Organisations operate most effectively when staff turnover is low, and retention strategies help reduce the cost and impact of people leaving. HR professionals play a key role in understanding why employees leave, and devising initiatives that reduce turnover and increase employee retention.

This guide outlines methods of determining why an employee might leave (outlining the meaning of employee retention) and suggests ways to improve retention through an effective strategy. The guide also links to practical tools to help develop and review a retention strategy.

Member tool: CIPD Buddy BETA
Experiment with AI to find answers on this topic with our prototype. Login to explore CIPD Buddy

The close relationship between retention and turnover means the two are often considered together.

Turnover is the proportion of employees leaving an organisation within a set period. High turnover rates can be costly in terms of recruitment, training and loss of knowledge. Calculating the cost of turnover can be useful to understand the scale of the issue and supports the business case for improving retention. The CIPD Turnover and Retention factsheet outlines how to calculate turnover.

When developing retention strategies, organisations are typically more interested in tackling the reasons for voluntary turnover (ie when an employee resigns) than involuntary turnover (eg dismissal due to redundancy), as they have less control over voluntary reasons.

On this page

To continue reading, log in or become a member

Affiliate membership offers instant access to CIPD resources without the need for assessments or study, or explore your options to become a professional member of the CIPD to demonstrate your commitment to the world of work.

  • Access to exclusive, up-to-date resources
  • Become part of a community to learn, debate and connect with other people professionals
  • Free access to a series of CIPD learning courses and a discount on the rest of our catalogue
Instant access Explore membership

Practical tools to
improve retention

Download a range of tools to help employee retention

Access the tools
  • Data

    Data hub

    Explore the evidence behind workforce trends

  • Tools

    Talent management tools

    Use our range of practical tools, including checklists and templates, to help you develop an effective talent management approach

  • Woman sitting at a laptop with notebooks
    Guide

    Learning and development for people professionals

    This guide provides a practical introduction to the role of an L&D function in an organisation. It offers support on the key steps to offering effective L&D, including creating a learning strategy, undertaking a learning needs analysis, designing learning interventions and measuring the impact of learning.

    For Members
  • Guide

    Hiring overseas workers: Guide for HR professionals

    This guide provides practical advice on carrying out key checks during recruitment to ensure an employee has the right to work, what visa considerations to make and practical aspects to consider when offering employment

    For Members
    • All guides