When an employee leaves the company, the date of their "departure" can vary depending on the perspective adopted. This difference can cause discrepancies in your headcount or turnover calculations.
HR perspective: last working day
Definition: The "departure" of an employee corresponds to the last actual day of work (for example: March 31).
Note: Although on that date the employee still appears in the headcount, since they are working that day, the HR turnover indicators are updated immediately.
Finance perspective: day after the last working day
Definition: The employee is considered "departed" on the day following their last working day (for example: April 1).
Benefit: This logic allows using the formula:
Headcount(N) = Headcount(N-1) + Arrivals(N) - Departures(N)
Why this difference and how to handle it?
HR teams often need to reflect the on-the-ground reality as of the employee's last day present, whereas Finance teams seek arithmetic consistency in their budget and headcount tracking tables.
To avoid any confusion, it is crucial to:
Clarify internally the definition adopted.
Specify in your reports which method is used (HR or Finance)
Choose the correct metric in Reflect according to the chosen convention, in order to maintain overall consistency across departments.
In Reflect, the data explorer indeed allows you to choose the measure that matches your definition:
