Is there anyone reading this who can reliably defend the way the Net Promoter Score is calculated, checked and used? As in genuinely defend it. Anyone who can say, hand on heart, “Yes, this measurement concocted 20 years ago by some random guy is one that gives us clarity regarding how we are doing as a company, predicts our growth and what a lucky coincidence, we can also use it to know both how our clients love us and how our employees do!” – I don’t believe there is.
We all know -or at least suspect if we won’t read research and measured arguments such as these laid out in this “Net Promoter Score Considered Harmful” article.
Now, why do we use it if it’s unhelpful and we all know it? Because we need *something*. We need to know how we are doing. Despite what the state of the feedback culture will have us believe, we all crave knowing how we do.
Measurements are essential. This article isn’t arguing against them, -how could it, seeing how we make a product that includes data- on the contrary, what I am saying is that we need real, worthwhile actionable data that is followed up with action and human work, not garbage data that tells us nothing. At PeopleNotTech we witness the crucial importance of data every day. The more people can see how their behaviours play out, the more likely they are they can enhance the positive ones and decrease the negative ones.
All of our clients that use our Dashboard where they can granularly see what each of their actions and interactions yielded, see massive gains and huge improvements when they get used to the cycle of data collection, analysis and then action. They need the data. It forms the bedrock of their behavioural change. That’s because it’s data that’s smart, it matters, it’s emotionally important and they find it truly valuable because they can see how to affect it. Neither can be said for NPS.
What’s even more interesting is realising that the importance of measurements proportionately goes up when we are super invested in what we do. The more invested we are, the more interested in tracking any incremental trace of progress. Ever started training for a marathon or tried to lose weight or get in shape? It’s a major you-project and you’ll be pouring over any data point you can gather. It will be majorly important to know them all. That’s because we care, a lot. The less we care, the less we want to know.
I put it to us that the NPS satisfies both states. Both if we care deeply and desperately need to know and if we can’t give a toss. Either way, it comes up with some kind of a number. An insufficient and skewed one yes, but it seems to be showing progress and it miraculously also doesn’t show it granularly enough for it to be a problem. And maybe having one deluded number isn’t that bad in isolation.
The real issue starts when entire organisations base their every step on it. The amount of HumanDebt™ that unexamined, bonus-tied-NPS brings, is truly -and ironically- immeasurable. Companies where NPS became so important that it is inbuilt in everyone’s performance indicators, are bound to have amassed debt hand over fist, simply because they’ve been motivated to track this meaningless indication of nothing really, and it made them rest on false laurels and never ask real questions that won’t show them the wrong thing.
How can it be wrong you ask? What’s wrong with asking “Would you recommend us as either a service or product or a place of work”? The question really should be “What’s *most* wrong. And that is how unimportant of a question we are asking.
If we leave aside the objections on the gamifying potential and the scoring -which quite frankly should have stopped any enterprise from ever dreaming of implementing it as it’s complete and shocking nonsense!- we’re still left with the question in itself.
At face value, it seems a good indicator but what does it show? Future intention? That’s silly. Love? Delight? Satisfaction at least? No. None of those. It shows that the respondent can imagine a situation where, in the right circumstances, they would recommend/mention/not object to the company. Perhaps they will recommend it – it may be to that one frenemy they kinda hate sure but recommend nonetheless. Or perchance to that one family member who checked out from their professional ardour and decided they’ll live to pursue a personal hobby instead so this company would suit them best as no one cares excessively and coasting is acceptable.
NPS 100 – “YES! I will absolutely recommend this place – it’s the most actively disengaged company I ever worked for and that means we can all not care together”.
NPS 100 – “Yes! If anyone ever asked me specifically about you guys versus some other company I had no knowledge of I would advise they use your product”
NPS 100 – “I suppose that’s plausible and I *would” recommend this place, never have, may never do but it’s definitely likely that I could in the right circumstances”
If you want to know if your clients love you, look at your balance sheet.
If you want to know sooner, ask if they have recommended you as Netflix did, that’s a true measure of past, already existing and clearly indicative behaviour.
Conversely, if you *truly* want to know how your employees are feeling ask them and ask them often – the closer to these very clear questions the better “How ARE you, what’s going through your mind? How do you truly feel about your work? Can you feel your purpose? Do you understand your impact? Are you spending a lot of time in flow/the zone? Are you enjoying creating with your team? Are you open every day? Are you authentic? Are you showing up? Are you finding work/life doable? Are you proud of your work? Of your colleagues? Of your enterprise? Are you comfortable and happy? Do you (still) care?”
Those are the things that matter. Asking them instead “Would you recommend us as a place of employment?” is just pure poppycock. All of it. And yet here we are.
Some places absolutely are obsessed with it. They ask it all the time of their eye-rolling employees because they have to. Their execs bonuses are tied to it and none of them stood up and pointed to the emperor’s utterly naked NPS bum so we all have to dance to the illogical tune.
Read the article above in full and then consider how much cognitive dissonance you will have to employ to disbelieve any of it or to forget what you read, so you can carry on as if nothing happened. The more of that there is the clearer you know it’s BS. It’s time we were all honest and at the very least opened a critical exploration of this sterile, useless, meaningless question we seem to have slotted in place of real measurement.
To us, being compared to NPS is quite frankly insulting. To you, being asked about it, should be insulting too. To all of us, not examining it and agreeing it’s time to put it to bed, is a potentially bankrupt strategy we may ill afford. We have to stop thinking “it’s fine, it will do” because it’s not and it doesn’t.
There’s nothing redeeming about NPS. Research has debunked its utility as either a predictor of success or a risk mitigation mechanism and yet here we are insisting on using it. Stop. Do the right thing. Ask the right questions instead. Ask them often, with goodwill and while having laid out paths, tools and support for improvement instead and then watch the delight of both your customers and your employees.
Anything else won’t measure up.
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The 3 “commandments of Psychological Safety” to build high performing teams are: Understand, Measure and Improve
At PeopleNotTech we make software that measures and improves Psychological Safety in teams. If you care about it- talk to us about a demo at contact@peoplenottech.com
To order the “People Before Tech: The Importance of Psychological Safety and Teamwork in the Digital Age” book go to this Amazon link