What is the term for the process when employees leave an organization and need to be replaced?

What is the term for the process when employees leave an organization and need to be replaced?

• A. Attrition
• B. Succession planning
• C. Turnover
• D. Retention

Answer: (C)

Turnover refers to the rate and process of employees leaving an organization and needing to be replaced. It encompasses all separations—voluntary resignations, retirements, terminations—and the subsequent recruitment, selection, and onboarding to fill those vacancies. This concept is the broad term for when departures trigger recruitment to maintain staffing levels. Attrition is related but usually describes a natural decrease in headcount without necessarily replacing every departure. Succession planning is a proactive strategy to prepare internal candidates to fill critical roles in the future, not the act of departures itself. Retention is about keeping employees to reduce future departures, the opposite of turnover.

Turnover refers to the rate and process of employees leaving an organization and needing to be replaced. It encompasses all separations—voluntary resignations, retirements, terminations—and the subsequent recruitment, selection, and onboarding to fill those vacancies. This concept is the broad term for when departures trigger recruitment to maintain staffing levels.

Attrition is related but usually describes a natural decrease in headcount without necessarily replacing every departure. Succession planning is a proactive strategy to prepare internal candidates to fill critical roles in the future, not the act of departures itself. Retention is about keeping employees to reduce future departures, the opposite of turnover.