While only a name and email address is strictly required to create a user account, we recommend keeping your employee profiles updated with other key information like department, location, and gender so that you can take full advantage of our analytics.
There are 3 main ways to populate your employee information:
Integrate with an HRIS: Recommended if you are using a supported HRIS partner
Manual import: Recommended for teams of <10, or for adding colleagues to your trial account for testing purposes
Bulk import: Recommended for teams of >10
HRIS Integrations
We offer out-of-the-box integrations for the following HRIS partners. Click the links below for step-by-step instructions.
If your HRIS isn't on this list, they can likely support an SFTP connection with our platform (Elevate plan only).
HRIS integrations are one-way only: we sync basic user data (e.g., hiring date, manager, location) from the HRIS to Small Improvements but do not send anything back.
When an employee joins the company, you'll only need to create an account for them in your HRIS, and an account will be created for them in Small Improvements automatically. As employees change teams or leave the company, you'll only need to make your updates in your HRIS, and they'll sync to Small Improvements.
When an integration is active, you cannot manually update employees' profile information in Small Improvements, even as an HR Admin. All updates must be made via your HRIS.
Add Users Manually
To add an individual user:
Go to Admin > Directory and click + Add Users above the table.
Enter employees’ names and emails.
De-select Send Welcome Email if you do not want to invite employees to log in immediately.
For each new user, expand the menu in the rightmost column and click Edit Profile to finish entering their information.
If you choose not to send welcome emails initially, you can send them later by going to your Directory page, expanding the Admin menu above the table, and selecting Send Welcome Mails.
Bulk Import Users
File Structure
Download our import template to get started:
Do not remove any columns, even if they are empty, and leave columns in their original order.
Before uploading, leave the column headings in row 1 but remove the instructions/examples in rows 2 and 3.
Import fields
Column | Field Name | Required? | Description |
A | First Name | Required | This is a free-text field, e.g. “Joe” |
B | Last Name | Required | This is a free-text field, e.g. “Smith” |
C | Gender | Recommended | "M", "F", or "N"
We use the gender field to fill in preferred pronouns in notification emails: he/him, she/her, or they/them. |
D | Title | Recommended | This is a free-text field: e.g. “Sales Manager" or "Controller" |
E | Login Email* | Required | Enter the email address that the user will use to log in, e.g. "[email protected]".
This email address must be unique and cannot already be in use in your company's (or any other company's) Small Improvements account. |
F | Manager Email | Recommended | Enter the manager's email address, e.g. "[email protected]". |
G | Department | Recommended | This is a free-text field, e.g. "Finance", typically used for broad organizational units. |
H | Team | Optional | This is a free-text field, e.g. "Account Receivable", typically used for specific teams within a larger department. |
I | Location | Recommended | This is a free-text field, e.g. "Berlin" or "Germany".
Consider what will be most helpful when analyzing your performance data. If you'd like to see statistics per country, enter the employee's country here. If all employees work in the same country, then enter their city or region for more granular reporting. |
J | Employee ID | Optional | A unique identifying number, e.g. "1234".
This field is not important on a product level but can be included in exports and reporting if it is helpful for you internally. |
K | Hiring Date | Recommended | Use MM/DD/YY or YYYY-MM-DD format, e.g. "30/09/2025" or "2025-09-30". |
L | Alternative Email | Not recommended | If specified, notifications will be sent to this email instead of the employee's login email. Not recommended in most cases. |
M | Optional | Enter the secondary manager's email address, e.g. "[email protected]".
This field represents an additional manager (independent of the reporting hierarchy) who requires a similar level of visibility as the employee's direct manager and can contribute to their reviews | |
N | Preferred Name | Optional | This is a free-text field, e.g. "Johnny".
If specified, we'll display this name throughout the platform instead of the first name listed in Column A. |
O | Leaving Date | Optional | Use MM/DD/YY or YYYY-MM-DD.
This data is used to power turnover and retention analytics. |
P | Termination Type | Optional | Enter “Voluntary” or “Involuntary”.
This data is used to power turnover and retention analytics. |
Q | Employment Type | Optional | "Full-time", "Part-time", "Intern", "Contractor", “Furloughed”, “Casual”, “Seasonal”, or “Temporary" If you leave this blank, we’ll default to Full-time. |
R | Active / Account Status | Required | Enter “Active” or “True” for current employees. Enter “Inactive” or “False” for former employees.
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Configuration Options
Once you've prepared the import file, go to Admin > Settings > Import Users to upload.
