to yield better approximations. Table 3 presents the
absolute differences between exact rates and
approximations now derived from monthly data, over
the same 1,600 tests as before.
Table 3: Absolute difference between exact rates and rate
approximations derived from monthly data.
Mean
Difference
0.008974%
0.008957% 0.008959%
Maximum
Difference
0.241489%
0.240426% 0.241214%
In practice, the authors often use this approach.
We maintain database tables of monthly snapshots
that track relevant employee attributes, along with
transaction logs for attrition, promotions and
transfers. To measure a rate, we obtain monthly
headcounts from the snapshots, count the relevant
logged monthly transactions, estimate monthly rates,
and finally apply Equation (32).
Table 3 shows the uniform Taylor approximation
as marginally more accurate. However, it is harder to
communicate and less intuitive than the other two.
Before completing the present research, the authors
had used the half-intake formula for many years, and
Tables 1, 2 and 3 confirm that it produces accurate
estimates. We will thus continue to use the half-intake
formula for approximating reported rates.
Our results are based on Canadian Armed Forces
personnel data, which might not be representative of
other workforces. Personnel data is not generally
shared externally, for privacy reasons, but we would
like to invite others to replicate our tests within their
own organizations, so as to confirm of our results.
6 CONCLUSIONS
The goal of this paper was to lay a foundation for the
study of proportional rates in Personnel OR. We have
proposed the general formula for personnel flow rates
as that foundation, based on its properties. In addition,
we showed how the internal rate of personnel flow
can be derived from the general formula, and how it
offers a tool for the naïve forecasting of flows.
Finally, we justified the need for approximation
methods and provided options to obtain such
approximations. We showed empirically how our
proposed approximations are sufficiently accurate in
most cases, especially when computed from monthly
personnel data.
This paper addressed the need to appropriately
describe proportional rates in Personnel OR. We were
able to find inspiration from Investment Performance
Measurement, a field where the understanding of
proportional growth rates is fairly mature. However,
other fields still lack that depth of understanding. One
example is the reporting of churn rates for
subscription services. The specific requirements and
constraints of each field warrant their own
investigation, but the results of this paper can
hopefully inspire such investigation.
REFERENCES
AT&T, 2020. Q1 2020 AT&T Earnings – Financial and
Operational Trends, Author. Available at:
https://investors.att.com/financial-reports/quarterly-
earnings.
Bartholomew D. J., Forbes A. F. and McClean S. I., 1991.
Statistical Techniques for Manpower Planning, John
Wiley & Sons. Chichester.
CFA Institute, 2019. Global Investment Performance
Standards (GIPS
®
) For Firms – 2020, Author.
Charlottesville. Available at:
https://www.cfainstitute.org/en/ethics-
standards/codes/gips-standards.
CSA, 2017. Notice of Amendments to National Instrument
31-103, Author. Montreal. Available at:
https://www.osc.gov.on.ca/en/SecuritiesLaw_31-
103.htm.
Dietz, P., 1966. Pension Funds: Measuring Investment
Performance. Graduate School of Business, Columbia
University. New York.
Noble, S., 2011. Defining Churn Rate (No Really, This
Actually Requires an Entire Blog Post), Shopify
Engineering Blog. Available at:
https://shopify.engineering/defining-churn-rate-no-
really-this-actually-requires-an-entire-blog-post.
Okazawa, S., 2007. Measuring Attrition Rates and
Forecasting Attrition Volume (Technical Memorandum
DRDC CORA TM 2007-02), Defence Research and
Development Canada. Ottawa.
Statistics Canada, 2017. Age-standardized Rates, The
Daily, Author, Ottawa. Available at:
http://www.statcan.gc.ca/eng/dai/btd/asr.
Vincent, E., Calitoiu, D. and Ueno, R., 2018. Personnel
Attrition Rate Reporting (DGMPRA Scientific Report
DRDC-RDDC-2018-R238), Defence Research and
Development Canada. Ottawa.