Populate Attributes via Bulk CSV Import

Ben Pemstein Ben Pemstein
· Updated

Use a bulk CSV import to populate default, demographic, and custom attributes for multiple employees at once. When complete, updated attribute values appear on each employee's profile.

Before You Begin

  • You must have an HR Admin or Account Admin role.
  • To import demographic attributes, demographic data must be enabled first. See .
  • Prepare your CSV file using employee email addresses as the unique identifier.

Steps

Populate Default Attributes

  1. Open your CSV file in a spreadsheet editor.
  2. Delete all columns except email.
  3. Add one column for each default attribute you want to populate (for example, hiredate, jobtitle, location).
  4. Enter the attribute value for each employee row.
  5. Save the file as a CSV.
  6. Navigate to People → Manage People.
  7. Click Import and upload your CSV file.
  8. Confirm the import to apply changes.

Populate Demographic Attributes

  1. Open your CSV file in a spreadsheet editor.
  2. Delete all columns except email.
  3. Add only the demographic columns you want to populate. Use these exact column names:

- demographicsalary - demographicgender - demographicrace - demographicethnicity - demographicbirthdate

  1. Enter the attribute value for each employee row. Leave a cell blank to leave that field unpopulated.
  2. Save the file as a CSV.
  3. Navigate to People → Manage People.
  4. Click Import and upload your CSV file.
  5. Confirm the import to apply changes.

Populate Custom Attributes

  1. Open your CSV file in a spreadsheet editor.
  2. Delete all columns except email.
  3. Add one column for each custom attribute using the format customattributename (for example, customcertificationlevel, customtshirtsize).
  4. Enter the attribute value for each employee row. Leave a cell blank to leave that field unpopulated for that employee.
  5. Save the file as a CSV.
  6. Navigate to People → Manage People.
  7. Click Import and upload your CSV file.
  8. Confirm the import to apply changes.

If Something Goes Wrong

Issue Check Fix
Demographic columns not accepted Confirm demographic attributes are enabled in Settings → Features → People Attributes Enable demographic attributes before importing
Custom attribute column not recognized Confirm the column name matches the format customattributename exactly Rename the column and re-upload
Employee rows not updated Confirm the email column contains exact matches to employee email addresses in 15Five Correct email values and re-upload
Blank cells overwriting existing values Blank cells leave fields unpopulated — they do not clear existing values unless the system treats empty as a clear Remove columns you do not intend to update rather than leaving them blank

Not Covered Here

This article covers CSV import only — for HRIS sync or manual one-at-a-time attribute updates, see the related articles below.

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