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MSI Insight - Turnover Risk (Early Access)

Turnover risk is a forward-looking insight that identifies which groups of employees are more likely to see departures over the next 12 months

Written by Jared Ellis

⚠️ Closed Early Access Program

Multi-signal Intelligence and the Turnover Risk Insight are currently available as a closed Early Access program. We look forward to rolling this out to more accounts soon.

Who can use this feature?

Available on:

Turnover risk is a forward-looking insight that identifies which groups of employees are more likely to see departures over the next 12 months. This is surfaced as a Multi-Signal Intelligence insight.

It's different from the historical turnover data in Retention Insights, which shows exits that have already happened. Turnover risk is about what might happen next.

When Culture Amp surfaces a turnover risk insight, it means we've identified a demographic cohort in your organisation - for example, employees in a particular team, location, or tenure band - whose survey responses and other data signals point to a higher likelihood of departure. See below for further details on how turnover risk is calculated.

Insights are provided straight to Coach so you can spot where people are at high risk of leaving and start a guided conversation with Coach about what to do next. Open it and Coach walks you through what the data shows and how you might take action. Review how Coach helps you act on these signals here.

Before you begin


To begin monitoring for turnover risk, you require Multi-signal Intelligence configured on your account with the following sources:

  • Employee Data in order to identify groups through your demographics.

  • A completed Engagement survey that includes a question representing 'intent to stay' and is configured for Multi-signal Intelligence.

For details on configuring Multi-signal intelligence and configuration of specific data sources, see the Multi-signal Intelligence setup and administration guide here.

Where the tile appears


The tile will appear only when a high-risk group is identified and will show the single most relevant high-risk group at a time. Groups at medium or lower risk, or where risk cannot be assessed, will not be shown. If no qualifying high-risk group can be identified, no tile will be shown.

The insight tile will be shown to Account Administrators only in the AI Coach side pane. It is open by default in two places:

  • The Home page

  • The general Coach page

These are the only two places the tile appears. You will not see it in Coach surfaces tied to a specific survey report, performance review cycle, or other context.

When the tile appears and disappears


The tile uses simple rules to avoid repeating an insight you have already acted on. This rules are applied on a per browser basis:

  • The tile will only show when a hotspot is identified. If there is no hotspot or insufficient data available, the tile will not appear.

  • An insight will remain shown until it is acted upon by opening a conversation with Coach by clicking the tile.

  • After you click on the tile, the insight will disappear as you have already started a conversation about that insight.

  • The tile stays hidden until a new insight is generated. A new insight brings the tile back on its own.

How often does the tile update?


Insights are calculated and refreshed on a daily schedule. They are not real-time. A change in your data appears in the tile after the next daily refresh if there is a relevant risk. The Insight tile will show automatically when a hotspot is identified.

What the tile shows


When there is a qualifying high-risk group in your data, the tile will show:

  • A heading identifying which insight is being signalled.

  • Information on the demographic group/s the signal relates to, such as a department or location.

  • A subtitle confirming the signal is related to your own data.

The wording on the tile is produced directly from your data. Coach does not write it. The same data always produces the same tile, so two people looking at the same signal see the same numbers but you may see variations in the wording of the tile during early access.

How to open a turnover conversation from the tile


The entire tile is clickable and clicking it will start a conversation with Coach.

Use the tile when you want to understand a high-risk group and decide what to do about it:

  1. Go to the Home page or the General Coach page.

  2. Find the insight tile in the Coach side pane.

  3. Select the tile, or press Enter or Space while it is focused.

  4. Coach opens a conversation about that group and begins working through the signal with you.

💡 Coach will provide some helpful prompts if you are not sure how to get started.

What Coach does in the conversation

After you open the tile, Coach starts a conversation focused on the high-risk group named on the tile. Coach works through three stages:

  • What - Coach surfaces what the data shows about the group.

  • So what - Coach helps you understand why it matters and what is driving it.

  • Now what - Coach suggests concrete next steps you can take.

Coach will recommend possible actions, framed around what you can do directly, what you can equip your leaders to do, and what you can raise upward. You can keep chatting to dig deeper, ask follow-up questions, or focus on one part of the group. Coach builds on the conversation as you go. Review how Coach helps you act on these signals here.

How is turnover risk calculated?


Turnover risk is calculated using a combination of signals available within your Culture Amp account. Inputs such as 'Intent to Stay' survey responses, tenure and manager changes (and many more from your employee data) are combined in a model that calculates a risk score at the individual employee level.

How are high-risk groups (hotspots) identified?


Rather than presenting a risk score for every possible way your workforce could be filtered, Culture Amp automatically identifies your most significant turnover risk hotspots - the demographic cohorts where the signal is strongest and most worth a leader's attention.

A hotspot is a group of employees defined by shared attributes - such as a particular department, or a combination of location and tenure band - that the model identifies as having a high and statistically significant level of turnover risk within your organisation.

