Tracking Initiative Impact with Historic Trend

The Historic Trend view lets you track the impact your initiatives have on employee sentiment in real time. By marking milestones on your trend line, layering in measurement pillars, and setting target lines, you can see exactly how your actions translate into changes in sentiment over time — turning the question "did it work?" into something you can actually measure.

Who this is for: Managers and Administrators

Read time: 5 minutes

Why use Historic Trend?

A single survey tells you how people feel right now. Historic Trend tells you the story over time — and, crucially, lets you connect that story to the things you've done. With this view you can:

Mark milestones — pin the date of an initiative (a new policy, a leadership change, a wellbeing programme) directly onto the trend line.
See the before and after — watch how sentiment moved in the period following a milestone.
Focus on specific pillars — layer in the measurement pillars most relevant to your initiative.
Set targets — track progress against a goal line, not just against the past.

Prerequisites

You must be a Manager or Administrator.
Survey data must exist across multiple points in time for a trend to display.

Part 1 — Adding milestones

Milestones mark a moment in time on your trend line — typically the launch of an initiative — so you can see how sentiment moved afterwards.

Step 1 — Open Historic Trend

Navigate to Historic Trend in Analytics.

Step 2 — Open milestone editing

Select Edit Milestones.

Step 3 — Add a milestone

Select Add a Milestone.

Step 4 — Populate and save

Populate the Milestone (a short, clear label), select the Date, and Save changes.

Tip: Name milestones clearly and specifically — "Launched flexible rostering" is more useful than "New policy". When you look back in six months, you'll want to know exactly what each marker represents.

Part 2 — Adding pillars for measurement

Layering in measurement pillars lets you focus the trend on the themes most relevant to your initiative.

Step 1 — Show pillars

Select Show Pillars.

Step 2 — Select the pillars to display

Check the box for each pillar you want to display, then select Show These Pillars.

Tip: Match your pillars to your initiative. If you launched a learning programme, show the Learning & Development pillar to see whether that specific area moved — rather than relying on the overall score, which may dilute the signal.

Part 3 — Adding target lines to track sentiment

Target lines give you a goal to track against, so you can see at a glance whether sentiment is heading where you want it to.

Step 1 — Open target line editing

Select Edit Target Lines.

Step 2 — Set and save your target

Populate the target measurement tracker and select Save Target Lines.

Tip: Set targets that are ambitious but realistic. A target line that sits just above your current trend gives your team a meaningful goal; one set impossibly high can be demotivating and make genuine progress look like failure.

Putting it together

The real power of Historic Trend comes from combining all three:

Mark a milestone when you launch an initiative.
Show the pillar most relevant to that initiative.
Set a target line for where you want that pillar to get to.

Now, as future surveys come in, you can see in one view whether the pillar is moving in the right direction after the milestone, and how it's tracking against your target. That's a complete, evidence-based picture of whether your initiative is working.

Tips and best practices

Add milestones as they happen. Don't wait — mark initiatives on the timeline when you launch them, while the date and detail are fresh.
Give changes time to land. Sentiment rarely shifts overnight. Allow at least one or two survey cycles after a milestone before judging its impact.
Be careful attributing cause. A milestone marks correlation, not proof of cause. If sentiment moves after an initiative, investigate before claiming credit — other factors may be at play.
Use pillars to isolate signal. The overall score can mask movement in a specific area. Showing the relevant pillar gives you a much clearer read on a targeted initiative.
Review trends with leadership. The milestone-and-target view is a compelling way to show leadership the return on people initiatives.
Keep the chart readable. Showing too many pillars at once makes the trend hard to read. Display only the pillars relevant to the question you're asking.

Troubleshooting

My trend line is flat or has gaps.
Historic Trend needs survey data across multiple points in time. Gaps usually mean no comparable survey ran in that period, or the questions changed so they can't be trended together. Consistent, recurring surveys produce the cleanest trends.

I added a milestone but can't see it.
Confirm you saved the changes and that the milestone's date falls within the period currently displayed on the chart. Adjust the date range if needed.

A pillar I want isn't available to show.
Pillars come from questions mapped to measurement pillars (via the Question Bank or ready-made surveys). If a pillar isn't showing, your surveys may not include questions mapped to it.

The trend didn't move after my initiative.
This is useful information, not a failure of the tool. It may mean the initiative needs more time, needs adjustment, or wasn't addressing the real driver. Use the relevant pillar and comments to understand why.

My target line disappeared.
Reopen Edit Target Lines and confirm the target value is populated and saved. Re-enter it if needed.

Can I add more than one milestone or target?
Yes — add a milestone for each initiative you want to track, and set target lines for the measures that matter. Just keep the view readable by not over-cluttering the chart.