The general retention meaning is keeping or continuing to hold something rather than losing it. A shop with good customer retention keeps its buyers coming back; a student with strong retention remembers what was taught; a sponge has high water retention.
The word is the noun from the verb retain, and it turns up in very different places: human resources, marketing, classrooms, hospitals, data rules and building contracts. This page gives a plain retention definition for each of those uses, a worked example of a retention rate, and notes on the words people mix it up with.
Entry at a glance
Meaning
Keeping, holding or continuing to have somethingPart of speech
NounPronunciation
rih-TEN-shuhnWord forms
retain (verb), retentive (adjective), retainer (noun)Origin
Latin retentio, from retinere, to hold back (re- back + tenere hold)Opposite
loss, release, attrition, churnRegister
Neutral to formal; very common at work
Define retention by setting
- Employees. Employee retention or staff retention is how well an organization keeps its workers. High turnover means poor retention.
- Customers. Customer retention is how many existing buyers or subscribers stay over a period, instead of leaving for a rival.
- Memory. The ability to keep information in your mind: retention of new vocabulary.
- The body. In medicine, fluid retention or water retention is when the body holds extra fluid, often causing swelling; urinary retention means being unable to empty the bladder fully.
- School. In the US, grade retention means a student repeats a year instead of moving up.
- Records. A data retention policy or record retention schedule says how long files must be kept before deletion.
Retention meaning in example sentences
- Flexible hours helped the clinic improve nurse retention.
- The app's retention fell sharply after the free trial ended.
- Quizzing yourself boosts retention more than rereading notes.
- Her ankles swelled from water retention on the long flight.
- The bank's retention policy keeps statements for several years.
- Clay soil has high moisture retention, so plants there need less watering.
A worked example: customer retention rate
Businesses often measure retention with a simple formula:
Retention rate = (customers at end of period minus new customers gained) divided by customers at start, times 100
Say a tutoring company starts the quarter with 500 students, signs up 80 new ones and ends with 520. Take away the 80 newcomers to get 440 who stayed from the original group. Then 440 divided by 500 equals 0.88, so the retention rate is 88 percent. The other 12 percent is the churn or attrition rate. Employee retention is worked out the same way using staff numbers.
Retention money in contracts
In construction and some service contracts, retention (also called retainage in the US) is a part of each payment, often a small percentage, that the client holds back until the work is finished and any defects are fixed. It protects the client if the builder leaves problems behind. The money is released at the end or after a defects period set out in the contract.
Retention, retainer, retentive: telling them apart
| Word | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| retention | The act or fact of keeping | customer retention |
| retain | To keep or hold | retain a lawyer, retain heat |
| retainer | A fee paid in advance to secure services; also a dental device that holds teeth in place | pay a retainer |
| retentive | Good at keeping, especially memory | a retentive memory |
Note that retention is not the same as detention (being held back as punishment or by police) or tenure, which is the length of time someone holds a job. See tenure for that word.
Why companies care so much about it
Finding a new customer or hiring a new employee usually costs more than keeping an existing one, so managers watch retention closely. Common tools are fair compensation, training, recognition and good service. Phrases you will hear include retention bonus (extra pay for staying through a merger or project), retention strategy and retention offer, a discount given to a customer who tries to cancel. HR and sales vocabulary of this kind fills the business and money section, next to attrition.
The Latin root
Old French passed English the word, which goes back to Latin retentio, a holding back, formed from retinere: re- (back) plus tenere (to hold). The same tenere gives English retain, tenant, tenacious and contain, all with some sense of holding.
Frequently asked questions
What does retention mean in a job?
It means how well an employer keeps its staff over time. Good employee retention means few people quit; poor retention means high turnover and constant hiring.
What is customer retention?
It is the ability of a business to keep existing customers buying from it. It is usually tracked as a percentage of customers who stay during a month, quarter or year.
What does retention mean in school?
In US schools it often means a student is held back to repeat a grade. In learning in general, it means how much of the material students remember later.
What is the opposite of retention?
In business the usual opposite is attrition, turnover or churn. In memory it is forgetting, and in a general sense it is loss or release.
What is water retention?
It is when the body holds on to extra fluid, which can cause puffiness in the legs, hands or face. It has many possible causes, from long sitting to medical conditions, so lasting swelling deserves a medical opinion.
How do you pronounce retention?
Say rih-TEN-shuhn. The middle syllable TEN carries the weight, and the ending sounds like shun.