You have two options when considering position management in Chris21. You can re-use positions among multiple staff or you can create a new position number whenever someone starts in a new role.
There is no right or wrong, one way is not necessarily better than the other. It’s really a matter of preference according to the way the organisation is structured.
There will always be occasions when you will need to create a new position. This would be the case if the position role is new and none of your existing positions match. In this case a new position number is warranted. However, there are plenty of occasions where a new starter will fit into an existing position. And in the case of multiple similar roles, for instance, a nurse role or council depot worker, it would be beneficial to use the same position number.
If you do create a new position number for each new starter then this means each employee will have a unique position number. If you choose instead to re-use your position numbers, you could have any number of staff sharing one position number.
A good way to approach this question is the look at the advantages of each option:
Advantages of creating new position numbers in Chri21
- Every employee will have their own position number. This helps if employees performing the same role work in a different organisation level;
- A different position number for each employee can allow for better reporting. Each employee number/position number combination will be unique;
- Employees can be assigned to different managers;
- Changing details about a position won’t affect any other employee. For instance, changing the leave group.
Advantages of using a position for multiple incumbents in Chris21
- Better for establishment reporting. You set the establishment count for each position and can then report on establishment count and vacancies;
- Position maintenance becomes much simpler because there are less positions to manage;
- Reporting can be more difficult when trying to identify specific employee groups;
- Information will flow through from the master position record (PDT) to the employee position record (POS). For instance, leave groups, cost splits.
These are just some of the points that come to mind. You may very well have other reasons why your method of position management works best for your organisation.
While sharing position numbers is appropriate in many cases, bear in mind that manager positions shouldn’t be shared. This will have implications for workflow because the system won’t know which manager should receive workflow requests. If managers are sharing a position, then the workflow will be directed to the first manager found alphabetically. This of course may not be the correct manager.
Ultimately there is no definitive right or wrong way to assign position numbers in Chris21. The best method for you will depend largely on the way your organisation is structured.