FTE (Full-Time Equivalent)
FTE expresses staffing as the equivalent number of full-time people — someone working half the standard hours counts as 0.5 FTE — so capacity can be compared regardless of contract type.
Also known as: full time equivalent, FTE calculation
It answers a different question from headcount. Headcount asks how many people; FTE asks how much working capacity. Budgeting and workload planning need the second.
The calculation depends on a defined standard week, which has to be stated. Forty-eight hours and forty hours give different FTE values for the same person, and comparing across sites with different standards produces nonsense.
For an organisation with substantial part-time or shift-based staffing, reporting only headcount systematically overstates capacity — which is exactly the population where the distinction matters most.
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Headcount
Headcount is the number of people employed at a point in time, counted as individuals regardless of how many hours each works.
Shift
A shift is a defined block of working hours assigned to an employee — its start and end times, breaks and grace period — against which their attendance is measured.
Absenteeism Rate
Absenteeism rate is the proportion of scheduled working time lost to unplanned absence, measured as absent days over total scheduled days for a period.
Attrition Rate
Attrition rate is the proportion of employees who leave over a period, expressed as separations divided by average headcount for that period.