1. Turnover and Retention
Reasons for Leaving
 People leave jobs because of push factors and/or pull factors. Employers
have little effect on pull factors. 1
COMPANIES CAN REDUCE TURNOVER BY FOCUSING ON PUSH FACTOR
PUSH FACTORS2 PULL FACTORS3
Individual’s perception of limited opportunities Job offer with much greater compensation
and/or more decision-making power
Lack of senior leader role models Desire to follow a life-long career dream or
avocation
Excessive workload, especially attributed to
bureaucratic Family responsibilities, both children, spouse,
and management inefficiencies and elder care
Non-competitive rewards and recognition
Lack of respect for personal life/desires
 In a Catalyst study, senior-level women gave their top three reasons for
which they would leave their current organization, with 42.0% citing
increased compensation, 35.0% to accept the opportunity to develop new
skills or competencies, and 33.0% to pursue greater advancement
opportunities.4
 High-level men gave the same reasons, with 51.0% citing increased
compensation, 32.0% to accept the opportunity to develop new skills or
competencies, and 30.0% to pursue greater advancement opportunities.5
The Cost of Turnover
 Employee departure costs companies time, money and other resources.
Research suggests that replacement costs can be as high as 50%-60% of
an employee’s annual salary with total costs associated with turnover
ranging from 90%-200% of annual salary.6
 High turnover rates are linked to shortfalls in organizational performance. 7
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2. Turnover and Retention
 When retention is higher than normal, customer satisfaction, productivity,
and profitability also tend to be higher than normal.8
Turnover by Industry, 20119
Tenure
 The median employment tenure of all wage and salary workers in January
2010 was 4.4, up from 4.1 years in January 2008.10
 Women had a median tenure of 4.2 and men 4.6.11
 In January 2004, management, professional, and related occupations had
a median tenure of 5.2 years (Management, with 6.1 years, had the
longest tenure.).12
 Service occupation workers had a median tenure of 3.1 years. 13.
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3. Turnover and Retention
Tenure Increases with Age: Percentage of Workers by
Age with the Same Employer for 10 Years or More 14
Collective Turnover* Antecedents15
 HR systems and practices – There are links between the adoption of “high-
commitment,” “high involvement,” or “high-performance” HR management
systems and lower collective turnover.
 Collective attitudes and perceptions – HR investments enhance workers’
attitudes (satisfaction, commitment), increase feelings of equity or fairness,
reduce the attractiveness of alternatives, and/or weaken turnover intentions.
 Collective characteristics –
o Management/leadership quality – In six studies where collective
turnover has been correlated with aspects of supervisor quality, no
relationship has been found.
o Climate/culture – A negative climate often results in a higher turnover
rate
o Cohesiveness/teamwork - Despite intuitive appeal, there is limited
support for possible turnover-mitigating effects of group cohesiveness
or teamwork.
o Satisfaction/commitment – There is an inverse relationship between
job satisfaction and collective turnover.
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4. Turnover and Retention
o Justice/fairness – Research reveals no relationship between collective
turnover rates and feelings of injustice or unfairness.
*Aggregate levels of employee departures that occur within groups, work units, or organizations.
SOURCES
1 “When Talented Women Leave Your Company: Is it Push or Pull?” WFD Consulting, It’s About
Time, Vol. 10 (Winter 2004). http://www.wfd.com/PDFS/2004-w-1.pdf
2 “When Talented Women Leave Your Company: Is it Push or Pull?” WFD Consulting, It’s About
Time, Vol. 10 (Winter 2004). http://www.wfd.com/PDFS/2004-w-1.pdf
3 “When Talented Women Leave Your Company: Is it Push or Pull?” WFD Consulting, It’s About
Time, Vol. 10 (Winter 2004). http://www.wfd.com/PDFS/2004-w-1.pdf
4 Catalyst, Women and Men in U.S. Corporate Leadership: Same Workplace, Different Realities?
(2004). http://www.catalyst.org/publication/145/women-and-men-in-us-corporate-leadership-same-
workplace-different-realities
5 Catalyst, Women and Men in U.S. Corporate Leadership: Same Workplace, Different Realities?
(2004). http://www.catalyst.org/publication/145/women-and-men-in-us-corporate-leadership-same-
workplace-different-realities
6 David G. Allen, Retaining Talent: A Guide to Analyzing and Managing Employee Turnover (SHRM,
2008). http://www.shrm.org/about/foundation/research/Pages/RetainingTalentEPG.aspx
7 David G. Allen, Retaining Talent: A Guide to Analyzing and Managing Employee Turnover (SHRM,
2008). http://www.shrm.org/about/foundation/research/Pages/RetainingTalentEPG.aspx
8 Paul R. Bernthal, and Richard S. Wellins, Ph.D., Retaining Talent: A Benchmarking Study
(Development Dimensions International, 2001). http://tinyurl.com/3ddyjzf
9 Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Table 16: Annual Quits Rates by Industry and Region, Not Seasonally
Adjusted” (2012). http://www.bls.gov/news.release/jolts.t16.htm
10 Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employee Tenure in 2010 (September 2010).
http://www.bls.gov/news.release/tenure.nr0.htm
11 Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employee Tenure in 2010 (September 2010).
http://www.bls.gov/news.release/tenure.nr0.htm
12 Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employee Tenure in 2010 (September 2010).
http://www.bls.gov/news.release/tenure.nr0.htm
13 Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employee Tenure in 2010 (September 2010).
http://www.bls.gov/news.release/tenure.nr0.htm
14 Bureau of Labor Statistics, Table 2. Percent of Employed Wage and Salary Workers 25 Years and
Over Who Had 10 Years or More of Tenure with Their Current Employer by Age and Sex, Selected
Years 1996-2010. (September 2010).http://www.bls.gov/news.release/tenure.t02.htm
15 John P. Hausknecht, Charlie O. Trevor, “Collective Turnover at the Group, Unit, and Organizational
Levels: Evidence, Issues, and Implications,” Journal of Management, Vol. 37, No. 1, (January
2011).
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5. Turnover and Retention
Updated on April 22, 2012
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