100%+ Turnover Rates - What do the Numbers really say?

Let's say a company has 10 drivers, with 9 Petes and 1 KW to drive. Let's say the KW driver quits in Jan., and a new driver is hired in Feb. and he quits at the end of Feb....etc. so that 10 drivers quit in the year and 10 new ones were hired = the turnover rate is now at 100%, as that is how it is calculated...but yet 90% of the drivers did not quit and were retained and lets call that the retention rate. The calculation is the number of separations divided by the numer of positions times 100 to convert to a percentage.

Lets say in addition to the 1 KW driver position turning over 10 times during the year, one Pete driver also quit = the turnover rate is now at 110%.

If two Pete drivers quit, plus the 10 KW drivers, you would have 12 quits and the turnover rate is 12 divided by 10 = 120%....so you see you can have over a 110% turnover rate for the year, and yet 90% of your drivers have not turned over!!!

So if the retention rate were quoted as a 90% retention rate for this same company, you would think they were really a good company. But quote a 100% turnover rate for the same situation for the same company and you would think they were really a bad company!!!.

Turnover rates are not the most helpful measure, due to all the reasons mentioned by zentrucking, and I agree with zentrucking that it is a confusing statistic, and sometimes does not make a lot of sense. But it does have some uses....for example, comparing between industries or between companies...healthcare has a 20 - 25% turnover ---fast food industry has 80 - 100% turnover ---hire all high school students and you will see them leave as fast as you can hire them. Trucking has a 125% turnover rate I am told....that is high...I have seen half the class I graduated from driving school with be really poor risks to hire and expect half of them will get fired from their first job or quit in their first year. Some flunked out, and some will not get hired at all. And this was an above average class according to one of my instructors.

Turnover rates include discharges as well as voluntary quits.

 

My first experience with OTR trucking was with J.B. Hunt a few decades back. At orientation we were told we would be making so much money that we would have to hire an accountant/advisor! Fortunately, I had spoken with acquaintances who had driven for many years prior to my 5 week stint with Hunt.

I'm currently driving for a unionized truck driveaway operation. Good benefits but about $50k per year tops. Turnover in this industry prior to the recent downturn was up to 140% and 'old timers' tell me that $60k - $70k was easily made back in the late 90s with little or no turnover.

At present, many are laid off, many more have quit and quite a few have been fired, reportedly for trivial reasons. I've been having numerous payroll problems for quite some time. Fortunately, my personal expenses are few and I seem to handle my finances well.