Part 3 · Article 13 of 14
What is an employee engagement survey, and what is eNPS?
In short
- An employee engagement survey asks people how they feel about their work, their team and the organization.
- It describes the organization, so the CEO, leadership team or HR lead runs it (article 2).
- eNPS (employee Net Promoter Score) asks how likely people are to recommend the organization as a place to work, on a 0 to 10 scale.
- eNPS is the percentage of promoters (9 or 10) minus the percentage of detractors (0 to 6). It ranges from minus 100 to plus 100.
- A positive eNPS is a good sign, and the trend over time matters more than any single number.
Org360 defines an employee engagement survey as a confidential survey that asks everyone in a team or organization how they feel about their work, their team and the organization, so leaders can see what to fix first.
What is employee engagement?
William Kahn's 1990 paper, the founding study of engagement at work, described personal engagement as "the harnessing of organization members' selves to their work roles." Engaged people bring their energy, attention and care to their work. Kahn found it depends on 3 conditions: the work feels meaningful, it feels safe to be yourself, and people have the energy to give.
Engagement is low in most workplaces. Gallup's State of the Global Workplace 2026 report found that 20% of employees worldwide were engaged at work in 2025.
What does an engagement survey ask about?
Common areas include:
- the work itself and whether it feels meaningful
- the person's manager
- the team and how people work together
- leadership and direction
- growth and development
- recognition
- workload and wellbeing
Org360's engagement surveys cover these areas: Team Pulse in 12 questions and Team Health in 24. Each includes 1 eNPS question and 2 open-text questions.
What is eNPS?
eNPS (employee Net Promoter Score) is a single question that asks employees how likely they are to recommend their organization as a place to work, on a scale from 0 to 10. It adapts the Net Promoter Score that Fred Reichheld introduced for customers in 2003 (article 14).
How do you calculate eNPS?
- Ask: "How likely are you to recommend [organization] as a place to work?" on a 0 to 10 scale.
- Count promoters (9 or 10), passives (7 or 8) and detractors (0 to 6).
- Subtract the percentage of detractors from the percentage of promoters.
For example, 20 people reply: 9 promoters (45%), 7 passives and 4 detractors (20%). The eNPS is 45 minus 20, which is 25.
eNPS ranges from minus 100 (everyone is a detractor) to plus 100 (everyone is a promoter). Passives count toward the total but not toward either group.
What is a good eNPS score?
- Below 0: more detractors than promoters, a sign to look closely at the comments.
- 0 to 10: about average.
- 10 to 30: good.
- Above 30: very good.
These bands are common rules of thumb, not a standard. One survey vendor reports Culture Amp's all-industry median eNPS as 17. Your own trend matters more: an eNPS that rises from 5 to 20 over a year says more than one reading of 25.
Why pair eNPS with open-text questions?
eNPS tells you how people feel, and it can't tell you why. The 2 open-text questions in every Org360 survey ask people to explain, and the AI summary groups their answers into themes (article 4). Together they show both the number and what's behind it.
What the research says
- Engagement goes with business results. Harter, Schmidt and Hayes (2002) analyzed 7,939 business units in 36 companies and found that employee satisfaction and engagement were related to customer satisfaction, productivity, profit, turnover and accidents.
- Engagement needs safety. Kahn (1990) identified psychological safety as one of 3 conditions for engagement, which is why confidentiality matters in engagement surveys (article 3).
- Where the evidence is mixed. The recommend question behind NPS has critics. Keiningham and colleagues (2007) questioned whether NPS predicts company growth better than other measures. Use eNPS as a headline to track, and rely on the full survey and comments to decide what to do.
Key readings: Kahn (1990); Harter, Schmidt and Hayes (2002); Gallup, State of the Global Workplace 2026. Full references are in the research reading list.
Org360's view
Org360 recommends a short engagement survey every few months, with eNPS as the headline and 3 priorities as the output. Leaders tell the team what they'll change, act on it, and survey again to check it worked (article 7). The frequency and the follow-through matter more than the length of the survey.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good eNPS?
Anything above 0 means more promoters than detractors. Many organizations treat 10 to 30 as good. Track your own trend over time.
Can eNPS be negative?
Yes. eNPS ranges from minus 100 to plus 100. A negative score means more detractors than promoters.
How often should you measure eNPS?
Every few months, as part of a short engagement survey or a pulse survey (article 7).
Is an engagement survey anonymous?
In Org360 it's confidential: results open only after 3 replies (Standard) or 5 (Highest), and nobody can see who said what (article 3).
Sources: Gallup: State of the Global Workplace, global data · Checkbox: eNPS benchmarks · Wikipedia: Net Promoter Score