Employer Talent Retention

Before building a retention business case, establish the cost baseline. The Turnover Cost Calculator itemizes the 4 components of a single departure: separation (admin + severance), vacancy (overtime + productivity loss during gap), recruitment (ads + agency + interview time), and onboarding ramp cost. Enter your numbers or use the SHRM role-level defaults. Toggle soft-cost multiplier to include hidden costs (institutional knowledge loss, morale impact). The output becomes your ROI denominator in Step 2.

Use the cost-per-departure from Step 1 to anchor the ROI calculation. The model calculates net annual savings (departures avoided × per-departure cost − program cost), payback period, and cumulative 3-year net benefit. The break-even attrition reduction shows the minimum pp improvement your program needs to justify its budget — a critical sensitivity number for board conversations.

Attrition driven by below-market pay can't be solved with mentoring programs. The Total Compensation Suite converts your comp package to a total-comp number so you can compare it honestly against market. Run this for the roles with highest attrition. If total comp is at or above market and attrition is still high, the problem is engagement, not money — invest in non-comp retention levers. If you're below market, the Step 2 ROI calculation understates the savings from closing the gap.

The best retention intel is understanding why someone would leave. Run the Job Search ROI Tracker from the perspective of a typical employee in your highest-attrition role: what's the expected ROI of their job search effort? If the math is compelling for them (high salary lift, fast search, low switching cost), you have a structural flight-risk problem. If the search ROI is borderline, small retention investments (title clarity, flex, RSU acceleration) can tip the decision to stay.