5 questions about employee engagement
Six years ago Airbnb launched the Culture Amp service to create a better user experience. A team of psychologists, researchers, and engineers continually updates the platform based on research, feedback, and customer insights. Each year Culture Amp collects data to benchmark employee engagement trends across the industry.
The survey questions are verified with external metrics, including Glassdoor and Mattermark ratings.
The company identifies and removes redundant questions and adds new ones. Typical scores accompany each of the questions to analyze responses.
1 “I’m proud to work for [company].”
Colloquially, this is called the “barbecue test”-can an employee proudly tell someone where he or she works if asked about it at a barbecue? The answer to this question reflects a person’s levels of brand and mission affiliation, and can provide insight into how people perceive the company’s external brand.
The response benchmark is 80-90% of employees agree with the statement. A low score (less than 70%) is a red flag and should raise concerns about how the brand is perceived.
2 “I would recommend [the company] as a great place to work.”
One version of the NPS. The eNPS was launched in 2003, and some companies use it as the only measure of employee engagement. However, Airbnb believes it is not a reliable enough measure. Sometimes people plan to leave or are unhappy with their current role, but still recommend the company because of the high pay or benefits.
The benchmark for this question is about 80-90%. This indicates that people really like working at the company. Scores below 60% indicate that employees face daily challenges in their roles or there is a general concern about the work environment.
3 “I rarely think about looking for a job at another company.”
This is a good check for companies with high scores on other engagement index questions. People who are really engaged at work often find that a job search just hasn’t crossed their minds yet. On the other hand, those who are less interested will find the question easy to answer.
The normal range of affirmative responses is 55-60%. A 70% on this question would be a very high score. Note that scores below 40% are a clear indicator of churn.
4 “I see myself still working at [company] in two years.”
This item is similar to “I rarely think about looking for a job at another company,” but has a specific time frame… Together, these questions provide insight into current and future commitments. From them, an overall retention index can be calculated.
The benchmark numbers for this question are in the 60-65% range.
5 “[The company] motivates me to go above and beyond what I would do in a similar role elsewhere.”
This is a question about whether a company motivates people to do their best. In industries where tenure is always short (e.g., the seasonal workforce, where the “I see I’m still with the company after two years” score will be low anyway), this question is even more important.
Normal answers are in the 70-75% range. Scores below 55% are sometimes an indication that people feel unconnected to the company’s mission or don’t feel they can do anything here.
