What is the difference between attrition and turnover

In , the Bureau of Labor Statistics in the US found that the average turnover rate among professional and business services was In order to calculate your employee attrition rate also referred to as turnover rate , merely divide the number of employees who leave in a year by the number of positions you have available.

This would include employees who leave due to:. If your company has a higher-than-average employee attrition rate, it may be due to some of the causes discussed below.

A few good ways to do this include: implement Employee Opinion Surveys, perform and act upon on exit interviews; setting up financial wellness programs at work such as a Budgeting Program or look to improve upon existing benefits, discounts, perks, etc. Deeper insights can identify the source of issues and help to prioritize the programs that promote a high-performance culture while ensuring that retention rates remain stable.

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Independent Contractor or Employee? Learn More! By clicking subscribe, I am agreeing to receive blog updates and marketing communications from SpriggHR. Request a Free Demo. For example, what if your company foresees a need for more workers with a particular set of skills?

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Discover how we can improve your business. Subscribe When you are ready to subscribe click here. Sign in with Sign in with. What is employee attrition? What is employee turnover? Begin by obtaining answers to the following questions about the time frame in question: What was the average number of employees?

How many total employees left their jobs? How many employees were replaced? Is turnover good or bad? Is attrition better or worse than turnover? How can you avoid, or at least be better prepared for this scenario?

Communicate with your employees. Build systems to share employee knowledge. Turnover focuses on both voluntary and involuntary departures. While turnover includes employees who leave of their own volition, it also refers to employees who are involuntarily terminated or discharged. With turnover, HR is tasked with replacing employees, whereas spots left open from attrition may remain unfilled.

Just as the definitions between attrition and turnover are different, the costs associated with them are too. Attrition is often viewed as a way that companies can decrease labor costs. Take for instance more severe forms of attrition—like layoffs—which are often deployed as a labor reduction technique. If an employee leaves naturally, and their spot no longer needs to be filled, organizations can freeze hiring to reduce staffing costs.

Some attrition can cost as much as turnover. According to the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau , money and financial wellness can be a significant stressor for employees, and one that perpetuates avoidable attrition and turnover rates. A financially stressed employee is likely on the look-out for a better paying opportunity. Financial stress may be more common than you think, consider these fast facts:. According to a study by BambooHR , one of the reasons why turnover occurs is due to the lack of professional advancement.

Does your organization offer upward mobility? Grooming high-potential employees to take on more significant roles within the organization is one strategy for minimizing the cost of attrition and turnover. People will stay with you if they have a chance to grow with your company. Inflexibility from a workplace is a significant issue, and one growing even faster in a young work environment.

With the rise of on-demand job opportunities, there are more ways for workers to choose their own schedules and pay rates, which is making the industry a growing competitor to typical jobs. There may be signs that your employees are gearing up to leave you.