Pulse is a lightweight tool within 15Five's Check-ins feature that helps managers and HR teams track employee sentiment in real time. Included at the top of every Check-in, the Pulse question asks employees, "How did you feel at work since your last Check-in?" on a simple 1–5 scale. Over time, Pulse data builds a powerful picture of engagement trends across individuals, teams, and the organization.
In this article, you will learn...
- What is Pulse? 🧠
- Visibility for Pulse 🔒
- Where Does Pulse Appear in 15Five? 📍
- Best Practices for Using Pulse ✅
- Related Articles 📖
Access and availability
⛔️ Required access to Check-ins.
👥 This article is relevant to all roles.
📦 This feature is available in the Perform, Legacy Focus, and Total Platform pricing packages.
What is Pulse? 🧠
Pulse is a recurring question at the top of every Check-in that asks: "How did you feel at work since your last Check-in?" As employees complete their Check-ins, they respond to the Pulse question using a 1–5 scale with the option to add a written response.
This quick, subjective response gives managers and leaders a consistent signal of how people are feeling—and can help identify morale shifts before they escalate into bigger challenges.
From there, the Pulse Dashboard in Check-ins feature reporting aggregates the data, giving you insight into how your team and organization are feeling, so you can help them feel their best. Learn how to use the Pulse Dashboard →
Visibility for Pulse 🔒
Pulse answers—both the numerical rating (1–5) and any optional comments—are part of an employee’s Check-in. That means visibility into Pulse responses follows the same rules as Check-in visibility.
Tip
Visit the "Who can see my Check-ins" page to see a list of everyone who has permission to view your Check-ins.
People who can view your Check-in can also see your Pulse response and any public comment you leave. This includes:
- Your Reviewer (manager) and anyone above them in the hierarchy.
- Group members, if group visibility or drill-down is enabled. Learn more about group visibility →
- Followers you’ve approved to view your Check-ins. Learn how to add a follower →
- Global Viewers: This role grants special access that allows them to view the Check-ins of everyone in your organization. This permission is typically for HR teams, leadership, and/or administrators. Learn how to make someone a Global Viewer →
Tip
You can make a qualitative Pulse response visible to only your manager by clicking the lock icon in the comment field.
The Pulse Dashboard provides a centralized view of how people are feeling across the organization. Access and visibility are controlled by Pulse settings.
- Account admins can always view all Pulse ratings across the org.
- If settings allow, other roles can access the dashboard—but they’ll only see data for people whose Check-ins they already have permission to view.
- Comments are visible on the Pulse Dashboard—but only if the viewer has Check-in access to the person who submitted the response and the response isn't marked as private.
Note
Admins can choose whether the Pulse Dashboard is visible only to admins or to all users with 15Five permissions. Manage Pulse settings →
Where Does Pulse Appear in 15Five? 📍
📝 Check-ins
Pulse appears at the top of every Check-in. Managers can view this response when reviewing Check-ins and use it to guide 1-on-1s or follow-up conversations. How to review a Check-in →
📊 Pulse Dashboard
This dashboard allows you to view average pulse by individual, group, or company, pulse distribution, and trends over time. Explore Pulse Dashboard reporting →
📈 HR Outcomes Dashboard
If your organization hasn’t yet launched an engagement campaign, the Engagement Tile on the HR Outcomes Dashboard will automatically display Average Pulse in Check-ins as the primary engagement signal. This ensures you still have a view into morale trends while preparing to collect deeper engagement insights through a full campaign.
The dashboard also includes two powerful Data Insights powered by Pulse:
- Top Performers and Pulse: Tracks how your top performers are feeling based on their responses to the Pulse question ("How did you feel at work since your last Check-in?"). This insight helps you spot signs of burnout or disengagement in your most valuable employees, so you can take action early.
- Pulse: Visualizes overall employee morale over time, based on the most recent Pulse scores submitted through Check-ins. This insight helps you monitor company-wide sentiment and identify early warning signs of disengagement.
Note
These Pulse Data Insights are only available if your organization has held an engagement campaign. If you haven’t, you’ll still be able to view Pulse data in the Engagement Scorecard, where you can apply filters to explore trends.
Learn how engagement is measured in the HR Outcomes Dashboard →
Best Practices for Using Pulse ✅
- 🌟 Pair Pulse with engagement campaigns for deeper insight. Pulse offers a quick read on how people are feeling, but engagement campaigns uncover why. To understand what’s driving morale, motivation, or disengagement, run engagement surveys that highlight focus areas and guide targeted action. Learn how to launch an engagement campaign →
- Encourage consistency. Pulse works best when it’s part of a regular rhythm. Encourage employees to submit Check-ins on time and treat the Pulse question as a moment to reflect—this consistency helps surface meaningful trends over time.
- Use low scores as a prompt for conversation. A low Pulse rating shouldn’t be ignored—it’s an opportunity to dig deeper. Managers can use 1-on-1s to ask supportive, open-ended questions and better understand what’s driving the score.
- Reinforce psychological safety. Let your team know that Pulse is a tool for support, not surveillance. When people feel safe being honest, you unlock insights that help build stronger relationships and healthier teams.
- Look for patterns—not one-offs. Use the Pulse Dashboard to track sentiment trends across individuals, teams, and time periods. One low score might just be a bad day, but recurring dips are a signal to act early before issues escalate.