Employee Retention Calculator
Calculate your workforce stability and turnover rates accurately.
Please enter valid positive numbers. Start count must be greater than zero.
Retention Rate
–%
Turnover Rate
–%
Total Separations (Leavers)
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What is Employee Retention Rate?
Employee Retention Rate is a critical Human Resources metric that measures the percentage of employees who remain with an organization over a specific period. Unlike turnover, which focuses on who left, retention focuses on the stability of your existing workforce. It is a key indicator of company culture, job satisfaction, and organizational health.
How to Calculate Retention Rate
While there are several ways to approach this metric, the standard formula used by HR professionals isolates the original cohort of employees to see how many stayed. The formula is:
Retention Rate = ((Total Employees at End – New Hires) / Total Employees at Start) × 100
Example Calculation:
- Start Headcount: 100 employees
- End Headcount: 95 employees
- New Hires: 10 employees
First, calculate how many of the original 100 remain: 95 (End) – 10 (New) = 85 retained employees.
Then, divide by the start count: 85 / 100 = 0.85.
Finally, multiply by 100 to get the percentage: 85% Retention Rate.
Retention vs. Turnover
This calculator provides both metrics because they tell different sides of the same story:
- Retention Rate: Measures stability. It answers "How many of my original team are still here?" High retention suggests a stable work environment.
- Turnover Rate: Measures the velocity of departures relative to the average workforce size. It answers "How quickly are people leaving?"
Why Monitoring Retention Matters
High employee retention saves money on recruitment and training, preserves institutional knowledge, and generally boosts morale. Conversely, low retention (high turnover) can indicate issues with management, compensation, or workplace culture that need immediate attention.