Change Associates Jargon Buster
We try to avoid using jargon and consultantese in our work, but sometimes it’s inevitable that some terminology can come through. Hopefully this glossary should help you navigate any unfamiliar terms.
This document presents plain-English definitions of the terms used in our case studies, blogs and client work across operating model and organisation design, transformation, change management and culture.
This glossary is here to make specialist language easier to follow. Some terms are genuinely useful. Some are simply habit. Either way, this page keeps things clear.
Tip: use Ctrl+F on Windows or Cmd+F on Mac to find a term quickly and use the navigation panel below to jump to individual letters.
A
Absence management
Tracking employee absence and linking it to pay, compliance and workforce planning.
Activity analysis
Breaking work down into the specific activities people do, to spot duplication, waste and gaps.
Ad hoc analytics
Quick, one-off analysis to answer a specific question, rather than a regular report.
Adoption (user adoption)
Whether people actually use the new system or process after launch, not just whether it went live.
Adoption metrics
Measures showing how widely and effectively a new system or process is being used.
Agile approach
Delivering change in short cycles: test, learn, adjust. Less big bang, more iteration.
Agile change capability
The organisation’s ability to absorb and deliver frequent change without burning out or derailing BAU.
Agile Manifesto
A software development philosophy which prioritises individuals and interactions over processes and tools, working software over comprehensive documentation, customer collaboration over contract negotiation, and responding to change over following a plan.
Agile software development
A customer-focused approach to software development characterised by breaking tasks into short phases of work with frequent iteration to adapt to change.
Alignment
Ensuring important business dimensions like strategy, teams, processes and measures support the same goals.
Ambassadors (change ambassadors)
Trusted people across the business who help design, explain, encourage and embed the change locally.
As-is (current state)
A clear picture of how something works today, such as systems, structures and processes, before redesign begins. See also To-be.
Audit trail
A documented record showing what decisions were made, by whom, and why.
Automation
Using systems to perform routine steps automatically, such as workflow, approvals or notifications, instead of manually.
B
BAU (business as usual)
Normal day-to-day operations, as distinct from project work.
Balanced scorecard
A management framework linking performance metrics to strategy across financial, customer, process and people dimensions.
Baseline
The starting point: clear data on a specific date relating to people, processes and systems, used to compare scenarios and measure improvement.
Behaviour change
When people actually work differently, rather than just understanding or acknowledging the change.
Benefits / benefits case
The measurable expected and actual improvements from a project, for example improvements in revenue, quality, experience or reduction in costs, defects and risk.
Benefits realisation
Change management activities focused on ensuring that promised benefits actually materialise after implementation.
Benefits tracking model
A method, often by country, function or site, to measure delivery of actual benefits against target benefits.
Best practice
The most effective known way of working, which can be applied across locations to increase standardisation and improve performance.
Best value
The best balance of cost, coverage, quality and risk to deliver the outcomes you need, not necessarily the cheapest.
Big-bang implementation
Launching a system everywhere at once rather than in phased stages. Higher risk, but faster deployment.
Blueprint
A documented design of how the future system, organisation or process will work, agreed before detailed build begins.
BPO (business process outsourcing)
Partnering with a specialist external provider to run an operational function such as accounts payable or payroll.
Business case
A structured justification for investment, covering objectives, costs, benefits, risks and alternatives, and requiring senior approval.
Business-critical roles / processes
Roles or processes you cannot disrupt without real operational consequences.
Business process
A sequence of activities producing a defined outcome.
Business readiness gate
A formal checkpoint before go-live at which the business, not the project team, signs off that people, processes and systems are genuinely ready.
Business transformation (see What is Business Transformation?)
The process of fundamentally changing the systems, processes, people and technology across a whole business or business unit, to achieve measurable improvements in efficiency, effectiveness and stakeholder satisfaction. As such, a business transformation project is likely to include any number of change management projects, each focused on an individual process, system, technology, team or department.
Buy-in (stakeholder buy-in)
Genuine, active support from the people who matter.
C
Capability (organisational capability)
A repeatable ability to do something consistently well.
Capability gap
The difference between current skills and those required for the future state.
