Companies are increasingly implementing the Employee Net Promoter Score in addition to the classic customer NPS. Although the NPS has been around for quite some time, one cannot say the same about the eNPS score.

What is an eNPS, then? An eNPS is a survey to find out how loyal and engaged employees are. While the score itself is easy to measure and track, it is also useful to measure the impact of HR initiatives.

Since employees are one of the key stakeholders of any company, it is essential to track employee engagement for the sucess of a business. The eNPS score is the perfect tool for an employer to find out exactly how satisfied the employees are and what more HR can do.

This blog is a comprehensive guide to the eNPS score.

Why Use the eNPS Score?

The traditional NPS identifies the satisfaction level of customers from the products/services of the business. It gives companies an insight into what they can do better and what new features customers are looking for.

The eNPS score is equally important for the business to flourish. This metric helps measure employee engagement which can, in turn, boost productivity. It can be used by HR to study the impact of initiatives, retain high performers and improve company culture.

The survey gives employees an outlet to talk about their experience with the business which can make them feel like someone is listening to their issues. Although an eNPS categorizes employees into detractors and promoters, HR needs to dive deeper to understand how they got there.

How to Calculate the eNPS Score?

The procedure of calculating the eNPS score is simple. The first step is to divide the respondents into promoters, passives, and detractors. How do companies know which employees fall under those categories? Let’s find out now. 

Promoters

Promoters are the employees that refer the company to friends and family as a great place to work and are highly engaged. These employees will most likely speak highly of the company to everyone around. They are happy with the way the company functions and will probably have little to no complaints. They are likely to be high performers who are being well incentivized to fuel the growth of the company, and their score is either nine or ten.

Passives

The employees that fall under this category are neither engaged nor disengaged. They are satisfied with their job but may have some minor issues with the company culture. They aren’t likely to promote the company, but they are not going to dissuade others from joining. Their eNPS score is either seven or eight. 

Detractors

The employees who are detractors can hinder the growth of the company. They will not promote the company and have negative views about its functioning. These employees are actively disengaged and have an eNPS score between zero and six. Their dissatisfaction can often reflect in their work and affect company productivity. 

To calculate the eNPS HR has to subtract the percentage of detractors from the percentage of promoters

eNPS = % of promoters – % of detractors

The percentage of passives is irrelevant while calculating the eNPS score.

For example, if there are 100 employees, where 60 are promoters, 30 are detractors, and 10 are passives.

The net promoter score is 60%-30% or 30%.

What is a Good eNPS Score?

The employee NPS of a company can range anywhere from -100 to 100. Every industry has a different definition of a good eNPS score. Each company must do some research in their particular field to find out the average eNPS score.

Some industries do not have high eNPS scores, and that works for them. But for some, it should be a little higher than the rest.

The ideal eNPS can be different for different industries. But a rule of thumb is that a score around 30 is considered good and one above 50 is considered excellent.

Companies like HubSpot who are heavily invested in company culture have an eNPS score of 83 and come within the Top 5% of US companies. Even companies like Salesforce and Netflix have a stellar eNPS score of 58.

Ideally, a good eNPS score is relative to your own benchmarks. If your company’s first eNPS score was a 10, and you now have an eNPS of 30, you’re doing incredibly well.

A low eNPS does indicate low engagement. But if on a regular basis, the score keeps increasing, then the company is going in the right direction. Similarly, if the numbers keep decreasing, the HR may need to look into where the business is going wrong.

Advantages of Employee NPS

  • The eNPS score surveys are easy to take for HR.
  • Employees don’t have to wade through a long qualitative questionnaire. They don’t feel like it is a burden and hence more people fill the survey without pushback. 
  • When employees have to answer a single question, it is intuitive and accurate. 
  • The net promoter score helps companies to form a benchmark for themselves. It is an easy way to understand where the company stands and what they need to improve to increase their eNPS score.
  • Since employees have to answer one question, there is little room for confusion.
  • The eNPS survey is brief and only needs an email or two. It can prove to be on of the most cost-effective surveys.

Disadvantages of eNPS

  • The net promoter score question can shift the focus on numbers. It can make companies forget the real reason behind the rise and fall of those numbers. If this happens, then the employee NPS quickly loses its meaning.
  • The simplicity of the eNPS score is both its strength and its weakness. While simplicity is what makes these questions easy to take, it makes the process unreliable as well. It is because a single number cannot always accurately indicate an employee’s loyalty or satisfaction.
  • If the company holds these tests too frequently, employees and HR may start taking them too casually. 
  • The survey does not indicate why the score is that low. It just shows that there is a problem, but it does nothing to provide a solution to it. This may make it difficult for HR to solve the issues that the employees are having. 
  • The score range for detractors is very wide. An employee who chooses to give a zero is put in the same category as one who gives a six. The issues of both the employees are probably vastly different in both number and magnitude.

