A well-structured configuration is essential for smooth operations in any organization. This guide provides an overview of key configuration elements and their purpose. Each section includes real-world examples to illustrate how these settings impact daily workflows.
Organizational Structure
The structure is built using Positions, Teams, Contract types, and Roles.
People can belong to multiple teams (e.g., an engineer working in both the development and research teams).
Each employee has only one position and one contract type (e.g., a software developer on a full-time contract).
Positions
A position defines an employee’s role in the organization. It helps structure teams, assign responsibilities, and determine reporting lines.
Example: Positions could include "Software Engineer," "HR Specialist," or "Customer Support Representative."
To add Positions, go to Configuration →Positions. Click on the + button at the top of the screen to add positions and assign people.
Tips: Positions can be automatically created though import of people data or directly in user profile when adding new users in Configuration → People.
Example of the structure based on positions:
Benefits of defining positions:
Enables calendar filtering in the Time Off module.
Simplifies searching and filtering employees in the Core HR module.
Helps store key employee details, with export options for reporting and metrics.
Helps employees to identify key responsibilities in the organization.
Note: Positions are visible to all employees in the account.
Teams
An employee can belong to multiple teams, which supports cross-functional collaboration. Teams can be organized by company entity, location, office, department, function, or project.
Example: An employee could be part of both the "Development" and "Research & Innovation" teams.
To add Teams, go to Configuration → Teams. Click on the + button at the top of the screen to add team structure and assign people and team managers.
Tip: Teams can be automatically created though import of people data or directly in user profile when adding new users in Configuration → People.
Example of the structure:
Benefits of adding teams:
Allows calendar filtering to track team availability.
Simplifies permissions management by logically grouping employees.
Time-off policies can be tailored to specific teams related to their role in the company or location.
Allows filtering of reports by team, enabling tailored data exports for location, department, or business unit.
Note: Teams are visible to all employees in the account.
Check more details:
Contract Types
Contract types define the terms of employment, such as full-time, part-time, freelance, or fixed-term. This is useful for tailoring time off policies and other settings based on the specific employment terms.
To add Contract types, go to Configuration → Contract types. Click on the + button at the top of the screen to add contract type structures and assign people.
Tip: Contract types should be created in your account before importing people data or can be updated through an import file.
Example of the structure based on contract types:
Benefits of defining contract types:
Allows targeted filtering in reports.
Time off policies can be tailored to specific contract types, such as part-time or freelance.
Helps organize employees based on contract type for better management.
Enables customized filtering in reports, making the data more relevant.
Note: Contract type visibility can be customized through permissions in the Core HR module. If Core HR is not used, contract types are visible only to Admins.
Check more details:
Roles & Approvals
Roles define an employee's access level and authority within the organization, ensuring that approval workflows and decision-making processes are streamlined.
The roles of the direct manager and team manager can also help establish who is responsible for approval processes.
Roles can be assigned to specific teams (e.g., a manager in the HR team) or individual employees (e.g., John reports to Joanna), ensuring that responsibilities and access levels align.
Benefits of defining roles:
Establishes clear approval workflows, ensuring only the relevant people are involved (e.g., vacation or timesheet approvals).
Direct managers and team managers can view reports for their direct reports or team members.
Admins can view reports for all employees and manage configuration.
Organizational managers can view data for all users but do not have access to configuration.
Check more details:
Flexible Approval Flows
Calamari allows you to set up flexible approval workflows for different employees. For example:
Direct manager approval: (e.g., an employee requests leave, and their manager approves it).
Multi-step approvals: (e.g., a team manager reviews absences after the direct manager’s approval).
Automated approvals: Certain absence types (e.g., sick leave) may require no approval, only notification about such approval sent to HR and direct manager
Substitute approvers: If a manager is on leave and, when requesting time off, selects the deputy, another person can approve requests in their place.