First, toggle to the Configuration tab and review these key settings:
Send password emails when new users are imported.
Enable this setting if you'd like to invite users to log in immediately. Leave this setting unchecked if you'd like to invite them in later.
Update existing user core fields (except manager relationship).
When this setting is enabled (recommended), our system will match existing users with the information in your import file based on email address, and update their profile information (except for their manager) accordingly.
Update managers of existing users.
When this setting is enabled (recommended), our system will match existing users with the information in your import file based on email address, and update their manager accordingly.
Set managers of newly imported users.
When enabled (recommended), our system will assign new users to the manager listed in Column F.
Deactivate all Small Improvement accounts not imported.
When enabled, existing users not found in the import file will be deactivated.
Reactivate accounts in Small Improvements
When enabled (recommended), deactivated users will be reactivated if their email address matches an email in the import file.
CSV Delimiter
You can use this if your import file is delimited by a semi-colon (European Excel) or tab instead of a comma.
File Upload
Now you are ready to upload. Toggle to the Import tab and simply drag and drop the file to preview the import.
Errors will be highlighted in red; warnings will be highlighted in yellow. Hover over them for more information. Click the hamburger icon in the rightmost column to review each user's full details.
Once the preview looks good to go, click the yellow Import button to proceed.
Updating Users through Import
The user import tool is also useful for bulk updating existing employees' information, e.g. if you rename an entire department.
Export and Reimport your Directory
Go to Admin > Directory and expand the Admin menu at the top of the table, then select Export Directory.
Choose the option called Import file in the popup window.
The file is already formatted for import. Simply make your updates right there in the export file. You don't need to remove users from the file who aren't being updated; if their information matches what is already in the system, they will be ignored.
By default, you cannot update employee emails through import. Please contact the support team for assistance.
When your file is ready, upload it under Admin > Settings > Import Users, ensuring “Update existing user core fields (except manager relationship)” and "Update managers of existing users" are enabled on the Configuration tab.
Take a look at the preview to make sure everything will be updated correctly. New information is highlighted in green, and updated information is highlighted in blue. Click the yellow Import button when you are ready to proceed.
Using import to clear data
Leaving a field blank in the import file will not delete that data from the employee's profile. Instead, add a dash ( – ) to the field you want to clear.
This import will clear the Team field for all employees.
Check the preview to confirm that the data has been cleared.
Using import to activate or deactivate employees
You can also use the user import tool to bulk deactivate or bulk reactivate user accounts.
To deactivate an employee, enter “Inactive” or "False" in Column R
To reactivate an employee, enter “Active” or "True" in Column R
If you leave Column R empty, the importer will assume that the employee is Active.
Troubleshooting
There are some common problems to watch out for:
Excel noise: Occasionally, Excel files include bits of data that are difficult to see with a quick scan of the eyes, especially if you are copying and pasting from another source. If you run into an error where the system is telling you there are “too many columns”, yet your columns appear to match our template, you probably have a noise problem.
Highlight the first 10-20 seemingly empty columns (starting with Column S), and delete all content.
Remove any extra tabs.
Make sure the file is not password-protected.
Using inconsistent email addresses: A typical problem is that a Joe Smith has an email address of “[email protected]”, but his 5 reports are listed as reporting to “[email protected]”.
Double check employees who joined the company early on and who might have more than one email address.
Using a less common domain: Your business may have more than one email domain, so staff can be reached at [email protected] and at [email protected], for instance.
Use a standard domain whenever possible.
Automatic import from another server
Small Improvements can also pull your user data from a remote server.
Before you start, try manually uploading the file generated by the remote server and check the preview to confirm that it is formatted correctly.
Then, go to Admin > Integrations > Custom CSV Import to configure the settings.
Enter your credentials and the server URL (using https) and save, but don't enable automatic imports just yet.
Next, navigate to the Preview tab and click the new “Fetch” button to preview the import one more time.
Once you’re happy with the preview, you can enable the automatic sync on the Configuration page. We’ll fetch the file every 2 hours.
Next Steps
When you add new employees, they are not automatically added to open Performance Review and 360 Feedback cycles. You'll need to add them to open cycles using the + Add Employees button on each cycle's overview page.
If you've updated manager relationships, these are not automatically reflected in open cycles. Use the Reset Reviewers option in the Admin dropdown menu on the cycle overview page to update the reviewers in line with the managers currently listed on employee profiles.
If you have an ongoing Objectives cycle that is open to everyone in your company, the new employee will be added to that cycle automatically. New employees need to be added manually to Objectives cycles that are limited to a subset of employees.