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Employee turnover rate
calculator

Work out your 12-month turnover rate and see how it compares to the Australian average for your size.

Your numbers

Everyone who left: resignations, dismissals and redundancies
Your turnover rate
 
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How is employee turnover rate calculated?

Divide the number of separations across 12 months by your average headcount, then multiply by 100. Average headcount is your headcount 12 months ago plus your headcount now, divided by two. For example, 12 separations over a year against an average headcount of 100 gives a 12% turnover rate. Use a full 12 months, because the benchmark you are comparing against is annual.

How we calculated this

Turnover rate is your separations over 12 months divided by your average headcount for the same period, then multiplied by 100. Average headcount is the headcount 12 months ago plus the headcount now, halved. We then set your rate against AHRI's 16% Australian average so you can see the gap in points. Everything below is arithmetic you can check by hand.

New to the term? Read the plain-English definition of employee turnover in the HR Glossary.

Your working
Assumptions
  • Counts every separation in the last 12 months: resignations, dismissals, redundancies and retirements. For a voluntary-only rate, run it again with resignations alone.
  • Average headcount is the headcount 12 months ago plus the headcount now, divided by two. Big mid-year swings distort it; use a monthly average if you have one.
  • The 16% benchmark is AHRI's 12-month average to December 2024, the same for public and private sectors. It moves with size: about 11% for small organisations, 15% for medium and 21% for large (200 or more employees). Compare against your size band, not the national figure.
  • The tool works on a rolling 12 months because the benchmark is annual. A quarter multiplied by four is a rough guide that ignores seasonality.
Sources

What to do about it

A turnover rate is a scoreboard. It tells you the game is being lost, not where. These steps are for whoever owns the number, whether that is you or someone you report to.

1

Split the rate before you report it

Voluntary against involuntary, then by team, tenure and manager. A 16% company rate can hide a 40% rate under one manager and 4% everywhere else. The overall figure is a headline; the split is the story.

2

Put a dollar figure next to it

Replacing someone costs from half to two times their salary. Multiply your voluntary exits by 1.5 times salary and take that number into the same room as the engagement survey results. It moves the conversation from "people leave" to "this is what leaving costs".

3
Where a tool helps

Find out why people are leaving while they still work for you

Exit interviews arrive too late and are polite. Ask the people who stayed: what would make you leave, what nearly did. Regular short pulse checks and a proper read of culture and climate beat an annual survey that lands after the resignations.

4

Look for the pattern, not the person

Work Institute puts about 63% of turnover down to preventable causes: career, manager, wellbeing, and the job not being what was promised. Each of those is a system you can change. If exits cluster around one manager or one team, that is where the fix goes.

5

Set a target by size band, not by the national number

Small organisations run about 11%, medium about 15%, large about 21%. Pick the band you are in, set the target a few points under it, and re-run this calculator every quarter.

Step 3 needs more than
an annual survey.

Compono Engage is an employee engagement platform that reads culture and climate alongside work personality, so you see where disengagement is building, and in which team, before it turns into a separation. Your HR system counts the exits. Engage shows who is drifting and why, in language a manager can act on.

That is step 3 done continuously rather than once a year, with step 4's pattern already drawn for you. The rate above tells you people are leaving. Engage tells you who is next.

See how it works
Compono Engage
8%+
reduction in turnover

Common questions

What is a good employee turnover rate in Australia?

The Australian average is about 16% (AHRI). Smaller organisations tend to sit near 11%, medium around 15%, and large around 21%. Below your size benchmark is healthy. Well above it is worth investigating.

Should I include all departures?

This calculator uses total separations, both voluntary and involuntary, for an overall rate. If you want to focus on retention specifically, run it again using only voluntary resignations, since those are the exits you have the most influence over.

What is the difference between turnover and attrition?

Turnover usually counts every departure, including roles you backfill. Attrition often refers to departures where the role is not replaced. This calculator measures turnover, the broader of the two.

This page is general information, not legal advice. We check figures annually and update them on a best-efforts basis, but employment rules change and we cannot promise everything here is current or complete. Before you act on it, confirm the detail with the relevant authority in your country or your own adviser. Last reviewed July 2026.

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Employee turnover

The plain-English definition, with the calculators and rules that sit around it.

Read the definition →Talk to us

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