Relationships in Chris21 is an important concept if you are using, or if you are considering implementing HR21. The Relationships(REL) form is used to define your organisation structure, in other words, the reporting structure. This structure is used by HR21 to determine manager access and also workflow processing.
If you are using HR21 you will know that managers have the ability to view details of staff who report to them either directly or indirectly. Without relationships this feature wouldn’t be possible. The configuration of your Relationships form defines the Staff List that manager’s see in HR21. If your relationships are out of date then the information in HR21 will be out of date.
Creating Relationships in Chris21
The Relationships (REL) form is very straightforward. You enter the Position Number and then the Reports To position:
With a relationship as shown above the manager is defined in the Reports To field. The manager’s position number as defined in the Reports To field is TRM001 and the Incumbent is staff number ZW5277. The employee’s Position Number is TR1234 and the Incumbent is staff number ZW5278.
As you can see, entering relationships in Chris21 will build your organisation chart. When you have created all relationships you can run the Create Chart (ORC) report. This will produce your organisation structure in a text file. Alternatively, you can use third party software such as OrgPlus to display your relationships as an organisation chart.
As well as providing your organisation chart, your relationships provide the information that HR21 requires. As I mentioned earlier, there are two key areas where HR21 uses relationships – manager access to staff and workflow processing.
How relationships in Chris21 provide manager access to staff members in HR21
Staff position relationships in HR21 are sourced from the Relationships(REL) form. To ensure this information is available you must run the Load Position Tree (RTR) process in Chris21. If you don’t run this process you will find that managers will have no staff in their Staff List. For more information about the Load Position Tree process you can read my articles How to Avoid Broken Workflow Processes and 8 Ways to Optimise Your HR21 Workflow.
These articles talk about the importance of scheduling the Load Position Tree process so that is it kept up to date.
Once the Staff List is available to managers they will be able to use HR21 to access selected information about the staff members who appear on their Staff List.
How relationships in Chris21 is used for workflow processing in HR21
Workflow in HR21 controls the processing of workflow requests, such as leave requests. The relationships that have been setup in Chris21 are used by the Workflow Master (WFM) form when defining workflow.
The Workflow Master form uses relationships in Chris21 for three purposes. The first is to define who workflow requests are sent to in the first instance. Usually this will be the requestor’s immediate manager.
The second is to determine escalations. For instance, if a leave request hasn’t been processed in a given timeframe, the request can be escalated to the next manager up in the organisation structure.
And the third is for email processing. Chris21 uses the email address on the Details (DET) form to send workflow emails. These emails will be sent to the manager as defined on the Relationships(REL) form.
Considering the dependence of HR21 on relationships in Chris21, you can see how important it is to ensure that your relationships have been created and are accurate and up to date. It’s the first thing I ask clients when they are considering implementing HR21 or if they are experiencing problems when using HR21.