Pay is a dissatisfier, not a satisfier
Across decades of research, pay behaves asymmetrically: unfair pay reliably makes people miserable, while fair pay does very little to make them happy. That is why a 4 on pay with 1s on autonomy and manager still lands in the poor-fit band — and why a raise rarely fixes a job people have already checked out of.
The manager item predicts more than the company item
In large-scale engagement data, variance between teams inside a single company routinely exceeds variance between companies. If your manager item is low and everything else is high, the fix may be an internal move rather than a resignation.
FAQ
Should I quit if I score low?
Not automatically. Score it again after naming which two items are lowest and asking whether they are negotiable — a lot of low scores are one fixable structural problem wearing a trench coat.
Is this an employee engagement survey?
It is built on the same evidence base as one, but it is for you, not your employer, and nobody else sees the result.
How often should I retake it?
Quarterly. Trend beats snapshot — a job dropping ten points over two quarters is a much stronger signal than a bad week.
How this calculator is built
Independently maintained
Written by Sam Doshi and the RevenueLab editorial team. We don't sell the data feeds this tool is built on.
Sourced from primary data
Benchmarks come from public AdSense / Stripe / IRS disclosures and reader-submitted data — never third-party "$X per view" claims. Full methodology.
Last editorial review
Reviewed on a rolling quarterly cycle. Dated reviews are published on the methodology record for each calculator.
Editorial standards
See our editorial policy and disclaimer. Results are estimates, not advice.