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Human Resources vocabulary · HR Roles & Workforce Planning

Turnover

Meaning in human resources, with examples

/ˈtɜːrnoʊvər/nounCore term

In human resources, turnover means: The rate at which employees leave an organisation and have to be replaced, usually shown as a percentage per year.

In Turkish: personel devir hızı, çalışan devir oranı, işten ayrılma oranı

How it is used

Also staff turnover, employee turnover or turnover rate. HR separates voluntary turnover (resignations) from involuntary turnover (dismissals). Attrition is a close synonym, common in US companies.

Example sentences

  1. Staff turnover in our call centre was 35% last year.

  2. High turnover in the first six months often points to a problem with onboarding.

Common collocations

  • staff turnover
  • turnover rate
  • high turnover
  • reduce turnover
  • voluntary turnover
  • retentionAn organisation's ability to keep its employees, especially valued ones, and the actions it takes to stop them from leaving.
  • exit interviewA conversation or survey with an employee who is leaving, to find out why they are going and what the company could do better.
  • employee engagementHow committed and motivated employees feel about their work and their organisation, and how much effort they are willing to put in.
  • headcountThe number of people employed by a company or team, often used when planning budgets and deciding whether new jobs can be created.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: HR Roles & Workforce Planning

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