Benchmarks 101: Making the Most of External Comparisons

When reviewing employee survey results, even strong scores can be hard to interpret in isolation. Are they truly good, or just average? Is that low score a red flag or a common challenge across industries?

Benchmark “norms” are an essential part of any employee listening program. The ability to compare your employee survey scores with those of other organizations provides vital context for interpreting results. Benchmarks help organizations understand not just how they are performing, but how they are performing relative to others. 

This blog breaks down the basics of benchmarking — what they are, when to use them, and how to apply them effectively — to help organizations make sense of their results and identify where to focus next.

What Are Perceptyx Benchmarks, and Where Do They Come From?

Perceptyx benchmarks are drawn from a global database of more than 20 million survey responses across 500 organizations and 226 countries. These benchmarks span pulse and census surveys, onboarding and exit touchpoints, and core elements of employee experience like engagement, inclusion, manager support, and growth.

To ensure stability and predictability, benchmarks are calculated using a rolling three-year average, currently spanning 2022 to 2024. This approach reduces the influence of short-term fluctuations and keeps comparisons stable over time. Perceptyx also maintains single-year cuts of key benchmarks used in targeted research.

For any survey item to qualify for benchmarking, it must be asked by at least three organizations and receive five or more responses per project. From there, organizations can choose from more than 1,500 benchmark cuts, including industry, geography, company size, ownership type, and workforce demographics.

Which Benchmark Is Right for You? It Depends.

Benchmarks are most useful when they reflect the specific context of your organization. A global average may offer a high-level perspective, but it can obscure meaningful variation at the local or industry level.

Here are a few considerations to guide benchmark selection:

• Geography: Employee expectations and norms vary across countries. A global benchmark might mask cultural factors, while a regional or country-level cut may provide more actionable comparisons. For instance, an organization with a strong presence in Asia may outperform global averages but underperform compared to the Asia regional norm.
  
  
• Industry: Sector-specific norms account for differences in structure, regulation, and customer demands. For example, Finance & Insurance companies typically score higher than the global average. Comparing within sectors can offer more meaningful insights.
  
  
• Performance tiers: Some organizations may choose to compare themselves to high-performing companies. These “stretch” benchmarks can provide aspirational targets, however, they should be used with care, especially if current scores are far off from those levels.

Ultimately, the best benchmark is the one that helps you interpret your data with the most clarity. It should align with your workforce realities and inform decisions that lead to positive change.

Where Should Benchmarks Be Applied?

Benchmarks provide valuable external reference points, but they aren’t always the right tool for every question. In some cases, custom questions — tailored to your organization’s unique context — provide more insight than comparisons to global norms.

For example, a global automotive manufacturer wanted to explore concerns about physical workspace design. Instead of using a benchmarked Likert-scale item, they opted for a multi-select question customized to reflect known facility challenges. While the item wasn’t benchmarkable, it provided more specific data to guide targeted improvements.

In general, benchmarks work best when used alongside internal comparisons and trend analysis. If a custom item gives you better insight into a business-critical issue, it's okay to step outside of benchmarkable formats.

When Should You Use Benchmarks in Your Analysis?

Timing and context matter when it comes to comparison. Rather than jumping straight to external benchmarks, we recommend a tiered approach:

1. Start with internal ranking. Rank items from most to least favourable to get a sense of the themes where employee sentiment is highest and lowest.
   
   
2. Look back in time. Look back and compare results to your previous survey(s) to understand what has declined and what has improved; a low-improving score is very different from a low-declining score.
   
   
3. Look across the organization. Look up relevant internal comparisons, such as business unit, function, or company overall, to get a sense of relative strengths or opportunities within your results compared to other employees in your organization.
   
   
4. Then, look outside. Finally, look out for the relevant external benchmark comparisons to get a sense of “are my results normal?” compared with sentiment from other organizations (as it’s very common for topics like career opportunities or cross-team collaboration to score lower than topics such as manager relationship or local teamwork)

This multi-level lens allows for nuanced interpretation at all levels in your organization. Benchmarks are most effective when used to complement, not replace, internal comparisons and trend data.

Why Do Benchmarks Matter?

Benchmarks provide context, and context shapes action. Without them, an average score might seem "fine" when it’s actually below peer norms, or a modest improvement might go unrecognized even though it surpasses the industry average.

Used well, benchmarks help answer key questions:

• How do we compare to others?
• Where are we doing well?
• What needs more attention?

They help identify relative strengths and blind spots. An item with a middling score might still be a top strength compared to benchmark — or a red flag if it’s much lower than peer norms.

Benchmarks can also support target setting. However, caution is advised: if tied to incentives, benchmarks may encourage response bias. It’s better to focus on improvement over time, using benchmarks as guidance rather than hard goals.

Benchmarking helps remove cultural and content bias when prioritizing action areas. Comparing results to external norms adds objectivity to what can otherwise feel subjective.

The Takeaway: When Used with Care, Benchmarks Are Powerful

Benchmarks are not the answer to every question, but they are an essential part of the listening toolkit. Used thoughtfully, they help organizations understand how they're doing relative to others, localize action planning, and set improvement goals that are both realistic and motivating.

The key is balance: benchmarks should inform, not dictate, your employee experience strategy. They provide valuable perspective while leaving room for your organization's unique context and goals.

Ready to see how your organization compares? Download our 2025 Benchmark Employee Experience Trends Report for the latest deep insights from our global database. Want personalized guidance on interpreting your benchmark data?

Schedule a demo with our team to learn how we can help you make sense of your results in context. For more employee experience insights, subscribe to our blog.