“What’s our Net Promoter Score?”
Let’s face it, we’ve all been guilty of obsessing over our company’s Net Promoter Score and subsequent attempts to find an adequate benchmark by which to compare it. And in the case of Employee Net Promoter Score (eNPS), it is particularly common.
However, the NPS Score itself is meant to act as a guidepost. Trying to benchmark your score against other companies brings with it the age-old difficulty of ensuring you compare apples to apples. Variables such as survey design, NPS maturity level, and pre-and post-survey actions can all influence a company’s eNPS score.
Looking for Best Practices on Employee Net Promoter Score? Check out this success story with Schindler Elevator Corporation.
The Purpose of Measuring Employee Net Promoter Score
With Employee Net Promoter Score, the ultimate goal should be to establish a truly engaged and empowered workforce – one in which every member of your organization strives to provide an exceptional service experience, thereby leading your company to stand apart from the competition. When companies lose sight of this purpose amid a growing fixation with the score and the benchmarks, the value of eNPS as a cultural discipline is lost.
The survey itself simply allows you to measure employee sentiment at a specific moment in time. But the actions and developments leading up to and after the survey is the true heart of an eNPS program.
Employee Net Promoter Score Benchmark
Upon closing an Employee Net Promoter Score survey and deriving a score, the first question should not be “How does that compare to our competitors?” Rather, the first question should be, “What can we do better for our employees so they will go the extra mile for us and our customers?”
Making sure the conversation gets elevated beyond the score and translated into action is what an eNPS program should be all about.
Now, all of this is not to say that a company shouldn’t try to better understand how they compare as it relates to employee engagement and satisfaction. There are countless lists available that rank “the best places to work” based on some level of segmentation, and it’s important to know how your company’s reputation as an employer is perceived in the marketplace.
We’re simply saying that using eNPS as a specific yardstick for comparison can be fraught with challenges.
When all is said and done, the most insightful eNPS benchmark a company can focus on is its own progression over time. And simply measuring the score over time is meaningless without any commitment to actually using employee feedback to take actions to improve.
In fact, that’s one great way of further alienating your employees – repeatedly ask them for feedback without ever following up or demonstrating that you actually placed any value on it in the first place.
Employee Net Promoter Score Methodology
At Satrix Solutions, it’s rewarding to know that our eNPS survey clients are successfully keeping their eye on the big picture and are actively using employee feedback to develop and execute a wide-range of employee engagement initiatives aimed at driving employee loyalty, brand devotion and advocacy, and a passion for imparting their happiness onto customers.
By deploying significant resources towards better understanding the issues that are influencing their employees’ experiences, our clients are successfully avoiding the trap of being consumed by the score.
In short, these companies spend more time acting and less time comparing. And by doing so, they are ensuring employees are continually motivated to be part of the ongoing discussion about shaping the company’s culture and influencing company-wide behaviors that have a positive impact on the company’s bottom-line.
What’s another common thread amongst these companies? They are all striving to maintain an on-going dialogue with employees by establishing continuous listening posts through a combination of surveys, town hall meetings, public displays of recognition, and one-on-one follow-up discussions, among other activities.
Remember, the business case for increasing employee engagement and developing true employee advocates is clear, and formal feedback programs such as eNPS are essential to realizing the financial benefits associated with employee engagement.
What are some of the things your company does to make sure it’s not “just about the score” but about building a better culture?
Let us know – we’d love to hear about your successes! And please feel free to check out our other articles regarding Employee Net Promoter Score and let us know what you think.