This article explains how to configure both sections and attributes in Personio. Sections and attributes, visible in the employee's Personal Info tab, help you to better manage employee information.

Create a section

A section is a part of the employee's Personal Info tab that groups related attributes together.

For example, the Personal data section normally includes First name, Gender, Birthday, Address, and Phone number. And the HR information section normally includes Position and Hire date.

To create a section, follow these steps:

1. Go to Settings > People > Employee Information.
2. Click the Create a Section button.
3. Name the section and click Create.
4. Click on the three-dot icon to either rename or delete the section. 

   Note
   If you delete a section, all the attributes placed on that section will also be deleted, and all the employee data entered for those attributes will be lost. This action cannot be reverted.

Add an attribute

An attribute is a specific piece of information in an employee's Personal Info tab that requires a value to be filled in. Depending on access rights, either you or the employee fills in these values.

Some examples of attributes are First name, Birthday, Hire date and Position.

To add an attribute, follow these steps:

1. Go to Settings > Employee Information.
2. Select the Personio account's default language in the dropdown next to Add an attribute.
3. Click on the section where you want to add the attribute and click Add an Attribute
4. Enter a name for the attribute and select the attribute type from the drop-down.

   Tip
   For the attribute types Standard, Number (integer), and Number (up to two decimals), you can also specify whether the attribute should be used for the unique identification (Unique ID) of your employees. To do so, tick the Unique ID checkbox. The system already defines employee email addresses as Unique IDs.

5. Click Add.
6. To move an attribute to another section, use drag-and-drop.
   

   Note
   Before moving an attribute to a new section, check the access rights for that new section. For instance, attributes moved to the Public profile section may become visible to all employees.

7. To edit an attribute, click into the attribute, make the relevant changes directly in the field, and click Save. The new edits will override the current settings for all your employees.
8. To delete an attribute, click the trash can icon on the right side of the attribute.
   

   Note
   If you delete an attribute, all the employee data entered for that attribute will be lost, including the candidate data. This action cannot be reverted.

Translate a section or attribute

Translating a section or attribute in Personio means it won't appear in the company's default language (example: English) in employee accounts, but in the language selected by each employee in their Personal Settings (example: Spanish for an employee in Spain).

Attribute translation behaves differently, depending on the attribute type:

• Preset section/attribute: Automatically translated into all Personio languages to match the employee's account language, so no translation is needed.
  
  
• Custom section/attribute: Not automatically translated. You must manually enter translations for each attribute in all relevant languages. A yellow alert sign indicates any untranslated attributes, which display in the company's default language until translated.

To add translations for your custom attributes, follow these steps:

1. Go to Settings > People > Employee Information and select the relevant section.
2. Choose a language from the dropdown menu next to Add an attribute.
3. Click the attribute you want to add a translation for.
4. Accept the suggested, AI-generated translation, or enter your own translation. Note that for the Tags custom attribute type, you can translate the attribute name, but not the attribute options.
5. Click Save and repeat these steps for all the relevant languages.

Employees see the attribute in the language they have selected in their Personal settings.

Note
When retrieving data through the Public API or exporting data via People list/ Custom Reports, you will see the original names (database values) for the various options in the list of options attributes. Example: Your Personio account's default language is English, and you create a "Favorite color" list of options attribute with the options "Red", "Blue", and "Green". Even if you add translation to that attribute and options, employees will still see the options in English when exporting data.

Sample configuration for sections and attributes