Be a Detractor of (Internal) NPS to Be a Promoter of Your Organisation

It isn’t surprising that yesterday’s article called “NPS Is BS and We All Know It” made quite some waves. After all, no one likes being told they need to check themselves and the NPS machinery is an industry of its own. I am under no illusion that I am making myself popular by denouncing the uselessness of NPS at the very least as it stands as an internal measurement. I’m ok with that though. Not the first time I ruffle feathers and something tells me it won’t be the last.

Look, measured arguments, the voices that show they have done the checking are always more than welcome, in fact, between comments and some of the private conversations I had yesterday in the wake of the article, I’ve somewhat softened regarding the need to scrap it altogether, it seems, when it comes to polling consumers it’s a solid “better than nothing” for many people.

If the choice is between NPS and nothing when it comes to figuring out how your customers feel then sure, do NPS. But if the choice is between NPS and nothing when it comes to figuring out your own people -be it their performance, their engagement or the way they work together- then don’t do it, “nothing” is actually preferable. Why? Because otherwise, you (organisation) end up ticking the “get measurements in place” to-do off the list when it is so far from done.

The ticket shouldn’t be “Get some measurements” anyhow, it should be an epic that reads “Find out with regularity how our people feel about the organisation, the work, each other and their own lives and ensure they feel the feedback look is closed and valuable”. That’s very different and it will never be covered by NPS or any other number.

In the video, we reiterate that the article needs reading (as in real reading - set 10 minutes aside and take it in properly, otherwise the enormity of the scoring ridiculousness may not land as it should) and that, the only thing that makes sense is to ensure regular checkpoints are in place.