Voluntary attrition rate: formula and example

Formula

Worked example

A 300-bed hospital in Ahmedabad tracks its nursing staff separately. On 1 July 2026 it had 236 nurses and on 30 September 2026 it had 244. During the quarter, 18 nurses resigned and completed their notice, 2 stopped reporting and were marked absconding, and 3 were not confirmed after probation.

1. Average headcount = (236 + 244) / 2 = 480 / 2 = 240 nurses
2. Voluntary exits = 18 resignations + 2 absconding = 20. The 3 non-confirmations are involuntary and stay out.
3. Quarterly voluntary attrition = 20 / 240 x 100 = 8.33% (8.3333 rounded to 2 decimals)
4. Annualized estimate = 8.3333 x 4 = 33.33% (rounded to 2 decimals)

What counts as a voluntary exit

Draw the line between voluntary and involuntary exits before you count, and keep it the same every month. A resignation is voluntary even when a manager nudged it, unless HR records it as a negotiated exit. An employee who stops reporting and never returns chose to leave, so most companies count absconding as voluntary. Retirement on reaching superannuation age is usually shown on its own line, because it is predictable and says little about retention.

• Voluntary: resignation, absconding, not returning after long leave.
• Involuntary: termination, dismissal, non-confirmation, retrenchment.
• Separate line: retirement at superannuation, death, fixed-term contracts ending as planned.

Watching the trend by team and tenure

Voluntary exits rarely spread evenly. They gather in certain wards, shifts, stores or managers, and in certain stages of service, often the first year and the weeks after increments are announced. Compare each department with its own figure for the same quarter last year and with the company figure. A department running at twice the company rate needs a conversation with its head, whatever the absolute number.

Pair the rate with exit reasons. If most leavers mention night duty load or a long commute, a pay revision alone will not fix it. Exit interview notes are far more useful when each reason is picked from a fixed list, so the answers can be counted and compared over time.

Pitfalls in voluntary attrition numbers

The figure is easy to flatter without anyone intending to. Most distortions come from dates and labels changing after the person has left, so fix the exit category on the day HR processes the resignation and do not revise it later without a written reason.

• Counting the resignation date instead of the last working day moves exits into the wrong month.
• Relabelling a resignation as a termination after the person leaves makes voluntary attrition look better.
• Dropping employees on notice from headcount understates the denominator.
• Reporting only a company figure hides a single team with very high exits.

How to improve it

• Hold a short stay interview with each strong performer every six months and act on at least one concrete request.
• Publish internal openings first, so people can change department, shift or location without resigning.
• Check whether resignations cluster under particular managers and give those managers coaching, not just targets.
• Share night duty and weekend work fairly through the roster, so the same people do not always carry them.
• When a valued employee resigns, ask what would have kept them, and use the answers to fix the next case.

Tracking it in ZeniaHR

In ZeniaHR, resignation recording on the employee record sets the last working day and moves the person to on notice, so each exit falls in the correct month. Offboarding tags every exit with one of its structured exit reasons, which you can group into voluntary and involuntary. Count leavers from the previous employee list, take headcount from the headcount by department report, and calculate the rate by department in a spreadsheet.

Frequently asked questions