Attributes are individual employee data fields — such as hire date, job title, gender, or location — used throughout 15Five to power reporting, filtering, segmentation, and lifecycle automation. This article explains what attributes are, how they are structured, and where they are used.
Feature Structure
All attributes are managed from People > Attributes. The page is divided into two sections:
- Core Attributes — Fields essential for analytics and reporting: Demographic, Hire Date, Job Title, and Location.
- Other Attributes — Additional fields including custom attributes, job information, and the High-Potential flag.
From the Attributes page, HR Admins can:
- View attribute coverage — the percentage of employees with each field populated
- Set permissions — control who can view or edit each attribute
- Enable filtering — choose whether an attribute appears in the HR Outcomes Dashboard or Engagement survey results
- Create, edit, or delete custom attributes
Attribute Types
15Five includes three attribute types:
| Type | Description | Examples | Who manages |
|---|---|---|---|
| Default | Built-in fields automatically included in 15Five | Job Title, Hire Date, Location, Email | HR Admins and Account Admins |
| Demographic | Sensitive identity-related fields for equity analysis | Gender, Race, Ethnicity, Birth Date, Salary | HR Admins only |
| Custom | Fields your organization creates for unique data needs | Certification Level, Employment Type | HR Admins |
Default attributes
Default attributes are built-in employee fields that form the foundation of people data in 15Five. They include First Name, Last Name, Email, Hire Date, Job Title, and Location. Default attributes can be populated via HRIS sync, bulk CSV import, or manual update on an individual employee record.
Demographic attributes
Demographic attributes include identity-related fields: Gender, Race, Ethnicity, Birth Date, and Salary. These fields must be explicitly enabled before use. Once enabled, they are visible to HR Admins only and can be populated via HRIS sync or bulk CSV import.
See for setup instructions.
Custom attributes
Custom attributes allow your organization to track data not included by default. They are configurable for format (text or date), permissions, and dashboard filtering. Custom attributes can be populated via bulk CSV import, HRIS integration, or manual update on an individual employee record.
Where Attributes Are Used
Attributes surface across 15Five in the following areas:
- HR Outcomes Dashboard — Filter and segment outcomes by tenure, role, location, or demographic group. Termination Date drives automatic turnover calculations.
- Engagement — Filter survey results by any enabled attribute. Hire Date can be used to exclude new hires from results.
- Performance Reviews — Filter review results by demographic data. Hire Date drives automatic lifecycle review triggers.
- Compensation — Job Title, Hire Date, Salary, and Performance Ratings provide context for compensation planning and pay equity analysis.
- Lifecycle Surveys — Hire Date and Termination Date trigger onboarding, milestone, and exit surveys automatically.
- Check-ins and Career Hub — Filter submission and participation data by department or demographic group. Job Title and role data populate career development fields.
Key Rules
- Demographic attributes are not included in company exports.
- Deleting a custom attribute removes it from all employee profiles permanently and cannot be undone.
- Custom attributes must exist in 15Five before HRIS custom field mapping can populate them.
- Blank cells in a CSV import leave the attribute unpopulated — no value is assigned or overwritten.
- Groups and attributes serve different purposes: groups are public and represent shared team characteristics; attributes are private, individual-level fields that include sensitive data.
What You Can Do
Set Up
Manage
- Populate Attributes via Bulk CSV Import
- Populate Attributes via HRIS Integration
- Edit or Delete a Custom Attribute
- Configure HRIS sync settings and run a data sync