Employee Net Promoter Score

The employee net promoter score (eNPS) is a metric used to measure employee loyalty and satisfaction within an organization. It is based on the Net Promoter Score (NPS) system developed by Bain & Company, Satmetrix Systems, Inc., and Fred Reichheld, which originally gauged customer loyalty.

Like NPS, eNPS consists of a single question asking employees to rate, on a scale from zero to ten, how likely they are to recommend the organization as a workplace. The system then categorizes the ratings into three groups: promoters (those who rate 9-10), passives or neutrals (those who rate 7-8), and detractors (those who rate 0-6).

What is employee net promoter score?

Employee Net Promoter Score (eNPS) is a simple way to measure how likely your employees are to recommend your company as a place to work. It reflects their overall satisfaction and loyalty.

Based on one question: “How likely are you to recommend this company to a friend or colleague?”
Responses are given on a scale from 0 to 10
Employees are categorized as Promoters (9–10), Passives (7–8), or Detractors (0–6)
The score is calculated by subtracting the percentage of Detractors from the percentage of Promoters

eNPS helps companies understand employee sentiment and improve engagement and retention strategies.

What are the benefits of employee net promoter score?

The Employee Net Promoter Score (eNPS) offers a simple yet powerful way to measure how employees feel about their workplace. It helps organizations act quickly on feedback, improve retention, and build a stronger culture through continuous listening.

Offers a single, easy-to-track metric to understand overall employee satisfaction and loyalty
Brings attention to dissatisfaction, disengagement, or team challenges before they affect productivity or retention
Encourages openness and dialogue between employees and leadership through structured check-ins
Helps HR teams make informed decisions based on real-time employee feedback
Keeps top performers engaged by showing that their opinions matter
Reduces turnover and hiring costs by improving employee experience
Enables ongoing refinement of policies, communication, and company culture based on actual employee insights

What is a good employee net promoter score?

A good Employee Net Promoter Score (eNPS) reflects high employee satisfaction and loyalty. While the ideal score varies by industry, a positive score generally indicates healthy engagement.

+10 to +30 is considered good
+30 to +50 is very good
50+ indicates excellent loyalty

How to improve employee net promoter score?

Improving eNPS starts with listening to employees and acting on their feedback. Creating a culture of trust and recognition plays a big role.

Conduct regular eNPS surveys
Act on feedback transparently
Offer career growth opportunities
Improve communication and recognition

What are the challenges in implementing an employee net promoter system?

While eNPS is easy to set up, ensuring effectiveness comes with hurdles such as trust gaps and lack of follow-through.

Lack of honest feedback due to fear
Misinterpretation of scores or feedback
Failure to act on survey insights
Infrequent or inconsistent measurement

How to calculate employee net promoter score?

eNPS is calculated using a single-question survey. You subtract the percentage of detractors from promoters to get the score.

Promoters: score 9–10
Passives: score 7–8
Detractors: score 0–6
eNPS = % Promoters: % Detractors

What are the best employee net promoter score questions?

The best questions are simple, open-ended, and aimed at gathering both quantitative and qualitative insights.

“How likely are you to recommend this company as a workplace?”
“What’s the main reason for your score?”
“What can we do to improve your experience?”

How to set an employee net promoter score benchmark?

Benchmarks help measure progress over time. You can set internal benchmarks or compare with industry standards.

Use past eNPS results as a baseline
Benchmark against similar companies
Adjust goals as culture evolves

Employee pulse surveys:

These are short surveys that can be sent frequently to check what your employees think about an issue quickly. The survey comprises fewer questions (not more than 10) to get the information quickly. These can be administered at regular intervals (monthly/weekly/quarterly).

One-on-one meetings:

Having periodic, hour-long meetings for an informal chat with every team member is an excellent way to get a true sense of what’s happening with them. Since it is a safe and private conversation, it helps you get better details about an issue.

eNPS:

eNPS (employee Net Promoter score) is one of the simplest yet effective ways to assess your employee's opinion of your company. It includes one intriguing question that gauges loyalty. An example of eNPS questions include: How likely are you to recommend our company to others? Employees respond to the eNPS survey on a scale of 1-10, where 10 denotes they are ‘highly likely’ to recommend the company and 1 signifies they are ‘highly unlikely’ to recommend it.

Based on the responses, employees can be placed in three different categories:

Promoters
Employees who have responded positively or agreed.
Detractors
Employees who have reacted negatively or disagreed.
Passives
Employees who have stayed neutral with their responses.

How to measure employee net promoter score?

Measuring eNPS involves asking the right question, collecting responses, and analyzing results regularly.

Use a 0–10 scale survey
Keep responses anonymous
Collect open-ended feedback
Track changes over time

What are the key differences between NPS and eNPS?

While both NPS (Net Promoter Score) and eNPS (Employee Net Promoter Score) use the same scoring method, they serve different purposes. NPS focuses on customer loyalty, whereas eNPS measures employee satisfaction and engagement. Understanding the distinction helps organizations take the right actions for both audiences.

Audience: NPS targets customers to assess brand loyalty, while eNPS focuses on employees to gauge workplace satisfaction.
Purpose: NPS helps businesses understand customer retention and brand perception; eNPS helps improve internal culture and employee retention.
Question Format: NPS asks, “How likely are you to recommend our product/service?” while eNPS asks, “How likely are you to recommend this company as a workplace?”
Application: NPS is used in marketing and customer success strategies; eNPS is used in HR, employee engagement, and organizational development.
Impact Area: NPS drives customer experience improvements, while eNPS drives employee experience and workplace culture enhancements.