eNPS (Employee Net Promoter Score) is an indicator that measures employees' likelihood of recommending their organization as a place to work. Employees are asked, "On a scale of 0 to 10, how likely are you to recommend this organization to a friend as a place to work?"; subtracting the percentage of those who answer 0–6 from the percentage of those who answer 9–10 produces a score between -100 and +100.
- eNPS (Employee Net Promoter Score) measures employees' likelihood of recommending the organization as a place to work with a single 0–10 question.
- Those who answer 9–10 are promoters and those who answer 0–6 are detractors; eNPS is the percentage of promoters minus the percentage of detractors.
- The score ranges from -100 to +100; anything above zero is considered positive.
- eNPS is a quick pulse indicator, but it does not answer the question "why?"; that is why it is used alongside an engagement survey, not instead of one.
Where did eNPS come from?
eNPS is an adaptation, for employees, of the Net Promoter Score (NPS) method developed to measure customer loyalty. NPS was introduced by Fred Reichheld in an article published in Harvard Business Review in 2003 and quickly became one of the standard indicators for measuring customer experience. When organizations applied the same logic to their own employees, eNPS was born. The premise is that an employee who recommends their organization to a friend is satisfied with their experience there and engaged with it.
How is the eNPS question asked?
The standard eNPS question is:
"On a scale of 0 to 10, how likely are you to recommend this organization to a friend or acquaintance as a place to work?"
The scale has 11 options, from 0 ("Not at all likely") to 10 ("Extremely likely"). Adding an open-ended follow-up question right after it is critical for understanding the reason behind the score:
- What is the most important reason for the score you gave?
- What would need to change for you to raise your score by one point?
How is eNPS calculated?
Responses are divided into three groups:
| Group | Score | What does it mean? |
|---|---|---|
| Promoters | 9–10 | Engaged employees who speak positively about the organization |
| Passives | 7–8 | Employees who are generally satisfied but do not feel a strong bond with the organization |
| Detractors | 0–6 | Dissatisfied employees who are likely to speak negatively about the organization |
The formula is:
eNPS = Percentage of promoters − Percentage of detractors
Passives do not enter the calculation directly, but because they are included in the total number of respondents, they affect the percentages. The result is not a percentage but a number between -100 and +100, written as "+15."
Worked example
Suppose 200 employees at an organization answered the eNPS question:
- 70 people answered 9–10: 70 ÷ 200 = 35% promoters
- 80 people answered 7–8: 80 ÷ 200 = 40% passives
- 50 people answered 0–6: 50 ÷ 200 = 25% detractors
eNPS = 35 − 25 = +10
Note that the average score at the same organization might come out to a respectable-looking 7.4. eNPS, however, shows not the average but the balance between the groups at the extremes, so it reveals the polarization that the average hides.
What is a good eNPS score?
There is no universal standard for eNPS, but the following thresholds are widely used in practice:
| eNPS | Interpretation |
|---|---|
| Below 0 | Detractors outnumber promoters; the reasons should be investigated as a priority |
| 0 to +10 | Acceptable; room for improvement |
| +10 to +30 | Good |
| +30 to +50 | Very good |
| Above +50 | Excellent; a level few organizations reach |
These thresholds give a general idea, but they are not enough on their own. Employees' scoring tendencies vary by industry, country, workforce type (blue- or white-collar) and what the organization is going through at the time. That is why the most meaningful comparisons are:
- With your own history: The direction of the score compared with the previous measurement matters more than its absolute value.
- Between groups within the organization: Differences by department, location and tenure show where the problem is concentrated.
- With similar organizations: Comparing with the scores of organizations of the same industry and size puts your score in a realistic context. We covered what to watch for when benchmarking in our post on employee engagement benchmarks.
The difference between eNPS and an engagement index
eNPS is often confused with engagement itself. In fact, eNPS measures only one dimension of engagement (the likelihood to recommend):
| eNPS | Engagement index | |
|---|---|---|
| Number of questions | 1 question | Usually 4–6 statements |
| Scale | 0–10 | 5-point Likert |
| What does it measure? | Likelihood to recommend | Pride, intent to stay, discretionary effort and likelihood to recommend together |
| Strength | Quick, easy, can be repeated frequently | Measures engagement more holistically and reliably |
| Limitation | Does not show the reasons | Takes more time to run and analyze |
The soundest approach is to ask the eNPS question alongside the engagement index in the annual employee engagement survey, and to track eNPS during the year with short pulse surveys. That way, the annual survey shows which areas drive engagement, and in between you can monitor the impact of the steps you have taken. We explained where eNPS fits among other measurement methods in our post on how to measure employee engagement.
Advantages and limitations of eNPS
Advantages:
- Because it is a single question, it takes employees very little time, and participation is usually high.
- It is easy to calculate and to explain to management.
- Because it can be repeated frequently, it shows change quickly.
- Because it uses the same logic as customer NPS, it is familiar to leadership teams.
Limitations:
- It does not show why the score is at that level; without an open-ended follow-up question and a comprehensive survey, it is hard to build an action plan.
- Because it relies on a single question, in small groups the answers of just a few people can swing the score significantly.
- An employee not recommending the organization does not always mean dissatisfaction; some employees make it a rule never to recommend a workplace to anyone.
Common mistakes when using eNPS
- Changing the scale: Using a 1–10 or 1–5 scale instead of 0–10 invalidates the calculation and makes your score impossible to compare with other organizations.
- Reporting the average: eNPS is not an average; the average of the scores hides polarization.
- Reporting small groups: In groups of fewer than 10 people, eNPS is both highly volatile and a risk to anonymity. These groups should be reported combined with larger units.
- Skipping the follow-up question: Without the "why?" question, the score is just a number that does not tell you what to do.
- Turning the score into a target: Giving managers eNPS targets can lead to teams being pressured to "give high scores" and undermines the reliability of the data.
How can eNPS be improved?
eNPS is an outcome metric: you can't raise it directly, but it rises when the areas that drive it improve. The first step is to group the open-ended responses of detractors and passives to find the most frequently recurring reasons, and then compare these reasons with the category results of the engagement survey. Passives are usually the group that can be won over most quickly: they are satisfied with the organization but don't yet have a reason to become promoters.
For practices that increase engagement, see our post on how to increase employee engagement, and for turning results into lasting change, see our post on turning survey results into company culture.
Frequently asked questions
How is eNPS calculated?
Employees are asked, "On a scale of 0 to 10, how likely are you to recommend this organization to a friend as a place to work?" The percentage of those who answer 0–6 is subtracted from the percentage of those who answer 9–10. For example, if 40% of respondents are promoters and 25% are detractors, the eNPS is +15.
What is a good eNPS score?
According to commonly accepted thresholds, anything above zero is positive, +10 to +30 is good, above +30 is very good, and above +50 is excellent. However, the most meaningful comparisons are with the organization's own past scores and with organizations in a similar industry.
What does a negative eNPS mean?
It means there are more detractors than promoters. This is a warning sign for the organization's employer brand and employee turnover; to understand the reasons, you need to look at the open-ended responses and the category results of the engagement survey.
What is the difference between eNPS and NPS?
The calculation method is the same. NPS measures customers' likelihood of recommending a product or company, while eNPS measures employees' likelihood of recommending the organization as a place to work.
How often should eNPS be measured?
Because eNPS is a single question, it can be measured 2–4 times a year along with pulse surveys. Asking too often can cause survey fatigue among employees and make small fluctuations in the score seem more important than they are.
