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Your org chart stores the employee roster and reporting structure in Windmill. It defines manager reporting scope and supports team workflows across the product. An employee can appear in the org chart without having member access to Windmill. See Inviting Members for the difference between an employee and a member.

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Why the org chart matters

Windmill uses your org chart to control visibility throughout the platform: Manager scope Managers can use their direct and indirect reporting scope in supported features. Roles, delegation, feature privacy, and source permissions can provide or limit other access. Reporting structure The org chart defines who reports to whom. This supports Feedback, 1:1s, and reports in Windmill. Team insights Managers see aggregated data about their direct reports and teams based on the org chart structure. Keep your org chart up to date as employees join, leave, or change roles. See Permissions and Access for the complete access model.

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Org chart data sources

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If you have an HRIS connected

If you have an HRIS connected (BambooHR, Rippling, Gusto, Paylocity, Justworks, ADP, Workday, etc.), your org chart automatically syncs from your HR system. What syncs automatically:
  • Employee roster (who’s on your team)
  • Reporting structure (who reports to whom)
  • Job titles and departments
  • Manager assignments
Sync timing: Your org chart syncs daily from your HRIS. Changes typically appear in Windmill within 24 hours.
You can choose which org chart fields sync from your HRIS and which you edit in Windmill. Learn how to manage which fields sync to each employee.

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If you don’t have an HRIS

If you don’t have an HRIS connected, you need to manage your org chart manually in Windmill. You can still define manager and direct-report relationships manually by assigning each employee a manager in the org chart. Data sources without HRIS: Windmill can pull partial org chart data from:
  • Google Workspace (email directory)
  • Slack (team members)
However, these systems don’t provide complete reporting structures. You’ll need to manually assign managers and update the org chart as your team changes. Windmill uses each employee’s assigned manager to decide which direct reports that manager can see in reports, 1:1s, and team views.

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Maintaining your org chart

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Editing the org chart manually

You can edit your org chart directly in Windmill. For example, if you’re piloting Windmill before connecting HiBob or another HRIS, you can assign employees to their managers manually so managers can see their direct reports’ data. To edit a single employee:
1

Go to Settings > Org Chart

Open the Org Chart.
2

Open the employee

Select the employee row to open the employee details.
3

Update the available fields

On the Info tab, update fields such as the employee’s name, job title, or manager. If a field syncs from an integration, editing it creates a manual override for that employee.
4

Save the update

Select Save changes.
After you save the change, Windmill updates the reporting relationship for that employee. To bulk update managers: If you’re restructuring teams or adding a new manager, you can update multiple employees at once:
1

Select employees

On Settings > Org Chart, select the employee rows that you want to change.
2

Select Update manager

Choose the bulk manager action.
3

Choose the manager

Select the new manager and review the number of affected employees.
4

Confirm the update

Save the bulk change.
This is helpful when onboarding a new manager or reorganizing teams.

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Managing employee groups

Use the Groups section of an employee’s profile to see their group memberships. With edit access to a Manual group, you can add or remove that membership directly. Smart, Synced, and SCIM memberships are displayed but cannot be changed manually. For Smart groups, update the membership rules or the employee information they use. For Synced and SCIM groups, change membership in the source system. See Groups for creation, sharing, and membership instructions.

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Adding new employees

If you don’t have an HRIS and need to add someone to Windmill, see Inviting Members for detailed instructions.

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Org chart accuracy

Check for employees without managers An employee without a manager has no upstream manager scope. This is normal for the top-level leader. Other roles and feature permissions can still apply. Update when people leave When someone leaves your organization, make sure they’re removed from the org chart (or archived in your HRIS). This prevents them from appearing in active team lists.
Before you archive a manually managed employee, complete these steps:
  • If the employee has member access, use Remove member in Settings > Members.
  • If the employee has direct reports, assign those reports to a new manager.
Windmill doesn’t let you archive an employee who has member access or direct reports. When an integration sync archives a manager, Windmill moves each active direct report to the archived employee’s manager. If you later unarchive the employee, Windmill does not restore the previous reporting relationships.
Reflect organizational changes When someone changes roles, gets promoted, or moves to a different team, update their manager and title promptly. This ensures reports accurately reflect your current structure.

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Viewing your org chart

To view your org chart:
  1. Go to Settings > Org Chart
  2. You’ll see a list of all employees in your system
By default, this list shows:
  • Employee names
  • Job titles
  • Job levels
  • Managers
Use Customize columns to show other columns, such as platform access. The manager field controls upstream reporting scope. It does not control every report or feature. Company-wide roles and feature-specific access can still include an employee who has no manager.
Keep your org chart up to date as people join and leave. An accurate org chart ensures the right people have access to the right data.

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FAQs

Fix it in your HRIS. The next sync brings the corrected structure into Windmill. If you need the fix right away, you can update the manager in Windmill instead, which creates a manual override and stops your HRIS from updating that field. See how to manage which fields sync to each employee.
No. Windmill supports one direct manager per employee. If another person needs supported manager-like visibility, use access delegation.
Yes. If you don’t have an HRIS connected, go to Settings > Org Chart, open the employee’s profile, and set the Manager field. That employee will appear as the manager’s direct report in Windmill.
The top-level leader usually does not have a manager in Windmill. This is expected. Other employees should usually have a manager so that manager reporting scope is correct.
Add them to the org chart like any other employee. Assign them to their manager so they appear in team reports. If needed, use job titles or departments to distinguish contractors from full-time employees.