eNPS

What it means

eNPS, the Employee Net Promoter Score, measures staff satisfaction and loyalty based on how likely employees are to recommend the company as an employer. It derives from NPS, which measures customer loyalty, and uses the same scale from zero to ten.

Employees answering nine or ten are promoters, seven or eight are passives and zero to six are detractors. The result is the share of promoters minus the share of detractors and ranges from minus one hundred to one hundred. A positive figure means enthusiasts outnumber the dissatisfied.

Its strength is simplicity: one question that can be asked regularly, for example quarterly, to track the trend. The number alone does not explain why people are satisfied or not, so it is paired with an open question about the reason for the score.

How it works in practice

The survey should be anonymous, or people will not answer honestly. In small teams, results should only be shown for larger groups so they cannot be traced to individuals. Comments are worth analysing by theme, such as leadership, pay, workload or development.

A low or falling eNPS is an early warning of rising staff turnover. People who would not recommend the company are often already looking for another job, and addressing the causes is cheaper than replacing leavers.

Results feed into employer branding and changes to benefits, appraisals or corporate culture. Most important is reporting the results back to staff and showing what has changed because of them.

What to watch out for

eNPS is not suitable for comparisons between sectors or countries, because willingness to recommend an employer varies by culture. It is more meaningful to track your own trend over time and differences between teams within the company.

If nothing happens after a survey, people's willingness to respond falls and future surveys lose value. It is equally harmful if managers push their teams towards better scores or try to identify the authors of critical comments.