Step 3: Departments and Offices
In this step, you will learn to view and edit company department and office information used in the Gen4 HR System.
Departments
Typically, the term "department" in a company means a group of individuals working to perform a common function (e.g., Sales, Operations, Shipping, etc.). Under this definition of "department", every one working on the same function is "in" the same department, both the managers and their employees.
In Gen4, the term "department" is used slightly different. In Gen4, a "department" is everyone who reports to a specific individual. For example, the "Sales" department is everyone who reports to the Sales Manager. However, it is important to note that the Sales Manager herself is NOT "in" the Sales department because she does not report to herself. Instead, she may report to a specific Vice President (VP). In Gen4, she and the other employees that report to that VP would belong to a department reporting to the VP, perhaps called the "Executive Committee" department.
You can view and edit Department information for your company by selecting "My HR Database" from the blue navigation bar, and then selecting "Company Management" from the drop-down list. On this page you can
- Add a new department by selecting "New Department" from the "Quick Links" in the top right corner
- Edit a department name by selecting the "edit" icon to the right of the department name in the list
- Delete a department by selecting the "delete" icon to the right of the department name in the list
Keep the following in mind as you work with departments:
- Departments were defined and employees were assigned to departments in the spreadsheet submitted to On Song by your company
- Departments cannot be deleted if there are employees assigned to them
- Edit an employee's information in Employee Management to change an employee's department
- In Step 5 you will learn to change many employee departments at the same time using "Power Tools"
- There is currently a bug in Gen4 that prevents you from viewing departments you create until you log out and log back in, we are working with Gen4 to fix this
Offices
Offices are used to describe the different locations where people in your company work. You can view and edit office information for your company by selecting "My HR Database" from the blue navigation bar, and then selecting "Company Management" from the drop-down list. On this page you can
- Add a new office by selecting "New Office" from the "Quick Links" in the top right corner
- Edit office information by selecting the "edit" icon to the right of the office name in the list
- Delete an office by selecting the "delete" icon to the right of the office name in the list
Keep the following in mind as you work with departments:
- Offices were defined and employees were assigned to offices in the spreadsheet submitted to On Song by your company
- Offices cannot be deleted if there are employees assigned to them
- Edit an employee's information in Employee Management to change an employee's office
- In Step 5 you will learn to change many employee offices at the same time using "Power Tools"
- There is currently a bug in Gen4 that prevents you from viewing offices you create until you log out and log back in, we are working with Gen4 to fix this
Assignment
Review the departments and offices listed in Gen4 to confirm that the information is correct. As described above, departments are groups of employees that report to the same manager. For that reason, you will likely need to create new departments to hold groups of managers that report to a senior manager. For example, the manager of the sales would not be in the "Sales" department. Instead, she would likely be found in a department (perhaps called the "Executive Committee") with other managers that report to the same senior manager. Ensure that the departments defined in Gen4 match this structure. Please contact us at On Song if you have any questions.
- User name: (use the user name provided to you by On Song)
- Password: (use the user name provided to you by On Song)
- Agency Partner: absi