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All-in-one HR platform · v2.0
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All-in-one HR platform · v2.0
14-day free trial · No credit cardhello@HrMagix.com
An attrition rate tells you how much, not why. A company-wide figure can stay flat while one team loses half its people and another loses none, and the average hides both. Analysis is the work of taking that one number apart until the causes show.
This guide starts with calculating attrition consistently, then works through the breakdowns that most often reveal something, and ends with turning findings into action. It does not offer an industry figure to compare against, because published figures are defined in too many different ways to be a reliable yardstick.
01
The common form is leavers in the period divided by average headcount in the period. Average headcount is usually the opening plus closing divided by two, or the average of monthly closing figures. Monthly rates can be annualised, but say when you have done so.
Decide who counts as a leaver using the same definitions as your headcount report, and use the last working day as the leaving date. Whatever you choose, keep it; a change in formula looks exactly like a change in attrition.
02
A resignation and a termination are different events with different causes. Combining them makes the number move for reasons that have nothing to do with retention. Report voluntary attrition, involuntary attrition and the end of fixed-term contracts separately.
Within voluntary attrition, it can also help to separate leavers you would have wanted to keep from those you would not. That judgement should come from the manager and HR at the time of exit, recorded consistently, not reconstructed later.
03
Each cut answers a different question. Run them all, then look for where attrition is concentrated rather than where it is merely present.
Watch for itSmall numbers mislead. Two leavers from a team of five is a high rate and may mean nothing. Look at counts alongside rates, and treat small-group findings as questions to ask rather than conclusions.
04
Numbers show where; people explain why. Exit interviews are the obvious source, but what people say on the way out is shaped by wanting a good reference. Look for consistent themes rather than taking each reason literally.
Stay conversations with current employees in the affected group are often more useful, because the people who are still there can say what would make them leave without any reason to soften it.
05
An attrition analysis that ends in a long list of possible causes changes nothing. Pick the one or two concentrations that matter most, name a likely cause for each, choose an action and say how you will tell whether it worked.
Then measure the same cut the same way in the following quarters. If early-tenure attrition was the problem and onboarding was the fix, track early-tenure attrition for the cohorts that joined after the change.
Every guide ends here rather than in a summary. If a line below is not true yet, that is the next thing to do.
Commonly as leavers in the period divided by average headcount for the period. The exact definition of leaver and average headcount varies, so write yours down and keep it constant.
There is no single figure that applies across companies, roles and locations, and published comparisons use different definitions. Compare your own rate over time and between your own teams.
Report them separately. Combining resignations and terminations makes the number move for reasons unrelated to retention.
Tenure band is often the most revealing, because early leavers and long-tenure leavers usually leave for different reasons. Manager and pay position are close behind.
The checklist above is generic by necessity. Bring your own structures, states and rota and we will tell you which lines are already true and which are not.
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