Group hierarchy use case: field sales network
Rebuild your sales organisation every night from HR files. Each level — regional office, area, sales rep — follows the training of everyone below it, down to the retailers’ staff.
Overview
A complete sales network
The tree follows the field sales organisation, down to the teams of the retailers each rep looks after. Every manager is appointed on their own level and follows everyone below.
Regional office – North, under the company group · who follows whom
top group + up to 6 levels below
Regional office – North
Regional manager
Area – Lille
Area manager
Sales rep – Marc
Field sales rep
Team of Bar des Sports
The retailer’s staff
Sales rep – Julie
Field sales rep
Area – Rouen
Area manager
Rebuilt every night
1Source
HR files
Who reports to whom, and which retailers each rep looks after
2Nightly build
Custom script
Creates the groups and sets each Parent group
3Second tree
Retailers network
A parallel tree covers the retailers themselves
Example: Nina works for a retailer. She is a direct member of Team of Bar des Sports and an indirect member of every level above it.
Groups to create
The 5 levels to create
Each level of the sales chart is a group, built from the HR files rather than by hand.
| Level | Example groups | Who follows it | What it is for |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Company | Company group | Head office | Company-wide training |
| 2Regional office | Regional office – North, South | Regional managers | Follow-up of every area below |
| 3Area | Area – Lille, Area – Rouen | Area managers | Follow-up of the reps in the area |
| 4Sales rep | Sales rep – Marc | The rep | Follow-up of their retailers |
| 5Retailer team | Team of <retailer> | Every level above | The retailer’s staff |
- Build it automatically. At this scale the tree cannot be maintained by hand: a script or the connector reads the HR files and sets each Parent group.
- Retailers get their own tree. A group has one parent, so the retailers themselves sit in a separate tree.
Set-up
Set it up in 5 steps
Design
Agree the source
Choose the HR file that says who reports to whom, and how retailers are attached to reps.
Build
Automate the tree
A script or the connector’s group hierarchies flow creates the groups and sets each Parent group. The flow links existing groups by name; it never creates groups or removes links.
Appoint
Appoint each level
Regional, area and rep managers on their own group only, each with a list of permitted courses.
Check
Verify the chart
Open the organisational chart of the company group and expand each level.
Monitor
Watch the nightly run
Re-attaching a group re-runs automatic registrations: make sure the rebuild only touches groups whose parent changed.
Expected result
Every manager in the sales chain sees the training of their whole scope, refreshed every night.
Rules
The 5 rules to remember
| Rule | What it means for you |
|---|---|
| A group has one parent, up to 7 levels (top group + 6 below) | The retailers themselves go in a separate, parallel tree |
| Members move up, training and visibility flow down | Nina is counted as an indirect member of every level up to the company — never copied. A course linked to Regional office – North reaches every area, rep and retailer team |
| A manager sees their group and everything below it | Never the levels above or neighbouring branches: the Area – Rouen manager does not see Lille. Reports and Data Lab filters on Regional office – North include every level below |
| A manager’s rights add up across all their groups | Appoint each manager on their own level only |
| Emails go to the managers of the direct group | Emails about Nina go to the retailer’s team managers; the reps and regional managers follow her but do not receive them |
Appendix
How it works in detail
The settings and screens you need for the set-up. The examples use the sales network above.
Create the hierarchy
Go to Groups › Create a group, or click the pencil icon of an existing group. In the Hierarchy section, choose the Parent group, or add several Child groups at once from the parent. Click Save.
When you create a group, Hierarchy and Configuration appear on one page; when you edit one, each is a collapsible section.
- Both groups must belong to the same company, and a group cannot be its own parent or loop back on itself.
- When you move a group that has sub-groups, the 7-level limit is checked on the whole branch.
- Through the API, one call replaces the parent and the full list of children — an empty list removes all children. Another call changes only the parent; sending no parent detaches the group and keeps its children.
- The connector’s group hierarchies flow links existing groups matched by name. It never creates a group and never removes a link missing from the file.
› Groups › Edit group
Name
Perimeter
Group members of a child group will become indirect members of their parent group.
Parent group
Child groups
Allowed IP address range
Illustration · editing “Area – Lille”: its parent is “Regional office – North” and its child groups are listed below it.
Manager rights
- Group managers follow and manage the members of this group and of its sub-groups.
