[Turnover and attrition](https://www.teampredict.ai/glossary#turnover) # What is non-regretted attrition? Definition Non-regretted attrition is a departure the company is neutral about or relieved by, usually a poor fit or a sustained performance problem. Last updated October 13, 2026 ## A non-regretted exit is one you would not have fought to prevent. Typical cases are a poor fit for the role, a sustained performance problem, or someone whose skills the business no longer needs. Unlike a regretted exit, it does not cost you performance, skills or relationships you wanted to keep. The person may have resigned or been let go: regret is a separate tag from who chose. It is the counterpart of [regretted attrition](https://www.teampredict.ai/glossary/regretted-attrition). Together the two tags cover every exit. _Figure: Two tags side by side. A regretted exit is someone you would have paid to keep, for their performance, skills or relationships. A non-regretted exit is one you were neutral about or relieved by: a poor fit, a sustained performance problem, or skills the business no longer needs. Together the two tags cover every exit._ ## A healthy team still has some non-regretted exits. Counting it in the same bucket as regretted attrition makes a healthy team look unstable and pushes managers to keep people they should let go. Some non-regretted attrition is a sign of a team that manages performance honestly. Pushing it to zero usually means people who should have moved on are still in roles where they are struggling. ## You measure it as a share of all exits. Formula Non-regretted share = non-regretted exits ÷ all exits × 100 Tag each exit when it happens, ideally at the [exit interview](https://www.teampredict.ai/glossary/exit-interview), with the same two options every time. The regretted and non-regretted shares always add up to 100%. ## Here is a worked example with round numbers. Take an invented sales team with an average headcount of 40 that lost 8 people in a year. Managers tagged 5 of the exits as non-regretted and 3 as regretted. _Figure: An invented sales team with an average headcount of 40 lost 8 people in a year: 5 non-regretted and 3 regretted. Turnover is 8 divided by 40, which is 20%. The regretted rate is 3 divided by 40, which is 7.5%. The non-regretted share is 5 divided by 8, which is 62.5%._ The non-regretted share is 5 ÷ 8 × 100 = 62.5%. Overall turnover of 8 ÷ 40 = 20% looks alarming on its own, but the regretted rate is 3 ÷ 40 = 7.5%, and that is the figure that measures the loss. ## A steady trickle is normal and a sudden rise points at hiring. Some non-regretted exits every year usually means performance problems are being dealt with. A sudden rise, especially among people hired in the same period, is worth tracing back to how they were hired with a [cohort analysis](https://www.teampredict.ai/glossary#cohort-analysis). ## These are the common mistakes with non-regretted attrition. - Relabelling an exit as non-regretted after the fact to make the regretted number look better. - Assuming every involuntary exit is non-regretted. A layoff can remove people you wanted to keep. - Ignoring a high non-regretted share. Many poor fits from the same hiring period point at the hiring process. - Treating it as free. Each exit still carries a [cost of turnover](https://www.teampredict.ai/glossary/cost-of-turnover) when the seat is refilled. ## Find out what one wrong hire costs. Many non-regretted exits are hires that did not work out. The free calculator puts a number on what each one cost, from lost productivity to the replacement. [Calculate the cost of a bad hire](https://www.teampredict.ai/tools/cost-of-a-bad-hire) Free, no signup required. ## These related terms are in the glossary too. - [Regretted attrition](https://www.teampredict.ai/glossary/regretted-attrition) Regretted attrition is a departure the company did not want: someone whose performance, skills or relationships you would have paid to keep. - [Functional turnover](https://www.teampredict.ai/glossary/functional-turnover) Functional turnover is a departure that leaves the organization better off, typically a low performer or a poor culture fit choosing to move on. - [Involuntary turnover](https://www.teampredict.ai/glossary/involuntary-turnover) Involuntary turnover is a departure the company initiated: a termination, a performance exit, or a layoff. - [Cost of a bad hire](https://www.teampredict.ai/glossary/cost-of-a-bad-hire) The cost of a bad hire is what a hire who does not work out costs you in total, from sourcing and onboarding through lost productivity, manager time, exit and re-hiring. - [Exit interview](https://www.teampredict.ai/glossary/exit-interview) An exit interview is a structured conversation with a departing employee about why they are leaving and what would have changed their mind. - [Employee turnover](https://www.teampredict.ai/glossary/employee-turnover) Employee turnover is the movement of people out of a company over a set period, counted as the employees who leave and are replaced. About TeamPredict TeamPredict is retention early-warning software that flags resignation risk from public LinkedIn signals, so you have lead time to keep the people you want to keep. [See how TeamPredict works](https://www.teampredict.ai/retention-software) [Back to the HR glossary](https://www.teampredict.ai/glossary#non-regretted-attrition), where all 52 terms are defined.