An employee engagement benchmark compares your organization's engagement survey results with the results of other organizations (in the same industry, country or size bracket) measured using the same method. It provides context for the question "Is 64% engagement good?" However, for a comparison to be meaningful, the statements, the scale and the calculation method must be the same; otherwise, a benchmark misleads rather than guides. The most reliable comparison, though, is your organization's own past results.
- Benchmarking means comparing your organization's engagement results with those of organizations in the same industry, country or size bracket.
- For a comparison to be valid, the results must have been obtained using the same statements, the same scale and the same calculation method.
- External benchmarks give your results context, but the most reliable comparison is your organization's own past results.
- A benchmark is a reference, not a target; the real goal is to make progress in the areas that drive engagement.
Why do you need a benchmark?
An engagement score on its own says very little. A 64% favorable score across the organization may be a strong result in some industries and periods, and a mediocre one in others. A benchmark answers the following questions:
- Where do our results stand compared with similar organizations?
- In which areas are we clearly better or worse than similar organizations?
- What would a realistic improvement target be?
It is also a powerful tool when presenting to leadership: the sentence "Our career development score is clearly below the industry average" drives more decisions than simply saying "Our career development score is low." We explained how to present results to leadership in our article how to analyze employee survey results.
Types of benchmarks
| Type | What does it compare against? | When is it useful? |
|---|---|---|
| Over time (internal) | The organization's own results from previous years | Always; it is the most reliable comparison |
| Internal groups (internal) | Differences between units, locations and tenure groups | To see where the problem is concentrated |
| Overall norm (external) | The results of all organizations in the database | For general context |
| Industry norm (external) | The results of organizations in the same industry | To compare against similar working conditions |
| Country norm (external) | The results of organizations in the same country | To offset cultural response tendencies |
| High-performance norm (external) | The organizations with the highest results in the database (for example, the top quartile) | To set an ambitious target |
Internal and external comparisons are not alternatives to each other. An external benchmark answers the question "Where do we stand?", while internal comparisons answer "Where are we heading, and where is the problem?" We explained the method for comparing internal groups in our article on segmentation in employee surveys.
How do you choose the right benchmark?
Assess whether a benchmark is meaningful for you using the following criteria:
- Same statements: The statements being compared must be identical. "I would recommend this organization" and "I would recommend this organization to my friends as a place to work" are not the same statement and can produce different results.
- Same scale: A result collected on a 5-point scale cannot be compared with one collected on a 7-point or 4-point scale. We discussed choosing a scale in our article what is a Likert scale.
- Same calculation method: The favorable response rate, the mean score and the share of engaged employees produce very different results from the same data. Always ask which method was used to calculate the benchmark.
- Similar organizations: Industry, country, size and, if possible, employee profile (such as the ratio of office to field employees) should be similar. Comparing a manufacturing organization with a large field workforce against the norm for technology companies whose employees all work in offices is misleading.
- Sufficient size: Find out how many organizations and how many employee responses the benchmark is based on. An "industry norm" made up of a handful of organizations is not reliable.
- Recency: Working life is changing fast; a benchmark built from data that is several years old may not reflect today's conditions.
- Distribution data: Seeing not just the average but also the distribution (for example, the bottom- and top-quartile values) gives a better sense of where your result actually stands.
How do you read benchmark results?
- Look at the size of the gap: Differences of 1–2 points from the benchmark are often not meaningful. In small units especially, results can shift by a few points by chance.
- Examine results statement by statement: Category averages can balance out the different statements within them. The statements that deviate most from the benchmark usually yield the most concrete findings.
- Rank your strengths and weaknesses against the benchmark: An area that looks low internally but is above the benchmark is actually a difficult area across the industry. An area that looks average internally but falls clearly below the benchmark may be an overlooked problem.
- Consider impact as well: Not every area below the benchmark is a priority. The priorities are the areas that fall below the benchmark and have a strong impact on engagement.
- Read results alongside the trend: An organization that is below the benchmark but improving every year and one that is above the benchmark but declining every year tell very different stories.
Common mistakes
- Comparing different methods: Comparing an "industry average of 70%" read in some report with your own survey result, without knowing the methods, is the most common mistake.
- Ignoring cultural response tendencies: Employees in different countries may use scales differently; in some cultures extreme answers are given more often, in others less often. In multinational organizations, it is more accurate to compare each country's result with its own country norm.
- Turning the benchmark into a target: When "getting above the industry average" is set as a target, the focus shifts from improving the areas that drive engagement to raising the score. This can lead managers to put pressure on their teams and reduce the reliability of the data.
- Settling for the average: Being above the benchmark does not mean you are good enough; the average of the organizations you are comparing against may also be low.
- Forgetting internal comparisons: A company-wide result above the benchmark can hide serious problems in particular units.
Can global studies be used as benchmarks?
Published studies such as Gallup's global engagement report are valuable for understanding the general trend worldwide. However, the results of these studies are obtained using their own statements, scales and classification methods. Comparing your own survey result directly with these figures is only meaningful if you are using the same scale with the same method. We explained what different engagement models measure in our article on Gallup Q12 and employee engagement models.
Questions to ask a provider about benchmarks
- How many organizations and how many employee responses does your benchmark database include?
- Which industries and countries are represented? How many organizations are there in our industry?
- Which years does the data come from?
- Was the benchmark built using the same statements, the same scale and the same calculation method as our survey?
- Do you share only the average, or the distribution (quartile values) as well?
- Can we compare our organization with organizations of a similar size and employee profile?
You can find the other criteria to consider when choosing a provider in our article on how to choose an employee survey provider.
Frequently asked questions
What is an employee engagement benchmark?
An employee engagement benchmark is a comparison of an organization's engagement survey results with the results of other organizations (in the same industry, country or size bracket) measured using the same method. It provides context for understanding whether the organization's results are good or bad.
Where does benchmark data come from?
It usually comes from databases that employee research firms build from the organizations where they have used the same question set. Some organizations also use the results of industry associations or published global studies as a reference.
Can benchmark data from different firms be compared?
Generally not. Each firm uses different statements, scales and score calculation methods. When the same data is calculated using different methods, the difference can be far more than a few points. That is why comparisons should only be made between results measured using the same method.
If we are above the benchmark, does that mean there is no problem?
No. Being above the benchmark shows that you are doing better than similar organizations, but the average of those organizations may itself be inadequate. In addition, a result that looks good across the organization may hide serious problems in particular units.
