IMPORT EMPLOYEES

How do I Import Employee Records?

TRAIN TRACK® allows you to import employee records at any time. You may import new records, and you may also update your existing records with new data. When you import employee records, any new job titles, departments, shifts, employee types or locations will also be imported and added to the appropriate selection lists.

To import records through the user interface, you will first download an Excel® template, paste your data into the existing columns, then import it. If you are using the template to update existing records, the fields that are different will be updated. Blank fields will not be updated.

Tip: re-arrange the columns in your source file to match the template, then copy and paste the entire block of data at once. Paste your data below the column headings, and do not delete or move the column headings. If you do not have any data for some of the columns, just leave them blank.

 

Tutorial: Import Employee Records
Step Illustration
1. From any screen, click Import Data from the navigation pane on the left.
2. The Import screen will open. Click Import Employee Records.
3. The import dialog will open. Click Export.
4. A browse box will open. Select the location where you want to save your template, and click OK. Make a note of where you saved the file.
5. Open the template you just saved in Excel® and paste in your data. You will need to paste your data into the existing columns. Paste your data below the column headings, and do not delete or move the column headings. Close and Save the file.
6.Return to TRAIN TRACK®. Click Browse. A browse box will open. Browse to the file you just saved and click OK.
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7. Click Import.
8. Click OK. A list of the records you imported will be displayed. You may delete the confirmation records after you have verified that the correct records were imported.

 

What Data is Imported?

The following fields are included in the import template:

Field Name Description Data Type Size Record Identifier? Required?
Last Name Employee last name, or family name. You may also include a suffix. Text
50
 If there is no ID number Yes
First Name Employee first name, or given name. You may also include a middle initial.. Text
50
 If there is no ID number Yes
ID Number Alphanumeric identification number Text
50
 Yes Yes. If left blank, a number will be assigned.
Status Active or Inactive. Text
  Yes. If left blank, "Active" will be assigned.
Department Employee department Text
500
   Recommended
Supervisor Last Name Last name of supervisor Text
50
   No. Must be the name of an existing employee.
Supervisor First Name First name of supervisor Text
50
   No. Must be the name of an existing employee.
Shift Employee shift Text
50
   No
Location Employee location Text
250
   No
Job Title Employee job title Text
50
   Recommended (you can only import one job title per employee)
Type Employee type. Text
50
   No
Email Employee email address where notices will be sent. Text
100
   Yes, if you wish to send email notices to employees.
Phone Employee phone or extension Text
25
   No
Start Date Date employment began Date
  No
End Date Date employment ended Date
  No
Other User-defined Text
150
   No
Linked Document Link to any type of file, document or folder related to the employee. The file must be stored in a shared location that users have access to. Hyperlink
250
   No
DOB Date of Birth Date     No
Address Employee address Text
50
   No
SS# Social Security number Text
50
   No. Caution: Do not include if you do not want other users to have access to this
Home Phone Home phone number Text
25
   No
Cell Phone Cell phone number Text
25
   No

 

View Imported Records

After you import your training records, you may view confirmation of the records that were imported. This is a temporary list that you may delete when you have confirmed that the correct records were imported. You may delete them all at once, or one at a time. Deleting these verification records does not affect the actual records you imported.

 

Update Existing Records

Employee records may be imported as new records, or you may use the same import template to update your existing employee records. When you import records that already exist, TRAIN TRACK® will update the fields that have changed since your last import. The new information in your import template will over-write the existing information in the database. This allows you to maintain your employee information in the Excel® sheet, or export it from another source, and easily update your records in TRAIN TRACK®.

To update existing records, TRAIN TRACK® will first look for an existing record that matches the employee number. If you did not include an employee number, then TRAIN TRACK® will look for an employee with a matching name. If no match is found, then it will be imported as a new record, and if you did not include an employee number, then one will be assigned for you.

We highly recommend that you assign a unique ID number to each employee. If TRAIN TRACK® has to assign a number, it will use the first three characters of the last name, followed by a dash and a random number. HOWEVER, if the assigned number happens to be the same as an existing number, the existing employee record will be updated with the imported information (this is unlikely, but possible).

NOTE: In order to be matched up with existing data, the employee name or employee ID number must be an exact match for the one already in the database. For example, if you are linking records by employee name, and you try to import data that includes an employee name with a space in front of it, TRAIN TRACK® will not recognize this as a match for the existing record and it will insert it as a new record. In the illustration below, the fourth record would be seen as a new employee name:

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