Why employee Net Promoter Score® matters but doesn't tell the whole story

The employee Net Promoter Score® (or eNPS) is the current gold standard on engagement in the workplace. It’s the score companies get when they ask their team: “How likely are you to recommend our company as a great place to work?”

Here’s the problem with the eNPS. People might be very willing to recommend a company as a great place to work for the wrong reasons. If it’s a great place to work because it’s fun and there’s no pressure to perform, then it’s the wrong place for high performers who want to make their mark. When we combine “Would you recommend?” with “Are you proud to work here?” and then ask, “Have you applied for another job in the last three months?”, then we have a more comprehensive picture.

Our vision

Our vision is to become the go-to platform for workforce management, much like Zendesk has become for customer support. Achieving this requires a team of individuals who are deeply passionate about realizing this vision. To ensure our team members are fully aligned and able to unleash their best performance, Zendesk WFM is committed to removing obstacles and nurturing that passion.

We need to be doing our jobs right. And creating a great company culture. That’s why relying solely on eNPS isn’t enough for us. At Zendesk WFM, we go the extra mile by implementing a comprehensive survey comprising 15 to 20 statements that provide a holistic view of our performance. These statements range from “I feel valued for my contributions” to “My fellow team members focus their energy in the right areas.”

We conduct the survey semi-annually. Some of the statements may change over time, but our goal is continuous improvement for our teams and the company.

Taking the engagement survey to the team

It may be “old school,” but we believe you need to get people together and share the results of the survey with them. Then you need to ask them more about what they meant when they answered a specific question.

Our team members are naturally open and transparent, so we get a lot of honest and well-intentioned feedback when we get together. These discussions are not about complaining; they’re about seizing opportunities for improvement. We’re fortunate to work alongside bright individuals who tackle challenges head-on and consistently offer innovative solutions.

By engaging in open dialogue and leveraging the collective intelligence of our team, we ensure that every voice is heard and that we’re continuously working towards enhancing our processes and fostering a culture of growth and innovation.

Deliver feedback to senior management

The next step in the process is to take the feedback to the leadership team and let them digest the information and respond to the feedback. They take this feedback seriously, recognizing that each team member’s perception is their reality. So, it’s essential to address their concerns and suggestions thoughtfully.

For instance, in a recent feedback cycle, our engineers expressed a desire to better understand our customers’ needs and priorities. The leadership team embraced this feedback and proactively responded with actionable steps. They facilitated direct engagement between developers and customers through calls, introduced lunch-and-learn sessions to deepen everyone’s understanding of the customer experience, and encouraged more active participation and questioning within the engineering team.

Following the implementation of these initiatives, we will conduct informal follow-ups to gauge their impact on team members.

A good eNPS is not good enough

Sure, we have a company goal for eNPS, but even when we achieve it, we know there is more to be done. This truly is a cycle with no definitive ending. As soon as we implement actions to improve the experience for our team, another survey is just around the corner. There may be celebrations along the way, but we never stop improving the experience for our team members.

Our culture is one of our competitive advantages. That’s why we keep striving to be the best place to work, learn, grow, and have fun.

Net Promoter, Net Promoter Score, and NPS are registered trademarks of Satmetrix Systems, Inc., Bain & Company, Inc., and Fred Reichheld.