How the scoring works
Every number in a Door Openers report, and where it comes from. Your client may ask; this is the answer.
Last updated 15 September 2026
People Health Check
20 questions, answered by the business owner, across 5 areas of people practice. Each answer is one of yes, partly, no or not sure.
How an answer scores
| Answer | Points |
|---|---|
| Yes | 3 points |
| Partly | 2 points |
| No | 0 points |
| Not sure | Not scored. Counted separately as a visibility gap. |
A not sure answer used to score one point out of three. That punished the honest answer, and put a low mark on a question the business simply could not see. Since 15 September 2026 it is left out of the score altogether. The report says how many questions could not be answered and lists them, because not knowing is usually the more useful finding.
How an area scores
Each area is a percentage of the points available for the questions that were answered. Four questions all answered yes is 12 of 12, or 100. Two answered yes, one partly and one not sure is 8 of 9, or 89. An area where every answer was not sure has no score, and the report says so rather than printing a zero.
| Area | Questions | Weight in the overall score |
|---|---|---|
| Hiring & Foundations | 4 | 15% |
| Clarity & Fairness | 4 | 20% |
| Performance & People Management | 4 | 25% |
| Absence, Wellbeing & Retention | 4 | 25% |
| HR Admin & Systems | 4 | 15% |
The overall score
The overall score out of 100 is a weighted average of the areas that have a score, using the weights above. Performance management and wellbeing count for most because a gap there costs a business more than a gap in record keeping. If an area has no score, its weight is shared out among the others.
Colour and stage
An area or score at 70 and above shows green, 45 to 69 amber, and under 45 red. The overall score also places the business on one of four stages:
| Stage | Score | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Foundational | 0 to 39 | At this stage the core building blocks of HR - contracts, policies and basic people processes - are either absent or inconsistently applied. The priority is getting the foundations right: clear documentation, legal compliance and reliable basics that protect both the business and its people. |
| Developing | 40 to 64 | The essentials are mostly in place but not yet consistent or embedded. Managers are beginning to lead people more deliberately, policies exist but may not always be followed, and the business is starting to think about how to retain and develop its team rather than just recruit and react. |
| Established | 65 to 84 | People practices are well-established and consistently applied. Managers are confident in their roles, employees understand what is expected of them, and the business uses feedback and data to identify and address gaps. HR is a recognised support function rather than a reactive one. |
| Strategic | 85 to 100 | HR is fully aligned to the business strategy. People decisions are data-informed, leadership invests in development and wellbeing as a business priority, and the organisation actively shapes its culture. The employer brand is a genuine asset in attracting and keeping the right people. |
The three priorities
The three areas to work on first are ranked by the size of the gap and the weight of the area together, not by the lowest score alone. An area with no score counts as a complete gap, so it ranks first: the business cannot see it at all.
Staff Turnover Calculator
Five figures from the client: people employed, leavers in the last twelve months, average salary, average weeks to fill a role, and the recruitment fee they typically pay if they know it. From those it estimates the annual cost of people leaving, in four parts.
| Component | How it is estimated, per leaver | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Recruitment and hiring | The fee entered, or 15% of salary if none was | Stated assumption. The low end of an agency fee. |
| Covering the vacancy | 80% of salary, for the weeks the role stays open | Stated assumption. Overtime, cover and work not done. |
| Time to full productivity | 60% of salary, across 28 weeks unless the client gives a different figure | Stated assumption. |
| Induction and training | 8% of salary | Stated assumption. Induction time, line manager hours, materials. |
These are estimates built from the client's own numbers, not audited costs, and both editions of the report say so. Change any input and the total moves with it. The report deliberately quotes no UK average turnover rate: the figures in circulation measure different things from different samples in different years, and a single national number flatters some businesses and alarms others without telling either anything useful.
Pulse Surveys
Three anonymous surveys, each answered on a scale of one to five. Every result is an average across everyone who replied. A three is not a pass mark; it is the middle of the scale.
Team Pulse
Ten areas of working life, which roll up into four enablers of engagement:
| Enabler | Made up of |
|---|---|
| Strategic narrative | Understanding company direction, Customer communication |
| Engaging managers | Leading people, Giving feedback, Having difficult conversations, Managing performance, Recruitment and interviewing |
| Employee voice | Time management, Using workplace technology |
| Organisational integrity | Wellbeing and resilience |
An enabler averaging 4 or above shows green, 3 to 3.9 amber, and under 3 red. The survey also asks how likely each person is to recommend the business as a place to work, from 0 to 10. People answering 9 or 10 are promoters, 7 or 8 passive, and 0 to 6 detractors. The eNPS is the percentage of promoters minus the percentage of detractors, so it runs from minus 100 to plus 100: 50 and above is world class, 30 to 49 excellent, 10 to 29 good, 0 to 9 developing, and below 0 at risk.
Wellbeing Pulse and Manager Pulse
Each has a set of areas, and each area is weighted because they do not all matter equally. An area's score is its average answer expressed as a percentage of the scale, so an average of 3 is 50. The index out of 100 is the weighted average of the areas.
| Wellbeing Pulse area | Weight |
|---|---|
| Workload & demands | 25% |
| Support | 20% |
| Control & autonomy | 15% |
| Relationships | 15% |
| Change | 15% |
| Role clarity | 10% |
| Manager Pulse area | Weight |
|---|---|
| Capability & confidence | 25% |
| Support from above | 20% |
| Time & capacity | 20% |
| Training & guidance | 15% |
| Role clarity | 10% |
| Sustainability | 10% |
The Wellbeing Index reads 75 and above as healthy, 50 to 74 coping, 30 to 49 strained, and under 30 at risk. The Manager Confidence Index reads the same ranges as confident, developing, stretched and exposed. The Wellbeing Pulse also asks three questions on energy, switching off and feeling drained, reported separately as burnout signals: an average of 3.75 or above is low risk, 2.75 to 3.74 moderate, and under 2.75 elevated. Each survey ends with one direct question, scored 0 to 10, reported on its own.
Master Report and the People Index
The Master Report brings a client's completed diagnostics together. Its People Index is a weighted blend of whichever have been run: the People Health Check score at 40%, the pulse survey enabler average at 30%, the eNPS at 15%, and the turnover rate at 15%. Missing tools are left out and the remaining weights are scaled up, so the index moves when a tool is added even if nothing has changed, and it is not comparable between two businesses that have run different tools. The consultant edition says all of this before the number is quoted.
Benchmarks, and why reports print none
No published benchmark exists for overall people practice maturity in UK small businesses, so the reports do not invent one. Every figure a report prints either names its source and date or says plainly that it is an assumption.
Each completed People Health Check adds one anonymised result to a pool: the scores, and nothing that identifies the business, the respondent or the consultant. Once thirty real businesses are in the pool, reports will say where a score sits among them, in thirds. Until then they say nothing, because a comparison drawn from a handful of results would be a statistic nobody should put their name to.
Anonymity and what is stored
Pulse survey answers are stored with no name, email address or IP address, and are only ever reported as averages across the group. The People Health Check and the Staff Turnover Calculator are completed by the business owner and are not anonymous: the answers go to the consultant who sent the link, and to nobody else. The privacy notice sets out the detail.