Org Units (Departments) represent the functional groups within your organization—such as Sales, Engineering, HR, Finance, or Customer Support. Setting up departments early ensures your organizational structure is clear, consistent, and ready to support permissions, workflows, reporting, and bulk operations.

IN THIS ARTICLE:

1. Creating and Org Unit (Department)
2. Assigning Users to Org Units
3. Defining Our Unit Heads (Optional but Important)
4. Using Nested Org Units & Custom Labels
5. Assigning Users to Org Units
   
   1. Method 1: One by One
   2. Method 2: In Bulk
   3. Method3: Via Import
6. Why Defining Org Units Matters
7. (Optional) Defining Reporting Lines

1. Creating an Org Unit (Department)

1. From the top-right, click Set up.
2. Select Organization Setup.
3. Under Organization Details, click Org Units.
4. Enter the required details (e.g., Department Name, Description).
5. Save your changes.

Your new department is now available for assignment to team members.

2. Assigning Users to Org Units

You can assign (or reassign) users to departments in three different ways, depending on your needs.

1. Assign one User at a time (through the Employee Record) - See instructions below
2. Assign or update Org Units in bulk - See instructions below
3. Assign Org Units via import - See instructions below

3. Defining Org Unit Heads (Optional but important)

Assigning a Department Head is an important step because it anchors the department within your organizational hierarchy. The Department Head plays a critical role in:

• Approval workflows: Many system workflows—such as leave requests, timesheets, expenses, performance approvals, and other HR processes—can route directly to the employee’s Department Head.
• Visibility and permissions: Department Heads often receive expanded visibility or approval rights over employees within their unit, enabling them to manage their teams effectively.

4. Using Nested Org Units & Custom Labels

ClayHR allows you to create nested (hierarchical) Org Units, giving you the flexibility to structure your organization in as many levels as you need. This is especially useful for companies that operate with multiple tiers, such as:

• Division → Department → Team
• Region → Area → Branch
• Business Unit → Subdivision → Section

Each Org Unit can sit under a parent unit, allowing you to mirror complex operational structures and maintain clear reporting and approval flows across multiple layers.

Additionally, ClayHR lets you customize the labels used for Org Units. Instead of using the term “Department,” you can rename levels to match your internal terminology—for example:

• Division
• Business Unit
• Function
• Area
• Subdivision
• Team

This customization ensures your organizational structure in ClayHR matches how your company naturally describes itself, improving clarity, adoption, and accuracy.

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5. Assigning Users to Org Units

Method 1 — Assign One User at a Time (Through the Employee Record)

Use this method for individual updates or when editing a small number of users.

1. Navigate to People → Directory.
2. Select the person’s name to open their profile.
3. Click Edit Person.
4. In the Work Details section, find the Department dropdown.
5. Select the appropriate department.
6. Save your changes.

Method 2 — Assign or Update Departments in Bulk

Use this method when you want to update multiple employee department assignments at once—ideal for reorganizations or onboarding batches of employees.

1. Go to People → Directory
2. Select the top right icon for Bulk User Update.
3. Filter your segment of Users by the filters available
4. Select and confirm your Users Selection.
5. Choose the department you want to apply.
6. Confirm and apply the update.

Bulk updates save significant time when managing large groups of employees.

Method 3 — Assign Departments via Import (New or Existing Users)

Use this method when:

• You are importing employees for the first time, or
• You want to update departments for existing employees using a data file.

3.1 Importing New Employees

Include a Department column in your import template and specify each user’s department value.

3.2 Updating Existing Users

1. Export your existing user data to a spreadsheet.
2. Update (or add) the Department column.
3. Re-import the file through the Import module.
4. The system will update department assignments based on the data provided.

6. Why Defining Org Units Matters

Org Units (Departments) help:

• Organize employees into meaningful groups that reflect your real-world structure.
• Enable clean filtering and segmentation across the system.
• Support permissions and workflow routing, ensuring the right people receive the right tasks and visibility.
• Power bulk actions and efficient group-based updates.
• Enable targeted communications for department-specific announcements.

Departments form one of the core context dimensions—alongside Locations and Job Profiles—that shape how ClayHR structures and manages your organization.

7. (Optional) Defining Reporting Lines

If you want to specify who a user reports to:

1. Open the employee profile via People → Directory.
2. Click Edit Person.
3. In Work Details, update the Reports To field.
4. Save your changes.

Reporting relationships support workflows, org charts, and approvals.

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