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Calculate Employee Turnover with Our Simple Guide
Learning how to calculate employee turnover starts with dividing all employee terminations (voluntary and involuntary) by your average employee count for the same period. Multiply the result by 100 to get your turnover rate.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that 3.1 million workers quit their jobs in August 2026. Each departure creates a chance to learn what people need from work.
Your numbers show where that attention belongs. We explain the math and show you how to support your team.
Employee turnover measures how often people leave your organization during a set period. You can track it across your company or within a team.
Total turnover includes all departures from employment. Separate them into clear groups:
A promotion within your company does not count as a company departure. Someone hired during the period who also leaves during it does count. Record the reason behind every departure.
Choose your reporting dates before gathering employee records. A calendar month or quarter gives your team a starting point.
You need three figures:
Count each employee as one person regardless of hours worked. Keep independent contractors outside an employee turnover calculation.
At Syndeo, we use accurate HR documentation to support clear decisions about employees. Check employment end dates against your payroll records before running the report.
Use the date employment ends rather than the day someone gives notice. An employee who gives notice in March but leaves in April belongs in April departures.
For HR analytics improvement, we recommend setting one shared definition of who belongs in each report. This helps everyone work from the same facts.
The employee turnover formula works for different reporting periods. Apply each step to the same group of employees.
1) Find Your Average Employee Count
Add your starting employee count to your ending count. Divide that total by two. Suppose you begin a quarter with 80 employees and finish with 100. Your average employee count is 90.
2) Count the Departures
Add every employment departure within that quarter. Include employees who left even when you filled their positions right away.
Suppose nine people left during those three months. Nine is the number you will use for total turnover.
3) Calculate the Percentage
Divide nine departures by the average count of 90 employees. Multiply the result by 100.
Your quarterly turnover rate is 10%. Written as a formula:
Turnover rate = Departures ÷ Average employee count × 100
The business grew during this example while still having turnover. Hiring totals alone would not show those nine departures. A growing team can still have turnover.
Monthly reports help you spot changes quickly. Annual reports show a broader view that includes seasonal hiring cycles.
Use total annual departures and average annual headcount to calculate annual turnover. Monthly headcount snapshots can give a better average when staffing changes sharply throughout the year.
Add the monthly counts and divide by the number of snapshots. Take each snapshot at the same point in its month.
Keep the method consistent in future reports. This gives your workforce management team a dependable way to assess progress.
Also, show the departure count beside the percentage. One departure in a small team can move the rate noticeably.
Label a drop from 12% to 9% as three percentage points. That gives readers a clear measure of the change.
Break results into smaller groups to see where support could help most. Start with one useful comparison such as length of employment.
Departures during the first few months may suggest a need for clearer job expectations. Longer tenure followed by resignations may prompt a closer look at career growth.
The Federal Reserve reported that 60% of people who changed jobs in 2025 said their new job was better. Use that finding as a reason to ask what employees value in their next step. Ask about both pay and the work itself.
At Syndeo, we approach conversations with departing employees as a chance to learn from their experience. Ask what helped them succeed and what could have made their work easier.
Group their answers by theme. Then compare those themes with the patterns in your numbers.
The best employee retention strategies address a need your team has identified. Choose an action that connects directly to employee feedback.
Gallup found that 42% of employees who voluntarily left said their employer could have prevented them from leaving. That finding supports making time for useful conversations while people still work with you.
Listen before employees decide to leave. Ask current employees what would make their work more rewarding. Give them time to explain their answers.
We encourage clear and consistent leadership so employees understand expectations and feel supported. Managers can also help people see a future within the business.
Match the response to the need:
Start with one action your team can complete. This makes it easier to see whether the change helps reduce employee turnover.
Assign someone to carry out the chosen action. Set a review date and agree on what success would look like. Give every change an owner.
Track and document the effort as well as the outcome. A mentoring plan might measure completed meetings alongside departures among new employees.
Estimate the cost of replacing staff through paid recruiting time and training hours. Compare that expense with the cost of your retention action to help set a useful budget.
Share what changed with the people who gave feedback. Seeing a response helps them understand how their input shaped the workplace.
A good rate depends on the kind of work your employees do and the labor market around you. Compare your business with employers that have similar roles and hiring needs.
Look for benchmarks that clearly explain their method. Check whether a published figure measures resignations alone or all departures before choosing it as a goal.
The quality of departures also matters. Losing someone with rare skills can affect operations differently from an expected seasonal exit.
We suggest choosing a realistic target based on your own business needs. Consider how much hiring your team can handle while maintaining strong customer service.
Set up columns for starting headcount and ending headcount. Add a third column for departures and a fourth for the result.
If starting headcount is in B2 and ending headcount is in C2, then enter departures in D2. In your result cell, enter =D2/AVERAGE(B2:C2) and apply percentage formatting.
Excel will display the decimal result as a percentage. Keep the formula without an added multiplication by 100 when using that format.
Use a separate row for each reporting period. Save the file with clear column names so another team member can update the numbers and understand how the worksheet works later.
Turnover tracks departures, while retention follows a specific group of employees who remain employed. Retention usually begins with the people working for you on the first day of the period.
Suppose 40 employees belonged to that starting group. If 36 remain at the end, then retention for that group is 90%.
New hires do not join the original group for this calculation. That makes retention useful for tracking employees' experience over time.
The two rates can use different groups and different starting numbers. Calculate each separately, so your team can understand both movement and continuity within the business.
Yes. A turnover rate can exceed 100% because a position may have several different employees during the reporting period.
Imagine a business with an average of 50 employees throughout a year. If it records 75 departures, then annual turnover is 150%.
The rate reflects the total flow of departures relative to average staffing. It does not mean the business employed a negative number of people.
This measure can help explain how often positions need filling. Looking at repeated departures from the same role can reveal an opportunity to improve the hiring process or redesign the job for the next employee.
At Syndeo, we have supported employers since 2002 with Kansas roots and customized, white-glove service. Our PEO services connect payroll and employee benefits with HR support from people who work alongside your business.
We pair a shared HR system with custom reporting and direct access to our team. Your business keeps control of daily operations while we handle the agreed HR tasks.
Learning how to calculate employee turnover gives you a starting point for that teamwork. We help employers connect daily employee needs with practical business support. To discuss support that fits your team, contact our Syndeo team.
Let us take on your HR functions so you can strive for greatness.
Contact us.
