"transactional" ?

[YeOldeTrout]

What does this word mean?
Donald Trump gets criticised for treating politics as transactional, another thread someone criticises HR departments for being lousy at "transactional" stuff.

What are they talking about? What does it mean to the critics? Dictionary definitions not helping. boohoo

My ignorance persists unbounded...

In Trump's case I think they are saying that he looks for what he can get out of a relationship or action. So instead of doing something because it is the right thing he is asking what do I get back if I do this.

From an hr point of view they mean just doing tasks rather than thinking strategically.

So you manage absence policy by making sure everyone is adhering to the rules as opposed to looking at the reasons for absence and trying to work out if they can be reduced for example.

My understanding of the HR reference is that they are poor at doing the everyday things, so maybe booking holidays, recording sick days etc. Things that should be their 'bread and butter'. I'm not sure that transactional is the correct use there but I would understand what they meant.