I was walking back from my usual 11 a.m. coffee run and I noticed something from my team that I hadn’t before. As you know, we assist clients and vendors all over the country with all things HR Technology, and a lot of that work happens over the phone or by online conferencing. Members from my team were working away and the lingo casually being tossed around made me pause.

“I’ve got the TCO up now and based on your responses to our RFP, it seems that you have included COBRA elections in your pricing.”

“Your FMLA requirements can be met, as well as your HRA, HSA, and FSA requirements with this vendor.”

“So I understand correctly, your current status of your Ben Admin system is held by a PEO and you’re currently seeking a TPA to host your Technical Call Center? OK got it.”

“There is a 30 cent PEPM charge for Total Comp, a 1 dollar PPPM charge for FSA, and a 3 dollars and 16 cent PEEPM charge for your Ben Admin system.”

“After you’ve signed our NDA, you can then participate in our RFI, which can only benefit you for future RFP’s.”

Simple language we deal with on a day-to-day basis struck me. There are three members of our team who are new to the workforce altogether, straight out of college. All of the HR jargon and TLAs (Three Letter Acronyms) being thrown around got me thinking of how we may sound to others outside of our team who may not “speak geek.” It could easily sound like we were speaking Klingon to those not in the know! I took a moment to address this thought during a team meeting, and these three had informed me that they had already started a running list of HR Tech acronyms. Since January of this year, they’ve been adding these acronyms to a word document, which currently spans more than 5 pages.

I just thought that was such a unique thing to do.  I almost forgot what it was like to be new to an industry, and it was refreshing to see this dedication to learning the trade.  Of course, they’ve also included some acronyms that will help those of us who may not be quite as “up-to-date with the times.”

“YOLO, man.”

“Some people these days…SMH.”

“A couple of us are going out for drinks after work. HMU if you want to join.”

If you have some HR Tech-related acronyms that might by helpful, comment them below. Or let us know if you are interested in seeing our HR Tech acronym list; we’d be happy to share!