Status achieved in an organization -- rank dynamics

TL;DR

This paper introduces a model for rank dynamics in organizations, showing how staff turnover and additional variables influence rank shifts, especially highlighting nonlinear effects on high-status employees over time.

Contribution

It presents a novel model capturing nonlinear rank evolution due to staff turnover and additional status variables, extending previous linear models.

Findings

High-status staff are less affected by turnover when rank depends solely on performance.

Additional variables can cause significant deterioration of high-status positions.

Rank shifts depend nonlinearly on the time between staff replacements.

Abstract

A new model of an evolution of ranks of employees due to staff turnover in an organization is designed. If the rank is determined only by the performance, the rank shift of incumbents due to the turnover is proportional to the initial rank: the status of high staff is reduced only slightly. This effect that has been observed in the literature. However, if the status also depends on some other variable, the positions of high staff may be greatly deteriorated. In that case, the effect depends nonlinearly on the time $\tau$ between subsequent replacements of staff.