How the Numbers in the GAIS Report Are Calculated

GAIS is built on a solid calculation model. Get an insight into how the numbers in the GAIS report are calculated.

The model for measuring job satisfaction that the GAIS wellbeing survey is built on looks like this. 

It expresses the relationship between a dependent variable (job satisfaction) and a number of independent variables (the seven factors). Or put more simply: It shows how seven factors influence one overall factor, namely job satisfaction.

Read more about the validity of the model here.

Scores on a scale from 0-10

When participants answer the GAIS survey, they choose a value for each question on a scale from 0-10, where 0 corresponds to "not at all" and 10 to "to a very high degree". 

GAIS uses the same response scale as the Job Satisfaction Index, which forms the research foundation for GAIS. 

Scale-based answers are widely used to measure attitudes and opinions that cannot simply be answered with a yes or no. Compared to binary questions, which only offer two response options (yes/no), scale questions provide more detailed feedback on how employees are doing. 

Other systems use a five- or seven-point scale, but we have chosen an 11-point scale, as this is the standard in happiness research, which the Knowledge Centre for Job Satisfaction draws on methodologically. The 11-point scale therefore gives a more nuanced picture than if, for example, a 5-point scale had been chosen.

What do the scores tell us?

What each participant means by a score of, say, 4 or 8 is of course individual. It can depend on demographics, company culture, personality and more. However, the Knowledge Centre for Job Satisfaction bases its research on the following divisions:

> Score of 0-6: Attention is needed here.

>  Score of 7: Things are going well, but there is room for improvement.

>  Score of 8: The employee is happy and satisfied.

> Score of 9-10: The employee is very satisfied and is a good ambassador

A factor's score is a calculated average

A factor's score expresses how satisfied the respondent is with the factor as a whole. The factor's score is an average of the scores on the individual questions that make up the factor.

An example: If the respondent Lars has scored 7, 8 and 5 respectively on the three balance questions in the survey, his overall balance score will be 6.66 points. This is rounded to the nearest whole number using standard rounding rules - in this case to 7. If we look at, for example, the distribution chart, Lars´ answer would be placed here: 
 

In a company survey, a factor's overall score is the average of the respondents' answers in the company or in the segments you have created.

Job satisfaction is NOT an average of the factors' scores

The overall job satisfaction score is not an average of the scores on the seven factors. The job satisfaction score is calculated as an average of the scores on five questions asked directly about overall job satisfaction. In other words, overall job satisfaction is captured in a separate set of questions.

So you could easily imagine a case where overall job satisfaction is higher than the average score on the seven factors. That would mean there are elements outside the seven factors that significantly lift the respondent's overall score.

The opposite can of course also happen - that overall job satisfaction is lower than the average of the seven factors. In that case, there are elements outside the seven factors that significantly pull the overall score down.

See the full GAIS questionnaire here. 

Importance of the factors

In the GAIS survey, respondents are asked to prioritise the importance of the seven factors. All the factors must be ranked according to how important they are to the respondent's wellbeing. In the GAIS report's Focus Card, this prioritisation is compared with the respondent's scores on the seven factors - creating a visual picture of where there is the greatest potential in focusing your efforts. 

The Focus Card is shown at individual level in the personal report and at company or segment level in the overall report. 

Read more about how the GAIS model is structured here.