What Is eNPS? Employee Net Promoter Score Formula, Questions and Examples

eNPS takes the Net Promoter Score idea from customers and points it at employees. It is one question, so it is quick to run and easy to track over time. On its own it says how many people would recommend the workplace; the follow-up comments say why.

What Is eNPS?

eNPS is a one-question measure of employee loyalty and engagement. It asks:

> "On a scale from 0 to 10, how likely are you to recommend [company] as a place to work?"

Answers fall into three groups:

How to Calculate eNPS

The formula is the same as for customer NPS:

Example 1. 120 employees answer: 48 promoters, 42 passives and 30 detractors. Promoters are 40%, detractors 25%. eNPS = 40 − 25 = +15.

Example 2. 50 employees answer: 10 promoters, 20 passives and 20 detractors. Promoters are 20%, detractors 40%. eNPS = 20 − 40 = −20.

Passives count towards the total but not the score. eNPS is a whole number, not a percentage. You can use our free NPS calculator for eNPS too: enter the counts or paste the raw 0–10 answers.

eNPS Survey Questions

Keep the survey short. The core question plus one or two follow-ups is enough:

• Core question: "How likely are you to recommend [company] as a place to work?" (0–10)
• Reason: "What is the main reason for your score?" (open answer)
• Improvement: "What one thing would most improve your experience at work?" (open answer)

Optional follow-ups, if you will act on them:

• "How likely are you to recommend [company]'s products or services to a friend?" (0–10)
• "Do you have what you need to do your job well?" (yes / partly / no)
• "Do you see yourself working here in a year?" (yes / not sure / no)

What Is a Good eNPS?

eNPS runs from −100 to +100. Above zero means more promoters than detractors; below zero means the opposite. Beyond that, there is no universal "good" number: scores vary by country, industry, company size and how the survey is run.

The most useful comparisons are:

• Your own trend: Is the score rising or falling quarter after quarter?
• Between teams and locations: Where is it much lower than the company average?
• Before and after a change: Did a new policy, manager or process move the score?

A single number matters less than its direction and the comments behind it.

How to Run an eNPS Survey

• Guarantee anonymity. People answer honestly only if they trust the survey is anonymous. Use a tool where managers cannot see individual answers.
• Set a minimum group size. Do not report results for teams so small that answers could be traced back to people, for example fewer than five responses.
• Ask regularly, not constantly. Quarterly or twice a year works for most companies. Asking too often causes fatigue; asking once a year leaves long blind spots.
• Explain why you ask. Tell employees what you will do with the results.
• Share results and actions. Report the score, the main themes from the comments and what will change. Nothing lowers the next response rate faster than silence.

How to Analyse eNPS Comments

The score tells you how many people would recommend the company; the comments tell you why. To read them well:

1. Split the comments by group. Read detractor, passive and promoter comments separately.
2. Group them into themes. Typical themes are management, pay, workload, career growth, recognition, tools and culture.
3. Compare themes between groups. Themes that are frequent among detractors and rare among promoters are your priorities.
4. Compare teams. A theme concentrated in one team often points to a local cause.
5. Pick one or two actions. Fix the biggest cause first, then check whether the next score moves.

For a quick first look at which words come up most, paste the comments into our free word cloud generator. For larger volumes, theme and sentiment analysis does the grouping for you.

eNPS vs NPS

The two are often linked: teams that are engaged tend to give better service. Tracking both side by side shows whether a drop in customer experience starts inside the company. For the customer side, see our NPS guide.

Common eNPS Mistakes

• Treating the score as the goal. The goal is a better workplace; the score is a signal.
• Asking without anonymity. You will get polite answers, not true ones.
• Not acting on the results. Response rates fall when nothing changes.
• Comparing with other companies' scores. Methods differ; compare with yourself.
• Ignoring passives. Passives are the easiest group to move towards promoters.

Related: What Is NPS? · How to Create a Survey · Sentiment Analysis Guide · Free Word Cloud Generator