Career pathways
Clear routes for progression: what roles exist, what skills are needed, and how people move between them.
Case for change
A clear, credible explanation of why change is needed and what success looks like. A key foundation for the change management plan.
Case management
A structured way of managing HR queries or employee issues end-to-end: logging, routing, resolution and insight.
Change agility
How quickly the organisation can adjust and still perform. Close cousin of change capability.
Change champion
A respected employee who is involved in and advocates the change, helping embed it among colleagues.
Change fatigue
What happens when people have been through too many changes in too short a time: disengagement, cynicism and resistance by default, regardless of the merits of the current initiative.
Change impact assessment
Early analysis of what will change for people across key dimensions such as systems, processes, roles, location, measures, reporting and working practices.
Change management (see Change Management – A Beginner’s Guide)
A structured approach to helping people adopt new systems, processes or behaviours. Underinvestment here is one of the most common causes of failed transformation.
Change network
A group of change champions or a cross-section of employees, managers and HR who advise, test and help spread the change across the organisation.
Change plan
A clear plan of activities, milestones and resources to deliver the people side of change, aligned to the overall programme plan.
Change readiness
The extent to which people, processes, data and systems are genuinely prepared for the change.
Change resilience (see Change Vigour vs Change Resilience)
The ability to absorb, adapt to and recover from change or disruption while maintaining performance. Focuses on coping with change rather than actively using it to improve outcomes.
Change strategy
The approach to the people side of change, including sponsorship, communications, training, readiness, resistance and adoption.
Change vigour (see Change Vigour vs Change Resilience)
An active, positive response to change where individuals and organisations not only adapt, but use change to improve performance, learn and move forward. It goes beyond coping to actively engaging with and benefiting from change.
Cloud journey / cloud migration
Moving systems from on-premise infrastructure to cloud platforms and managing the resulting operational change.
Co-creation / collaborative approach
Designing the solution with the people who will use it, rather than presenting it to them as a fait accompli.
Commercial performance
Business results in money terms: revenue, margin and sales performance.
Compliance
Meeting legal, regulatory and policy requirements to avoid errors, fines, legal risk and loss of employee trust. A critical requirement of many systems, including finance, HR and payroll.
Configuration
Setting up a system so it reflects the organisation’s actual business processes and rules.
Continuous improvement
Ongoing incremental improvements to optimise after initial implementation. A good way to preserve or enhance benefits delivery.
Contract conversion
Switching from one contract structure to another, often when vendors or systems change.
Contracting (vendor contracting)
Agreeing commercial terms with suppliers: price, scope, SLAs, change control, liability, exit and so on.
Core model
The standardised way an organisation intends to operate globally, before local variations are considered.
Cost modelling
Building a full view of the costs of change to allow accurate business cases and budgets and minimise surprises.
Cost reduction
Reducing operational costs, often a driver for business transformation.
Critical capabilities
The skills and functions the organisation must be strong at to deliver its strategy.
CSAT (customer satisfaction score)
A metric tracking how satisfied users are with a service or system.
Culture
Shared values, beliefs and expectations that shape organisational behaviour and how work is done in practice.
Customer journey
The sequence of interactions a customer has with a process or service from start to finish.
Cutover
The controlled switch from old system or process to new, including who does what, when, and how you recover if things go wrong.
Cycle time
How long it takes to complete a process from start to finish, for example recruiting an employee.
D
Dashboard
A set of metrics used to track progress, presented in a visually appealing way.
Data challenges
Gaps, errors, duplicates or inconsistencies in data that undermine decisions and implementation.
Data-driven approach
Using real data to make decisions rather than instincts and opinions.
Data load
Uploading data into a new system as part of implementation.
Data migration
Moving data from one system to another, with validation to ensure accuracy and completeness.
Data quality
The accuracy and completeness of data. Poor data quality causes problems in testing and after go-live.
Decision rights
Clarity on who has authority to make which decisions. Essential for effective governance and role clarity.
Defect
A system error discovered during testing.
Defect resolution
Fixing issues found during testing to ensure a smooth go-live.
