Employee Flow Sankey Diagram: Editable Template
Show how headcount changed over a year: opening staff and hires in, then who stayed, resigned, retired or left, with stayers by department. Editable template.
An employee flow Sankey follows headcount through a year: who was there at the start, who joined and by what route, and who stayed or left and why.
Opening headcount and three hiring routes feed the workforce for the year. The workforce then splits into those who stayed, resigned, retired, were dismissed or reached the end of a contract, and the stayers are broken out by department.
Sankey diagrams show proportion well, which makes them useful for talking about turnover. The figures are invented. Real employee data is personal data: aggregate it so no individual can be identified before it goes on a slide or a web page.
How to read this diagram
- 500 people start the year and 120 join, so 620 are in the workforce at some point.
- 535 stay, 86% of the workforce; 85 leave, of whom 55 resign.
- Experienced hires are the largest hiring route at 60 of 120.
- Engineering holds the largest share of stayers at 240.
The data behind it
Invented headcount for a fictional company and year. Not data about any real organisation.
| From | To | Amount (employees) |
|---|---|---|
| Graduate hires | New hires | 40 |
| Experienced hires | New hires | 60 |
| Contractor conversions | New hires | 20 |
| Opening headcount | Workforce during the year | 500 |
| New hires | Workforce during the year | 120 |
| Workforce during the year | Stayed | 535 |
| Workforce during the year | Resigned | 55 |
| Workforce during the year | Retired | 15 |
| Workforce during the year | Dismissed | 10 |
| Workforce during the year | End of contract | 5 |
| Stayed | Engineering | 240 |
| Stayed | Sales | 150 |
| Stayed | Operations | 145 |
The same data as CSV
source,target,value
Graduate hires,New hires,40
Experienced hires,New hires,60
Contractor conversions,New hires,20
Opening headcount,Workforce during the year,500
New hires,Workforce during the year,120
Workforce during the year,Stayed,535
Workforce during the year,Resigned,55
Workforce during the year,Retired,15
Workforce during the year,Dismissed,10
Workforce during the year,End of contract,5
Stayed,Engineering,240
Stayed,Sales,150
Stayed,Operations,145How it works
Enter the starting headcount and hiring routes
Add opening headcount and each way people joined, with counts.
Enter the outcomes
Add stayed, resigned, retired and any other outcome as flows out of the workforce. They must add up to the workforce.
Aggregate before sharing
Use totals, not names, and avoid small groups that identify individuals.
Frequently asked questions
Is it safe to share a chart of real employee data?
Only in aggregate. Combine small groups and remove anything that could identify an individual, and follow your organisation's data protection rules.
Can I show internal moves between departments?
Yes. Add a node per department at the start and at the end, and flows between them for transfers.
Edit this employee flow Sankey
Open the template as your own chart and enter your headcount and turnover.