The GAIS model is:
Continuously validated: The model is regularly updated and validated by the Job Satisfaction Knowledge Centre, ensuring it reflects the latest research and workplace trends.
Research-Based: Since 2015, the model has been refined through comprehensive data collection and analysis conducted as part of the Danish “Job Satisfaction Index.”
Developed in Denmark: The model was created and tested in the Danish labor market, making it especially relevant in Nordic work cultures. However, its core principles have broad international applicability.
A fixed questionnaire – for a reason
Unlike many employee surveys where you build your own questionnaire, GAIS uses a fixed set of core questions. This structure is intentional and provides several benefits:
- It creates a shared language and reference framework within organizations.
- It enables tracking of trends over time.
- It supports benchmarking across industries and sectors. Learn more here.
Organizations can still add custom questions to explore specific themes or challenges. GAIS offers a curated library of additional question modules as well.
The seven key factors
The seven factors GAIS measures are based on extensive research. Initially, 72 potential drivers of work satisfaction were identified through studies conducted by the Job Satisfaction Knowledge Centre and the Happiness Research Institute. These were distilled into the seven most impactful factors used in the GAIS model today.
In collaboration with Kantar Gallup, the importance of these factors was first tested in 2015 on 2,500 representative Danish workers. Since then, over 30,000 employees have participated in national studies validating the model.
These seven factors consistently explain a large portion of what drives employee engagement across industries, job types, genders, and regions. They are a strong starting point for any organization aiming to improve workplace wellbeing.
The structure of the model
The model used by GAIS to measure job satisfaction looks like this: it illustrates the relationship between a dependent variable (job satisfaction) and a number of independent variables (the seven factors). Simply put, it shows how seven factors influence an overarching factor, job satisfaction. The Job Satisfaction Index also explores how job satisfaction affects happiness or overall life satisfaction.
The Job Satisfaction Index measures two things in relation to job satisfaction and the seven factors: temperature and impact.
Score – how are things going?
The score indicates how satisfied a respondent is with their overall employee engagement and with each of the seven factors.
When participants respond to the GAIS survey, they select a value on a scale from 0–10 for each question, where 0 means “not at all” and 10 means “to a very high degree.” This type of scale is widely used to capture attitudes and opinions that can’t be answered with a simple yes or no.
A factor’s score reflects how satisfied the respondent is with that factor overall. It’s calculated as the average of the scores given to the individual questions that make up the factor. For example, the score for the Purpose factor is the average of all questions related to that topic.
The overall employee engagement score is not the average of the seven factor scores. Since job satisfaction is a dependent variable, it is measured separately through five specific questions aimed directly at capturing overall employee engagement.
So, it’s entirely possible for someone’s overall employee enagement score to be higher or lower than the average of their scores across the seven factors. This indicates that elements outside the seven factors may significantly raise or lower the respondent’s overall employee engagement.
Impact – what drives employee engagement the most?
Impact tells us how much influence a given factor has on job satisfaction. Let’s say a fictional person, Esben, scores 50 on Mastery and has an overall job satisfaction score of 70. The next time he completes the survey, his Mastery score increases by 10 points. Based on data from the Job Satisfaction Index, we know that Mastery has an impact value of 2.9. This means that if Esben is similar to the average person, his improved Mastery score would raise his overall employee engagement by 2.9 points.
In the Job Satisfaction Index, these impact values are calculated figures. The complex calculations are performed by Kantar Gallup/Epinion.
GAIS itself does not use these calculated impacts. Instead, survey participants are asked to prioritize the importance of the seven factors. This prioritization is used, for example, in GAIS’s Focus Map.
Calculation model used
The model used by Kantar Gallup and Epinion for impact calculations is a type of Structural Equation Modelling, a methodology that combines regression and factor analysis. The model calculates the relationships between the dependent variable (employee engagement) and the independent variables (the seven factors).
The quality of the model is continually monitored by Kantar Gallup/Epinion through exploratory and confirmatory analyses of data from the Job Satisfaction Index.
Factor surveys: deep dive options
With a factor-specific surbey, you can examine one of the job satisfaction factors in depth. Each factor typically contains multiple dimensions, offering a detailed view of how respondents experience that factor.
One example is the Purpose factor surbey. This factor is broken down into four dimensions, with specific questions assigned to each.
These factor-specific measurements function just like a standard GAIS survey. They can be used at both the individual and organizational level. All results are supported by selected tools, articles, and guides.
The factor measurements are based on research, insights, and experience from the Job Satisfaction Knowledge Centre, which has studied the individual job satisfaction factors in depth across the Danish population.
Read more about the Purpose factor survey
Read more about the Leadership factor survey
A future-proof model
This has been a brief look into the knowledge foundation that GAIS is built on. With a strong partner in the Job Satisfaction Knowledge Centre, GAIS is grounded in a proven model – both now and into the future. It’s a model not only based on solid foundations but one that is continuously validated and adapted to reflect an ever-changing work environment.
In addition to the Job Satisfaction Index, the Knowledge Centre regularly publishes reports and studies on various aspects of job satisfaction. These publications are freely available, and all GAIS users are warmly invited to explore this world of knowledge.