Delayering
Reducing the number of management levels in a hierarchy to speed up decision-making and reduce cost.
Dependencies
Where one piece of work relies on another happening first, or breaks if it does not.
Design options
A small set of plausible future options, compared to select the best fit with business strategy and goals before detailed design begins.
Design principles
Rules for making consistent decisions throughout design: what will and will not be traded off.
Design thinking
A problem-solving and innovation approach based on human-centred empathy, iterative prototyping and real-world testing.
Diagnostic review
A structured assessment of current operations, processes, systems and pain points, typically conducted to clarify issues and opportunities before agreeing the approach to a change.
Digital platform
An online infrastructure that facilitates interaction and delivers critical business processes at scale, for example e-commerce trading or back-office support services.
Digital transformation
Using technology to fundamentally improve how work is performed, requiring change in people, processes and governance, not just systems.
Due diligence
A pre-deal investigation of what you are really buying or merging with, including people, cost, risk and system implications.
E
Efficiencies
Producing the same output using fewer resources: time, cost or effort.
Embed / embedding
Making the new way of working stick in BAU through engagement, reinforcement, ownership and sustained follow-through.
Employee experience
How employees perceive their working environment, processes and systems. An important design consideration alongside pure efficiency.
Employee lifecycle
The end-to-end journey of an employee through an organisation from recruitment to retirement.
End state / future state
The intended future reality. Some programmes define this tightly; others use iterative development towards a high-level goal instead of a fixed endpoint.
End-to-end (process)
Looking at the full process flow from start to finish, not just one part of the process.
Engagement (employee engagement)
Whether people are genuinely bought in and involved, not just informed.
Escalation
Raising an issue to a higher decision-maker when it cannot be resolved at the current level.
Executive sponsor
A senior leader accountable for ensuring the change succeeds: providing visible backing and resources, removing blockers and making key decisions.
F
Federated structure
A business organised with strong local autonomy across regions or countries, which commonly generates process variation and inconsistency.
FTE (full-time equivalent)
A measure of time worked used to standardise full-time and part-time workers. For example, where 1 FTE is a full-time worker on five days a week, 0.8 FTE works four days per week.
Functionality
What the system can do in practice, such as features, workflows and reports.
G
Global payroll model
A structured approach to managing payroll consistently across multiple countries while accommodating local requirements.
Global standardisation
Using common processes across regions while allowing justified local adjustments.
Go-live
The point when a new system or process starts operating for real.
Go-live readiness
A structured assessment confirming that people, systems, data, training and support are genuinely ready for launch.
Governance
The structures and processes used to make decisions, handle escalations and maintain accountability across a programme.
Gross-to-net calculation
The core payroll computation: starting with gross pay and applying deductions, such as tax, national insurance and pension, to arrive at net pay.
Growth structure
Designing the organisation so it can scale effectively: roles, reporting lines, processes and capacity.
H
HCM (human capital management)
The strategy, processes and systems used to manage and develop employees to achieve business goals.
Headcount reduction
A reduction in the number of people employed, often the practical outcome of restructuring or operating model redesign.
Hearts and minds
Shorthand for the emotional and psychological buy-in needed from people to achieve sustainable change, not just logical understanding.
High-level rollout plan
A summary deployment plan where a change is being implemented across functions, countries or locations.
HR case management
The process of managing employee issues from initiation to resolution to improve consistency, outcomes and insight.
HRBP (HR Business Partner)
An HR professional working closely with a business unit to support leaders and translate HR strategy into practical delivery.
HRIS (Human Resource Information System)
The central system used for managing the employee lifecycle, holding core people data and enabling automated delivery of HR processes.
HRIS implementation
Configuring and installing a new HR information system, including design, build, test, data migration, training and change management.
HRIS optimisation
Improving how an existing HR information system is configured or used after initial deployment, to adapt to business changes and add further value.
Hybrid working arrangements (see What is Hybrid Working?)
Practical policies and routines allowing flexibility over where work happens, often underestimated as a change management challenge.
Hypercare
A defined post go-live support period, typically four to eight weeks, to stabilise issues, resolve defects and help users gain confidence.
