Talent management | Why measuring employee retention & turnover matters

Effective recruitment is vital for organisational success, as hiring the right individuals is crucial. However, retention is equally important to avoid high costs and low productivity. HR uses turnover and retention rates to assess performance and gain insights into employee satisfaction. This article explores the significance of measuring these metrics and clarifies the difference between turnover and retention.

Two critical tools in HR's arsenal for analysing their performance as a workplace are employee turnover and retention rates. Often used in conjunction (and sometimes interchanged), turnover and retention are vital metrics that help to shine a light on crucial aspects of how an organisation is performing as an employer.

In this article, we will look at why measuring these two metrics are so important. But first, we need to understand the difference between them.

This difference between turnover and retention

Put simply, employee turnover looks at people leaving an organisation, while employee retention refers to how long people stay.