Workforce ExperienceRequest demo

Saratoga Workforce Index

Director Headcount Ratio

Definition and latest national average benchmark

Director Headcount Ratio

2022 National Average Value

47

Employees/
Director

Value has
High
variance across industries
Value has
Medium
variance relative to revenue
Value has
High
variance relative to headcount

What is the Director Headcount Ratio? 

The Director Headcount Ratio is the ratio of employees per director. This relates to employees classified as directors within the EEO-1 job classification of "Officials and Managers". 

What is the average value of Director Headcount Ratio? 

According to the Saratoga Workforce Index, the national average Director Headcount Ratio in 2022 was 47 employees/per director. 

What is the Director Headcount Ratio by industry? 

The Director Headcount Ratio has a high variance across industries. If you need benchmarks for your specific industry, please contact the Saratoga team

Where can I get Director Headcount Ratio benchmarks? 

The annual Saratoga HR and Workforce Benchmarking Study releases the Director Headcount Ratio benchmark for over 20 different industries each year. The national average is released as part of the annual Saratoga Workforce Index.  

How is the Director Headcount Ratio calculated? 

The Director Headcount Ratio is calculated by dividing the total number of employees by the total number of director level employees in the organization. 

What does a low Director Headcount Ratio mean? 

A low Director Headcount Ratio may indicate that there are too many directors, which could lead to inefficiencies in productivity or task execution. It could also indicate duplications in roles and responsibilities. 

What does a high Director Headcount Ratio mean? 

A high Director Headcount Ratio may indicate potential gaps or that there are not enough director level positions or limited opportunity for promotion. This could lead to turnover as employees look for progression elsewhere. 

What other benchmarks are relevant to Director Headcount Ratio? 

Management Headcount Ratio  

Executive Headcount Ratio  

Average Number of Direct Reports 

Organization Layers 

Promotion Rate 

About the Saratoga Workforce Index

The Saratoga Workforce Index is an indispensable reference of national averages of 30 commonly requested HR metrics. Based on PwC Saratoga’s annual workforce benchmarking study of over 1000 metrics spanning hundreds of companies and over 20 industries, the Saratoga Workforce Index is your “quick start” guide to workforce benchmarks.

Download the guide to see the national averages for all of these:
  • 90 Day Total Turnover Rate
  • Average Number of Direct Reports
  • Cost per Hire
  • Director Headcount Ratio
  • Executive Headcount Ratio
  • Finance FTE Ratio
  • First Year of Service Turnover Rate
  • General & Administrative Function Voluntary Separation Rate
  • Hire Rate
  • HR FTE Ratio
  • Information Technology FTE Ratio
  • Labor Cost Revenue Percent
  • Layers
  • Learning & Development Investment per Employee
  • Legal FTE Ratio
  • Management Headcount Ratio
  • Manager Headcount Ratio
  • Offer Acceptance Rate
  • One to Three Years of Service Voluntary Separation Rate
  • Promotion Rate
  • Racial/Ethnic Minority Headcount Percent
  • Racial/Ethnic Minority Promotion Rate
  • Racial/Ethnic Minority Voluntary Separation Rate
  • Revenue per FTE
  • Time to Accept
  • Time to Start
  • Turnover Rate
  • Vacancy Rate
  • Voluntary Separation Rate
  • Women Executive Headcount Percent
  • Women Headcount Percent
  • Women Promotion Rate
  • Women Voluntary Separation Rate

Need industry-specific benchmarks?

We provide these values as a reference point for discussions. However, given the high variance across industries, sizes and revenue, these national averages should NOT be used to make important business decisions or used in any formal reporting.

If you intend to use benchmarks for business decisions, please join Saratoga as a full member so you can have access to more specific comparison groups for each industry, revenue, size, profit/non-profit status and more. With a full membership, you’ll have access to over 1,000 metrics that are much more accurate and specific than a national average. The membership process is relatively simple, mostly automated and reasonably priced with a clear ROI.

Referencing Saratoga Workforce Index Data

If you choose to refer to these metrics in any of your materials, whether internally or externally, we ask that you include the following statement:

Excerpted from the Saratoga Workforce Index. © 2023 PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, all rights reserved. Data is for discussion purposes only and cannot be used for investment decisions or financial evaluations.

You may include up to five metrics in any internal or external publication without any additional permissions. Contact us at saratoga@pwc.com if you want to use more than five or would like to reproduce the Saratoga Workforce Index in its entirety.

About Saratoga

Saratoga workforce and HR benchmarks provide reference points for executive-level discussions,  context for people dashboards, and data to inform workforce and HR decisions. Hundreds of companies across over 20 industries trust Saratoga each year to supply over 1,000 validated workforce benchmarks around turnover, diversity, staffing, productivity, efficiency, fairness, and more. 

Request a demo of Saratoga to get access to industry-specific benchmarks for up to 1000 benchmarks.