Employee Engagement Benchmark Data: The 2024 Essential Overview

A clear idea of what counts as a good outcome is a crucial part of conducting surveys. Is your company performing better against the industry standards? Are there any departments within the company performing better than they used to? If yes, why? Employee engagement benchmark data can help you clear all these doubts. 

Benchmarking helps you gauge your company's performance by comparing metrics externally relative to industry standards or internally between different segments to see the trends and uncover best practices. 

With EngageRocket, you can benchmark your employee survey results against a vast database to compare your results with the overall industry or specific categories to gain deeper insights.

What is employee engagement benchmark data?

Employee engagement benchmark data is the data organizations use to collect and analyze employee engagement scores against internal and external industry standards and averages. Below are the 2 buckets of where you get your benchmarking data from: 

• External benchmarking engagement data: This type of data compares your organization’s engagement scores against external sources like industry peers, organizations operating in the same region or of similar size, etc. It helps you understand how your organization stacks up against others to identify areas of weaknesses you need to work on.
• Internal benchmarking engagement data: This type of data focuses on internal points of reference, such as between different departments, levels of hierarchy, or demographic groups within the organization. For example, if you are interested in turnover and realize that the turnover for a certain cost center is the lowest, you can dive deep into the practices for the cost center so that you can apply them to the rest of the cost centers or even the entire organization.

Both internal and external benchmarking have their own advantages, and they work best when used together. Without internal benchmarking, it will be hard to know if the strategy employed should be adjusted for specific levels or groups in the organization. Even as organizations seek to adopt other organizations’ best practices, the effect may not be similar. This dual approach will help you fill these gaps and build a balanced strategy that fits your specific contexts. 

Benefits of using employee engagement benchmark data

Here’s a closer look at the benefits of using employee engagement benchmark data for your organization: 

1. Evaluate company performance: Benchmark data provides a clear insight into the performance of your organization against the industry standards. It eliminates any guesswork and subjective opinions. You can identify the strengths and weaknesses of your organization based on relevant data. 
2. Find hotspots of high-impact opportunities: With EngageRocket’s platform, you can identify areas where you’re below benchmark whether internal or external, then make plans for improvements where needed. 
3. Talent attraction and retention: Benchmarking ensures you are competing well in the market and not falling behind for talent attraction and retention
4. Positive company culture and brand reputation: Benchmark data helps you create a culture of continuous improvement toward employee engagement. Companies with a strong culture of employee engagement often enjoy a positive brand reputation in the market. 

Types of employee engagement benchmark data

Various types of employee engagement benchmark data cover different aspects of the workforce and the industry. Here’s an overview of these types: 

• Overall benchmark data provides a holistic view of employee engagement based on factors like job satisfaction, commitment to the job role, and more. 
  

External benchmarks

• Industry-specific benchmark data compares employee engagement scores by industry.
• Company size benchmark data helps you understand the engagement levels based number of employees within an organization.
• Geographical/Regional benchmark data shows how employee engagement compares across different regions or countries.

Internal benchmarks

• Role-specific benchmark data compares employee engagement across different job functions like marketing, sales, customer service, etc.
• Tenure-based benchmark data tracks engagement levels based on an employee’s time with the company.
• Manager vs. non-manager benchmark data is important to understand the engagement levels of managers against non-managerial staff. It’s because managers have different responsibilities, expectations, and experiences.
• Demographic benchmark data (age, gender, etc.) shows engagement levels across different demographics such as age, gender, ethnicity, and much more.  
  

Limitations of benchmarking

It’s important to be aware of the limitations related to benchmarking to distance yourself from ineffective benchmarking practices and misleading conclusions.

1. Different companies carry different data

You compare your organization’s performance against a group of organizations, not just one. Factors such as the criteria used for selection (industry, country, size), the classification of complex organizations into multiple sectors, and the inclusion of outliers can all affect the benchmark's relevance to your specific situation. Hence, the way organizations get selected and grouped together to form benchmarks may affect the whole benchmarking process. 

2. The problem with data points

If you base your benchmark on a small sample size or data from a limited number of companies, it might not be statistically reliable. On the other hand, if your benchmark has a large number of data points but significant variations in data quality, it may mislead the stakeholders. 

3. Difficult to bridge the gap between insights and implementation

You can have reliable and relevant benchmarks. However, it may not be applicable to compare and apply the exact same strategies. Even if you adopt the same fertilizer as your neighbor who has a flourishing garden, it might not work if the soil or the type of plant you breed is different. The organizational context, internal processes, and resource limitations can all affect the implementation of changes based on benchmark data.

4. You can’t show over-reliance on external benchmarks

Organizations place too much emphasis on external benchmarks. As a result, they may neglect the insights they can gain from internal benchmarking. 

