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Extract Employee Data from HRIS Task

Suite

Employee Experience

Product

Qualtrics

What's on this page

About Extracting Employee Data from an HRIS

It’s very likely that you keep employee information stored not just in Qualtrics®, but in an HRIS (Human Resources Information System), along with all kinds of important operational data for each person. You can automate the process of syncing this employee information to Qualtrics on a regular basis, keeping your directories up-to-date and enriching your employee research. To accomplish this, you create an ETL workflow that starts with an Extract employee data from HRIS task.

No matter the system you use, it’s worth trying this task out, as this task lets you choose from an incredibly wide range of HRIS platforms. See below for a short list of supported, popular platforms.

Qtip: Are you trying to connect to Workday? This is the task for you! We’ll use Workday as the example in the setup steps below.

Attention: The Extract employee data from HRIS task uses a third party system named Merge to integrate with your HRIS of choice. Merge will retain extracted data and credentials for as long as your Merge integration account exists. For more information, see this Merge documentation.

Qtip: For information on general limits that apply to ETL workflows, see Workflow Limits. For any task-specific limits, refer to the information on this page.

Setting Up an Extract Employee Data from HRIS Task

To use this task, you must have the Extract employee data from HRIS permission enabled.

Create an ETL workflow.

Click Data source (ETL extractor).

creating an ETL task, the second widget on the screen lets you add a data source

Search and select Extract employee data from HRIS.

new window where you can see the task mentioned

Click Add a user account.

add a user account button in the upper-right

Create a name for your account.

Qtip: This account name is mostly to help you identify the connection or HRIS account you plan to log into.

Click Connect to HRIS.

Search and select the integration you’d like to use. See supported HRIS platforms for a non-exhaustive list.

new window showing products you can integrate with

Depending on the HRIS you select, your next steps will vary. Follow the steps on the screen to learn the permissions you need and the actions you should take to connect to your chosen HRIS.

Qtip: See our Workday example for an idea of what next steps could look like.

Once you’ve connected to your HRIS, complete your workflow.

Example: Connecting to Workday

In this example, we’ll show you what it looks like to log into Workday with this task. These steps are written assuming you’ve already completed the instructions in Setting Up an Extract Employee Data from HRIS Task.

While you complete these steps, you’ll need to have your HRIS (e.g., Workday) open in another tab.

Qtip: Steps 13-19 show how to map custom fields from your HRIS. However, you can skip these steps specifically for Workday connections if you use Workday’s field override service beforehand. You can pull any custom fields you want to map from Workday directly into the field override service, thus avoiding additional mapping in Merge itself. See this Merge documentation for more about the field override service.

Qtip: If you need help finding information needed to integrate into Workday, we recommend reaching out directly to Workday’s support team.

Select Workday from the list of integrations.

window with list of integrations highlighting workday

Choose how to authenticate. In this example, we’ll select Use my credentials (recommended).

in next page of the window, choosing authentication type

Workday requires an administrator role to connect. Confirm you’re an admin to proceed.

Qtip: If you’re not a Workday administrator, reach out to your organization’s IT team.

Review data permissions and end user terms. By proceeding, you are agreeing to these terms.

a page showing data permissions, with headings you can click to learn more

For Select operator, choose is.

Qtip: This step (5) and the next step (6) are optional. You only need to complete these steps if you want to use custom calculated fields in Workday.

Enter your employee integration system ID.

entering the employee integration system ID

Qtip: For help setting up your integration systems user or ID, see this Merge documentation.

Go to the next page.

Qtip: If you need to change your answers, there is a Back button in the top-left of every page.

Enter your Workday ISU (Integration System User) username.

Qtip: If you’re not sure how to find your Workday information, follow the steps on the screen. You can also click Stuck? to see detailed instructions provided by Merge.

Enter your Workday password.

Go to the next screen.

The next several pages of this window are steps that you need to follow in your Workday account. Follow the steps in the window carefully, and use the links to illustrated support docs provided in the window if you need help. These steps include:

screenshot highlights the total number of steps you can expect, the directions on the screen, and the links to more documentation hosted by Merge

Create a security group.
Configure permissions.
Activate security policy.
Validate authentication policy.
Activate pending authentication policy changes.

In step 7/7, you add your Workday web services endpoint URL.

In the next step, you’ll map fields from Workday to Qualtrics.

Qtip: You can also skip this and map fields later.

Under New target field, select the Workday field you’d like to map.

Give this field a name.

Enter an optional description for the field.

Click Add.

To add more fields, click Mapping, and repeat the previous steps.

If you are trying to map a field that is part of an ObjectList, click Advanced mapping to select the field from that list.

Qtip: If you’d like to use calculated fields, it may take the time for them to appear in the user interface. To access these calculated fields, use Wd:Worker_Data.wd:Integration_Field_Override_Data in the advanced mapper.

Qtip: Advanced mapping is currently only available for List type fields. For JSON and text type fields, the Advanced mapping option will not appear.

Qtip: For more information on advanced field mapping, see Merge’s field mapping guide and the Workday field mapping guide.

When you’re finished mapping fields, click Save.

Click Finish setup to return to Qualtrics.

window indicating the connection was a success, with a finish button at the bottom

Select your integrated HRIS (Workday) account.

Click Next.

Select the fields you’d like to carry over into your destination (employee directory).

Qtip: If you notice fields missing or named incorrectly, you should edit your HRIS connection. You can skip straight to field mapping without having to complete the other steps.

Click Next.

Save your changes.

Complete your workflow.

Completing the Workflow

Once you’ve set up your Extract employee data from HRIS task, it’s time to choose a destination for your employee data.

If you want, you can add optional data transformation.

Back inside the workflow editor with a source added, can now complete the ETL

Select Add a data destination.

