Understanding and Running eNPS Surveys

eNPS is one of the simplest yet most powerful measures of employee sentiment — a single question that tells you whether your people would recommend your organisation as a place to work. This guide explains what eNPS is, how it's calculated, how to interpret your score, and how to run an eNPS survey in Prosper.

Who this is for: Administrators and approved Managers

Read time: 6 minutes

What is eNPS?

eNPS stands for Employee Net Promoter Score. It's a metric used to measure employee satisfaction and loyalty within an organisation. It's derived from the Net Promoter Score (NPS) framework, which is commonly used to gauge customer satisfaction and loyalty.

How is eNPS scored and calculated?

To calculate eNPS, employees are asked a single question:

"On a scale of 0–10, how likely are you to recommend this company as a place to work?"

Based on their responses, employees are categorised into three groups:

Promoters (score 9–10) — highly satisfied employees who are likely to promote the company as a good place to work.
Passives (score 7–8) — satisfied but not enthusiastic employees, who are less likely to actively promote the company.
Detractors (score 0–6) — dissatisfied employees who may actively speak negatively about the company.

The eNPS is then calculated by subtracting the percentage of detractors from the percentage of promoters. The resulting score can range from -100 to +100.

A positive score indicates more promoters than detractors — a generally satisfied and loyal workforce.
A negative score indicates more detractors than promoters — highlighting potential issues with employee satisfaction and loyalty.

Worked example: If 60% of employees are Promoters, 25% are Passives, and 15% are Detractors, your eNPS is 60 − 15 = +45. (Passives are counted in the total but don't directly add to the score.)

What is a good score?

Grading eNPS scores in a spotlight format provides a quick and intuitive way to interpret results. A common grading scale:

eNPS of 50+: Excellent — a highly satisfied and loyal workforce who are likely to recommend the company.
eNPS of 10–30: Good — overall satisfaction and loyalty, but with areas for improvement.
eNPS below 0: Needs improvement — a high number of detractors and a need for immediate action.

Tip: Your trend matters as much as your absolute score. A score moving from +10 to +25 over two surveys is a strong signal, even if it's not yet "excellent". Track eNPS consistently over time rather than fixating on a single number.

Prerequisites

You must be an Administrator or approved Manager with survey access.
The Surveys & Happiness module must be enabled for your organisation.

Part 1 — Activating eNPS from ready-made surveys

Step 1 — Open ready-made surveys

From the Prosper main menu, navigate to Surveys & Happiness and select Get Started in Ready-Made Surveys.

Step 2 — Select eNPS

Select eNPS from the Employee Experience surveys.

Step 3 — Choose recipients and send

Select Choose Recipients.
Choose your participants — all employees, specific individuals, or filtered groups.
Select Send Survey.

Part 2 — Activating eNPS from the Question Bank

Step 1 — Open the Question Bank

Navigate to Surveys & Happiness and select Get Started in Question Bank.

Step 2 — Set details and select eNPS

Populate the Survey Title and Description, then select eNPS.

Step 3 — Add to survey

Select Add to Survey. The eNPS question is added with its associated measurement mapping.

Step 4 — Choose recipients and send

Scroll down to Choose Recipients.
Choose your participants.
Select Send Survey.

Tracking and reviewing your eNPS

eNPS can be tracked in Analytics on the Management Dashboard, where you can see your score and how it trends over time.

To review surveys, navigate to Surveys & Happiness and select Active or Complete.

Further information — including overall score, response rates, and a breakdown of score responses (Promoters, Passives, Detractors) — can be tracked within the survey itself by selecting the survey in Active or Complete.

Part 3 — Survey notifications

All Prosper surveys follow the same cadence for notifications, ensuring consistent and timely communication.

Activation: An initial notification is sent via email — and SMS as well, if the recipient has a mobile phone number in their employee profile.
First reminder: Sent three days after the activation date (email and SMS).
Second and final reminder: Sent five days after activation (email and SMS).

Weekend deferral: If any reminder is scheduled to fall on a weekend, it will automatically be deferred to the next business day to maintain optimal delivery and visibility.

Tips and best practices

Run eNPS regularly. eNPS is most valuable as a recurring pulse — quarterly is a common cadence. Consistent timing makes your trend line meaningful.
Keep the question pure. The power of eNPS is its simplicity and comparability. Run it as the standard single question so your score can be benchmarked over time and against industry norms.
Pair eNPS with a follow-up. All rated questions in Prosper give responders the chance to leave a comment, providing an opportunity to add context and capture verbatim feedback.
Act on passives and detractors, learn from promoters. Passives and detractors highlight where to improve; promoters reveal what's working and worth protecting.
Watch the trend, not just the number. A rising eNPS is a sign your initiatives are landing. A falling one is an early warning worth investigating before it shows up in turnover.
Close the loop. Tell employees what you heard and what you're doing about it. Nothing erodes survey participation faster than feedback that disappears into a void.

Troubleshooting

My eNPS seems low compared to my overall engagement scores.
This is common and not a contradiction. eNPS measures advocacy specifically — whether people would recommend the company — which is a higher bar than general satisfaction. Use the breakdown of Promoters, Passives, and Detractors to understand the distribution behind the score.

The score moved sharply between surveys.
Because eNPS subtracts detractors from promoters, small shifts in either group can move the score noticeably — especially with smaller response counts. Check your response rate and the underlying breakdown before drawing strong conclusions.

Response rate is low.
eNPS is a single question, so completion should be high. If it's low, the issue is usually distribution — confirm the survey reached recipients (email and SMS for opted-in users).

I can't see eNPS in the Management Dashboard.
Confirm the eNPS survey has been sent and has collected responses. Newly sent surveys may take a short time to appear in Analytics, and results respect the anonymity threshold.

Can I run eNPS for just one team or location?
Yes — use the recipient filters to scope the survey to a specific Team, Location, or other group. Bear in mind that very small groups may fall below the anonymity threshold.

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