“On a scale of zero to ten, how likely is it you would recommend this company as a place to work?”
This is the core of the employee Net Promoter score (eNPS).
It’s one simple question that will tell you so many things about what’s working and what’s not.
Employees who score 9 or 10 are called ‘Promoters’. Those who score 7 or 8 are ‘Passives’ while any employee who gives a score of 6 or below is a ‘Detractor’.
The actual eNPS calculation is: % of Promoters minus % of Detractors.
Passives aren’t included in the calculation because they’re neutral and could go either way.
A company’s score could range from -100 to +100.
People love this question for its simplicity, and I’ve even recommended it as the one metric every manager should obsess over.
The thinking is, if someone is willing to recommend your company as a good place to work, then they really like it there.
Let’s go through everything you need to know about eNPS, what a good score is, and what to do with your score.
What’s The Difference Between NPS and eNPS?
Just so everyone’s clear on the difference, because the acronyms can be confusing, the main difference is that NPS is done with your customers and eNPS is done with your employees.
Both are important, but in my personal opinion the eNPS is even more important.
Customers will never love a company until the employees love it first.Simon Sinek
If we think about the service-profit chain, employees need to be happy and well taken care of if you want them to give amazing service.
The NPS can be used to see how loyal your customers are and what their likelihood is of purchasing from you again.
Customer promoters are more likely to buy more, make repeat purchases, refer their friends, and promote your brand.
Employees that are promoters are the one that are actively engaged. These people love your company and are the ones going above and beyond. You want as many of these as possible and to treat them like royalty.
- NPS question: “How likely is it that you would recommend this company to a friend or colleague?”
- eNPS question: “On a scale of zero to ten, how likely is it you would recommend this company as a place to work?”
What’s Considered A Good Score?
To be honest, it’s hard to define a “good” score, because so many factors play into this. What country you’re in, what culture you’re in, what industry you’re in, all affect how the number could be interpreted.
It’s important to remember that it’s an ongoing thing. You don’t just get a score and then move on.
It’s a recurring question that you should be asking every few months at least, and obviously you should always be looking to improve.
It’s also important to understand that your eNPS score will usually be lower than your NPS score.
This is because employees generally hold your company to a higher standard. They’ve invested way more time and energy into your company and so will be harsher with their remarks.
Based on some of the research I’ve done, if your score is somewhere in the -10 to +20 range, that’s pretty good. Anything above 20 is considered great and anything above 50 is considered outstanding.
But if you’re focusing too much on your score, you’re doing it wrong.
The Follow Up Question
Way more important than the score is the qualitative feedback that you get from the question.
You want to dig deep into why someone answered the way that they did.
One of the most powerful features in Officevibe is our contextual follow up questions.
Depending on how someone answers a question in the platform, a contextual follow up question will be asked.
The eNPS question is a perfect example of this in action.
For promoters, meaning anyone that answered a 9 or 10, we’ll ask them this follow up question:
For detractors, meaning anyone that answered 6 or lower, we’ll ask them this follow up question:
This is where you’ll get the most value out of the eNPS question.
What To Do With Detractors And Promoters
You ultimately have two groups of people that you need to worry about: detractors and promoters.
Here’s what I’d recommend doing with each group.
Detractors
These people are unhappy at work. You need to focus on improving their lives at work, which will ultimately end up benefiting everyone (coworkers and customers).
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Have Regular Conversations
One of the big issues with following up on an eNPS question is anonymity.
At the same time, you need to understand where the problems are and what you could do to make your company a better place to work.
If you have regular conversations with your team, like monthly one-on-ones and stay interviews, this should help with that problem.
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Listen And Act
You need to work hard to build up your culture, your employer brand, and make sure employees are happy where they work.
If they’re unhappy and disengaged, they’ll do things that will damage your business.
Make sure to act on the comments that you receive and make it known that you’re listening to them.
Promoters
These people are called promoters for a reason. You need to take advantage of these people. They love your brand. What you want to do is make these people your brand ambassadors.
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Ask For A Review On Glassdoor
These people literally just finished telling you why they love working there and why they’d recommend your company as a good place to work. That’s a golden opportunity to use that testimonial on Glassdoor.
Asking promoters to leave a review on Glassdoor could seriously increase your employer brand.
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Give Them Some Swag
One idea could be to create t-shirts for employees to wear, knowing fully that your promoters will likely wear them out and spread the word.
I’m pretty sure every employee on the Officevibe team wears the Officevibe t-shirt out on weekends.
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Send Them To Recruiting Events
Who better to talk up your company and all it has to offer then your promoters?
If possible, you can send these employees to different events to make sure they’re championing the brand.
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Get Them Active On Social Media
A LinkedIn survey found that 50% of job seekers turn to their friends and colleagues first when looking for a job.
You can provide training and make sure that they understand the message you’re trying to spread, but then from there, let it all happen organically. Encourage them to be active on social media to spread the good word about your company.
My post about How To Turn Your Employees Into Brand Ambassadors might help you with this.
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Get Them To Refer Employees
If you already have an employee referral program set up, these people are the first people I’d run to looking for help.
If they have friends that are smart and capable, they literally just finished telling you they’d be willing to recommend your company as a good place to work, so let them help you find world-class talent.
Bonus: Interview About NPS
I was lucky enough to be able to interview one of the creators of NPS and eNPS, Rob Markey.
If you’re interested in learning even more about eNPS and have 20 minutes to spare, give this video a watch:
Do You Use The Employee Net Promoter Score?
Let us know your thoughts in the comments!