Compensation Resources, Inc. Turnover Survey

Results indicated that from May 31, 2003 to May 31, 2004, the average voluntary turnover rate was 11.3%. The majority of respondents indicated this rate has either increased or remained the same, while only 20.9% of participants indicated this rate has decreased in the prior 12-month period. Of all employee functional groups, Administrative level and Production level positions show the highest
voluntary turnover rates; however, according to survey participants Administrative and Production level positions also take the shortest amount of time to fill. Overall, the cost of turnover to organizations is on average ½ x the employee's salary to 1x the employee's salary. Lastly, participants indicated that employees usually leave the organization because there is better pay and/or benefits offered elsewhere, better opportunities/increased responsibilities offered somewhere else, or involuntarily due to company layoff.
Although some turnover is inevitable, organizations must take steps to control turnover, particularly that caused by organizational factors such as poor supervision, inadequate training, unfair pay systems, lack of communication, and inconsistent policies. Human resource activities should be examined as part of the turnover control efforts.