The HR Dictionary

Attrition

Attrition is the departure of employees from the organization for any reason, voluntary or involuntary, including resignation, termination, death, or retirement. Lack of professional advancement, a hostile work environment, poor leadership, and dwindling belief in the market value of the organization are some causes of voluntary attrition. On the other hand, termination of employment contracts due to disciplinary issues, underperformance, and more are considered involuntary attrition.

At the same time, it is important to distinguish attrition from turnover. Attrition-related vacancies don't always get filled right away. This is due to the fact that attrition is caused by a variety of reasons such as retirement, pre-planned resignations including lay-offs, structural changes to organizations as a result of mergers & acquisitions, etc. In comparison, the damage caused by turnover must be swiftly mitigated through new hiring. Employee Management features of HR software are currently used by organizations to manage terminations smoothly as it provides the ability to create termination checklists, view activity histories, and much more.