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Storing People Data Use Case

Centralize and manage all of your employee information so it becomes your single source of truth. This article walks you through how to create custom fields, import data, manage information from the People Directory, and build custom reports.

Written by Efrat Barak Zadok

1. Create Custom Employee Fields

Before storing your people data, you can create custom fields that reflect the information your organization needs to track.

How to Create Custom Fields

  1. Click the three dots in the top right corner of your screen.

  2. Go to Account Settings → Employee Fields.

You can:

  • Create a new tab to store related information, or

  • Add fields to an existing tab.

Within any tab, you can:

  • Manually add sections of fields or tables, or

  • Use AI-generated field groups to save time.

Starting from an existing spreadsheet? Click Build your directory on the Employee Fields page and Shapes will propose a full field structure from your file for you to review and approve. See Building Your Directory and Importing Employees.

Using AI to Generate Field Groups

  1. Select Generate with AI.

  2. Use a suggested prompt or type your own (e.g., "Employee emergency contact details").

  3. Click on the purple button to generate.

The platform will create a group of fields (e.g., name, relationship, phone number), which you can fully customize.

2. Import Employee Data

You can import data to create new employees or update existing records.

How to Import Data

  1. Navigate to the People Directory.

  2. Click the three dots in the top-right corner → Import.

3. Upload your spreadsheet.

4. Make sure your file includes the required columns:

  • New employees: First Name, Last Name and Email Address.

  • Updating existing employees: Email Address only.

Map Your Data

Once uploaded:

  1. Review the proposed mapping of spreadsheet columns to employee fields and adjust it if needed.

  2. Fix any errors flagged per row, then click Import.

Your data will now populate directly into the relevant employee profiles.

For the full import walkthrough — including exporting validation errors, importing salary and job history, and effective dates — see Building Your Directory and Importing Employees.

3. Manage and Customize Your People Directory

The People Directory allows you to view, update, and organize your employee data.

Customizing Your Directory View

To change which fields you see:

  1. Click Customize at the top of the directory.

  2. Drag and drop fields to reorder them.

  3. Add or remove fields based on your permission level.

This is especially useful when you want to generate quick reports - simply select the relevant fields and export your view as a CSV or Excel file.

Using Filters

Filters help you narrow down your list. For example, show employees based in a specific office or team.

Viewing Terminated Employees

To include terminated employees in your view:

  1. Click the three dots in the top-right corner.

  2. Select Show terminated employees.

4. Create Custom Reports

If you're a Super Admin, you can consolidate key information into dashboards and custom reports.

How to Create a Dashboard with Custom Reports

  1. Go to the Dashboards section on the left-hand menu.

  2. Click Create New Dashboard (e.g., "Emergency Contact Details").

  3. Select Add Widget → Report → Custom Report.

Building Your Report

  1. Choose the data you want to include—for example:

    • First Name

    • Last Name

    • Emergency Contact Name

    • Relationship

    • Phone Number

  2. You can:

    • Export the report as CSV or Excel, or

    • Add it directly to your dashboard for ongoing access.

Rename your report as needed and return to it anytime.

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