This article walks through your options for creating custom attributes. When you get started with 15Five, you'll notice that some attributes—like name, email, location, and timezone—are included on employee account settings pages by default. But every organization has unique data it wants to track. That’s where custom attributes come in. Custom attributes let you create and manage people data that’s specific to your organization, like certification level, role level, or even T-shirt size! Use them to power segmentation in reporting, support strategic analysis, or simply keep your employee records up to date.
In this article, you will learn...
Access and availability
⛔️ Required access to the "Manage people" page.
👥 This article is relevant to Account Admins.
📦 This feature is available in all pricing packages.
Note
Once you've created a custom attribute, you can populate it for employees by following these steps →
How to Create a Custom Attribute 🧩
There are two ways to create custom attributes in 15Five: from the Attributes page and via Bulk Import. Each of these options offers unique advantages depending on your workflow. Choose the option that works best for you based on how many attributes you're adding and when you want to populate them.
This option lets you create and populate multiple custom attributes at once—a great choice if you're importing lots of data or onboarding your company for the first time.
- Click People in 15Five's main, left-hand navigation.
- Open the "Import" tab using the top navigation.
- Download your company's current employment structure by clicking the Download current structure button at the top of the page.
Tip
We suggest downloading two copies of your current structure: one to make edits to and upload, and another to keep in a safe place for re-upload in case any unintended changes are made.
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Prepare your CSV file. Remove all unnecessary columns from the CSV. The only required columns are email (to identify each person), plus any custom attribute columns you want to add or update.
- Columns for custom attributes that have already been created will appear on the far right-hand side of the CSV.
- To create new custom attributes, add new columns with the format custom_attribute_name (e.g., custom_department, custom_certification_level, custom_tshirt_size).
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Fill in your attribute values. Fill in the attribute information for each person. Supported formats are text and date (MM/DD/YYYY). Leave a cell blank if you don’t want to populate that attribute for a person.
Note
Attributes added via CSV will be visible and editable by account admins by default. To adjust visibility or edit permissions later, visit the Attributes page.
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Upload your CSV. Click Choose file at the bottom of the import page and select your saved CSV (must be in UTF-8 CSV format).
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Preview and confirm changes. After uploading, you’ll see a Preview import screen. Review all changes. If anything looks off, click Start over to cancel and return to the import page. Otherwise, click Finish import.
- What happens next? Depending on the size of your CSV, it may take up to 15 minutes for the import to complete. Once the import is complete, the attribute will appear in the "Other Attributes" section of the Attributes page and on employee account settings under "Additional information."
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Customize settings. When creating custom attributes via bulk import, they're added with default settings. To further customize these attributes—including adjusting visibility/editing permissions or making them available as filters in Engagement reporting or on the HR Outcomes Dashboard—go to the Attributes page, locate the attribute, and click “Edit.”
This method is great if you want to create one attribute at a time and configure detailed settings like name, format, description, and visibility.
- Click People in 15Five's main, left-hand navigation.
- Open the "Attributes" tab using the top navigation.
- Click on the Create a new attribute button. A form will open on the right-hand side of your page.
- Fill out a name, format, and description for your attribute. You can create the attribute to accept either text answers (a mix of letters and numbers) or dates (MM/DD/YYYY).
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Select the role types that will be able to see the attribute and/or edit its data. Account admins can always view and edit all custom attributes. Use the checkboxes to allow managers in a person’s hierarchy or everyone with access to that person’s settings to view or edit the attribute field.
Tip
For sensitive attributes (e.g., “Performance Level”), consider restricting visibility to Admins only.
- Next, determine whether or not you want the custom attrbute to be available as a filtering option on the HR Outcomes Dashboard and in Engagement survey reporting.
- Click Create attribute to save your changes.
- Once created, the attribute will appear in the "Other Attributes" section. You populate the attribute for employees one-off from their account settings or in bulk via bulk import CSV. Learn more →
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) ❓
You can view all custom attributes from the Attributes page in 15Five (People > Attributes). Scroll to the Other Attributes section—this is where custom attributes are listed.
From here, you can view attribute names, formats, and visibility settings. You can also edit or delete custom attributes as needed.
To edit or delete a custom attribute in 15Five:
- Go to the Attributes page (People → Attributes).
- Scroll down to the Other Attributes section.
- Click the ••• (three dots) next to the attribute you want to manage.
- Select Edit to update the name, description, format, or permissions, or choose Delete to permanently remove the attribute.
Note
Deleting an attribute will remove it from all employee profiles and cannot be undone. Be sure to download or save the data first if needed.
By default, Account Admins can view and edit all custom attributes. You can extend view/edit permissions to managers in a person’s hierarchy or to everyone with access to the person’s settings when creating or editing the attribute from the Attributes page.
You can populate custom attributes in two ways:
- One-off: Edit the field in an employee’s account settings.
- Bulk: Use the Bulk Import CSV tool to update multiple people at once.