I
Implementation
The process of executing a change from concept to launch and beyond.
Implementation plan
A detailed roadmap for implementing a change with clarity on timescales, activities and resources.
Incentive programmes
Elements of remuneration tied to performance, such as bonuses and short-term or long-term incentives, with complex governance and fairness considerations.
Induction / onboarding
Helping new joiners become productive quickly and consistently, especially important where turnover is high.
Influence networks
The real patterns of who listens to whom inside an organisation, irrespective of formal reporting lines.
Insourcing
Bringing work or services back inside the organisation instead of using an external provider. This can mean building an in-house team, capability or function to do work previously outsourced.
Integration (systems integration)
Connecting systems so data and workflows flow between them automatically, without manual intervention.
Integration testing
Testing whether connected systems work together correctly before go-live.
Issue log
A register of problems identified during a project which records owners and status to help manage issues to resolution.
J
Job architecture
A framework defining roles, job levels, compensation and career progression consistently across the organisation.
Job family
A group of roles requiring similar skills or operating in the same functional area, such as marketing or finance.
K
Kaizen
A focus on continuous improvement driven by the teams doing the work, involving elimination of waste to improve productivity and efficiency over time.
Knowledge transfer
Ensuring the people who need to operate in the to-be world are trained to do so by the people who designed and implemented it.
Kotter change model
An eight-step framework for organisational change, widely used to structure effective approaches to delivery of change.
KPI (key performance indicator)
A quantifiable measure used to track progress or performance. Useful in measuring the impact of a change programme.
L
Leading / lagging indicators
Leading indicators signal early whether change is on track; lagging indicators show outcomes after the fact. Both matter.
Lean
A methodology focused on eliminating waste and improving process flow to maximise value. It emphasises continuous improvement.
Legacy system
An older system still in use but difficult to update, integrate or scale due to its age.
Lessons learned
Specific insights captured at the end of a project phase so the organisation can learn and improve its approach in future.
Localisation
Adapting systems or processes to meet country-specific regulations, language and working practices.
M
M&A (mergers and acquisitions)
Buying or merging organisations, with major implications for people, structure, data, systems, culture and cost.
Managed service
An outsourced operational service delivered under contract, with defined SLAs and governance.
Management reporting
Regular reports for leaders, often affected by changes in data definitions, systems and KPIs during transformation.
McNamara Fallacy
The trap of focusing only on what is easy to measure while ignoring what matters but is harder to quantify.
Milestone
A key project checkpoint marking completion of a phase or major deliverable.
Modelling (organisational modelling / scenario modelling)
Testing alternative options for things like organisational structures or process impacts using data before committing to a new design.
N
Needs analysis
Identifying the specific requirements of users that must be met when designing something like a system or training programme.
O
Offshoring
Moving work or services to a team in another country, usually to reduce cost, access skills or provide round-the-clock coverage. The work may still be done by your own organisation or by an external provider.
Operating model
How an organisation delivers value through elements such as structure, roles, governance, processes, technology and measures, and how those elements work together in practice.
Operating rhythm
The regular cadence of meetings, reporting and decisions that drives consistent execution.
Operational effectiveness
How efficiently and reliably the organisation runs in practice: coordinated work, minimal waste and sustained performance.
Organisation design (OD) (see What is Organisation Design?)
The process of aligning the shape and structure of an organisation with its strategy: designing structure, roles, accountabilities and governance.
Organisation chart
A visual representation of roles and reporting lines in an organisation.
Orgvue
An industry-leading tool used to analyse organisational data, model structures, test changes before implementing them and monitor after implementation.
Outsourcing
Hiring an external provider to run an operational function such as payroll where this can be done more efficiently or effectively than in-house.
P
PaaS (Platform as a Service)
A cloud-based environment for building, testing and running applications, without managing the underlying infrastructure. The provider supplies the platform, tools and runtime, while the organisation develops or configures its own applications on top.
Example: Microsoft Azure App Services, Google App Engine.
Parallel run
Running old and new systems or processes side by side to compare results before the final switch-over. A critical part of preparation for high-risk implementations like payroll.
