Does something seem different? This feature is gradually being rolled out to all our customers, so some information in this article might differ from what you currently see in the Personio product.

This article explains the different employee relationships you can set up in Personio, including primary and additional supervisors. It also explains how to assign a supervisor or an employee from other types of relationships to an employee.

Primary supervisor relationship

What are primary supervisors in Personio?

Primary supervisors are one of the employee relationships you can set up in Personio. A primary supervisor is someone who manages other employees, usually overseeing their performance, attendance, and development. They hold ultimate responsibility for the employees' overall performance.

Here are the main things to consider for primary supervisors:

• They form the basis of the structure shown in the Org Chart.
• They are set up using the Supervisor preset attribute. 
• You can assign a single employee as a primary supervisor to an employee. 
• Assigning a primary supervisor to an employee makes that employee a direct report. Additionally, the employee's direct reports become indirect reports of the primary supervisor.

This table highlights the functionalities associated with primary supervisors:

Functionality	Primary Supervisor
Org Chart	Appears linked to direct reports with a solid line in the Org Chart, defining its primary structure.
Access rights	Act as the default reporting line.
Workflows	Available as approver for attendance and employee data requests. Time off requests will become available soon in Workflows.

Set up a primary supervisor attribute

Primary supervisors are set up using the existing Supervisor preset attribute, which means you don't need to create a new attribute for them. You can directly assign a primary supervisor to an employee.

Assign a primary supervisor to the employee

You can assign a single employee as a primary supervisor to an employee. You can assign a primary supervisor to an employee in various ways:

• During the initial account setup (Employee data import)
• Through their Personal info tab in the employee profile.
• Through the People list.
• Through our Public API (PAPI V2).

Additional supervisor relationships

What are additional supervisors in Personio?

Note:
The additional supervisors feature requires a subscription to Personio Core Pro. It’s also available with our Enterprise plan, which we no longer offer to new customers.

Additional supervisors are another type of relationship you can set up in Personio. An additional supervisor is an employee with managerial duties focused on specific tasks or projects, like a "Project Supervisor" or "Functional Lead." Generally, they aren't the ones ultimately responsible for an employee's overall performance, unlike primary supervisors. However, in some companies, they do assume this responsibility.

Here are the main things to consider for additional supervisors:

• They reflect additional person-to-person connections and dotted lines, and so they are common in matrix organizations where employees work within departments but also in teams that include people from different departments.
• They are set up using custom attributes of type Relationship and subtype Additional supervisor.
• You can assign up to five additional supervisors of one type per employee. For instance, an employee can have five different “Project Supervisors”.
• Assigning an additional supervisor to an employee makes that employee a dotted-line report.

This table highlights the functionalities associated with additional supervisors and compares them to those of primary supervisors:

Functionality	Primary supervisor	Additional supervisor
Org Chart	Appears linked to direct reports with a solid line in the Org Chart, defining its primary structure.	Appears linked to dotted-line reports with a dotted line in the Org Chart, with the Spotlight view providing further details.
Access rights	Act as the default reporting line.	Available as an alternative reporting line (Edit relationships option).
Workflows	Available as approver for attendance and employee data requests. Time off requests will become available soon in Workflows.

Set up an additional supervisor attribute

Unlike primary supervisors, additional supervisors are set up using a custom attribute of the type Relationship and subtype Additional supervisor.

This attribute needs to be created beforehand. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Navigate to Settings > Employee information.
2. Add an attribute.
3. Enter a name for the attribute (for example, "Project Supervisor").
4. Select Relationship as the type and choose Additional supervisor.
5. Follow the set-up wizard to grant access rights to the new employee role. In Employee roles > Access rights, select Reporting line for the additional supervisor to get access to their reports.

You can create up to five custom attributes for different types of additional supervisors, such as:

• "Project Supervisor"
• "Functional Lead"
• "Team Mentor"
• "Training Coordinator"
• "Quality Assurance Lead"

Assign an additional supervisor to the employee

You can assign up to five additional supervisors of one type per employee. For instance, an employee can have five different “Project Supervisors”.

You can assign additional supervisors to an employee in various ways:

• During the initial account setup (Employee data import)
• Through their Personal info tab in the employee profile.
• Through the People list.
• Through our Public API (PAPI V2).

General employee relationships

What are general relationships in Personio?

Note:
The general relationships feature requires a subscription to Personio Core Pro. It’s also available with our Enterprise plan, which we no longer offer to new customers.

General relationships are another type of relationship you can set up in Personio. An employee assigned to another employee as part of a general relationship is not necessarily someone with managerial duties, like a primary or additional supervisor. A general relationship can involve a less formal supervisory role, like an "Onboarding Buddy" or "Mentor," or be entirely non-supervisory, like a "Managing Director" or "Business Partner."

Here are the main things to consider for general relationships:

• They are set up using custom attributes of type Relationship and subtype General.
• You can assign up to five employees from each type of general relationship. For instance, an employee can have five different "Mentors".
• Assigning an employee to another employee as part of a general relationship makes that employee a dotted-line report.

This table highlights the functionalities associated with general relationships and compares them to those of primary and additional supervisors:

Functionality	Primary supervisor	Additional supervisor	General
Org Chart	Appears linked to direct reports with a solid line in the Org Chart, defining its primary structure.	Appears linked to dotted-line reports with a dotted line in the Org Chart, with the Spotlight view providing further details.	Do not appear in the Org Chart.
Access rights	Act as the default reporting line.	Available as an alternative reporting line (Edit relationships option).	Available as an alternative reporting line (Edit relationships option).
Workflows	Available as approver for attendance and employee data requests. Time off requests will become available soon in Workflows.

 

Set up a general relationship attribute

General relationships are set up using a custom attribute of the type Relationship and subtype General.

This attribute needs to be created beforehand. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Navigate to Settings > Employee information.
2. Add an attribute.
3. Enter a name for the attribute (example: "Onboarding Buddy").
4. Select Relationship as the type and choose General.
5. Follow the set-up wizard to grant access rights to the new employee role. In Employee roles > Access rights, select Reporting line for the employee to get access to their reports.

You can create up to five custom attributes for different types of general relationships, such as:

• "Mentor"
• "Onboarding Buddy"
• "Business Partner"
• "Managing Director"
• "Project Advisor"

Assign an employee from a general relationship to the employee

You can assign up to five employees from each type of general relationship. For instance, an employee can have five different "Mentors".

You can assign these employees in various ways:

• During the initial account setup (Employee data import)
• Through their Personal info tab in the employee profile.
• Through the People list.
• Through our Public API (PAPI V2).