Staff Turnover Rate
Percentage of paid employees who leave the organisation in a period, a key indicator of culture and sustainability
What is Staff Turnover Rate?
Staff turnover rate is the percentage of staff who leave in a period, compared with average headcount. It shows how stable the workforce is.
High turnover raises recruitment and training costs and can disrupt service, so it is a core measure of workforce health.
How this KPI is measured
- Function
- Human Resources
- Sub-function
- Talent Retention
- Industry
- All Industries
- Type
- Lagging
- Impact
- People
- Unit
- %
- Measurement frequency
- Quarterly / Annual
- Formula
- (Number of staff leavers / Average headcount) × 100
How to calculate it
Divide the number of staff leavers by average headcount, and multiply by 100.
For example, if 90 staff left over a year and average headcount was 600, turnover is 15%.
Break it down by reason, department and length of service, and compare with previous years and similar organisations.
Where it is used
Tracking workforce stability
Monitor changes.
Planning recruitment
Estimate replacement needs.
Finding problem areas
Compare teams.
How to improve it
Tips and common mistakes
- Use a consistent definition and average headcount.
- Seasonal patterns matter.
- Compare against your own sector.
More Human Resources kpi library
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