After all, isn’t it better to run your own race than to constantly compete with others? By understanding the objectives of your organization, the resources available, and the characteristics of your services or products, you can make better sense of the insights when interpreting your company's metrics. This self-referential approach can complement external benchmarks, providing a more holistic view of performance and areas for enhancement.

External benchmarking filter on BELONG platform ©EngageRocket

EngageRocket benchmark spotlight: eNPS advocacy outcome

At EngageRocket, we prioritize data quality and relevance to help you get the most relevant and actionable insights. Our benchmarks stand out for several key reasons:

1. Real company data: We exclusively use real data from actual companies so that our benchmarks reflect genuine employee experiences and sentiments. This includes responses from over 100,000 employees, providing a comprehensive view of employee sentiment across various organizations. 
2. Detailed eNPS analysis: Our eNPS advocacy outcome metric, a proven indicator of employee engagement, is derived from a survey question where employees rate their likelihood to recommend the organization on a scale of 0 to 10. We categorize respondents as Promoters (9-10), Passives (7-8), and Detractors (0-6) to accurately measure advocacy levels. The overall eNPS score is calculated by subtracting the percentage of Detractors from Promoters, offering insights into the balance of employee sentiment within the organization.
   
3. Granular analysis: We provide industry, country, and company-level benchmarks. For instance, our data shows variances across industries such as Finance/Investment, Education, and Healthcare, each reflecting different distributions of Promoters, Passives, and Detractors.
4. Scientific rigor: All our eNPS data segmented by country and industry meet our thresholds for scientific rigor, with a Margin of Error (MoE) consistently maintained below 5% at our confidence level of 95%. This ensures the reliability and accuracy of our benchmarks.
5. Actionable insights: Our eNPS advocacy outcome metric, a proven indicator of employee engagement, provides a clear and actionable measure of employee sentiment towards your organization.
   

Tips for using employee engagement benchmark data

While you get valuable information through benchmark data, it’s important to use it strategically. Here’s what you must keep in mind: 

1. Don't obsess over small differences

View benchmark data as a general rule guideline. You may find many minor fluctuations, especially when they fall within the margin of error. Instead of finding something valuable in those small fluctuations, look at meaningful trends and patterns that require further examination.  

2. Look beyond averages

Averages can mask important differences that you may find within your organizations. You must look beyond the averages and understand the engagement levels across various departments, teams, and demographics. It’ll help you find better opportunities for improvement.

3. Combine internal and external benchmarking 

Internal benchmarking is about comparing performance metrics between different segments within an organization. You can compare the data across departments, levels of hierarchies, demographics, and more. It can help you set standards across the company to create a consistent framework.

4. Use benchmarks as a starting point, not an end goal 

Benchmarks serve as a reference point. They should not dictate your engagement strategy. Use them to set realistic goals and identify areas for improvement. Your organizational goals and employee needs must guide your further actions. 

 Acting on critical drivers of EE/EX leads to important employee and organization outcomes towards best-in-class benchmarks ©EngageRocket

Conclusion

Benchmark data on employee engagement makes it possible for you to compare the level of engagement so that it would be easier for you to determine the weaknesses you must address. You must use the data to create a foundation for healthy dialogue and effective interventions.

Using EngageRocket, you can quickly learn how your survey scores compare to surveys conducted by other organizations and can identify ways to improve the workplace to foster better business outcomes in your organization. 

Experience EngageRocket by booking a demo now and let us show you precisely how our solutions can unleash high-performance potential from your workforce.

FAQs

1. What is a good employee engagement score benchmark?

A good benchmark for employee engagement score for best practice organizations generally lies around 70. It means that if you score more than 70% in employee engagement, you’re above the benchmark. These benchmarks can also vary by industry and region, so comparing with similar organizations is crucial for accurate benchmarking.

2. How to analyze employee engagement benchmark data?

Step 1: Collect data: set objectives and design surveys to gather a representative sample.
Step 2: Benchmarking: compare your scores internally (across departments, time periods, or different sets of dimensions) and externally (against industry standards).
Step 3: Gap analysis: identify and investigate areas where your organization lags.
Step 4: Segment analysis: utilize dashboards and heatmaps to visualize metrics and analyze data to find specific groups needing attention.
Step 5: Action planning: Prioritize improvements, set goals, and develop initiatives.

Use platforms like EngageRocket to streamline these steps and gain actionable insights.

3. Which employee engagement metrics to use for benchmarking?

You have several employee engagement metrics such as eNPS, overall engagement score, job satisfaction, growth and development, communication, recognition and rewards, employee turnover rate, and much more. Select the relevant metrics for benchmarking in different aspects to have a comprehensive view of employee engagement.