Employee NPS® vs Customer NPS®

Employee NPS^® vs Customer NPS^®: Understanding the Difference and Why Both Matter

In the quest to build thriving businesses, many companies focus heavily on customer satisfaction. After all, without customers, there’s no business. But increasingly, the savviest organisations are recognising that employee satisfaction is equally important - not only in its own right but because it directly influences the customer experience.

Two of the most popular metrics for assessing sentiment in these areas are Customer Net Promoter Score (NPS^®) and Employee Net Promoter Score (eNPS). While similar in methodology, they serve distinct purposes and yield unique insights. So how do they differ, how are they connected, and why should leaders care about both?

Let’s explore.

What Is Net Promoter Score (NPS^®)?

First introduced by Fred Reichheld in 2003, Net Promoter Score (NPS^®) is a simple but powerful tool to measure loyalty and satisfaction. The standard NPS^® question is:

“On a scale from 0 to 10, how likely are you to recommend our company to a friend or colleague?”

Based on the response, customers (or employees) are segmented into three groups:

• Promoters (9–10): Loyal enthusiasts who will keep buying and refer others.
• Passives (7–8): Satisfied but unenthusiastic customers vulnerable to competitive offers.
• Detractors (0–6): Unhappy customers who can damage your brand through negative word-of-mouth.

The NPS^® score is calculated by subtracting the percentage of Detractors from the percentage of Promoters.

For example, if 60% are Promoters and 20% are Detractors:
NPS = 60 - 20 = +40

What Is Customer NPS^®?

Customer NPS^® (or cNPS) measures how likely your customers are to recommend your business, product, or service to others. It’s used to assess customer loyalty and satisfaction across the customer journey—from first interaction to post-purchase support.

Why Customer NPS^® Matters

• Predicts growth: A high NPS^® correlates with customer loyalty, repeat business, and referrals.
• Benchmarking tool: NPS^® can be compared against competitors or tracked over time.
• Quick insight: One question can uncover broad customer sentiment efficiently.
• Flags churn risk: A falling NPS^® often precedes customer attrition.

However, it’s not perfect. NPS^® is not diagnostic: it tells you there’s a problem (or success), but not why. This is why most NPS programs include an open-text follow-up like “Why did you give that score?” This is also why customer-focused organisations often engage in ‘Voice of the Customer’ programs and conduct deeper interviews with either their top customers or a representative sample.

What Is Employee NPS^®?

Employee NPS^® (eNPS) adapts the same core question for internal use:

“On a scale of 0 to 10, how likely are you to recommend our organisation as a place to work?”

It’s a measure of employee sentiment and loyalty and is often used as a proxy for engagement.

Why Employee NPS^® Matters

• Identifies retention risks: Low eNPS may indicate disengagement and future attrition.
• Builds culture: Employees who promote your organisation boost morale and advocacy.
• Enhances productivity: Satisfied employees are more productive, innovative, and aligned.
• Impacts customer experience: Engaged employees are more likely to provide excellent service.

Just like customer NPS^®, employee NPS^® is most useful when paired with qualitative feedback to understand the “why” behind the scores.

Key Differences Between Employee NPS^® and Customer NPS^®

How They Influence Each Other

While they measure different things, customer and employee NPS^® are strongly interconnected. In fact, some experts suggest that employee satisfaction is a leading indicator of customer satisfaction: Happy employees make happy customers.

Going further, the British entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson has been quoted as saying “Clients do not come first. Employees come first. If you take care of your employees, they will take care of the clients.”

Here’s how we see this working:

1. Frontline Experience

Employees who feel empowered, supported, and motivated tend to deliver better customer service. This improves the customer experience, which, in turn, boosts customer NPS^®.

2. Brand Advocacy

Employees who are promoters often act as brand ambassadors. Their enthusiasm is contagious: on social media, in recruitment, and even in direct customer interactions.

3. Cultural Alignment

When company values resonate with employees, they embody them more naturally in their interactions. This leads to authentic, consistent customer experiences.

4. Operational Efficiency

Engaged employees are more likely to take initiative, solve problems, and improve processes, all of which directly enhance customer experience.

