| Word | Description |
| Key employee | Under FMLA statutes, a key employee is defined as a salaried employee who is among the highest-paid 10% of all workers employed by the employer within a 75-mile radius. Under ERISA, a key employee is defined as a plan participant who is a highly compensated officer or company owner. |
| Key performance indicators (KPI) | Key Performance Indicators are quantifiable, specific measures of an organization’s performance in a certain area(s) of its business. . The purpose of KPI’s is to provide the company with quantifiable measurements of things it has determined are important to the organizational or business long-term goals and critical success factors . Once uncovered and properly analyzed, KPI’s can be used to understand and improve organizational performance and overall success. Also referred to as Key success indicators. |
| Key result areas | Used to establish standards and objectives, key result areas are the chief tasks of a job identified during the job evaluation process. |
| Knowledge assets | The parts of an organization’s intangible assets that relate specifically to knowledge, expertise, information, ideas, best practices, intellectual property and other capabilities. |
| Knowledge broker | The individual who facilitates the creation, sharing and use of knowledge in an organization by linking individuals with providers. |
| Knowledge Integration | Knowledge integration is broadly defined as the assimilation, extraction, transformation and loading of information from disparate systems into a single more unified, consistent and accurate data store used for evaluating, manipulating and reporting information. |
| Knowledge management | The process of creating, acquiring, sharing and managing knowledge to augment individual and organizational performance. |
| Knowledge mapping | A process used to create a summation of the knowledge an organization will need in order to support its overall goals, objectives, strategies and missions. |
| Knowledge worker | Employees whose job functions are primarily of an intellectual nature. |
| Knowledge, skills and abilities (KSA’s) | The attributes required to perform a job; generally demonstrated through qualifying experience, education or training. |
| Knowledge-based pay | A salary differentiation system that bases compensation on an individual’s education, experience, knowledge, skills or specialized training. Also referred to as skill-based pay |