Understanding staff turnover is critical for any HR department or business owner. It represents the percentage of employees who leave an organization during a specific time period (usually monthly or annually) relative to the average number of total employees.
Turnover Rate = (Number of Leavers ÷ Average Number of Employees) × 100
Steps to Manual Calculation
To find your turnover rate, follow these three steps:
Define the Period: Choose your timeframe (e.g., Q1, Fiscal Year 2023).
Calculate Average Headcount: Add the number of employees at the start of the period to the number at the end, then divide by two.
Divide and Multiply: Divide the total number of people who left by that average headcount, then multiply by 100 to get the percentage.
Practical Example
Imagine your company started the year with 50 employees and ended with 60. During that year, 10 people left.
Average Headcount: (50 + 60) / 2 = 55
Turnover Calculation: (10 / 55) * 100 = 18.18%
This means your annual turnover rate is 18.18%. Whether this is "good" or "bad" depends heavily on your industry. For example, retail often sees higher turnover than the tech or healthcare sectors.
Why Monitoring Turnover Matters
High turnover rates are expensive. Beyond the obvious recruitment and advertising costs, businesses face "hidden" costs such as lost productivity, training time for new hires, and the potential impact on remaining staff morale. By calculating your turnover rate regularly, you can identify trends and implement retention strategies before the costs become unsustainable.
function calculateTurnover() {
var start = parseFloat(document.getElementById("startEmployees").value);
var end = parseFloat(document.getElementById("endEmployees").value);
var leavers = parseFloat(document.getElementById("leavers").value);
var costPerPerson = parseFloat(document.getElementById("avgCost").value);
var resultDiv = document.getElementById("turnover-result");
var rateDisplay = document.getElementById("rateDisplay");
var detailDisplay = document.getElementById("detailDisplay");
if (isNaN(start) || isNaN(end) || isNaN(leavers) || start < 0 || end < 0 || leavers < 0) {
alert("Please enter valid positive numbers for headcount and leavers.");
return;
}
// Calculation Logic
var averageEmployees = (start + end) / 2;
if (averageEmployees === 0) {
rateDisplay.innerHTML = "0%";
detailDisplay.innerHTML = "Average headcount is zero, calculation cannot be completed.";
resultDiv.style.display = "block";
return;
}
var turnoverRate = (leavers / averageEmployees) * 100;
var formattedRate = turnoverRate.toFixed(2) + "%";
rateDisplay.innerHTML = "Turnover Rate: " + formattedRate;
var detailHtml = "With an average headcount of " + averageEmployees.toFixed(1) + " employees, your turnover rate for this period is " + formattedRate + ".";
if (!isNaN(costPerPerson) && costPerPerson > 0) {
var totalCost = leavers * costPerPerson;
detailHtml += "Financial Impact: Based on your input, the total replacement cost for " + leavers + " leavers is approximately $" + totalCost.toLocaleString() + ".";
}
detailDisplay.innerHTML = detailHtml;
resultDiv.style.display = "block";
}