Pilot study
Anonymised pilot: employment outcomes before an annual report
A community-sector program tested draft claims intended for board reporting against messy service and survey data — with limits visible before publication.
Client and program names are withheld. Metrics reflect one agreed pilot scope; your results depend on evidence quality and governance context. Product screenshots are illustrative unless labelled otherwise — see current status.
6 weeks (restricted scope)
Pilot length
12
Outcome statements reviewed
3
Blocked from external use
Executive Impact Summary (redacted)
Primary output
The challenge
A multi-site employment support program was preparing an annual report for its board and a place-based funder. Draft copy stated that the program had "transformed employment outcomes across the community." Survey exports, attendance logs, and case notes did not support population-wide or causal wording — but the narrative was already in slide decks.
What CIIS did
- Imported CSV survey and service extracts for the agreed reporting period.
- Structured twelve outcome statements with linked measures and evidence types.
- Ran evidence-support and shareability review with program leads and an external reviewer.
- Produced a CIIS Executive Impact Summary where evidence and review supported external use.
Before and after
Before
Weak claim
The initiative transformed employment outcomes across the community.
- Population-wide wording
- Causality implied
- No limitation on record
After CIIS review
Evidence-governed wording
Available survey and service data suggest improved employment-related indicators among participants who completed the program in the reporting period, with limits on comparability and coverage.
- Public use: Limited — caveats retained in board pack
- Key limitation: No comparison group
- Next action: Add follow-up wave or matched comparison where feasible
The impact
- Three statements marked internal-only or blocked before external release.
- Board pack used governed wording aligned to source extracts.
- Pilot recommendation: continue with narrowed scope on two sites; expand evidence collection for causal claims.
What this is not
This case study does not describe large-scale unstructured media analytics (news, social feeds, global policy corpora). That work sits under Impact Intelligence (separate consultancy). Impact Intelligence Lab focuses on CIIS — program evidence and defensible reporting for boards, funders, and public-purpose teams.
Test your weakest claim
Bring your weakest sentence and your evidence context. We will scope what is live today versus pilot work.
Test your weakest claim