This information is now out of date. We've improved how data import works
and will update this help guide shortly.
Using Data Import, you can easily add and update large numbers of people within
your account. We provide a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet template which you can download,
fill in, and then upload. Data Import also shows you exactly what it will do before
making any changes to your data, giving you confidence that the imported data is
correct.
Hint: Data Import is only accessible to the Account Owner, and any Account
Administrators.
Step 1: Downloading the template
Firstly, you need to download the 'Data Import Spreadsheet' to your computer, just
as you would any other file from the Internet. We ask you to use our template (rather
than putting together your own spreadsheet) to ensure that we understand the data
that you're importing.
Step 2: Filling in the data
Next, you'll need to open the template you've downloaded in Microsoft Excel (or
a similar program that understands Excel spreadsheets) and populate it with the
information about your people.
You only need to fill in the First Name and Last Name columns
for each person, but of course the more data you fill in, the more useful the web
site becomes.
The following is a description of each of the columns, with details about how to
fill them in:
- Unique Identifier:
This column provides a way for us to identify an individual within your account,
even if there are others with same name. You can enter almost anything you like
here (text, numbers, codes), so long as it is guaranteed to be different for each
person, and will not change over time. Examples include: employee number,
payroll number, HRIS ID. If you are likely to perform repeated imports for large
numbers of people, we strongly recommend that you fill this in for all
people within your account.
- First Name:
The person's first name. This must be filled in. If a Unique Identifier is not provided,
we use this (along with the Last Name) to find existing people to update within
your account.
- Last Name:
The person's last name. This must also be filled in. If a Unique Identifier is not
provided, we use this (along with the First Name) to find existing people to update
within your account.
- Title:
The person's current job title. e.g. HR Manager, CEO.
- Gender:
Enter 'Male' or 'Female'.
- Date Of Birth:
Enter in the following format: dd/mm/yyyy.
- Date Joined Organisation:
The date that the person joined your organisation. Enter in the following format:
dd/mm/yyyy.
- Date Started Current Job:
The date that the person started their current job/role. Enter in the following
format: dd/mm/yyyy.
- Relationship:
Indicates whether the person is Internal (e.g. salaried employee) or External (e.g.
consultant/competitor), and defaults to 'Internal' if not specified. Enter 'Internal'
or 'External'.
- Function:
Their function within your organisation - e.g. Human Resources, IT, Finance. Values
entered here are matched against existing functions in your account, and if a match
is not found a new function will be created.
- Level:
Their current level within the organisation - e.g. Manager, Executive. Values entered
must match those used in your account, whether the defaults, or your customized
names.
- Location:
The person's location for their current role. Values entered here are matched against
existing locations in your account, and if a match is not found a new location will
be created.
- Organisation:
The organisation/division to which the person belongs. Again, values entered here
are matched against existing locations in your account, and if a match is not found
a new organisation will be created.
- Manager Unique Identifier:
The unique identifier of the person's manager, if they have one. If you enter this
field, you don't have to specify the (first and last) names as well, but if you
do they must match the name of the person with this Unique Identifier.
- Organisation:
The organisation/division to which the person belongs. Again, values entered here
are matched against existing locations in your account, and if a match is not found
a new organisation will be created.
- Organisation:
The organisation/division to which the person belongs. Again, values entered here
are matched against existing locations in your account, and if a match is not found
a new organisation will be created.
Step 3: Upload your populated spreadsheet
Save your spreadsheet to disk, then choose it as the file you wish to upload and
click 'Upload My Data'. The web site then analyses your spreadsheet and displays
a summary of what changes the import will make.
You can click on the links to see the more detail, including the following:
- New people to be added
- Existing people to be updated
- New functions to be added
- New locations to be added
- New organisations to be added
- People in the spreadsheet who have been excluded from the import, with details of
the reason(s)
How do I update existing people using Data Import?
When you upload a spreadsheet to be imported, we look to see if it contains details
of any existing people in your account. Any matching people will be be treated as
updates, rather than being imported as 'new' people.
Bear in mind that data that is missing the spreadsheet is treated as 'not specified',
and your existing person will be updated accordingly: for example, if an existing
person in your account has a function of 'Finance', you must fill in the Function
column when you perform the import to update this person, otherwise their function
will be changed to 'Not Specified'.
The following rules are used to match people to update:
- If the record in the spreadsheet contains a Unique Identifier, we look for
an existing person in your account with the same Unique Identifier. This allows
you to update a person's name using Data Import.
- If the record in the spreadsheet doesn't contain a Unique Identifier,
we look for an existing person in your account with the same unique First Name
and Last Name, and without a Unique Identifier. If multiple people in your
account have matching names, we won't import that record from the spreadsheet.
Without providing Unique Identifiers for your people, you can't use Data Import
to update a person's name or update multiple people with the same name, and you
also run the risk of mistakenly updating the wrong person if you have more than
one with the same name.
If you might have multiple people with the same name, we recommend you give each
person a Unique Identifier.