Engineering eNPS rises to +39 as RTO is replaced by a hybrid 2–3 model.
A blanket RTO push hurt engineers while plant staff worried about the EV transition. Team-level hybrid agreements and transparent site roadmaps lifted sentiment — without hurting productivity.
The challenge
A European automotive OEM with multiple plants, R&D centres and a commercial organization. Manufacturing benchmarks sit in the mid-teens, with tech/R&D cohorts higher if given autonomy. A global return-to-office (RTO) push for engineers reduced flexibility and triggered a visible sentiment drop — similar to patterns reported in other tech-heavy companies where RTO mandates coincided with sharp eNPS declines.
Baseline diagnostics
Two very different stories sat behind a moderate overall +11 score.
Voice of employees
Engineers said:
“Commute for video calls.”
“No quiet focus space in office.”
“Perks only available for managers.”
Plant employees said:
“Too many temporary workers — knowledge dissemination is hard.”
“Unclear future of our site.”
Interventions
- 01
Hybrid 2–3 model for engineers
Team-level agreements focused knowledge work at home and collaboration days in office, with frequent alignment on progress and deliverables — so hybrid boosts satisfaction and retention without hurting productivity.
- 02
Plant future dialogues
Regular townhalls with transparent site roadmaps and personalized training plans for shifting products and services driving the EV transition.
- 03
Dealer and commercial listening
A dedicated eNPS segment for dealer staff — including third-party units — correlated with sales and service-level KPIs. Partner teams started co-creating workflow and digital-tool improvements.
Outcomes
First indications show engineering eNPS moved up sharply and plant eNPS moved into positive territory. Harder-to-hire software and electronics roles showed improved retention. Final results are still being tracked as interventions continue to roll out.
Dr. Norbert Hölzl, “Employee Net Promoter Score (eNPS): Logic and Evolution of this Ratio, current Benchmarks compared to iBDP, and selected Industry Case Studies”, Leadbacker, 2025. Pages 14–15. Composite, anonymized case based on patterns observed across Leadbacker client deployments.
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