To ensure the signal is reliable and that individuals cannot be identified, we only surface hotspots that meet a minimum group size. Hotspots are ranked by significance, so the most important ones surface first in your Coach conversation. Find out more on the science behind turnover risk here.

What are predictors?


When analysing a hotspot, you'll see predictors - the signals most associated with the elevated risk for that specific group.

A predictor might be that the group gave notably low Intent to Stay responses compared with the rest of your organisation, or that its tenure profile is concentrated in a band the model links to higher turnover. Predictors are a starting point for understanding why a group has been flagged - they show the input signals most influential to the model for that group, and can point toward the conversations worth having.


The science behind turnover risk


At Culture Amp we've studied turnover for years, and "intent to stay" (I see myself still working here in two years' time) is the strongest signal we've found, though not the only one. When people disagree with this question, they tend to leave sooner, consistently enough to treat it as an early warning. Because intent to stay sentiment shifts before an exit happens, you can act while the outcome is still open.

We read intent to stay alongside other signals our people science research links to turnover, such as tenure and recent manager changes, to find where risk is concentrated and what's driving it. The result describes conditions across a group, not which people will leave. Three things are worth keeping in mind:

  • A hotspot points to conditions, not people. Turnover risk reflects the work environment more than the individuals in it: a stalled career, a recent leadership change, workload. Ask what could be better for this group, not who might leave.

  • A group is not its individuals. The score is an average. Not everyone in the group carries the same risk, and no one is destined to leave. Smaller groups are noisier, so read them with more caution.

  • A hotspot is a starting point, not a conclusion. It shows you where to look, not what you'll find. Often the best next step is a conversation.

How Coach helps you act on turnover risk


Finding the signal is data science. A score on its own doesn't tell you what's happening or what to do, and that's where people science comes in: to explain what the signal means and guide your response.
Coach brings that guidance into a conversation about the flagged group, supporting you in three ways.


Explains what the signal means. Coach starts with the predictors, the factors most tied to the group's risk, so you see why it was flagged, not just how risky it is. It weighs those factors against what you know about the group and checks them against survey data like intent to stay and engagement scores. When the evidence is thin, it says so rather than forcing an explanation. That's the difference between a number and an insight you can use.


Recommends the right next step. Coach draws on Culture Amp's retention research to suggest moves suited to the group, not a generic checklist. For a group at turnover risk, for example, it might suggest you:

  • Lift the cadence and quality of one-on-ones, which are protective: fortnightly one-on-ones are associated with around 67% lower turnover in a year, more structured ones a further 31%.

  • Run targeted career conversations, since career growth is the top reason people leave in our exit data.

  • Reset expectations and clarify the role path after a manager change.

Coach sorts these into what you can do directly, what you can equip your managers to do, and what to raise with senior leaders, so the response matches your span of control.


Keeps the insight responsible. Risk is shown at the group level only, never as certainty about a named person, and always as a starting point for your judgment rather than a verdict. This protects your people's confidentiality and lets you trust what you're seeing.

🎓 Expert advice: When the problem is structural, fixing it only for the flagged group creates unfairness in neighboring teams and pushes the risk there instead. Address the underlying issue across the organization, and treat the flagged group as the prompt, not the boundary.

Limitations to keep in mind


Turnover risk is a useful signal, but it has important limits:

  • It's probabilistic, not definitive. A high-risk hotspot doesn't mean everyone in that group will leave - it means the model estimates a higher likelihood of departure for that group than for others in your organisation, based on signals in your data. Think of it as a prompt to investigate, not a verdict.

  • It requires sufficient data. Turnover risk may not be generated if a survey didn't include an Intent to Stay question, if your account doesn't have sufficient employee demographic data, or if a group is too small. We only surface insights where the signal is meaningful.

  • It can only see what's in the data. The model works from the signals it has - survey responses like Intent to Stay, tenure, and other employee attributes. It can't account for context that isn't captured, such as an upcoming reorg, a recent leadership change, or events specific to a team. Treat it as one input into a conversation, not the full picture.

Frequently asked questions


Can I bring back an Insight that I opened previously?

No, there is no way to manually bring back an insight you have already opened. Once you have acted on it, it does not return until the next new insight.

Can I dismiss an Insight tile if I no longer want to see it?

No, there is no separate dismiss control for the tile. Opening the tile is what hides it.

Why did the tile appear again when I moved to a different device?

Tiles are managed at the browser level so you may see the tile on one computer or browser and not on another depending on how you have interacted with that tile on each device. Opening the tile on one device does not hide it on another.

Will groups be identified as hotspots if they do not meet the minimum reporting group setting for the selected survey?

No, any group that falls below the minimum reporting group setting for a survey will be suppressed to maintain confidentiality.

No tile is showing when I view Coach

The turnover risk insight tile will only show when a hotspot has been identified. If the tile is not showing, it likely means a hotspot has not been identified in the available data or there is insufficient data available (For example when no survey has been selected or the selected survey is still Live). The tile will appear automatically when a hotspot is identified.


💬 Need help? Open a Support Conversation to speak with our Product Support team.

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