Pay equity study
Analysing pay differences across groups, such as gender, ethnicity or role level, to identify inequities and design remediation.
Pay transparency
Policies and communications covering how pay is set and how open the organisation is about pay decisions.
Payroll compliance
Ensuring payroll processes meet legal, tax and regulatory requirements to avoid errors, fines, legal risk and loss of employee trust.
Payroll transformation
A major redesign of payroll systems, processes, operating model and governance to improve compliance, efficiency and quality.
Payslip
The document showing an employee’s pay for a given period: gross pay, deductions and net pay. Getting this right and on time is the baseline of payroll delivery.
People proposition
What the organisation offers employees in return for their contribution: experience, development, reward and culture.
PMI (post-merger integration)
The work following a merger or acquisition to integrate people, processes, systems and structures into a coherent whole.
PMO (project management office)
The function responsible for managing project governance, reporting, risk and coordination across a project, programme or portfolio.
Policies and ways of working
The rules and routines people follow day to day, often redesigned as part of system or process change.
Portfolio
A group of distinct projects and programmes created to meet business goals.
Position management
The strategic process of defining, managing and tracking positions in an organisation rather than people.
Process mapping
Documenting each step, handoff and decision in a process so it can be improved, standardised or digitised.
Procurement
The structured process of selecting and negotiating with suppliers to purchase things for the organisation: requirements, evaluation, pricing, due diligence and contracting.
Programme
A coordinated group of related projects aimed at a broader outcome, with shared governance and benefits ownership.
Project closure
Formally ending a project: completing deliverables, measuring benefits, closing open actions, documenting lessons learned, handing over to BAU and releasing resources.
Prosci ADKAR model
A change framework focused on Awareness, Desire, Knowledge, Ability and Reinforcement to achieve successful individual change.
Prototype
An early working version of the solution used to test workflows and validate design before full build.
Q
Qualitative analysis
Insight based on interviews, observation and narrative evidence, not numbers.
Quality assurance (QA)
Independent verification that systems and processes meet required standards before launch.
Quantitative analysis
Insight based on numbers and data: costs, volumes and performance metrics.
R
RACI
A framework for defining roles and responsibilities: Responsible, Accountable, Consulted and Informed.
Readiness assessment
A structured review confirming whether people, processes, data and systems are genuinely prepared for change.
Reconciliation
Checking that outputs match financial records and control totals. A critical step for ensuring accuracy in payroll or finance systems change.
Recruitment costs
The full cost of hiring: advertising, agency fees and management time, all of which increase when turnover is high.
Remediation planning
Planning fixes after an analysis of a solution identifies a problem.
Remuneration harmonisation
Standardising pay and incentive approaches across countries or business units to reduce inconsistency and risk.
Resistance management
The active plan to surface, understand and address pushback. A critical element of change management.
Resistance to change
Pushback or quiet non-adoption. Often a rational response from employees to the personal impact of change, not simply obstructiveness.
Restructure
A change to roles, responsibilities or reporting lines.
Risk management
Identifying what could go wrong, planning and executing mitigations, and monitoring throughout delivery.
Roadmap
A high-level plan showing the major phases and milestones of a programme.
Role clarity
Making roles, responsibilities and decision rights explicit, to improve employee satisfaction and organisational effectiveness and reduce conflict.
Rollout
Deploying a system or process across functions, sites or countries in phases, rather than all at once.
S
SaaS (Software as a Service)
Software delivered over the internet on a subscription basis, rather than installed locally. The provider hosts, maintains and updates the system, while users access it through a browser.
Example: Workday, Salesforce, Microsoft 365.
SAFe (Scaled Agile Framework for Enterprise)
A structured method for applying agile software development across large organisations with multiple teams.
Scenario modelling
Testing alternative designs against data before committing: comparing cost, performance and risk across options.
Service rehearsals
Structured practice runs for the new service or system before go-live, used to surface issues and build user confidence.
Shadow payroll
Running a payroll calculation in a second country for tax and social security purposes, without actually paying employees there. Common in global mobility situations.
Six Sigma
A data-driven process improvement methodology focused on reducing errors and process variation and increasing quality.
