Employee Movement & Retention

Promotion Rate

Sub Metrics: Competitive Promotion Rate Non-Competitive Promotion Rate

Definition

Promotion rate measures the percentage of employees who receive a promotion over a specific time period relative to the average number of employees during that period. It's a key indicator of internal talent development, career mobility, and the effectiveness of succession planning programs.

In Deckata: Promotion Rate is automatically calculated from your HR systems and updated in real-time—no spreadsheets or manual work required.

How to Calculate

Promotion Rate

Formula
(Number of Promotions in Time Period / Average Headcount in Time Period) × 100
Example
Promotions: 25
Average Headcount: 500
Calculation: (25 / 500) × 100 = 5.0%
Result: 5.0%
Annual promotion rates typically range from 5-15% depending on industry and organizational structure. Calculate separately for different job levels, as promotion rate standards vary significantly by career stage.

Skip the manual calculations

Deckata automatically pulls data from all your HR systems, calculates Promotion Rate in real-time, and updates your executive decks instantly.

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How to Visualize

01

Trend Line Chart

Track promotion rates over time to identify patterns and measure the impact of talent development initiatives.

Best for: Executive presentations, demonstrating talent development ROI
Include comparison to industry benchmarks and add annotations for major talent program launches or organizational changes.
02

Segmented Bar Chart

Compare promotion rates across departments, job levels, demographics, or tenure bands.

Best for: Identifying equity gaps, targeting development programs
Sort by highest to lowest rate to highlight disparities. Consider comparing to representation at each level to assess pipeline health.
03

Funnel Chart

Show progression through career levels, displaying what percentage of employees at each level advance to the next.

Best for: Leadership pipeline analysis, succession planning presentations
Particularly powerful for demonstrating where the pipeline narrows and where targeted development is needed.
04

Scatter Plot

Plot promotion rate against performance ratings or engagement scores to identify relationships.

Best for: Advanced analytics, understanding promotion drivers
Can reveal if high performers are being promoted appropriately or if there are retention risks among top talent.

Stop manually calculating Promotion Rate

Deckata automatically calculates Promotion Rate, creates presentation-ready visualizations, and updates your executive decks in real-time—freeing you to focus on strategic insights instead of spreadsheet work.

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