eNPS (employee net promoter score) measures employee loyalty by asking how likely employees are to recommend your company as a place to work.
eNPS is popular because it’s fast and repeatable. It gives you a simple sentiment headline that you can track over time and compare across teams. For SMBs, this is useful because you do not need a heavy analytics stack to detect risk. A dip in eNPS often shows up before turnover spikes or performance slips.
The key is to treat eNPS as a doorway, not a diagnosis. Pair it with a follow-up question like “What’s the main reason for your score?” Then tag themes such as workload, growth, manager support, leadership trust, or compensation fairness. That’s how you turn a number into action.
Commonly confused with: employee engagement
eNPS is one metric that can reflect engagement, but it does not explain drivers. Engagement is broader and usually measured through multiple questions across factors like clarity, recognition, and growth. Use eNPS for a quick trend signal and pulse or engagement surveys to understand why.
Workleap field notes from SMB clients
- What Workleap clients are saying: From conversations with our SMB clients, teams often misread eNPS because they don’t expect the score to shift over time and treat it like a fixed snapshot.
- Why it matters: Misinterpretation leads to overreacting to noise or missing the real drivers that need attention.
- In practice: Sport BOP wanted a clearer read on employee advocacy over time, not just a yearly snapshot. They paired regular listening with visible follow-through and kept the loop clear for employees. The result was an eNPS of 38, up 35 points since introducing Officevibe. See: Sport BOP strengthens engagement by turning employee feedback into action with Officevibe and Workleap AI.
Employees rate likelihood to recommend on a 0–10 scale. Responses are grouped into promoters (9–10), passives (7–8), and detractors (0–6). The score is percent promoters minus percent detractors. Trends matter more than one score.
Employee net promoter scores can range from -100 and 100, with a good score often considered to be anywhere between 10 and 30 and excellent above 50. However, benchmarks vary by industry and stage, so focus on your baseline and improvement over time. A stable score with narrowing gaps between teams is a healthy sign. If one team is consistently low, treat it as a focused problem to solve.
Quarterly works well for many SMBs. Monthly can work during major change, but only if you can respond quickly. If you measure more often than you act, trust and participation drop.
No. It tells you “what,” not “why.” Pair it with one open question and a few driver questions if needed. Combine it with pulse surveys and manager conversations for a fuller picture.
Check whether the drop is company-wide or concentrated by team, tenure, or location. Run a targeted follow-up (short pulse or listening sessions) to confirm the driver. Pick one action and communicate progress clearly, then re-measure.
