People leave, and the rate matters. Turnover is the rate at which employees exit an organization over a given period, usually expressed as a percentage of average headcount.

Voluntary turnover reflects employee choice; involuntary turnover reflects employer decisions. Regrettable turnover of high performers hurts more than departure of chronic underperformers. Causes include pay, management quality, career opportunity, workload, and external market pull.

Some turnover refreshes capability and culture; chronic high turnover destroys institutional knowledge and raises cost. Analyzing turnover by segment and reason turns a headline percentage into actionable insight. Retention efforts should focus where loss hurts most.

• Rate of employee exits over time
• Includes voluntary and involuntary departures
• Regrettable loss of strong performers is especially costly
• Analysis by cause guides targeted retention