To help you fill in your file, here is a support video and more details below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cogcY1AsMIw&list=PLaf6YG3gwN5ZER-nhuwVEvEBUQPZsLfOG&index=6

🔐 Password

• The password must be in text format

• Excel often automatically converts a date (YYYY/MM/DD or DD/MM/YYYY) → which breaks the import.

  ➡️ Solution: force the column format to “Text” before entering anything.

🟦 Departments

• No department should appear in the locations tab.

• The Departments and Locations trees are independent and separated.

• The departments entered in the users tab must exactly match those in the departments tab.

• You can add new sub-departments, but never remove them in an update.

• Two departments cannot have the same name.

💡 Check the tree in preprod: if a department appears “outside the tree”, it is missing from the tab.

📍Custom attributes

• For age: do not write “28 years old”. Use date of birth instead (age ranges can then be automatically calculated).

• Attribute columns must be named exactly as in Zest.

• Accepted formats:
  • Text

  • Number

  • Boolean (yes/no)

  • Date (YYYY/MM/DD)

✉️ Emails

• Super Admin or HR users must have a valid email address.

• No email can appear as a duplicate.

• No apostrophes, spaces, or Excel formulas.

  ➡️ Use copy-paste values before import.

🆔 UserId / Email / ManagerId

• Each Employee must have either an email or a userId (employee ID).

• Mixed populations (some with email, some with employee IDs) are supported.

• If an Employee does not have an email → a mandatory userId must be provided.

• The managerId must correspond to:
  • an email or a userId present in the same database

  • no hierarchical loop is allowed

    (e.g.: A → B → C → A)

🏷️ Rank / Status / Lang

These three columns are mandatory for all users.

• rank: user / superAdmin / globalViewer

• status:
  • active

  • suspended (e.g. long-term leave)

  • removed (GDPR deletion initialization)

• lang: ISO code (fr, en, es…)

📌 A user absent from the file is not automatically deleted (except in differential import).

🧹 Empty rows & unnecessary columns

• Never leave empty rows, especially in the middle of the file.

• Fields without information should simply remain empty, not “N/A” or “no info”.

🗂️ Departments & Locations – structure

• Always place the main/parent units row before the children.

• A “parent” must necessarily exist in the unit column.

• A department in unit cannot have the same spelling twice

Here is an example of how to fill it in:

(to detect errors before import — recommended options)

✔️ Detect a manager/direct report loop

=IFERROR(IF(INDEX(H:H; MATCH(H2; C:C; 0))=C2; "LOOP!"; "OK"); "OK")

📝 Simple explanation:

• Column C = Employee userId / email

• Column H = managerId

  This formula checks that a manager does not point to an Employee who points back to them (hierarchical loop prohibited).

  “LOOP!” = error to fix

✔️ Check duplicate email addresses

=COUNTIF(C:C;C2)

📝 Simple explanation:

• Column C contains emails or userIds.

• The result indicates how many times the email appears.

  → 1 = OK, ≥2 = duplicate (import impossible).

✔️ Check whether a department or location exists in the master

=IF(COUNTIF(A:A;B2)>0;"ok";"false")

📝 Simple explanation:

Copy-paste before the department or location column in the corresponding tab, to the right of the input. We recommend the same for departmentadmin or locationadmin.

• A = list of units (departments/locations)

• B = department/location used in the users tab

  → ok = the unit exists

  → false = spelling / space / uppercase / missing unit error

✔️ Format a date in international format (YYYY-MM-DD)

Use → Format cells > Date > English (United Kingdom)

✔️ Check that the manager exists in the email or userid column

=IF(COUNTIF(C:C; H2)>0; "present"; "false")

📝 Simple explanation:

• Column C = Employees

• Column H = manager

  → present = OK

  → false = the manager is not in the file → import impossible

✔️ Status “removed” = the user will no longer have access to Zest and will no longer receive surveys.

The data is retained in compliance with GDPR.

✔️ Status “suspended” = perfect for long absences (sick leave, leave of absence, etc.).

Reactivation in one click via import or the Back Office.

✔️ For a large update (new hires / departures):

→ use the Excel file, faster and cleaner than individual edits.

✔️ If you cannot find a setting in the Back Office:

→ contact Zest Support (chatbot + email), some actions require database intervention.

✔️ Use the Zest Academy to properly understand SmartOrg, permissions, use cases, and structuring best practices.

1. Duplicate email

2. Spaces or apostrophes in emails

3. Missing or misspelled managers

4. Departments not present in the master tab

5. Dates in the wrong format

6. Columns filled with “N/A”

7. Password not formatted as text

8. Empty rows in the file

9. Missing userId for populations without email

10. Rank / Status / Lang not filled in