Page 32 - DRG HR HANDBOOK- Nikita Pillay

ATTRITION

ATTRITION IN THE WORKPLACE EMPLOYEE TURNOVER, on the other hand, refers to
employees leaving the organisation for reasons like poor
Attrition is the departure of employees from the
hiring decisions, hostile or discriminatory work environment,
organisation for any reason (voluntary or involuntary),
lack of learning or developmental opportunities within the
including resignation, termination, death or retirement. The
organisation, finding a better job, etc.
migration of employees to and from a business is natural.
When turnover happens, it usually reflects negatively on
Attrition can also be defined as gradually making the organisation.
something weaker and destroying it, especially the
strength or confidence of an enemy by repeatedly WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF
attacking it.” ATTRITION?

With this in mind, employee attrition refers to There are five types of employee attrition that you need
to know of:
organisations that don’t replace employees who leave.
Ultimately this diminishes the size of a workforce as 1. ATTRITION DUE TO RETIREMENT
they are leaving the workplace at a faster rate than they
If two or three people have retired from your company this
are being hired. Thus, it makes a company weaker and
year, this is statistically too small an employee group to
gradually destroys it, just like the definition says. count under attrition. However, if a sizable chunk of your
workforce retires at the same time, this can cause attrition.
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ATTRITION AND
TURNOVER 2. VOLUNTARY ATTRITION

The terms attrition and turnover refer to employees This is the most common type of attrition, where
employees decide to simply quit their jobs. There can be
leaving an organisation and are often used
many reasons for voluntary attrition (more on that later)
interchangeably. While both cost the organisation in
and most of them are in your control.
terms of money, time and effort, by their definition of
them, they are very different.
3. INVOLUNTARY ATTRITION
EMPLOYEE ATTRITION, refers to the lifetime of In this scenario, it is the company and not the employee
an employee within the organisation. It is not in the that initiates the exit. For example, the employee may
organisation’s control and has no negative connotation have shown instances of misconduct in the workplace – a
or representation of the company. It can simply be common reason for involuntary attrition. Structural reasons
because an employee is retiring, moving places to be could also cause attrition. Mergers and acquisitions are
with their family, going back to school to complete often followed by a wave of involuntary attrition.
their education, or simply because the employee
4. INTERNAL ATTRITION
passes away. Regardless of the reason, the
employee leaving is not because of any Here, employees are quitting their jobs in one department
happening within the organisation, but to join another department. In some cases, internal attrition
32 because of life happenings. is desirable, as it routes talent towards more profitable