Workday Tips & Tricks: When to assign a new supervisor to an existing Sup Org

In Workday, Supervisory Organizations (Sup Orgs) map the reporting relationships between all WSU employees and their supervisors. HR business process workflows are driven by the structure of Supervisory Organizations, which also connect with Cost Centers, to unite financial and HR data across the university.

The proper upkeep of Supervisory Organizations is key to the correct flow and accuracy of business processes and information in Workday. This Tips & Tricks post will address the appropriate time to update a Sup Org by assigning a new supervisor, rather than creating a new one.

Assigning a new supervisor to an existing Sup Org

Sup Orgs are reusable and recyclable, so as supervisors change or default funding gets moved to a new cost center, existing Sup Orgs can be updated without the need to create new ones.

A common question received by HRS and Modernization is “One of my supervisors is leaving, can you create a new Sup Org for the new supervisor and move all of their new employees into it?” In this instance, it is most appropriate to update the existing Sup Org with a new supervisor, rather than create a new one.

Because the only thing that has changed is the position number of the supervisor, it is possible to swap out the supervisor and leave the structure, employees, and supporting security roles of the existing Sup Org as they were. To do this, submit the Modify an Existing Supervisory Organization ticket in the Workday Service Desk.

When to move a supervisor into a new Sup Org

When changing supervisors, be aware that supervisors cannot report to themselves in the Workday system. This is known as a Supervisor Reports to Self error.

If the position being moved is also assigned as a supervisor, the position must not be moved into the same supervisory organization as the employees they supervise. For example:

• Employee A is in position number 999990 and is a member of the SP004567 Temporary Staff Sup Org, which rolls up to the SP004500 Research Lab Sup Org in the org chart. Employee A will be replacing Employee B as the supervisor of SP004567.
• When Employee A’s position number is assigned the Manager role for SP004567, their position also needs to be moved into a different Sup Org; for example, the next Sup Org higher in the org chart, which is SP004500.

For details and instructions on moving employees into a different Sup Org, visit the Transfer Position to New Supervisory Organization reference guide.

Additional resources

Helpful resources and support are available to help Workday users understand and manage Supervisory Organizations.

To learn more about the difference between Sup Orgs and cost centers, and how security cascades down through the Sup Org hierarchy, review the Workday Security Concepts: How it Works and How to Request Security Access guide.

Two reports are available to help employees who support Supervisory Organizations. These include:

• CR REF Supervisory Organizations
  • Lists all the sup orgs you support with their managers, the Sup Org’s superior Sup Org (the organization above it in the org chart), and the default cost center, fund, function, and region.
• CR HCM Supervisory Organizations with No Active Workers to be Inactivated
  • Lists all the sup orgs with no active workers assigned to them, the number of vacant positions assigned to the sup org, and the AFO associated with that sup org.
  • The sup orgs on this last can be Inactivated.

For help with modifying an existing Sup Org, submit a Modify an existing Supervisory Organization ticket via the Workday Service Desk. General questions about Supervisory Organizations can be submitted using a General Human Resources Question ticket.