When conducting an employee feedback survey with eNPS (Employee Net Promoter Score), the real value comes from the follow-up questions you ask each group—promoters, passives, and detractors.
Each group needs different follow-up questions to uncover actionable insights.
AI-powered surveys can automatically adapt these follow-ups, probing deeper depending on the initial score and feedback.
Follow-up questions for your promoters
Promoters are your biggest advocates. While they already score high on satisfaction, their feedback is uniquely valuable because it tells us what’s winning. Here are some of my go-to questions for this group:
What do you love most about working here?
What should we never change about our company culture?
How can we attract more talent like you?
Can you share a specific positive experience you’ve had recently?
These types of questions help us identify what’s working and what employees feel most proud of—what needs protecting or amplifying as the organization grows. When you use AI follow-up questions, the survey will dig deeper into anything a promoter mentions, just like a thoughtful manager would. In fact, organizations using conversational surveys see up to 30% more detail in responses compared to static forms, thanks to dynamic probing. [1]
Follow-up questions for passives
Passives are satisfied, but not fired-up. This segment is crucial—they’re closest to switching sides, either towards becoming promoters or slipping into detractors. Here’s what I like to ask:
What would make you rate us higher?
What specific improvements would enhance your experience?
How does our company compare to your previous employers?
What’s holding you back from being a promoter?
Often, passives hold the most actionable feedback because they give a balanced view—not too positive, not too negative, but deeply constructive. Conversational surveys can probe deeper if passives mention specifics, revealing hidden roadblocks. AI also helps spot recurring patterns in their answers, making it much easier to identify what consistently nudges people just below the “promoter” threshold. [1]
Follow-up questions for detractors
Detractors may be dissatisfied or disengaged—and their feedback holds the key to preventing turnover and improving organizational culture. These are the types of questions I recommend:
What specific frustrations have you encountered?
What needs to change immediately for you to feel better about working here?
Are you considering leaving the company?
Can you provide concrete examples of problems you’ve faced?
Good practice | Bad practice |
|---|---|
Asking open-ended questions to understand specific issues | Assuming the reasons for dissatisfaction without asking |
Providing a safe space for honest feedback | Reacting defensively to negative feedback |
AI-powered follow-ups know how to handle raw feedback delicately, adjusting language and tone to build trust. You can also rely on automated analysis to surface urgent themes, so nothing slips through the cracks—even in large, complex organizations. [1]
Dynamic NPS logic for employee feedback
NPS branching logic means each score range opens a personalized conversation path in your employee feedback survey. If someone scores a 9 or 10, they’ll get one set of questions; a 7 or 8 triggers more exploratory probes, while lower scores activate a different flow. Specific's AI survey builder lets you set up this logic simply by having a conversation—no complex menus or scripts required.
When you use a conversational survey approach, employees feel heard and understood—not just another data point. I also love that you can easily turn on multilingual support, letting global teams answer freely in the language they use every day. The follow-up questions make the survey feel like a two-way dialogue—a real exchange rather than just answering a form.
Analyzing employee feedback across all NPS segments
Getting quality responses is one thing, but analyzing hundreds (or thousands) of open-ended answers is tough. That’s where AI steps in: you can automatically group themes within each NPS segment—so you see what promoters rave about, what worries passives, and what frustrates detractors.
Here are a few analysis prompts I recommend using with AI survey response analysis:
Identifying top issues by segment:
What are the most common concerns among detractors?
Comparing promoter/detractor themes:
How do promoters' positive feedback themes differ from detractors' negative feedback themes?
Tracking sentiment changes over time:
How has employee sentiment evolved over the past year?
Finding department-specific patterns:
Are there specific departments with higher rates of detractors?
You can spin up multiple analysis threads to explore different questions at once. If you’re not running regular eNPS surveys, you’re missing out on actionable insights that drive real improvements—and the risks of hidden employee disengagement multiply over time. [1]
When and how to run eNPS surveys
I recommend running your employee feedback surveys quarterly or bi-annual—it’s frequent enough to spot trends, but not so often that you cause fatigue. The most important thing is following a consistent schedule and acting on what you learn. [1]
Anonymous vs. attributed responses: Going anonymous encourages candid answers, while attributed surveys are best if you plan to follow up directly. Both have a place; I prefer starting anonymous for organization-wide check-ins, then layering on attributed rounds to dig into solutions.
With in-product conversational surveys, you can trigger the survey at critical points in the employee journey—after onboarding, during reviews, or post-promotion—so feedback is always timely. To avoid survey fatigue, use defined recontact periods and let your workforce know what to expect.
Updating your survey as the business changes is easy with the AI survey editor; just describe what you want to tweak, and the survey’s instantly refreshed—no copy-pasting required.
Ready to transform your employee feedback?
A well-designed eNPS survey helps organization leaders boost engagement, reduce churn, and build cultures people love.
Conversational employee surveys generate richer insights that structured forms miss—and with AI, creating your own survey takes minutes, not hours.
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