An Employee Net Promoter Score (eNPS) is an important tool in recruiting and retaining talent.
As companies cope with the ongoing effects of the so-called “Great Resignation,” and working from home is comfortable for many but others feel disconnected, understanding employee sentiment is particularly valuable for business leaders.
According to recent research, almost two-thirds (64%) of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) struggle to retain staff. Therefore, anything that allows leaders to get a sense of how their teams feel about their work is useful.
“Knowing your Employee Net Promoter Score is crucial to understanding your employees’ motivation,” says Lorraine Barker, Head of Energy HR.
“A high eNPS helps with recruiting – your employees are more likely to recommend your company as a great place to work, and you can use this information in your recruiting marketing.
“When it comes to retention, maintaining a happy and engaged workforce is proven to increase productivity, result in lower absenteeism rates, and a high score will add value through alumni advocacy even after an employee leaves the company.”
In this article, you’ll learn what eNPS is, how to calculate your eNPS score, what it tells you about your three main employee types, and its pros, cons, advantages, and limitations.
Here’s what we cover:
Just as a Net Promoter Score measures how likely consumers are to recommend a product or service to others, eNPS measures the likelihood that your employees will recommend your company to other people as a good place to work.
It is also seen as a way to measure employee loyalty.
Quite simply, it involves asking employees: “On a scale of 0 to 10, how likely would you be to recommend this company as a good place to work to a family member, friend or colleague?”
The score is the percentage of those who say yes minus those who say no.
eNPS is popular because it reduces a complex, nuanced problem to a single number.
This simplicity means they are often more likely to be completed compared to more complex and time-consuming surveys.
eNPS: What are the three categories?
Each of these categories – supporters, detractors and passives – is determined by how they rated your company on a scale of one to ten.
promoter
The organizers have given you a score of 9 or 10 out of 10, making them your biggest fans.
These advocates are a great asset to your company and can act as brand ambassadors or recruiters.
They are more likely to share positive news about the company on LinkedIn and other social media and spread good things about you through word of mouth.
Passive
Passives (also called neutrals) are those that gave you 7 to 8 points.
They’re probably not excited about their job and you as an employer, but not unhappy enough to rate them poorly.
It is possible that some want to do this but fear that they will be identified and suffer.
On the other hand, it’s also possible that they’re generally happy, but there’s some aspect of the job that they don’t like – perhaps the pay, their boss, or even the office itself.
A restructure or a new job description could leave them feeling unmotivated, but not sufficiently dissatisfied to actively look for another job.
However, passives would be open to new jobs and could casually check job boards and LinkedIn to see what is available there.
Either way, these people are unlikely to go the extra mile for you and actively promote your business to others.
critic
Critics have rated you 6 or less.
These are employees who badmouth you to friends, family, and possibly even customers and suppliers.
In fact, they counteract your marketing and PR activities. They may even share their experiences anonymously on product review sites and employment sites like Glassdoor.
As Fred Reichheld, partner at Bain & Company, the management consulting firm and inventor of the Net Promoter Score, put it in 2003, “critics” will “complain to friends, family, acquaintances – anyone who will listen.”
Most likely, they will disagree with your strategy and have little trust in your leadership.
Of course, the larger the proportion of your detractors, the more likely you are to need to focus on:
- Listen to your teams
- Developing a more positive corporate culture
- Think about how your company is organized.
How to calculate your company’s eNPS
When asked how likely they are to recommend your company as an employer, employees use a scale of 0 to 10, with 0 being “not at all likely” and 10 being “very likely.”
Based on their ratings, you then divide employees into one of three categories: Supporters, Detractors, and Passives.
When calculating, start by ignoring your passives.
You then subtract the percentage of your teams that are detractors from the percentage that are promoters to get your score.
Here is an example.
Suppose your company employs 25 people and each of them answers the question.
You notice that you have 7 passives, 11 supporters and 7 detractors.
To perform the calculation, ignore the passives.
The 11 supporters represent 44% of your staff, while the 7 detractors represent 28%.
Then subtract the 28% of critics from the 44% of supporters to get a value of plus 16.
This is a pretty good result since most companies want to achieve at least a positive review and more employees say good things about them than those who say bad things about them.
What are the benefits of eNPS?
Simplicity is a key advantage.
There is only one question, and it is familiar and accessible. The result is a single, easy-to-understand metric.
Conducting such a survey is quick and easy for you and your employees. They don’t have to waste time thinking up questions and they just have to give one answer.
For this reason, the participation rate tends to be higher than in many employee surveys.
Implementation is also cost-effective because there is no need to employ consultants and no need to take time out of focus groups, team meetings, or writing extensive reports.
What are the limitations of eNPS?
Simplicity can also be a disadvantage – the results lack depth or nuance.
You can identify three clear categories, but you don’t know it WHO Your critics or your wonderful brand ambassadors are, and you don’t know it Why Certain team members rate you a 0 or 10 or anything in between.
You have no idea about their specific concerns.
They only measure staff at a specific point in time. It may be that they feel better at work a week after they gave you a C, or something happens a few days after you gave you a positive review that makes them angry and disillusioned.
On the other hand, they may be having a day off when your survey pops up.
An employee’s good net promoter score does not necessarily mean that they are dedicated and hard-working.
They may be willing to promote your company because they believe you have a relaxed attitude to work.
They may not feel obligated to contribute to implementing your strategy, but they still rate you highly because you have a cafeteria or because your office is in a nice location.
Comparison of eNPS and NPS
Although both surveys measure how willing participants are to advertise – in the first case for your company and in the second case for your products – there are clear differences.
But first, consider the similarities.
Essentially, both are simple satisfaction measurements based on an easy-to-understand question and the results are immediately obvious.
However, the target groups are different – one is aimed at employees, the other at customers and these two groups base their decisions on different criteria.
One is about what you sell, the other is about how you treat your employees, and the two may be unrelated.
For example, your company might make a great product and provide great customer service, so your NPS will likely be impressive.
On the other hand, you may treat your employees poorly and therefore your employer version will be poor.
Finally, feedback from an NPS survey is usually associated with a specific customer.
This is someone the company already has data on, e.g. B. about what he buys, how much he spends and which categories he fits into.
In the employee version, the system works on the basis of anonymity, as is usual with employee feedback. As mentioned above, this can be a disadvantage.
Claire McCartney, senior resources and inclusion consultant at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), points to the CIPD Good Work Index, which she says provides a valuable overview of what British workers value in a job and can be used to determine how companies can improve their employer brand and engagement more holistically.
Claire says: “The benchmarking report measures work quality across a range of dimensions and its annual snapshot gives a definitive overview of what good work looks like.
“It suggests that employees should not only be paid appropriately, but also have a good work-life balance and be given opportunities for development.
“It also highlights the importance of fostering a healthy, supportive work environment that gives employees a voice in managing their work lives.”
Final thoughts on eNPS
eNPS surveys can be implemented quickly and inexpensively and are easy to participate in. They are a great way to assess the morale of your teams.
However, they have their limitations and are therefore best carried out in conjunction with other employee surveys and consultations.
As with any type of employee survey, even if you think you’re the best boss in the world, you need to be prepared to hear bad news with a mix of resilience and humility, and respond to the results whatever you say .
“Achieving or maintaining good eNPS requires hard work over time,” says Lorraine Barker of Energy HR.
“However, if your score is low, it is important to take quick action to find out why.
“Conduct follow-up meetings, conduct an employee survey, compare your salaries and benefits to the competition, and communicate, communicate, communicate.”