Personio
Keep people, managers, departments and time off in MuchSkills up to date from Personio. You create read-only API credentials in Personio, paste them into MuchSkills, and choose which departments to sync.
- Who
- A MuchSkills Owner or Admin, with a Personio user who can create custom integrations
- How it connects
- Self-serve, in Settings › Integrations
- Sync
- Every 5 hours, or on demand with Sync Now
- Access
- Read-only
How to
Before you start
- In MuchSkills: the Owner or Admin role.
- In Personio: the Core Pro plan, and a user with edit rights for Marketplace Integration and API. Custom integrations are not available on other Personio plans.
- Decide who to sync first. Start small: one department. You can widen the scope afterwards.
- Tell people first. Starting the sync invites everyone in scope to create their MuchSkills profile.
- Check email addresses. The email in Personio should be the address each person uses to sign in to MuchSkills.
- Check departments. While Sync by department is on, MuchSkills only syncs people who have a department in Personio.
Steps
In MuchSkills
- Open the Personio connector. Go to Team/Org › Settings › Integrations and click Connect on Personio. Keep this tab open: you paste two values into it as you go.
Team/Org › Settings › Integrations › Connect on Personio.
In Personio
- Start a custom integration. In Personio, go to Marketplace › Connected integrations and click Create custom integration at the top right. The button only appears on the Core Pro plan. Personio's guide to API credentials
- Name it and give read access. Name the integration MuchSkills. Give Read access to Employees and to Time off. Leave every Write permission off. Leave Custom Reports off too, because it overrides the attribute selection in the next step.
- Choose the readable attributes. When you turn on Read access for Employees, a Readable employee attributes list appears. Tick first name, last name, email, status, position, supervisor, department, office and profile picture. Attribute names show in English, whatever language your Personio account uses. Leave salary, date of birth and other sensitive attributes unticked.
- Copy the credentials. Create the integration. Copy the Client ID into Personio Client ID in MuchSkills, and the secret (Personio calls it Client Secret or API secret) into Personio Client Secret.
Back in MuchSkills
- Connect. With both values pasted in, click Connect. The status changes from Waiting for credentials to Api Connected.
The Personio form: 1 Personio Client ID, 2 Personio Client Secret, 3 Connect.
- Choose who to sync. Sync by department lists the departments MuchSkills found in Personio, with the number of people in each. All of them are ticked at first. With the toggle on, only people in the ticked departments are synced: click a department to tick or untick it. Turn the toggle off to sync everyone in Personio.
- Start the sync. MuchSkills shows how many employees will be synced and invited. Click the number to see their names and email addresses. When the list looks right, click Start Sync.
Check it worked
- The connector shows Data is synced every 5 hours, with Last successful sync and Next scheduled sync.
- On Team/Org › Settings › Integrations, the Personio tile shows Connected.
- Team/Org › Members lists the people you synced.
- The people you synced have an invitation to create their profile.
Benefits
What you get
- No manual upkeep. New starters, leavers, manager changes and department moves reach MuchSkills on their own.
- Availability you can plan with. Time off from Personio shows in Team Builder and My Circle, so staffing reflects who is actually around.
- Managers see their people. Each manager's direct reports appear in My Circle as soon as the sync runs.
Important to know
Important to know
What syncs. Only email and name are required. Sync as many of the other fields as you can, because each one makes MuchSkills more useful.
| Field in MuchSkills | Needed | Used for |
|---|---|---|
| Name | Required | Profiles, search, every view |
| Required | Matching and sign-in | |
| Job title | Recommended | Profiles, roles, Discover |
| Department | Recommended | Departments, filters, Sync by department |
| Manager | Recommended | Reporting lines, My Circle, reports |
| Status | Recommended | Deactivating leavers |
| Location | Recommended | Filters |
| Profile photo | Recommended | Profiles and the org chart |
| Time off | Recommended | Availability in Team Builder and My Circle. Dates and percentages only |
How often. Every 5 hours. Sync Now runs it immediately and Pause Sync stops it until you start it again.
Profile photos. Photos are saved when an account is created and are not updated by the automatic sync. Click Sync Now to pull in changed photos.
