A happy employee is many things: productive, dedicated, passionate, dependable…the list goes on and on. Looking around your workforce, however, it’s not always easy to tell which employees are truly happy and which ones are just biding their time.
One quick and easy way to gauge employee satisfaction and engagement is by measuring your Employee Net Promoter Score (eNPS). Similar to the traditional Net Promoter Score (NPS), the eNPS is an employee-focused variant that measures employee satisfaction and engagement by asking one simple question: On a scale of 0 to 10, how likely are you to recommend [company name] as a place to work? David Niu, founder and CEO of public relations firm Delight Labs, says, “The beauty is that it’s only one question and is easily benchmarked against other organizations that have asked this question.”
Below, we’ll explore how you can calculate your own eNPS and analyze the data as well as share a few quick strategies to help improve your employees’ satisfaction.
How to Calculate eNPS
To receive your Employee Net Promoter Score, companies often will conduct an employee engagement survey, asking each employee to rate the likelihood of recommending their company on a scale of 0 to 10 with 0 being “not at all likely” and 10 being “extremely likely.” Based on the responses, employees can be grouped into three categories:
- Promoters: Those who gave a score of 9 or 10, which means they enjoy working for your company.
- Passive/neutral: Those who gave a score of 7 to 8, which means they feel indifferent working for your company.
- Detractors: Those who gave a score between 0 and 6, which means they are unhappy working for your company.
You then calculate your eNPS by subtracting the percentage of detractors from the percentage of promoters. “The higher the score, the more engaged and enthusiastic your employees are,” says Jon Gordon, managing partner and co-founder of Sheer Velocity, a boutique executive search firm. “For example, say 40% of your employees are promoters, 50% are passives, and 10% are detractors. That would give you an eNPS of 30 (40% promoters minus 10% detractors).”
In addition to giving their rating, Niu recommends also asking employees to share their reasoning. Having this feedback will help you understand what’s working and what isn’t, so you can take action to improve your eNPS, especially if your score is lower than desired.
How Often to Measure eNPS
Employee Net Promoter Scores can be a valuable metric when it comes to employee sentiment, so it makes sense to conduct an eNPS survey on a regular basis. “In my experience, measuring your eNPS regularly is key to understanding the engagement and satisfaction of your workforce,” Gordon says. “However, you don’t want to overdo it and survey too frequently as this can lead to survey fatigue and less meaningful results. I would recommend measuring eNPS on a quarterly basis for most organizations. This provides enough data points over time to spot trends, while still being frequent enough to take action on the feedback.”
Ultimately, how often you measure eNPS should depend on your ability to respond to the feedback. If quarterly isn’t feasible, then consider conducting an eNPS survey every six months or once a year.
How to Respond to Your eNPS
Once you have your Employee Net Promoter Score, it’s important to understand what your score means. “A good eNPS typically falls between 35 and 50, while an excellent score is above 50,” Niu says. “These benchmarks indicate a healthy level of employee satisfaction and advocacy.”
On the other hand, Niu says, “A terrible eNPS is any score below 0, indicating more dectractors than promoters. To improve, focus on actionable feedback from the survey. Implement changes based on employee suggestions and clearly communicate these improvements. Demonstrating that feedback leads to positive change can significantly boost eNPS over time.”
For example, perhaps the reason why your employee satisfaction is low is because employees feel they are not paid fairly. Leadership can then conduct market research to understand what the average pay is for the positions and markets in which you operate and consider adjusting accordingly.
Why Measure eNPS
Measuring your employees’ satisfaction can give you better insight into your workforce, so you can be proactive in your employee recruitment and retention efforts — even before it becomes a problem. By measuring eNPS and making meaningful changes to address any causes of dissatisfaction, employers can do a better job of retaining top talent, which has become imperative in today’s competitive labor market.
What’s more, is that when employees are happy, research shows that productivity and revenue increase. Happy employees will also be more likely to share their satisfaction with their network, so the next time you’re hiring, you may attract a wider pool of candidates who have heard good things about working for your company.
At the end of the day, achieving a high eNPS is something companies should be proud of — and definitely a stat you should highlight in your employer branding and recruitment efforts. “Showcasing your eNPS in job descriptions and recruitment materials highlights your commitment to employee feedback and continuous improvement,” Niu says. “It signals to potential candidates that your organization values and acts on employee input, enhancing your employer brand.”
For help communicating your efforts to potential candidates, find expert recruiting advice and the latest hiring trends from Monster Hiring Solutions.