Use this guide to complete first-time setup in People Hub and move from configuration to live assignments with minimal rework.

People Hub helps teams manage competency, training, certification, and assignments in one place. Initial setup is typically completed by a Company admin and then maintained by activity managers, skill owners, and role owners.

What this guide covers

This page walks through the recommended setup sequence, the Get Started wizard, the faster Excel-based onboarding path, and the most common mistakes new admins encounter.

Get Started wizard

When a company admin opens People Hub before setup is complete, a guided setup dialog appears to help establish the minimum structure needed for the module.

Each step links to the relevant area. Checkmarks update automatically when qualifying data exists.

Don’t show again hides the wizard for the current user preference or browser session.

Non-admin users do not complete setup through the wizard. They see a message indicating that an administrator must finish configuration.

Recommended setup order

The order below reduces dependency issues and helps ensure assignments work as expected the first time.

1. Set up activity managers

Before creating facilitated training such as Internal Group or External activities, define who is allowed to manage and run them.

Where: Settings → General → Activity managers

Add individual users and, where applicable, approve trainer role groups.

2. Configure default skill levels

This step is optional but recommended before you start creating skills at scale.

Where: Settings → Skills

Set the default number of levels available for each skill and configure default level names. People Hub supports between 1 and 20 levels.

If you plan to import skills from Excel, confirm the default skill level count first. This prevents avoidable import errors later.

3. Create activity templates

Create reusable definitions for the training, certificates, reviews, and single actions your organisation needs.

Where: Activities → New Activity

Templates define the standard structure, such as title, type, expiry behaviour, form settings, and default rules.

4. Create skills

Create each skill, define its levels, assign an owner, and link required activities to each level where relevant.

Where: Skills → New Skill

This is where competency expectations become measurable and repeatable.

5. Create competency roles

Create roles that bundle together required skills, minimum levels, activities, and certificates for a job or function.

Where: Competency Roles → New Role

Roles help standardise expectations across many employees and simplify assignment management.

6. Assign skills and roles

After definitions are in place, assign requirements to employees.

• Assign manually from People profiles

• Assign from the Users tab on a skill or competency role

• Assign in bulk through Excel import

7. Complete post-import configuration if using Excel

If your setup used the onboarding Excel template, some assignments remain deferred until activity deadlines are configured.

Where: Settings → Export & Import → Configure imported activities

Once configuration is complete, People Hub applies the imported assignments automatically.

Fast path: Excel onboarding

For new implementations, Excel onboarding can be the quickest way to build the initial People Hub structure.

1. Download the People Hub onboarding template from the Get Started dialog.

2. Complete the sheets in this order: Activities, Skills, Roles, then Assignments.

3. Upload the completed file.

4. Configure activity deadlines in Settings.

5. Allow People Hub to apply assignments after configuration is finished.

Excel onboarding works best when you already know your required trainings, core skills, target roles, and assignment scope before populating the template.

After setup

Common first-time mistakes

Related documentation

• People Hub Overview and Glossary

• Roles and permissions

• Excel import and export

• Admin dashboard