When and How to Use Each Metric

When to Use Customer NPS^®

• After a customer milestone (e.g., purchase, onboarding, support ticket)
• As part of regular relationship surveys, e.g. annual or biannual
• To benchmark customer sentiment over time or against competitors
• When launching a new product or service

When to Use Employee NPS^®

• As part of quarterly, biannual or annual engagement surveys
• Following a major internal change (e.g., restructure, policy shift, change of leadership or strategy)
• During onboarding or exit processes
• When tracking the impact of HR or culture initiatives

Best Practices for Customer NPS^®

• Keep it short: NPS^® itself should just involve two questions: the NPS^® question and a follow-up text box for feedback.
• Time it right: Send surveys when feedback is fresh in the customer’s mind. Where possible, warm up stakeholders beforehand, as this can improve response rates.
• Close the loop: Follow up with Detractors to resolve issues. Ensure to provide feedback ‘you said, we did’.
• Share the feedback internally: Celebrate Promoters and learn from Detractors.
• Embed in culture: This should be communicated as a golden opportunity, not another side of desk chore. Likewise, the feedback should be seen as a gift, not just another item on the to do list. Your organisation’s approach to satisfaction research stems from the top of the organisation, so the importance of leadership cannot be overstated (as the saying goes, ‘a fish rots from the head’).

Best Practices for Employee NPS^®

• Ensure anonymity: Employees must feel safe to respond honestly.
• Act on feedback: Ignoring eNPS data damages trust.
• Share learnings: Communicate what was heard and what actions will be taken.
• Use it as a trend indicator: eNPS is not a standalone metric and should be tracker over time.

Common Pitfalls to Avoid

For Customer NPS^®

• Over-relying on the score: NPS doesn’t reveal the full story.
• Not segmenting data: Different segments (new vs. long-time customers) may respond differently. Likewise, if operational-level customer stakeholders love your business but board level stakeholders have never heard of you, it can indicate a degree of risk to future revenue.
• Survey fatigue: Bombarding customers with too many surveys or too many survey questions reduces response rates.

For Employee NPS^®

• Using it without action: If employees give feedback and nothing changes, morale worsens. If you aren’t ready to hear or act on he feedback, don’t run the survey.
• Misinterpreting neutrality: A “7–8” may seem good but is passive in NPS^® terms. Something isn’t right here – dig deeper.
• Ignoring context: A dip in eNPS during a restructure may be expected; look for trends.
• Understand causation: NPS^® is an output, however there may be related and prior steps that have caused the situation. Are your managers absent from the front line? Does leadership fail to prioritise people practices, e.g. holding PDRs? Defining and monitoring critical success factors can be incredibly revealing, as well as helping to drive towards faster improvements.

Should You Prioritise One Over the Other?

In short: no.

Both customer and employee sentiment are, in our opinion, essential. Focusing only on customers without listening to employees leads to burnout and turnover. On the other hand, prioritising employees without understanding customer needs may result in misaligned efforts.

Instead, adopt a holistic feedback strategy. Use cNPS and eNPS together, supported by qualitative insights, to get a rounded view of your organisation’s health.

Bringing It All Together: A Feedback Culture

To get the most value from NPS^® - whether customer or employee - you need more than just the score. You need a feedback culture that values listening, reflection, and action.

Here are some final tips:

1. Don’t collect data you won’t use. If you're not prepared to act on it, don't ask the question: it will likely reduce your response rate and you could even breach GDPR.
2. Visualise trends over time. NPS^® scores are most powerful when tracked regularly and compared to internal initiatives.
3. Combine with other metrics. Pair NPS^® with CSAT, CES, or deeper engagement research like Voice of the Customer interviews for further insight.
4. Make it part of your brand. Let employees and customers know their voices shape your business. In an increasingly competitive employment market, being the organisation that is seen to listen and continuously improve is a distinct advantage.

Conclusion

Employee NPS^® and Customer NPS^® may look similar on the surface, but they measure different relationships: internal loyalty vs. external loyalty. When used together, they create a powerful lens into the emotional and experiential heart of your business.

By listening to both employees and customers, being empathetic to their needs and ideas, acting on what you learn, and committing to continuous improvement, you lay the foundations for a business that grows with its people and its audience. Listening. Empathy. Action.

Need help setting up your customer and/or employee feedback strategy? At Kinvale, we specialise in helping B2B organisations design and execute effective and appropriate satisfaction programs. Whether you need to capture and interrogate customer or employee feedback, go further and carry out detailed interviews, or you are simply looking for some advice, we’re here to help.

👉 Contact us for a free consultation.