connections and sense of security and balance, which affects their ability to learn and to complete their studies.Work-Study ProgramA work-study program is a training format that alternates periods of study at an institution with paid or structured periods of work in a company, so students earn a qualification while gaining professional experience.
Voice AI & Technology
12 termsAI BiasAI bias is a systematic error in an AI system that produces results that unfairly favour or disadvantage certain people or groups, often because of the data it learned from or the way it was designed.Conversational AIConversational AI is software that lets people interact with a computer through natural spoken or written dialogue, understanding what they mean and replying in a way that fits the conversation.EU AI ActThe EU AI Act is the European Union regulation on artificial intelligence, which sets rules for AI systems according to the level of risk they present to people's safety and fundamental rights.Explainable AIExplainable AI refers to methods and design choices that make it possible for people to understand why an AI system produced a particular result, so they can check, question and trust it appropriately.GDPRThe GDPR, the General Data Protection Regulation, is the European Union law that sets the rules for collecting and using personal data, and gives people rights over how their data is handled.Human in the LoopHuman in the loop is a way of designing AI systems so that a person reviews, corrects or approves the AI's output before it leads to a decision or an action that affects someone.Large Language Model (LLM)A large language model (LLM) is an AI model trained on very large amounts of text to predict and generate language, which lets it answer questions, summarise, translate and hold a conversation.Natural Language Processing (NLP)Natural language processing (NLP) is the field of artificial intelligence that enables computers to read, interpret and produce human language, in written or spoken form.Sentiment AnalysisSentiment analysis is the use of language processing to detect whether a text or a spoken comment expresses a positive, negative or neutral opinion, and sometimes the emotion or intensity behind it.Speech-to-TextSpeech-to-text, also called automatic speech recognition, is the technology that converts spoken audio into written text so that software and people can search, analyse and act on what was said.Text-to-SpeechText-to-speech is the technology that turns written text into spoken audio, using a synthetic voice, so that software can read content or answer people aloud.Voice AI AgentA voice AI agent is a software agent that holds a spoken conversation with a person, listening to what they say, understanding it and answering aloud in order to reach a defined goal.
AI conversations, human decisions
Passisto holds structured voice conversations with candidates, employees, clients and students, and turns them into reports your team can act on.