How to get the most out of your eNPS program?

Strategic thinking about your basic analytics.

This past week, I’ve been thinking about employee engagement and, in particular, the employee NPS score (eNPS).

You’ve probably heard about eNPS. If you haven’t, eNPS is an Employee Net Promoter Score, measuring how likely an employee is to recommend their workplace to their friends and family.

Today, I explore:

• Where does eNPS come from?
• What is eNPS really?
• How to get the most out of your eNPS program?

Let’s dive in!

Where does eNPS come from?

Fred Reichheld designed the Net Promoter Score (NPS) in his consumer research in 1993. He wanted to know the connection between customer loyalty and company performance. And as he collected data, he found higher NPS predicted firms’ growth rates over time.

This metric became popular in technology and, in particular, in high-growth start-ups. As NPS became widely used in the technology world, eNPS emerged.

In fact, I did not know eNPS even existed until I joined a start-up myself!

What is eNPS really?

eNPS asks one question:

How likely are you to recommend [insert your company name] to your family and friends as a great place to work?

This question is rated on a 0–10 scale:

• If you score 9 -10, you are a Promoter.
• If you score 7–8, you are Neutral.
• If you score anything else (i.e., 0–6), you are a Detractor.

Next, you subtract the Percent Detractors from Percent Promoters. That’s your (e)NPS!

Let’s take a look at the example.

Suppose you have a company of 100 people.

• 30 of them scored 9 or 10 and are Promoters.
• 60 are Neutral.
• 10 are Detractors.

The eNPS is % Promoters — % Detractors or,

30% — 10% = 20%

This 20% means you have 20% more Promoters than Detractors. The calculation is simple, telling you the overall sentiment and loyalty within your company.

Yet, how do you get the most out of eNPS?

Well, a score of 20% is good, but it is as useful as a brick in the ocean.

That is why the eNPS question is usually accompanied by a comment box, where each employee can share their thoughts and feelings. With this information, you can look at what your detractors are saying and address their concerns. You can also look at promoter comments and double down on those initiatives.

But that would be, at best, meh.

You can be more strategic than that!

Instead of looking at people in categories, look at the distribution of the eNPS responses — you will quickly learn several interesting trends.

• The distribution is skewed: The scores from 0 to 10 are normally distributed around the mean with a negative skew — people tend to be more positive overall.
• The average sits somewhere in the neutral zone: Usually around 7 with a standard deviation of 1 point. This means the majority of people in your organization will fall between 6 and 8!

You will also quickly realize that not all scores are created equal. In fact, the scores on the edges of the average (i.e., 6 or 8) are the ones you can affect the most.

On the lower end, you are not likely to change the opinions of negs (0–5).

On the higher end, you are doing a good job already.

Thus, address people on the cusp.

I call this strategy “Fix the six.”

Addressing the comments of people sitting right on the cusp of the lower standard deviation will allow you to increase their scores into the Neutral zone. These people are not lost yet, they want a change, and they are receptive to it. You will also notice these people are much more constructive in their comments. That’s because they want you to do better. And you will!

When you go below six, your measures will need to be more radical to move the nay-sayers. Sometimes, to the point where anything you do will not be effective. Focus on solving the problems for people who are somewhat disengaged and make them engaged again.

Those are sixes.

The second strategy is “Don’t wait on the 8.”

These people are happy with your organization. They are pretty ecstatic (almost Promoters).

Don’t take them for granted.

When you solve 8s’ experiences, you ensure their retention. You help these people to stay with you for the long haul.

You might ask — but, what do I do with the rest of the people?

Well, there are two principles here.

First, you have to accept, you will not address everyone’s concerns and issues.

Most of us operate an extremely lean HR department, and we have to choose what we will and won’t focus on. This does not mean don’t read the comments — please do! There is tons of information there. All I am saying, focus on a few comments to make a real difference.

This leads me to the second point — addressing the cusp (1 and 8) will move the entire distribution up!

Everyone will benefit in some way.

People who are relatively positive about the company want to make it better. Those not fully disengaged are constructive. When you address the issues of people who score 6 or 8, you will be helping the rest of the people in your organization.

Choosing how to address the issues is what makes people analytics strategic.

With that, I will see you all next week for some more eNPS talk and some criticisms.

Peace!

K

P.S. Interested in learning more about people analytics? Check out my upcoming course and sign up to be the first to know about the launch!