sorry for posting an unfinished msg earlier. pls check the link below; it might shed some light on the varying but interesting perspectives re attrition.
http://iamidiotsavant.blogspot.com/2...attrition.html
author is a former colleague and may be considered a subject matter expert on the topic.
also, a probable answer to the question you floated e.g. 120% attrition, to quote
" annualized attrition and multiplying a percentage to 12
i got uneasy multiplying a number converted to percent to any number when using an annualized formula. why? because it skews the actual value of the measurement. take formula 4 for example. COPC uses this formula. Say, you've got 100 people who attrited this year. Your total headcount this year is 300. In using Formula 4, you will yield an annualized attrition rate of 400%. 400%! It's mathematically unsound. It means you lost 100% of your employees and 300% of whom you never even hired in the first place. Okay, let's just assume that it is mathematically valid. with this, it actually means that we replaced all our original employees 4 times over."
i stand corrected though :)