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3 examples of Employee Retention metrics and KPIs

What are Employee Retention metrics?

Finding the right Employee Retention metrics can be daunting, especially when you're busy working on your day-to-day tasks. This is why we've curated a list of examples for your inspiration.

Copy these examples into your preferred tool, or adopt Tability to ensure you remain accountable.

Find Employee Retention metrics with AI

While we have some examples available, it's likely that you'll have specific scenarios that aren't covered here. You can use our free AI metrics generator below to generate your own strategies.

Examples of Employee Retention metrics and KPIs

Metrics for Fulfillment and growth

  • 1. Employee engagement score

    Measures the level of engagement employees feel towards their work, typically gathered through surveys

    What good looks like for this metric: 70-80%

    Ideas to improve this metric
    • Encourage open communication
    • Provide opportunities for feedback
    • Recognize and reward achievements
    • Offer professional development programs
    • Foster a positive work environment
  • 2. Employee retention rate

    Calculated as the percentage of employees who stay with the company over a specific period

    What good looks like for this metric: 85-90%

    Ideas to improve this metric
    • Create clear career paths
    • Provide competitive compensation
    • Ensure work-life balance
    • Foster a strong company culture
    • Conduct exit interviews
  • 3. Professional development participation

    Tracks the number of employees engaging in professional development activities

    What good looks like for this metric: 60-75%

    Ideas to improve this metric
    • Promote development opportunities
    • Subsidize costs of courses
    • Incorporate development into performance reviews
    • Provide time for learning
    • Highlight success stories
  • 4. Internal promotion rate

    Percentage of roles filled by internal candidates rather than external hires

    What good looks like for this metric: 15-20%

    Ideas to improve this metric
    • Identify and groom top talent
    • Offer leadership training
    • Create mentorship programs
    • Set clear promotion criteria
    • Monitor and address skill gaps
  • 5. Work-life balance score

    Evaluates how employees feel about their work-life balance, often measured through surveys

    What good looks like for this metric: 70-80%

    Ideas to improve this metric
    • Implement flexible work hours
    • Encourage taking vacations
    • Promote wellness programs
    • Regularly assess workloads
    • Provide support for remote work

Metrics for Employment engagement

  • 1. Employee turnover rate

    The percentage of employees who leave the company within a certain period. It's calculated by dividing the number of employees who left by the average number of employees, multiplied by 100.

    What good looks like for this metric: 10-15% annually

    Ideas to improve this metric
    • Improve onboarding processes
    • Foster a positive company culture
    • Offer competitive salaries and benefits
    • Provide career development opportunities
    • Conduct exit interviews to understand reasons for leaving
  • 2. Employee net promoter score (eNPS)

    Measures the likelihood of employees to recommend the company as a good place to work. It's calculated by asking employees to rate their likelihood on a scale from 0-10 and categorizing them as promoters, passives, or detractors.

    What good looks like for this metric: 20-50

    Ideas to improve this metric
    • Regularly collect and act on employee feedback
    • Enhance internal communication
    • Recognize and reward achievements
    • Ensure workload balance
    • Promote work-life balance
  • 3. Employee satisfaction survey scores

    Quantifies employees' overall satisfaction with the company. It's calculated through surveys asking employees to rate their satisfaction on various aspects, averaged into an overall score.

    What good looks like for this metric: 70-80%

    Ideas to improve this metric
    • Enhance job role clarity
    • Provide consistent feedback
    • Create a trustful environment
    • Increase engagement in decision-making processes
    • Offer flexible working hours
  • 4. Absenteeism rate

    The percentage of workdays lost to unplanned absences. It's calculated by dividing the total number of unplanned absence days by the total number of available working days, multiplied by 100.

    What good looks like for this metric: 1.5-3%

    Ideas to improve this metric
    • Promote a healthy work environment
    • Implement wellness programmes
    • Offer flexible leave policies
    • Address work-related stress
    • Provide mental health support
  • 5. Training participation rate

    The percentage of employees participating in professional development programmes. It's calculated by dividing the number of employees who participate in training by the total number of employees, multiplied by 100.

    What good looks like for this metric: 60-80%

    Ideas to improve this metric
    • Encourage continuous learning
    • Provide online training options
    • Make training relevant and beneficial
    • Reward participation and completion
    • Communicate the value of training programmes

Metrics for Success of recruitment campaigns

  • 1. Cost per hire

    Total recruiting costs divided by the number of hires within a specified time frame

    What good looks like for this metric: USD 4,000 - USD 6,000

    Ideas to improve this metric
    • Optimize job advertisement placements
    • Leverage employee referrals
    • Automate parts of the recruitment process
    • Negotiate better rates with recruitment agencies
    • Enhance employer branding
  • 2. Time to fill

    Average number of days it takes to fill a position from the moment the job is posted until an offer is accepted

    What good looks like for this metric: 30 - 45 days

    Ideas to improve this metric
    • Streamline the interview process
    • Implement applicant tracking systems
    • Pre-screen candidates effectively
    • Improve job descriptions
    • Build a talent pipeline
  • 3. Quality of hire

    Performance of new hires compared to existing employees, often measured after the first year

    What good looks like for this metric: Similar or higher performance compared to existing employees

    Ideas to improve this metric
    • Enhance candidate assessment methods
    • Use behavioural interviewing techniques
    • Improve onboarding processes
    • Encourage ongoing employee development
    • Gather and act on feedback from new hires
  • 4. Retention rate

    Percentage of new hires that remain with the company for a specified period, usually one year

    What good looks like for this metric: 75%-80%

    Ideas to improve this metric
    • Improve company culture
    • Provide career development opportunities
    • Offer competitive salaries and benefits
    • Enhance employee engagement
    • Conduct stay interviews
  • 5. Offer acceptance rate

    Percentage of job offers extended that are accepted by candidates

    What good looks like for this metric: 90% or higher

    Ideas to improve this metric
    • Ensure competitive compensation packages
    • Communicate clear career growth opportunities
    • Build a strong employer brand
    • Maintain a consistent and engaging recruitment process
    • Gather feedback from candidates who decline offers

Tracking your Employee Retention metrics

Having a plan is one thing, sticking to it is another.

Don't fall into the set-and-forget trap. It is important to adopt a weekly check-in process to keep your strategy agile – otherwise this is nothing more than a reporting exercise.

A tool like Tability can also help you by combining AI and goal-setting to keep you on track.

Tability Insights DashboardTability's check-ins will save you hours and increase transparency

More metrics recently published

We have more examples to help you below.

Planning resources

OKRs are a great way to translate strategies into measurable goals. Here are a list of resources to help you adopt the OKR framework:

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