Using combination attributes for additional access

Combination attributes allow organizations to combine two option type attributes to automatically create intersecting segments. This is great to provide key users with more nuanced access, for example Department by Region, Gender by Business unit and more. 

This article will contain:

• How it works
• Examples
• Configuration

How it works

Organizations can benefit from combination attributes to set up new attributes in various ways, in order to report on more nuanced demographic data which the organization may not be using outside of Peakon.

For example, combining the Department and Office attributes would lead to automatic creation of intersecting segments like Sales - London, Sales - Berlin, and so on.

See below table for any considerations regarding combination attributes:

Examples

Find below two examples to illustrate how this feature could be used in practice.

Scenario 1

A local finance leader looks after the Finance business unit in Germany, and does not have any reporting lines. Giving them access to Finance would give them too much access, same as with Germany alone. The user needs Finance in Germany specifically, but this is not achievable through setting up a reporting line, due to them not being a people manager.

Solution: Set up a combination attribute between Business Unit and Country. Assign the Finance in Germany segment to this manager.

Scenario 2

The diversity and inclusion consultant is looking to get more nuanced data for their Ethnicity segments, without needing to switch their context as much. They have access at company level, but would like to expand the list of already available attributes for easier reporting, but not have them visible to leaders outside of the diversity and inclusion group, due to the sensitive nature of the data.

Their desired result is to understand how the engagement experience differs for different ethnicities in different countries as well as departments, to identify any patterns.

Solution: Set up a combination attribute between Ethnicity and Country, then do the same for Ethnicity and Department. Restrict these sensitive segments so that only users with restricted access can view them (see Restricting access to attributes and segments).

Configuration

Combination attributes can be set up by the administrator or by a user who has access to manage attributes and segments.

How to create a combination attribute

1. Go to Administration > Attributes
2. Click Add attribute
3. Choose Combination type
4. Add name (eg. Departments by Country or Department x Country)
5. Set the two attributes to be combined
6. Click Create

If the attribute needs to be restricted or assigned to someone, now it is possible to do so (see Restricting access to attributes and segments and Giving access to segment data by adding segment managers respectively). It will also automatically become visible in heat maps and searchable in the context search bar.