In this article you will find out…
- What eNPS is
- How you measure
- Why you should measure
- 4 tips to get the most out of your eNPS
– The difference between eNPS and NMI/MI
Quicksearch has been conducting relationship surveys for over 20 years and are experts in statistics, survey methodology and analysis.
The job of ensuring how worker-friendly the workplace is and how the staff feel usually falls in the lap of HR or company managers. Going into something blindly is never a good idea - this is where eNPS comes into play.
What is eNPS?
eNPS is a key figure that shows willingness to recommend internally or externally in a business. The number is a value based on the degree to which a person is willing to recommend their workplace to friends and acquaintances. The abbreviation eNPS stands for Employee Net Promoter Score and builds on Fred Reichheld method for measuring customer loyalty, so-called Net Promoter Score or NPS. It is popular among customers, companies and employees alike thanks to its simplicity and comparability.
Basically, it boils down to asking a single question:
"How likely is it that you would recommend your workplace to a friend or acquaintance?".
The question may appear in other variations but is largely the same. The answer scale goes from 0 (not at all likely) to 10 (extremely likely). Respondents are divided into three categories depending on their answers:
Ambassadors
Those who answer high (9-10) are so-called promoters, or ambassadors. In addition to voluntarily speaking positively about their workplace, they develop their work and motivate three other employees to participate. It's easy to think that you don't need to care about the ambassadors because they're already positive. On the contrary, you should take advantage of their feedback and try to understand what they think is good. Of course, you want those who speak well of you to stay with the company.
Passively satisfied
People who answer 7-8 on the scale are considered passively satisfied. There are people who are satisfied but don't actively tell anyone. Passively satisfied can be as satisfied as employees anywhere else. These respondents should not be ignored as you can work towards making them ambassadors, otherwise they may go the other way and become critics.
Critic
Those who answer low (0-6) are called critic and talks negatively about their workplace to some extent. They can be more or less critical depending on where on the negative end of the scale they are. Someone who is far down the scale focuses on problems and may urge others to seek help from the workplace, while someone higher up the scale (a 5th or 6th) may say: "That's good, BUT...". It's up to you to find out what changes they want to see, then you can work towards converting them into ambassadors.
Still unclear? Read our series on eNPS!
How to measure eNPS
The NPS value is calculated by taking the proportion of (%) ambassadors minus the proportion of (%) critics - As simple as that! It doesn't matter how big or small the company is.
The result is a percentage between -100 and 100. It is not established what counts as a good eNPS value, but generally all values above 0 are good. A value above 0 means there are more ambassadors than critics! Being between +20 and +30 is considered very good and a value above 50 is even better.
Are you curious about which eNPS your company has? Get in touch with us then we will help you or try our calculator!
Why measure eNPS?
Okay, now that you have an idea of what eNPS is, it's time to ask the question "Why should I measure?".
Employee surveys are always important to do. You gain insight into what the employees think and can highlight the organization's strengths and points for improvement.
If you have difficulty finding staff or staff with the right skills, it may turn out that the company has many critics and consequently a low eNPS value. If people do not speak well of your company, it will of course be more difficult to recruit.
Engaged employees are the key
Asking your employees how likely they are to recommend their workplace ensures the development of loyalty and financial growth.
Committed employees has high motivation and often has a positive effect on the company. In a balanced work environment, there is less risk of employees becoming burnt out and they achieve more in the workplace. The motivation can easily rub off on other employees.
Strong leadership is of course also important because no one wants to work for a bad boss. A good leader motivates his employees. Then the company can get through even difficult times with a high eNPS. You can read more about high willingness to recommend and to get through tough times in one of our white papers.
Shows where you stand so you know where you're going
For you as an HR manager or company manager, eNPS is a valuable tool to discover what employees think of their workplace and what the company can do to improve. The eNPS value gives you quantitative data that indicates how employees experiences their workplace. However, it does not say anything about what is needed for the employees to enjoy themselves. At Quicksearch, we therefore combine eNPS and MI (Employee Index) in our question battery Insight which is available in three versions. Because via employee surveys, we want what drives recommendation willingness and creates ambassadors.
4 tips to get the most out of eNPS
1. Ask follow-up questions
The measurement is an excellent place to start the journey towards improvement, but without follow-up it is difficult to understand why some people want to recommend the workplace while others don't. It might be good to ask follow-up questions to the respondent, which shows which path you should take to reach the company's goals when it comes to skills, recruitment, customer experience, etc. You can, for example, ask your employees what it is in the first place that needs to be improved in order for the person to be able to recommend their workplace , so you can improve that area together, or ask the ambassadors to tell you about the strengths. In this way, you also get your own idea of how committed your employees are.
2. Measure eNPS continuously
It is recommended that an organization measure eNPS annually, quarterly or monthly. Then you can constantly see what progress is being made. Examples of where you can measure eNPS are:
- every recruitment process
- each onboarding (introduction)
- every employee interview
- payroll process
- the mood every week/month/quarter
- everyone who quits work (exit)
At Quicksearch, we measure eNPS continuously throughout the entire employee life cycle.
3. After the measurement – act!
Nothing will change if you don't act on your results. Ask follow-up questions and listen to the feedback you receive! Follow up with reconciliation meetings where both manager and employee have the opportunity to discuss and participate actively in order to be involved and influence. It's a good way to get to know and understand each other better.
4. Change does not happen by itself
Improving eNPS takes time and requires teamwork. You would like to see the effects immediately, but you have to be patient. The most important thing is to understand the company's strengths and develop them, and that the whole company gets to take part in the process. eNPS is continuously measured so that you understand how and why the value changes and how it correlates with what is happening in your organization. Therefore, you must work actively with the value, all the time.
eNPS and benchmarking
Because eNPS is so easy to measure and is so widely used, it is also easy to compare the key figure against other companies and competitors. Sometimes, however, it is enough to compete against yourself. Don't aim for a high eNPS, aim instead for engaged employees. If you put the employees in the spotlight, your eNPS value will increase in step with how well you manage the staff.
Are eNPS and NMI/MI the same thing?
Many believe that the Employee Satisfaction Index (NMI)/Employee Index (MI) is comparable to the Employee Net Promoter Score (eNPS). Others argue that this is not the case at all. They believe that how satisfied you are at your workplace does not tell you how motivated you are to do a good job. Being satisfied is not the same as being engaged, and if you are more willing to recommend your workplace to others, you are more than just satisfied.
At Quicksearch, we value commitment more heavily. We don't think it's enough to be satisfied. Therefore, we measure eNPS in combination with Employee Index (MI). With our surveys, we want to ensure a high level of engagement with whole the organization. To build and develop a business and to enthuse customers, students and patients into loyalty, you have to look for different building blocks than you previously did in traditional employee surveys.
Summation
eNPS is the abbreviation for Employee Net Promoter Score and measures how willing your employees are to recommend the company to a friend or colleague. The value shows how many committed employees you have, then you can work on improving it. To get something out of the measurement, you need to ask follow-up questions and act on the feedback you get.
Want to know more about how you can use eNPS to improve your business? Contact us and we will guide you through the entire process!