Time off arrives as dates and percentages. Absence types and reasons are never imported.
Leavers are deactivated, not deleted. When someone becomes inactive in Personio, or drops out of the synced departments, MuchSkills deactivates them at the next sync. Their project history and certificates stay on record, which matters for audits.
New departments are not ticked for you. When HR adds a department in Personio, it appears unticked under Sync by department. Tick it, or turn the toggle off to sync everyone.
Unticking a department off-boards its people. MuchSkills asks you to confirm in Confirm Deactivation, and you cannot undo it from that screen.
One people sync at a time. If another HR connector is already syncing, Start Sync asks Are you sure? and warns This action will stop your current integration sync. Click Yes, connect only if you want Personio to take over.
Data MuchSkills does not accept. These are blocked when data arrives and never stored, even if an attribute is ticked: age or date of birth, salary or other compensation data, performance ratings, and political, religious or health data.
Common errors
Troubleshooting
| What you see | Why | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Create custom integration is missing in Personio | Your Personio plan is not Core Pro | Check the plan under Settings › Account & support › Subscription & billing in Personio |
| Invalid Credentials | A value was copied wrongly, or the credentials were reset, disabled or disconnected in Personio | Copy both values again from Marketplace › Connected integrations, paste them in and click Update Credentials |
| Failed to fetch employees. Please check the integration settings and try again. | The credentials work but cannot read employees, usually because Read access for Employees is off | Open the integration in Personio, turn on Read access for Employees and Time off, save, then click Update Credentials |
| Missing Attributes in API | An attribute is not in the readable list, or some people lack a value, usually email | Tick the attribute named in the message, or fill in the missing values in Personio, then click Sync Now |
| No Start Sync button after connecting | No one is in scope: no department is ticked, or no one in the ticked departments has an email | Tick at least one department, or turn off Sync by department |
| Some people are missing | They have no department in Personio, or their department is not ticked | Give them a department in Personio and tick it, then click Sync Now |
| Time off does not show | The credentials have no Read access for Time off | Turn it on for the integration in Personio |
| Authentication failed multiple times. Please verify your Personio credentials and permissions are correctly configured. | The credentials were reset, disabled or disconnected in Personio | Paste in working credentials and click Update Credentials |
| A photo has not changed | Automatic syncs do not update photos | Click Sync Now |
Frequently asked questions
Which Personio plan and rights do we need?
Custom API credentials need the Core Pro plan in Personio, and the person who creates them needs edit rights for Marketplace Integration and API. If you cannot see Create custom integration, check your plan under Settings › Account & support › Subscription & billing. In MuchSkills you need the Owner or Admin role.
Can we start with a few people before syncing everyone?
Yes, and we recommend it. Keep Sync by department on and tick one small department. Check the result in MuchSkills, then tick more departments, or turn the toggle off to sync everyone.
How often does the sync run?
Every 5 hours. An Owner or Admin can run it at any time with Sync Now on the connector.
What happens when someone leaves?
When a person becomes inactive in Personio, or falls outside the synced departments, MuchSkills deactivates them at the next sync. They disappear from everyday views, and their project history and certificates stay on record. Nothing is deleted.
Does MuchSkills write anything back to Personio?
No. Give the credentials read access only. MuchSkills reads the people in scope and their time off, and never changes anything in Personio.
Do employees get an email when we start?
Yes. Starting the sync invites everyone in scope to create their MuchSkills profile, so tell people about MuchSkills before you click Start Sync.
Which employee attributes should we allow?
First name, last name, email, status, position, supervisor, department, office and profile picture. Leave salary, date of birth and other sensitive attributes unticked. MuchSkills does not use them, and blocks them if they arrive.
Do you import the reasons for time off?
No. MuchSkills takes only the dates and the percentage of time away. Absence types and reasons, such as sick leave, are never imported.
Can we connect Personio and another HR system at the same time?
Only one people sync runs at a time. If another HR connector is already syncing, MuchSkills asks you to confirm when you click Start Sync, and confirming stops the other sync. Single sign-on is set up separately and works alongside it.