From Yearly Checks to Daily Progress: Evaluating Goal Attainment Scaling (GAS) in Systematic Work Environment Management (SAM) Within the Municipal Sector

NCT06893471 | Enrolling By Invitation

• 2 other identifiers: 20240063 (AFA-grant)20240063
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 45
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The goal of this project is to evaluate a practical method for improving systematic work environment management (SAM) by focusing on health-promoting factors rather than identifying risk-factors, and deficiencies. It will also explore how Goal Attainment Scaling (GAS) can support goal-setting and evaluation within SAM. The main questions it aims to answer are:

• Which health-promoting factors are prioritized, and what organizational-level initiatives are developed?
• How does using GAS influence goal achievement related to health-promoting factors?
• How do employees, managers, and HR representatives perceive the use of GAS?
• What factors help or hinder the implementation of GAS and goal attainment? Participants will: Apply GAS within their organizations to set and evaluate goals Engage in a participatory process to identify key health-promoting factors Assess progress and the impact of interventions over time Researchers will analyze the effectiveness of GAS in enhancing SAM (experiment vs control group) and develop tools to support sustainable, healthy workplaces in the municipal sector.

Conditions

Behavior Change Interventions; Work Environment Adverse Effects; Health Factors; Goal Attainment Scaling

Keywords

Goal Attainment Scaling (GAS); Systematic work engagement management (SAM); group level; municipal sector; goal setting; RCT; health factors; Step Wedge Design

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Employee survey results

  The results from the annual employee survey will be the primary outcome in this study. The municipality uses e.g., HME index from Sveriges Kommuner och Regioner (SKR) and are developing specific items for measuring health factors built on research based questions. 1. Fair and transparent organization: Colquitt, 2001; COPSOQIII; Rawlins, 2008 2. Leadership (present, trusting, engaging): Carless et al. 2000 3. Participation and influence: Astvik et al. 2020; QPS Nordic 4. Communication and feedback: Astvik et al. 2020 5. Prioritization of work tasks: Astvik et al. 2020; COPSOQIII; Semmer et al. 2007; Åkerblom et al. 2021 6. Lifelong competence development: COPSOQIII; Singer et al. 2012; OSA 7. Systematic work environment management in daily practice: Berthelsen et al. 2020 8. Early interventions and work adjustments: COPSOQIII Responses are rated on a five point (1-5) Likert-scale (higher score better outcome)

  From enrollment to the end of treatment at 2 years

Study Arms (2)

Control group

NO INTERVENTION

Business-as-usual condition: This group follows established processes for systematic work engagement management (SAM) We will employ a randomization approach using a two-arm stepped-wedge design. This design allows for a sequential roll-out of the intervention across study arms while maintaining a randomized allocation schedule. The stepped-wedge approach ensures that all participants eventually receive the intervention, while still permitting valid between-group comparisons at different time points. Importantly, this design also enables the inclusion of an additional measurement point, which will strengthen our ability to assess both short-term and longer-term intervention effects.

Experiment group

EXPERIMENTAL

Works with Goal Attainment Scaling (GAS) as part of systematic work engagement management (SAM) We will employ a randomization approach using a two-arm stepped-wedge design. This design allows for a sequential roll-out of the intervention across study arms while maintaining a randomized allocation schedule. The stepped-wedge approach ensures that all participants eventually receive the intervention, while still permitting valid between-group comparisons at different time points. Importantly, this design also enables the inclusion of an additional measurement point, which will strengthen our ability to assess both short-term and longer-term intervention effects.

Other: GAS for SAM

Interventions

GAS for SAM OTHER

This study adapts Goal Attainment Scaling (GAS) for group-level goal setting within systematic work environment management. Developed collaboratively with organizational stakeholders, the method is: Tailormade - Allows flexibility in defining and scaling goals. Co-created - Encourages ownership and employee involvement. Standardized - Uses a five-level scale (-2 to +2) for tracking progress and enabling comparisons. Data-driven - Includes a Progress Graph for systematic follow-up and documentation of goals and initiatives. Managers in the experiment group will receive training before implementation begins

Experiment group

Eligibility Criteria

• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Child (0-17), Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• work unit must have \>3 employees, working within municipal sector, no other major organizational changes

You may not qualify if:

• Units with \<3 employees, other major organizational changes

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Karolinska Institutet: lead
• Mälardalen University: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

Hudiksvall municipality

Hudiksvall, Gävleborg County, 824 91, Sweden

Location

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Occupational Stress

Interventions

S-Adenosylmethionine

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Occupational Diseases; Stress, Psychological; Behavioral Symptoms; Behavior

Intervention Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Methionine; Amino Acids, Sulfur; Sulfur Compounds; Organic Chemicals; Adenosine; Purine Nucleosides; Purines; Heterocyclic Compounds, 2-Ring; Heterocyclic Compounds, Fused-Ring; Heterocyclic Compounds; Amino Acids; Amino Acids, Peptides, and Proteins; Nucleosides; Nucleic Acids, Nucleotides, and Nucleosides; Ribonucleosides

Study Officials

• Ulrica von Thiele Schwarz, Professor in Psychology

  Mälardalen University

  STUDY CHAIR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: PREVENTION
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Principal Investigator

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: March 18, 2025
• First Posted: March 25, 2025
• Study Start: August 15, 2024
• Primary Completion (Estimated): December 31, 2027
• Study Completion (Estimated): December 31, 2027
• Last Updated: October 1, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-09

Locations

SE (1)