WorkForce People allows employee data to be imported using Microsoft Excel to facilitate data entry involving large amounts of data. 

The process to import employees' data involves the following 3 simple steps:

• Step 1: Generating a blank Excel template
• Step 2: Make the necessary updates to the template
• Step 3: Importing the Excel template

Step 1: Generating a blank Excel template

1. Launch the WorkForce People module, click on Employees and then on Import from the left-hand side menu.
2. Click on the Basic Fields tab
3. Select the Fields that you would like to extract in your Template. The minimum required fields to create an employee on WorkForce are:
   • Employee Number
   • First Name
   • Last Name
   • Team
   • Engagement Date
     
     Note: As a shortcut, you can enable the 'Include Basic Required Fields' instead of selecting all the 5 fields mentioned above. If you select this checkbox, all these five fields are included in the template.
     
     
4. Leave the 'Select Employee' field empty if you since you are importing new employees
   
5. Set a name for your template in the Template Name text box.
   NOTE: All downloaded templates can be found in the Download Area tab (it is advisable that templates are given a name, so they are easier to find).
6. Click on Download Import Template to start generating your template.
7. Switch to the Download Area tab to view the download status. Once the Status shows 'Completed', you can proceed to download the template on your device by clicking on the Download button.
   

NOTE: Downloaded templates will be kept in the Download Area for a month, these can always be saved to the computer for future use.

Step 2: Make the necessary updates to the template

When you open the excel sheet you can see that it is divided into two sections:

• Columns A to E: These columns are restricted and cannot be edited. If you are importing new employees into your company, these columns will show as empty. This section will populate itself if you are using the template for bulk-editing purposes and there are already employees in the company.
• Columns F onwards: These columns will show the fields which you have selected in Step 1 above.

After populating your employees' data, save your template.

Step 3: Importing the Excel template

1. Launch the WorkForce People module, click on Employees and then on Import from the left-hand side menu.
2. Click on the Basic Fields tab
3. From the Upload Import File section, click on Add File and select your Excel document.
   
4. Click on the Fail import when one or more employees have a warning checkbox to stop the import when there is a warning. 
   Note: A warning is different from an error. When you encounter a warning, you would still be able to save your employee, however, the system will alert you that it has encountered an unexpected scenario. For example, the last two digits of the employee's birth year do not match the last two digits of the employee's ID Card number.
   
5. Switch to the Imports Queue tab to view the Import status. The import is completed once the Status shows 'Completed'. If there is an error, the system will provide you with an excel sheet with a description of the error and the respective line number in the template.
6.