Storing Staff Records with User Documents

Article Contents

1. Introduction
2. What Are User Document Types?
3. How to Configure Document Types
4. Adding Documents to Staff Profiles
5. How Is This Different From Licences & Training?
6. Keeping Information Secure

Introduction

Hiro’s User Documents system provides a structured way to manage staff records that do not require formal compliance tracking. It is ideal for things like university degrees, internal HR notes, short courses, and other point-in-time documents that do not need version history or re-attainment.

This is separate from Licences & Training, which is used when you need ongoing compliance checks, expiry notifications, and alignment with role requirements. You can read more in our Setup Licences and Training guide.

User Documents let you define your own categories. You can then store individual records under each staff member’s profile. Each category becomes a separate tab on the Staff page, making records easy to find, manage, and access without relying on folders or spreadsheets.

See the comparison table below for a breakdown of how User Documents and Licences & Training differ.

What Are User Document Types?

User Document Types define the kinds of records you want to keep for each staff member. Examples include:

• Short courses completed as part of professional development
• University qualifications such as bachelor’s or master’s degrees
• HR records like internal reviews or policy acknowledgements
• IMS documents including audit results or procedural sign-offs
• Memberships for professional bodies or industry associations
• Awards received during employment or externally

Each document type becomes a separate tab on the Staff page for every person in your organisation, making it easy to organise and access important records.

Hiro comes pre-configured with a few commonly used types such as Qualifications, Short Courses, and Memberships. You can modify or remove these as needed, or add entirely new categories to suit your business.

Note: The Licences & Training tab on the Staff page is separate and does not appear in Settings > User Documents. It is managed through the Licences & Training Register, and appears automatically on each staff member’s profile as its own tab.

Only document types that you create in Settings > User Documents will appear as individual tabs in addition to that.

How to Configure Document Types

To create or edit your document types, go to Settings > User Documents.

Note: You must be a Hiro Global Administrator to access and configure document types.

Each item in the list represents a different document type. Click the pencil icon to adjust its configuration.

Key Options Include:

• Fields to record: Choose whether to include expiry dates, issuing institutions, sign-off fields, and more
• Document validation: Require that uploaded files meet certain conditions, such as PDF format
• Presentation controls: Decide how documents should appear in CVs and exports
• Access settings: Control who can view or edit this document type across the organisation

Adding Documents to Staff Profiles

Once document types are configured, they will automatically appear as tabs on each person's Staff page—provided you have permission to view them. Each tab corresponds to a document type from your settings. For example, in the screenshot below, the Qualifications tab is selected:

Each entry is stored with optional metadata such as expiry date, who signed or authored it, and a copy of the original file. Use the Add link in the upper right to upload new entries.

You can add as many document types as you need. Hiro will automatically show or hide tabs based on whether documents exist and the permissions you have set.

How Is This Different From Licences & Training?

Although both systems store personnel records, Licences & Training is built for compliance use cases. It includes expiry tracking, version history, and links to role requirements through the Positions Register.

Use User Documents for general record-keeping. Use Licences & Training when you need re-attainments, compliance reporting, or formal linkage to staff roles.

For example, a university degree belongs in User Documents because it is fixed in time and does not expire. A First Aid certificate belongs in Licences & Training because it may expire, need to be reattained, and could be required for someone's role.

For more detail on how Licences & Training works, refer to:

• Setup Licences and Training
• Upload Licence & Training Records for Staff

Keeping Information Secure

User Documents support detailed access controls to help you manage who can view and edit different types of records.

Each document type has a Privileges section in its settings, where you can configure:

• Viewing Privilege — choose whether documents of this type can be seen by Everyone or only Specific People. This controls who can access the tab on other people's Staff profiles.
• Editing Privilege — decide whether Everyone can make changes, or restrict editing to Specific People. You can then select the authorised editors from a user list.

There is also an additional checkbox labelled “Allow people to edit their own documents”. When this is ticked, any staff member can upload or edit their own documents under that tab, even if they are not listed as an editor. This is particularly useful for things like memberships or CPD certificates, where staff are expected to self-manage their submissions but not access anyone else's.

If someone is seeing or editing records they should not, review the document type’s privileges in Settings > User Documents. These settings apply across the organisation and are the most common cause of unexpected access.

These tools give you control over privacy and accountability, while still offering flexibility to share responsibility across the team.