If you’re automating employee directory uploads, we recommend using the Load Users into EX Directory task. Follow the steps on the linked support page to complete your workflow.

Qtip: To test the merge connection without loading everything into your EX Directory, run the workflow immediately before adding the Load Users into EX Directory task. You can then go to the Run history section to download the results of your data pull as a CSV and manually check to ensure all your data is appearing.

new window where you decide where the data extracted with Merge should go

Once your workflow is activated, your employee upload automation will run on your chosen schedule.

using buttons in upper-right of workflow editor to activate and run the workflow

You can also run the workflow immediately, regardless of the schedule. (This is optional.)

Qtip: If you’d like to export your employee data to a different destination, you can browse our support pages for other possible destinations (data loader tasks).

Qtip: For help pulling hiring manager and recruiter information from Workday, see this Merge documentation.

Supported HRIS Connections

The Extract employee data from HRIS task offers about 50 HRIS platforms you can connect to. Below is a non-exhaustive list of some of the highlights. If you have questions about authenticating into these platforms, click their names to be taken to their websites.

To learn more about the fields you can extract from each HRIS, see Merge’s documentation. Scroll to the right on the linked table to see more HRIS platforms.

Qtip: Merge is continuously updating their list of supported HRIS systems. Newer integrations will be listed in the product as “Beta” when they are still being developed.

BambooHR
Dayforce (Ceridian)
Factorial
Google Workspace
Hibob
Microsoft Entra
Namely
Okta
OneLogin
Paylocity
Proliant
Square Payroll
UKG Pro
UKG Pro WFM
UKG Ready
Workday
SAP SuccessFactors
Qtip: The Extract employee data from HRIS task does not yet support custom objects in SuccessFactors. As an alternative, we have tasks designed to extract employee data from SuccessFactors that support custom objects.

Qtip: Although many HRIS platforms are available, the Extract employee data from HRIS task allows you to connect to 1 at a time. If you use more than one HRIS, make sure to make a separate workflow for each one.

Editing HRIS Connections and Mappings

Editing a Workflow’s HRIS Connection

You can edit the Extract employee data from HRIS task in an existing workflow. By doing this, you can edit the mappings, resync the connection, or make other changes to this task.

Click the Extract employee data from HRIS task.

back in workflow, the HRIS task is highlighted

Click Back.

Click the 3 dots next to your HRIS.

menu appears when you click dots next to your account

Click Edit account.

The Re-sync option can be helpful if you’ve recently updated field configurations in your HRIS, or if you need to immediately import data. This option syncs data between the HRIS and Merge (the third party back-end of the task). Data is synced between Merge and Qualtrics on the workflow schedule.

new window where you can configure setup, see data syncs, and more

Qtip: You can also run the workflow immediately to resync data between your HRIS and Qualtrics.

Under Configure setup, you can choose from the following:

new window with the options listed below

Relink integration: Redo the entire connection and login portion of your HRIS connection.
View data filters: Filter down the data you pull in from your HRIS connection. For Workday, this is also used to provide the integration system ID.
Map additional fields: Create or edit mappings for custom fields.

Qtip: The exact steps to complete these tasks will vary by HRIS. To preview what these steps could look like, see our Workday example.

Managing Account Connections as a Brand Admin

As with other extensions, Brand Administrators can make edits to connected HRIS accounts. This extension is named the same as the task, Extract employee data from HRIS.

See the following sections of the Extensions Administration page for help with:

From here in the Extensions Admin page, you can also make the same edits described in the previous section (relinking, filters, mapping fields). Just select the 3 dots, then Edit account.

FAQs

What is Merge and why is Qualtrics using it for this task?

Merge acts as the middleware between your HRIS application and Qualtrics. Merge takes care of authentication, permission validation, data extraction, and normalization for Qualtrics. By leveraging this secure service, we’re able to offer a suite of HRIS connections all at once, rather than creating separate tasks for many different software. Thus, this integration with Merge should make it faster and easier to move HR data into Qualtrics.

Do I need to create an account with Merge?

No, you do not need to create a Merge account. Integration with Merge is handled seamlessly through Qualtrics. Any information provided to Merge will be strongly tied to your Qualtrics user account for data security.

Are the data and credentials removed from Merge when the workflow is deleted in Qualtrics?

No. Multiple workflows can use the same HRIS connection, so deleting the workflow will only delete the data extracted by that workflow. To delete the data and credentials stored in Merge, please delete the HRIS account from Qualtrics. A Brand Admin can follow the steps here to delete the account by searching “Extract Employee Data from HRIS” on the Extensions page.

Deleting an HRIS connection / account will delete all the data and credentials stored by the corresponding connection, even if the connection is referenced in undeleted workflows. Workflows connected to deleted accounts will fail to execute.

What permissions does Merge need to fetch data from Workday?

Please follow the steps in this guide created by Merge to set up an Integration User Account and its permissions. Additionally, this document from Merge lists all the permission domains that need to be set up. Note that Qualtrics only requires Read access on HRIS domains.

What has Qualtrics done to ensure my data is safe with Merge?

Qualtrics has vetted Merge’s security and compliance policies, and has determined that Merge meets all the requirements. Qualtrics ensures that all the data handling processes required to stay compliant with our certifications are followed while integrating with Merge.

What's the retention policy for the data extracted from my HRIS application?

Data extracted from your HRIS would be stored in both Merge and Qualtrics as long as the account is active. Data and credentials are deleted in following scenarios:

When a workflow containing the HRIS extractor task is deleted, all the data extracted from that task will be deleted in Qualtrics data stores.
When the HRIS connection (account) is deleted from Qualtrics, all the data and credentials stored in Merge are deleted.
When an organization / brand stops using Qualtrics, all data and credentials will be deleted within 30 days of license expiration.

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