SLA (service level agreement)
Contractual standards defining expected service performance from an external supplier or internal service provider.
Spans and layers
Two related organisation design levers: span refers to how many direct reports a manager has, and layers refers to how many levels of management sit between the top and the front line.
Sponsorship (senior sponsorship)
Active backing from senior leaders: making decisions, being visible, role modelling the change and removing blockers.
Stakeholder
Anyone affected by or with influence over the outcome of a project.
Stakeholder analysis
Assessing stakeholder influence, interest and attitude to the change, so engagement can be planned and improved.
Stakeholder engagement / management
Actively involving and managing key stakeholders throughout the change, not just informing them.
Standardisation
Using consistent processes and configurations across the organisation, while allowing justified local differences.
Steering committee
The senior governance forum that oversees a programme, makes key decisions and resolves escalations that cannot be handled at project level.
Succession planning
Preparing people to step into key roles when needed.
Sustainment
Keeping the change embedded and improving after the project closes. Different from hypercare, which is time-limited; sustainment is ongoing.
System configuration
Setting system parameters and rules to reflect actual business processes.
Systems testing / end-to-end testing
Formal testing to verify that the entire end-to-end system works as designed before it is used in production. This follows testing of individual components such as unit testing and integration testing.
T
Talent management
Processes for attracting, developing and retaining employees.
Talent selection
Deciding who fills roles in a new structure, using defined criteria based on responsibilities, skills and capabilities.
Target Operating Model (TOM)
A detailed description of how the organisation will operate in the future: structure, processes, governance, systems and measures.
Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)
The complete cost of a system over time, not just the licence price. Includes implementation, annual support and running costs, upgrades and other add-ons.
Test scripts
Step-by-step instructions to be performed on the system under test to ensure it functions as expected.
Test strategy
The overall plan for what will be tested, how, by whom and when.
Time tracking
Recording employee working time for pay, compliance and management reporting purposes.
To-Be (future state)
A definition of the future state for key dimensions such as systems, structures and processes which will deliver the desired benefits of the change. See also As-Is.
Transformation programme
A coordinated effort to fundamentally improve organisational performance through changes to elements such as people, processes, technology, structure, governance or culture.
Transition plan
A plan for managing the move from old to new ways of working, including stabilisation after go-live.
U
UAT (user acceptance testing)
Testing conducted by real users to confirm the system works in genuine business scenarios.
Underinvestment (in change management)
Not putting enough resource, time, people or focus, into the adoption side of transformation. A major reason benefits do not materialise.
User adoption
The extent to which employees actively and consistently use a new system in practice.
V
Validation
Checking that data or processes meet required standards, for example validating employee bank details before the first payroll run so payments do not fail.
Vendor
An external supplier of software or services.
Vendor management
Ongoing oversight of supplier performance: scope, quality, fees, relationship and outcomes.
Vendor selection
The structured process of evaluating and choosing a supplier, using defined requirements, scoring criteria and commercial due diligence.
Vision (for the change)
A clear picture of what the organisation is moving towards and why it is worth doing. Needed to align sponsors and motivate employees.
W
Ways of working
The routines and behaviours that make processes work, or fail, day to day: handoffs, decisions and collaboration patterns.
Workday / Workday Help
Workday is a major HR and finance enterprise resource platform. Workday Help is its capability for employee content and case management.
Workforce planning
Forecasting future workforce needs: headcount, skills and capacity, based on strategic demand and supply.
Workflow
The sequence of steps in a process managed by a system, including approvals, routing and notifications.
Works Council engagement
Consultation and negotiation with employee representative bodies, a legal requirement in many European change programmes.
Workstream
A distinct area of activity within a programme, typically with its own lead, plan and deliverables.
Workstream lead
The person responsible for a specific workstream within a programme: planning, delivery, risk management and reporting.
Change is and must be a constant in any organisation.
The important thing is not the terminology itself, but whether people understand what is changing, why it matters, and what they need to do differently.
If this glossary has done its job, it should make conversations simpler, decisions clearer and change easier to navigate.
To discuss your transformation project, email info@changeassociates.com
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