Visma's Recommended Organizational Structure and its Impact on eADM
Starting in 2025, Visma Enterprise (VEP) is advising a new approach for building and modifying organizational structures. This new model has significant implications for how eADM and its integrated systems function.
The recommendation from Visma focuses on two key points:
Use "Manager Level" Unit Types: All organizational units led by a manager with full personnel responsibility should use a specific unit type, such as "Manager Level 1," "Manager Level 2," and so on. This simplifies identification, even when managers have different job titles.
Use Fewer Hierarchical Levels: Top-level units, such as the "Municipal Director" (Manager Level 1), should be placed at the same hierarchical level as the main department heads (Manager Level 2). This creates a "flatter" organizational chart with fewer nested levels.
Note: This flatter structure is recommended due to a limitation in Visma's BI solution, which can only process a limited number of hierarchical levels. Within VEP itself, the logical hierarchy is maintained by tracking reporting lines from person to person, so the top-level manager is still correctly identified.
Impact on eADM and Integrated Systems
Without corrective measures, this flat organizational structure will cause problems in eADM and most connected systems because they rely on the structural hierarchy for core functions.
eADM Rights Inheritance: In eADM, access rights are inherited based on an entity's position in the organizational structure. For a top-level manager to have administrative access to their subordinate departments, their unit must be at the top of the hierarchy. In a flat structure, the top manager can only see and manage employees within their own immediate unit, not the entire organization.
Target Systems (e.g., Deviation or Case Management): Systems like Compilo use the hierarchy to manage workflows, such as escalating a deviation report to the manager of the level above. If the department units are parallel to the top-level manager instead of subordinate to them, escalations cannot flow up, effectively breaking the workflow. Similar issues can occur in case/archiving systems where a complete organizational overview is required.
Recommended Solution in eADM
The solution is a simple override within eADM. To restore the correct hierarchy for all integrated systems, the ParentDepartmentNumber value for each "Manager Level 2" unit must be overridden in eADM. This change programmatically places these units under the "Manager Level 1" unit, ensuring they are no longer at the root level.
Getting Assistance
Warning: Making changes to your organizational structure can have wide-ranging effects. We strongly advise you to seek guidance before implementing changes.
Before reorganizing or building a new structure in HRM, please contact us for advice.
If you already have a flat structure and active integrations, please contact us for advice before making any changes in eADM. You can reach us at support@identum.no.