Involuntary Turnover Rate
Percentage of employees whose employment is terminated by the organisation (redundancy, dismissal)
What is Involuntary Turnover Rate?
Involuntary turnover rate is the percentage of employees who leave because the organisation ended their employment, such as through dismissal or redundancy. It shows how much of turnover comes from the employer's decisions.
It helps separate performance and restructuring effects from people choosing to leave.
How this KPI is measured
- Function
- Human Resources
- Sub-function
- Talent Retention
- Industry
- All Industries
- Type
- Lagging
- Impact
- People
- Unit
- %
- Measurement frequency
- Monthly / Quarterly
- Formula
- (Involuntary leavers / Average headcount) × 100
How to calculate it
Divide involuntary leavers by average headcount, and multiply by 100.
For example, if 30 employees were dismissed or made redundant and average headcount was 1,000, the rate is 3%.
Separate performance dismissals from redundancies, and check that decisions are fair and consistent across groups.
Where it is used
Understanding turnover
Separate employer-driven exits.
Checking hiring quality
High dismissals early may show poor selection.
Monitoring fairness
Look for patterns.
How to improve it
Tips and common mistakes
- Follow employment law and internal policy.
- High early dismissals may point to hiring problems.
- Look at manager patterns.
More Human Resources kpi library
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