What is the Direct Manager Feature?
The Direct Manager feature allows you to create and manage organizational hierarchies in Smart Arena. This enables:
Manager-Employee Relationships: Define who manages whom in your organization
Hierarchical Levels: Support up to 10 levels of management (e.g., Team Lead → Department Manager → Director → VP)
Priority Rankings: When users have multiple managers, you can set priority levels (1-10)
Automated Workflows: Managers can automatically enroll, confirm, and sign statements for their team members
Real-World Example
Imagine your organization's reporting structure:
Sarah (Director)
└── John (Manager)
└── Mike (Team Lead)
└── Emma (Employee)
With the Direct Manager feature:
Hierarchy (Levels): Emma → Mike → John → Sarah (this defines who reports to whom)
Multiple Managers: Emma could also have a manager from another department (e.g., Lisa from HR)
Mike would be Priority 1 (Emma's main/functional manager)
Lisa would be Priority 2 (Emma's secondary/HR manager)
Priority indicates which manager is more important when Emma has multiple managers
Levels define how far up the hierarchy to go (Level 1 = Mike, Level 2 = John, Level 3 = Sarah)
Key Benefits
For HR Administrators
✅ Centralized management of organizational structure
✅ Easy assignment and modification of manager relationships
✅ Visual confirmation of who manages whom
✅ Automated role assignments based on management status
For Managers
✅ Automatic access to team member data
✅ Streamlined training approvals for your team
✅ Visibility into team statistics and progress
✅ Statement signing authority for team certifications
For Employees
✅ Clear visibility of who your managers are
✅ Faster training approvals through manager workflows
✅ Transparent organizational structure
Setting Up Manager Hierarchies
Step 1: Navigate to User Management
Go to Users → User overview
Select the user you want to assign managers to
Click Edit profile
Step 2: Access the Managers Tab
In the user edit form, locate the Direct Managers tab
Click on the Direct Managers tab
Note: In the new design interface, the Direct Managers section may appear as a separate section on the edit page instead of a tab.
Step 3: Select Managers
Click the "Select Managers" button
A modal window will open showing all available users from your organization
The modal displays:
Email: User's email address
Name: First name
Last Name: Last name
Branch: User's branch assignment
Location: User's location
Workplace: User's workplace
Features:
✅ Search box to quickly find users
✅ Pagination for large user lists
✅ Select all checkbox for bulk selection
✅ The user cannot select themselves as their own manager
Step 4: Add Managers with Priority
Select managers by checking the boxes next to their names
Set priority using the dropdown at the bottom of the modal (default is 1)
Priority 1 = Most important/primary manager
Priority 2 = Second most important manager
Priority 3-10 = Additional managers in order of importance
Click "Save"
💡 Tip: You can assign multiple managers to one user. Priority indicates which manager is more important when the user has multiple managers - it does NOT indicate hierarchy levels.
Step 5: Review and Modify Managers
After clicking Save, you'll see your selected managers displayed:
Each manager shows:
Name and Email: Who the manager is
Priority Dropdown: Adjust priority (1-10) if needed
Remove Button: Remove this manager relationship
Making Changes:
Change Priority: Use the dropdown next to each manager's name
Remove Manager: Click the ❌ or "Remove" button
Add More Managers: Click "Select Managers" again
⚠️ Important: Changes are automatically reflected, but you must click the main "Save" button at the bottom of the user form to permanently save all changes.
Step 6: Save User Changes
Scroll to the bottom of the user edit form
Click "Save" to commit all changes
Success message will confirm the update.
Viewing Managers (Read-Only Mode)
When viewing user details (not editing):
Navigate to Users → View User Details
Scroll to the Direct Managers section
You'll see a read-only list showing:
Manager names and email addresses
Priority levels
"No managers selected" if none assigned
Using Direct Manager in Training Plans
Overview
When creating training plans, you can select Direct Manager as an Enroller or Confirmer with specific hierarchy levels. This allows automatic assignment based on the organizational structure.
Selecting Direct Manager as Enroller
What is an Enroller?
An enroller is someone who can enroll users in the training plan.
Steps:
Navigate to Course catalogues → Create New catalogue
In the Enrollers section, click "Set Enrollers"
Go to the Roles tab
Check the Direct Manager checkbox
A Level selector dropdown will appear (1-10).
6. Select the appropriate level:
Level 1: Only direct managers (immediate supervisors)
Level 2: Managers 2 levels up
Level 3-10: Higher levels in the hierarchy
7. Click "Add" or "Save"
Result:
The enrollers section will display: "Direct Manager (Level X)"
Selecting Direct Manager as Confirmer
What is a Confirmer?
A confirmer is someone who can approve or confirm training completion.
Steps:
In the Confirmers section of the training plan, click "Set Confirmers"
Go to the Roles tab
Check Direct Manager checkbox
Select the appropriate level (1-10)
Click "Save"
Understanding Levels in Training Plans
Example Organizational Structure:
Level 5: CEO
Level 4: VP
Level 3: Director
Level 2: Manager
Level 1: Team Lead
Level 0: Employee
If you set Enroller to "DirectManager (Level 1)":
Employees' Team Leads can enroll them in training
If you set Confirmer to "DirectManager (Level 2)":
Employees' Managers (2 levels up) must confirm training completion
💡 Use Case: Set enrollers at Level 1 (immediate managers) and confirmers at Level 3 (directors) to create an approval chain.
Setting Up Direct Manager for Statement Signers
What are Statement Signers?
Statement signers are authorized to sign completion certificates or compliance statements for course completions.
Steps:
In the course edit form, locate Statement Signers section
Click "Set signers"
Go to the Roles tab
Check Direct Manager
Select the hierarchy level (1-10)
Click "Save"
Result:
Statement signers will show: "DirectManager (Level X)"
📌 Note: When a course is completed, the system will identify the appropriate Direct Manager at the specified level to sign the statement.
Understanding Priority and Levels
Manager Priority (1-10)
Used in: User manager assignments
Purpose: Indicates which manager is more important when a user has multiple managers assigned.
Example: Emma has two managers for different purposes:
Mike (Priority 1) - Emma's main/primary manager
John (Priority 2) - Emma's secondary manager (e.g., for HR matters or cross-functional work)
What Priority Means:
✅ Indicates which manager takes precedence when both are involved
✅ Determines primary contact when notifications are sent
✅ Used for reporting and grouping purposes
❌ Does NOT indicate hierarchy depth (that's what "Level" is for)
❌ Does NOT mean Priority 2 reports to Priority 1
When does priority matter?
When routing notifications to the most relevant manager first
When reports need to show a user's primary manager
When approval workflows need to know the main point of contact
⚠️ Note: Multiple managers can have the same priority if they're equally important. The system allows duplicate priorities.
UP in the management hierarchy to go.
🔑 Key Difference: Priority = importance between multiple managers.
Level = depth in the organizational hierarchy.
Visual Example:
In this example:
Level 1 from Emma = Tom (Emma's direct manager)
Level 2 from Emma = Mike (Tom's manager)
Level 3 from Emma = John (Mike's manager)
Level 4 from Emma = Sarah (John's manager)isual Example:**
Practical Usage:
Level | Who It Selects | Use Case |
1 | Direct manager (Tom) | Day-to-day training enrollments |
2 | Manager's manager (Mike) | Department-level approvals |
3 | Director level (John) | Cross-department approvals |
4+ | Executive level (Sarah) | Company-wide certifications |
💡 Best Practice: Use lower levels (1-2) for routine tasks and higher levels (3-5) for important approvals.
Use priority (1-10) to indicate which manager is more important.