For over a century, organizations across the globe have been using org charts to create order, assign responsibilities, and design reporting structures.
But sometimes, building a robust org chart can feel frustrating and difficult to get right. And even after you’ve built your org chart, it’s common to wonder:
- How are other organizations structuring their org chart?
- Are we over or under-staffed in each department?
- Are we in line with best practices for our companies of our size?
To help you make more informed decisions, we dug through the data from thousands of Pave customers and gathered our top or chart findings. Keep reading to access team size and reporting structure best practices and benchmarks.
Team Size & Structure
How many Human Resource Business Partners (HRBP) should you have at your company?
The median ratio of full-time employees (FTEs) per HRBP increases as companies scale.
At smaller companies (51-100 employees), there are 68 FTEs per HR business partner.
As an organization grows, HRBPs are responsible for more employees. Our data shows that companies with 501-1,000 employees have 225 full-time employees per HRBP.
💡Is your Human Resource Business Partner staffing in line with industry norms? Access the benchmarks.
How many lawyers should you have at your company?
The answer depends on your company size, stage, product complexity, global presence, and legal focus.
However, across over 1,800 Pave customers, we found that:
- Private companies have 1 lawyer per 109 full-time employees
- Public companies have 1 lawyer per 92 full-time employees
💡Want more legal team benchmarks? Read the blog post.
How big should your IT team be?
Companies generally have a median of 75 full-time employees per IT team member.
But, this number can vary greatly based on many factors such as IT outsourcing, IT automation, tech stack complexity, and more.
💡Is your IT team bloated or understaffed? Read the post to find out.
How are R&D teams structured?
As companies hire more employees, engineering folks typically make up a greater percentage of R&D, and product management team members make up a smaller percentage of headcount.
The R&D department at companies with 1-100 employees is typically comprised of 70% engineers. For organizations with over 3,001 employees, that number jumps to 80%.
But, these ratios can differ from company to company based on industry and product complexity, product strategy, growth stage, technical infrastructure requirements, and geographic distribution of talent.
💡 How does your R&D org stack up against the benchmarks? Check out the post to find out.
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Reporting Structure
What is the ideal number of direct reports for a CEO?
The larger the company, the more direct reports the CEO has.
Our data shows:
- CEOs at organizations with 50 employees or less have 3-6 direct reports
- CEOs at companies with more than 3,000 employees have 14 direct reports
💡Want to dive into the pros and cons of fewer vs. more direct reports? Read the blog post.
Who should the Head of Product report to?
This is a hotly debated topic, but typically the head of product reports to the CEO. Product leaders reporting to the Head of Engineering/CTO are in the minority.
At seed stage companies ($0-5M capital raised), the Head of Product reports to the CEO 93% of the time and the CTO 4% of the time.
At later stage companies ($500M+ capital raised), the Head of Product reports to the CEO 76% of the time and the CTO 13% of the time.
💡Want to access salary and equity benchmarks for product leaders? Take a look at our latest post.
Who should the Head of Product Design report to?
At smaller companies, these roles often report to the CEO. As companies get larger, the Head of Product Design typically reports to the Head of Product.
At organizations with 1-25 employees, 75% of product designers report to the CEO.
At companies with 501-1,000 employees, 58% of Head of Product Design folks report to a product executive.
💡Want to access more reporting benchmarks? Check out the blog post.
Who should the Chief Human Resource Officer (CHRO) report to?
Regardless of company size, the CHRO typically reports to the CEO.
Our data shows:
- 80% of People/HR leaders report to the CEO at seed-stage companies
- 85-90% of People/HR leaders report to the CEO at later-stage companies
💡Interested in compensation and equity data for CHROs? Read the post.
Who should the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) report to?
At early-stage companies, CISOs report to the CEO 70% of the time.
But, there’s more of a divide when it comes to later-stage companies. CISOs report to the:
- CEO: ⅓ of the time
- CTO: ⅓ of the time
- Other executives: ⅓ of the time
💡 Want more CISO reporting insights? Check out the blog post.
We’re continually digging into the data to bring you in-depth org chart updates, so stay tuned for more!
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