If your organization has an HRIS sync connected to Confirm, your employee data updates automatically on a regular schedule. Most of the time this is exactly what you want. But occasionally a field or demographic doesn't map cleanly from your HRIS, or isn't sent by your HRIS at all, and you need to add or correct that data directly in Confirm.
The problem is that a manual CSV update won't stick on its own: the next scheduled sync will simply overwrite your changes with whatever your HRIS sends (or doesn't send) for that field. To make a manual update that actually holds, you'll need to temporarily pause your sync, make your CSV update, confirm it looks right, and then have us switch the sync back on.
Here's how to do it.
Step 1: Ask Confirm to temporarily pause your HRIS sync
Email [email protected] and let us know:
That you'd like your HRIS sync temporarily disabled so you can perform a manual CSV update
Which fields or demographics you're updating, and roughly how many employees are affected
We'll confirm once your sync has been paused. Please wait for that confirmation before making any changes. If you update records while the sync is still active, your changes may be overwritten on the next scheduled run.
Step 2: Export your current employee data to CSV
Once we've confirmed the sync is paused, go to People Administration and use the "Export people to CSV" button to download your current data. You can export everyone, or use the "Filter this list" button first if you only need a subset of employees (for example, just the people affected by the field you're correcting).
Exporting first, rather than starting from a blank template, means you're working from your actual current records and are far less likely to accidentally blank out or duplicate data that's already correct.
Step 3: Edit only the fields that need a manual correction
Open the exported CSV and update just the fields or demographics that aren't coming through correctly from your HRIS. A few things to keep in mind:
Leave every other column exactly as exported. The safest CSV is one that only touches what actually needs to change - this avoids introducing accidental errors into fields your HRIS already handles correctly.
Keep the email column filled in and unchanged for every row; it's what Confirm uses to match each row to the correct existing profile. Also keep HRIS ID (External ID) populated if your organization uses employee ID numbers, as most do.
Double-check email addresses for typos. They must match the existing record exactly, in all lowercase, with no punctuation (such as apostrophes), even if your email system allows it.
Keep manager email addresses populated where available - this keeps reporting relationships intact for surveys and cycles.
Use the same column headers as our standard template. If you need a fresh copy, you can get one from the "Download Template" option inside the "Import people from CSV" tool in People Administration.
If you're only updating a small number of fields, it's fine to trim the CSV down to just the email column (and ID, if used) plus the specific columns you're changing - you don't need to keep every column populated for existing profiles.
Step 4: Import the updated CSV
In People Administration, click "Import people from CSV" and upload your edited file. Confirm will try to match your column headers to its data fields - using the standard column names makes this a clean match. Review the preview screen, use the "Show only rows with errors" toggle to catch anything missing, and resolve any flagged rows before proceeding. Once there are no rows with errors, click "Confirm & Upload".
Step 5: Spot-check the results
Take a moment to check a handful of the updated profiles in Confirm to ensure the fields now show the correct data.
Step 6: Tell Confirm you're ready for the sync to resume
Once you're happy with the update, email [email protected] again to let us know you're finished and it's OK to switch your HRIS sync back on. We'll re-enable it and confirm once it's active again.
A note on what happens after the sync resumes
If the field you corrected is one your HRIS sends to Confirm, the next scheduled sync will overwrite it again with whatever value comes from your HRIS - so this approach is best used either as a one-time correction, or repeated each time the HRIS data is off, until the source data is fixed upstream. If the field or demographic isn't sent by your HRIS at all, your manual entry will persist, since there's nothing coming through the sync to overwrite it.
If you're not sure whether a particular field is included in your HRIS feed, mention it when you email [email protected] and we can confirm before you make changes.
For general guidance on CSV formatting and the import/export process itself, see How to Import and Export Confirm Users via CSV.