Customers often ask us how eNPS differs from NPS.
Many of the companies we work with track their net promoter score (NPS) closely, and for good reason. Developed by Bain & Company, NPS is considered to be the gold standard in evaluating how customers feel about a brand. Did you know there’s another kind of NPS that’s designed especially for the workplace? At Entromy, we encourage customers to also measure eNPS or employee net promoter score to evaluate the loyalty of their employees. Why? It’s just plain good for business. Employees who are loyal are more engaged, engaged employees are more productive, and a productive workforce delivers a better customer experience.
eNPS vs. NPS
The two methodologies are actually similar in the way they are calculated. In both cases, you ask an audience one straightforward question, which respondents answer on a scale of 1-10. Those who give a rating of 9 or 10 are “promoters”, those who choose 7 or 8 are “passives”, and anyone who selects 0-6 are “detractors”. To calculate your net promoter score, simply subtract the percentage of “detractors” from the percentage of “promotors” and ignore the “passives”.
So what are the main differences between eNPS and NPS? It really comes down to the audience and the question that’s asked. NPS is used to survey consumers or business professionals. Companies typically ask, “How likely is it that you would recommend our (company/product/service) to a friend or colleague?” Employers use eNPS to survey their workforce and measure employee loyalty. To calculate eNPS, the question changes to something like, “How likely would you be to recommend us as an employer?”
Entromy’s eNPS Survey Tips
If you’d like to start measuring eNPS at your organization, here are five things to keep in mind:
1. Choose a survey tool that lets you segment and share the data in a way that’s useful. To start, make a list of the day-to-day challenges you’re facing, and work backwards to find a platform that will give you insights through data. For example, if you’ve seen higher employee attrition in one particular location, you may want to look at eNPS scores by region or city. Maybe several top performers on specific teams recently resigned. If you’re worried that this pattern could continue, it might be helpful to see how eNPS scores vary by managers or departments.
2. When you measure eNPS, also add broader questions to the survey. The single eNPS question is a very valuable way to measure employee engagement and loyalty, but the resulting eNPS score becomes even more meaningful when you include questions to uncover the (culture, X, Y, Z) at your organization. Adding an open-ended question like, “Tell us more about your response.” or “What is your main reason forgiving us that score?” will give you the context you need to understand why your eNPS score is low, average, or even high! If sifting through hundreds of different free-form answers feels daunting, use choose an organizational assessment platform that uses natural language processing to summarize key themes and prioritize topics and issues.
3. Keep it anonymous. If employees think that their responses can be tracked back to them, they may not answer honestly. Plus, let’s face it — you can’t fix what’s broken if you don’t know what’s broken! From the beginning, tell employees that the survey is 100% confidential and that they can answer anonymously.
4. Create a plan to take action on the results and socialize it. Before you even start to measure eNPS, “pre-sell” the initiative with leadership and people managers. Ask them to spread the word once the survey launches. Also tell employees in advance that the survey is coming and let them know that you’ll follow-up after the survey is complete to share the results and next steps.
5. Measure eNPS frequently. Tracking employee sentiment and loyalty every 2-3 months is ideal. If you’re able to maintain this level of consistency, you’ll start to see a correlation between your scores and the actions you put into place. It will also become easier to see how organizational shifts or policy changes affect employee loyalty and retention.
Baselines and Benchmarks
It’s important to have a realistic frame of reference as you begin your eNPS journey. If you’re used to seeing NPS scores for well-known brands like Starbucks or Apple in the 50-70+ range, you should know that your eNPS score will probably be much lower. That’s because employees are often more critical of their employers, which can result in a higher number of “passives” and“ detractors”.
Typically, an eNPS score of 0 is average, 10 is good, and 30 is very good. A score of -10is considered low, and a score of – 30 or less should be a real warning sign.
Consider this advice from one of our customers:
“When departments in an organization are sitting very low on the employee net promoter score, there is a risk of turnover. Employees are probably talking poorly about the company to other people. At that point, there should be a real concern that this is a hot button item for employees. And to be really inclusive, leadership needs to make sure that they’re including their viewpoint and taking it seriously.”
Use these numbers as a rough guideline. The first few eNPS surveys should give you the opportunity to establish your own unique benchmarks. After all, no company is exactly like yours, right? Plus, your eNPS scores can change from one survey to the next, especially if you mobilize quickly to act on feedback from your workforce.
Do you evaluate the health of your organization on a regular basis? If not, reach out to our team to learn how Entromy can help you measure eNPS, employee engagement, and more. Get in touch.
