eNPS Survey Questions: The Complete List (Plus the Follow-Ups That Get Honest Answers)

3 June 2026

TL;DR: The core eNPS question never changes: "How likely are you to recommend this organisation as a place to work?" (0–10). On its own it's just a number. The follow-up — "What's the main reason for your score?" — and a short set of driver questions on recognition, manager quality, belonging, and wellbeing are what turn eNPS into something you can act on.

A survey that only asks the headline question tells you the temperature but never the diagnosis. This guide gives you the full question set, the right cadence, and the design mistakes that quietly skew your results. For interpreting the score you get back, pair it with What Is a Good eNPS Score?.

The one core eNPS question

The standard eNPS question is: "On a scale of 0 to 10, how likely are you to recommend this organisation as a place to work?" Responses of 9–10 are Promoters, 7–8 Passives, and 0–6 Detractors. Keep the wording identical every time you run it — changing the phrasing breaks your ability to track the trend, which is the only reading that really matters.

Resist the urge to "improve" the question. Its value is comparability over time.

The essential follow-up question

The single most valuable addition is one open-text question: "What is the main reason for your score?" The number tells you where you stand; this tells you why. It's where Detractors name the recognition gap, the manager problem, or the "nothing changes after surveys" frustration that Gallup found drives disengagement — only around 23% of employees strongly agree their organisation acts on feedback.

Always make this follow-up optional and anonymous. The honesty you get is directly proportional to how safe people feel answering it.

Driver questions that explain your score

Add a short set of rated questions (1–5 agreement scale) mapped to the research-backed eNPS drivers: belonging and recognition, manager effectiveness, psychological safety, and wellbeing. These three drivers, identified by Perceptyx across 20 million-plus employees, are what separate Promoters from Detractors — so measuring them tells you which lever to pull.

Keep it to 6–10 statements. Suggested set:

Recognition — "I receive meaningful recognition for good work." (Track this closely — 55% of employees get little or no quality recognition.)
Recognition frequency — "I have been recognised in the last week."
Manager effectiveness — "My manager helps me do my best work." (Managers drive 70% of engagement variance.)
Belonging — "I feel I belong at this organisation."
Psychological safety — "I can speak up without fear of negative consequences."
Wellbeing — "My work has a positive effect on my wellbeing."
Voice / feedback loop — "I've seen action taken on previous feedback."
Growth — "I have opportunities to develop my career here."

Open-text questions that surface the "why"

Beyond the core follow-up, one or two optional open questions per survey add depth without fatiguing respondents. The best ones are forward-looking rather than purely diagnostic:

"What's one thing that would make this a better place to work?"
"What's working well that we should do more of?"

Keep open questions to a maximum of two or three total. More than that and completion rates fall, and you drown in text you won't action.

How often should you ask?

Cadence depends on your size and appetite for action, but quarterly is the most common sweet spot — frequent enough to see a trend, infrequent enough to act between rounds. The cardinal rule: never survey faster than you can respond. A monthly pulse you ignore does more harm than a quarterly one you act on.

A practical rhythm:

Quarterly — full eNPS plus driver questions, for most organisations.
Monthly — a lighter pulse (core question plus one driver) if you're actively running an improvement programme and reporting back.
Always — close the loop publicly before the next round.

Mistakes that bias your results

Survey design quietly distorts the truth in predictable ways. The most common culprits:

Breaking anonymity — even the perception that responses are traceable suppresses honesty and inflates your score.
Surveying without follow-through — the fastest way to manufacture Detractors. If nothing changes, people stop answering honestly or stop answering at all.
Changing the question wording — destroys trend comparability.
Survey fatigue — too many questions, too often. Keep it under 10 questions and respect the cadence.
Leading questions — "How much do you love working here?" gets you a feel-good number and no truth.
Ignoring the segments — an org-wide +25 can hide a team sitting at -10. Always read results by team where sample sizes allow.

What to do after you collect answers

Collecting eNPS is the easy 10%; acting on it is the 90% that moves the score. Theme the open-text responses, pick two or three changes you can actually deliver, communicate them publicly, and report progress before the next survey. Then put the highest-ROI levers to work — frequent peer recognition, manager support, and daily connection. The full operating plan is in How to Improve eNPS and our Improve eNPS page.

Frequently asked questions

What is the standard eNPS survey question?

The standard question is: "On a scale of 0 to 10, how likely are you to recommend this organisation as a place to work?" Scores of 9–10 are Promoters, 7–8 Passives, and 0–6 Detractors. Keep the wording identical each time so you can track the trend reliably.

How many questions should an eNPS survey have?

Keep it short — the core question, one open-text follow-up, and 6–10 rated driver questions covering recognition, manager quality, belonging, and wellbeing. Beyond about 10 questions, completion rates fall and response quality drops. Depth comes from acting on results, not from adding more questions.

How often should you run an eNPS survey?

Quarterly suits most organisations: often enough to see a trend, rare enough to act between rounds. Use a lighter monthly pulse only if you're running an active improvement programme and reporting back each time. Never survey faster than you can respond to the feedback.

Should eNPS surveys be anonymous?

Yes. Anonymity is essential for honest answers — even the perception that responses can be traced suppresses Detractor feedback and inflates your score. Make open-text questions optional and report results in aggregate or by team, never by individual.