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Saratoga Workforce Index

Promotion Rate

Definition and 2022 national average benchmark

Promotion Rate

2022 National Average Value

13

%

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

Promotion Rate measures the percent of the total headcount that was promoted to a higher-level position or one of greater responsibility. Promotions include part-time and full-time non-contingent employees and per diem employees.

This benchmark is provided as a reference point for the other subgroup-specific benchmarks in the Saratoga Workforce Index. 

The Promotion Rate measures the upward mobility that your workforce experienced. 

This metric is significantly influenced by the number of roles in your organization that offer promotion opportunities. A high promotion rate can be a sign of fast-paced change or company growth. A low promotion rate can help explain high turnover rates, low employee engagement, or a flat organizational model. For a more comprehensive story, take other measures like turnover into consideration when analyzing your 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.