The Employee Net Promoter Score (eNPS) is a method for measuring employee satisfaction and employees’ loyalty to their employer. Based on the Net Promoter Score (NPS), it provides a quick and straightforward way to measure how willing employees are to recommend their employer to friends, acquaintances and family. We introduce the eNPS, including its advantages and drawbacks, as well as our template for an eNPS survey.
Table of Contents
Measuring employee satisfaction with an eNPS survey
Just as the NPS in customer surveys, the eNPS focuses on a single question when measuring employee satisfaction: "How likely are you to recommend your employer to your friends or family?" Respondents answer on a scale from 0 ("very unlikely") to 10 ("very likely"). Based on their answer, employees are divided into three categories: promoters, passives and detractors.
Promoters: Scores of 9 to 10. These employees show a high level of loyalty to their employer and are likely to actively recommend the company as an employer.
Passives: Scores of 7 to 8. Employees with these scores are satisfied with the company as an employer, but they are neutral and neither speak negatively nor positively about it.
Detractors: Scores of 0 to 6. Employees who give six points or fewer are less satisfied with their employer and therefore less loyal. There is a risk that they will actively speak negatively about the company as an employer.
The Employee Net Promoter Score (eNPS) is calculated as the difference between the percentage of promoters and detractors: eNPS = promoters (%) – detractors (%)
Advantages and disadvantages of the eNPS
An eNPS survey is short and straightforward, which is a clear advantage over a far more time-consuming, comprehensive employee satisfaction survey. However, there are also a few drawbacks to consider. Here is a brief overview:
Advantages of the eNPS
Its simplicity is a key advantage of the eNPS: a single question provides insight into employee loyalty. Both creating and running the survey require little time. The financial outlay is also low, particularly for an online eNPS survey. Employees can complete it quickly, too. The eNPS is also well suited to tracking changes over time when measured at shorter intervals, similar to a pulse survey. For example, if the eNPS is measured once a quarter, changes can be clearly identified by the end of the year. The Employee Net Promoter Score gives you a quick overview of employee satisfaction in a single figure.
- A single employee satisfaction metric for a clear data set
- Quick to conduct and easy for employees to answer
- Easy to compare employee scores over time
Disadvantages of the eNPS
The eNPS’s greatest advantage, its simplicity, can also be a drawback when the survey is intended to inform action, for example to address a low eNPS score. In that case, the question is too limited and should be supplemented with a follow-up question about the reasons behind the answer.
In addition, the value of the eNPS as the sole metric for measuring employee satisfaction is disputed. For example, the German Society for Human Resources (DGP) has noted that the eNPS is generally an imprecise metric in terms of measurement accuracy. Because it is based on just one question, Benjamin Haarhaus argues that it is subject to considerable random variation and is therefore imprecise. See "Only a single figure", published in issue 3/2015 of Personalmagazin.
- The eNPS alone is an imprecise metric
- The metric does not reveal the reasons behind the score
It is therefore advisable to supplement the eNPS with a question about the reasons for an employee’s willingness to recommend their employer, or to combine it with an employee survey to obtain a more detailed picture of employee sentiment.
Employee Net Promoter Score (eNPS) template
Are you planning an eNPS survey among your workforce? Use our free eNPS template as a guide and add it to your account by selecting "Use". Our template combines the question about willingness to recommend with an open question asking why the respondent gave that rating.
The eNPS is used to measure employee satisfaction. Find out more here: Measuring employee satisfaction
What is LamaPoll?
LamaPoll is a survey tool for creating employee surveys and measuring employee satisfaction. You can use it to create, conduct and analyse all types of employee survey. Create your employee survey in just a few steps, apply your organisation’s corporate design and invite employees conveniently by email or via your intranet. You can quickly gain insights that help improve employee satisfaction. You can register for our survey tool free of charge and immediately conduct surveys for up to 50 employees with no obligation. If you need more responses to your online employee survey questionnaire, simply choose one of our monthly plans. You can also use our employee survey questionnaire templates and examples.