Some eNPS Questions to Include in a Survey

The eNPS Question Everyone Asks

Traditionally, an eNPS survey just involves one question:

‘On a scale of zero to ten, how likely are you to recommend our company to friends and family?’

This question gives a general overview of the employee’s feelings towards the company. It tells the company about employee engagement and loyalty.

Product/Service Based eNPS Questions

Although this is where the eNPS survey normally ends, companies are now choosing to get to the root of employee problems through this survey. They are asking employees more questions to really understand why promoters and detractors identify themselves as each.

While this is a good step, there are a few things that companies should keep in mind while taking this extended eNPS survey. The main this is that eNPS is set apart from traditional surveys due to its simplicity, taking away from that can be detrimental.

The companies should also ask straightforward questions that can be answered quickly and without much thought. 

‘On a scale of zero to ten, how likely are you to recommend our product/service to friends and family?’

The question shifts the focus to a particular product/service from the company. It works well for times when the company needs feedback on a recent launch. Employees, after all, are key internal stakeholders. Companies can use anonymous employee feedback as the first frontier for recent launches. 

Personalized Questions to Each Employee Type

By using an employee engagement tool, an eNPS survey can be personalized. Although the responses are anonymous to the employer, the survey tool can send out personalized questions to each employee type. This approach results in better and more specific responses. 

If companies plan to send out follow-up questions, they can send out the following different questions to promoters, detractors, and passives: 

Question for detractors: ‘Is there anything that we can do differently to improve your experience?’

Question for passives: ‘What is holding you back from rating the company to higher?’

Question for promoters: ‘What is the one thing you like the most about the company?’

The company should also avoid asking questions that require a long-form answer if they are just kicking off the eNPS survey process in the company.

The company should also keep in mind the frequency of the survey. If the survey takes place too often, employees can start taking it casually. If the survey does not take place that regularly, it can risk becoming dated.

How to Implement Employee NPS Question Survey Results Effectively?

When the survey is complete, certain things can ensure that the results benefit the company. Here are a few things the company can do to use the feedback more effectively.  

Keep the Survey Anonymous

Anonymity is key to get honest answers in an eNPS survey. Detractors can remain silent due to the fear or repercussions. In order to make the survey completely anonymous, the company should look at using external software. Tools like Pep can ensure that employees remain completely anonymous while still deploying periodic eNPS surveys.

Communicate With Detractors About Their Problems

Once the survey is complete, the company can consider looking into the issues keeping their employees from becoming promoters. It emphasizes that the company cares about their employees’ feedback and can help get better results in the future. 

Transparency is Key

Sharing the feedback that the company has received from employees with them during an open forum like a Town Hall is helpful. It also gives employees a chance to share their recommendations and makes things easier for the company. If the company has received overwhelmingly negative feedback, they should discuss what measures are to be adopted and let the employees know how much time the changes will take. As for positive reviews, they can thank the employees and assure them that they will double down on what they’re doing and add more to it in future. 

Find Solutions and Take Measures

If there are problems, there have to be solutions. Once the eNPS survey is complete, HR must look into possible solutions. If the company takes feedback and doesn’t provide solutions, it can lead the employees to distrusting the company and the eNPS process. Companies can also take a pulse survey if needed to measure in real time the effect of the solutions being deployed.

Serves as a Check

The employee NPS survey can help the company know whether its work culture is positive or not. Employees usually leave a company because of a lack of recognition or appreciation. The survey can prevent that and also help in building employee loyalty over time. 

Great Hiring Tool

An eNPS survey can be an attractive hiring tool for millenial and Gen Z employees. A number of surveys have shown that these generations prefer collaborative positive workplaces that value employee feedback. By showing that the company wants to know where they’re wrong and are actively looking to make changes, the company can market itself in the job market. Of course, if the eNPS scores are anything like HubSpot, they can also make themselves a sought after workplace.

The Tone of the Questions Matter

No matter what the questions are, they must always remain neutral. Steer clear of accusatory questions.

Does Your Business Need an eNPS Survey?

The eNPS score can be daunting at first, but with a little research, things do get easier. Once a company grasps the idea behind eNPS surveys, they quickly realize that it is an easy and cost-effective way for employees to communicate their problems.

Companies should also remember that the frequency at which they hold the employee NPS question survey varies from company to company. No hard and fast rule binds them to take a set number of surveys in any given period.

Make mistakes and roll with punches, we assure you that it’s worth it. If you have any queries regarding this and any other HR conundrum, feel free to hit us up on Twitter @HarmonizeHQ.