- Course permissions set which courses they can register members to and follow: None, All courses, Only visible courses (courses visible to the manager), List of permitted courses, or List of permitted categories (every course in these categories).
- Learning path permissions work the same way: None, All learning paths, or List of permitted learning paths.
- Emails about a member go only to the managers of the group the member belongs to directly, and only when their course permissions cover the course. Managers of parent groups follow these members but do not receive the emails.
- A manager’s permissions add up across every group they manage: All courses on one group applies to every member they manage, sub-groups included. To limit a manager, appoint them only on the sub-group, with a list.
- Platform-wide rights, such as creating and editing users or groups, are set in Settings › Permissions › Group managers.
Learn more
Choose which courses the group managers will be allowed to manage
Choose which learning paths group managers will be allowed to manage
Illustration · the managers of “Area – Lille” can manage All courses and All learning paths.
In Configuration, choose what the group’s managers can manage:
- Courses: None, All courses, Only visible courses, List of permitted courses, List of permitted categories.
- Learning paths: None, All learning paths, List of permitted learning paths.
Platform-wide rights, such as creating users or groups, are set in Settings › Permissions › Group managers.
In their own Groups list, a manager sees only the top groups they manage — Regional office – North for the regional manager — and opens the tree from there.
Move or delete a group
- Adding a parent or a child group re-runs the automatic registrations for everyone in the group and its sub-groups: the courses linked to the group itself and those of the new parent. Only active registrations are checked, so people removed from a course by hand are registered again and receive the usual emails — from the screen or the API alike.
- Detaching a group unregisters no one: learners keep the courses they received through the former parent.
- Deleting a group moves its child groups up under its parent: delete Area – Lille and its sales rep groups move up under Regional office – North. Check the organisational chart afterwards.
Check the result
Groups page. Only top-level groups show by default — here the company group. Search looks at every level: searching for “Regional office” lists both offices under the company group.
› Groups
| Group ↑ | Hierarchy | Number of users ↑ | Actions |
|---|---|---|---|
Regional office – North (25)
Internal |
Company group | 991 | |
Regional office – South (22)
Internal |
Company group | 870 |
Search
Hierarchy
Perimeter
Creation date
Custom fields
User - Department
User - Job
User - Location
Illustration · the Groups page. The hierarchy icon shows how many groups sit below “Regional office – North”; here searching for “Regional office”, which looks at every level.
Organisational chart. Shows the tree from any group. Search it by group name and download it as an image. Each card counts the group’s direct members: area and rep groups hold few people themselves, while the retailers’ staff sit in the teams below.
› Groups › Organisational chart
Internal • Contains 25 groups
Regional office – North
Area – Lille
Area – Rouen
Area – Amiens
Direct vs indirect: a card counts direct members only. “Regional office – North” shows 1, yet 991 people sit in its tree: the members of its child groups count as its indirect members, listed on its Manage group page.
Search
Creation date
Custom fields
User - Department
User - Job
User - Location
See all custom fields ▾
Illustration · the organisational chart of “Regional office – North” with its first level expanded.
Manage group page. The member list of Regional office – North also shows the members of every area, rep and retailer team below it, with the badge Indirect member.
› Groups › Manage group
Edit group configuration
Configuration
Type: Visible
Smart rule conditions: 0
Child groups: 25
See organisational chart
Linked to group
2 courses
1 learning path
0 goals
User activities
8,800 ongoing courses
6 pending corrections
General statistics
991
Group members
2,380
Completed courses
15m
Average time spent
77 %
Average score
| User ↑ | Connection time ↑ | Progress ↑ | Score ↑ | Last login date ↑ | Actions | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HRHélène Roux▲▲ | 4 h 02 | 04/11/2026 | ||||
| TPThomas Petit | 1 h 50 | 02/11/2026 | ||||
| KBKarim Benali | 35m | 31/10/2026 | ||||
| NCNina Caron | 10m | 27/10/2026 |
Child groups
User status
Minimum time spent
Progress
Score
Illustration · the Manage group page of “Regional office – North” on the All members tab.
Reports and learner home page. In lists, reports and the Data Lab, filtering on Regional office – North includes every level below; in the Data Lab, Group by: Group shows each person under their direct group. On the learner home page, Nina’s Groups widget shows Team of Bar des Sports and the groups above it.
Troubleshooting
Common issues and fixes
| Symptom | Fix |
|---|---|
| Manual removals come back after the nightly run | The rebuild re-attaches groups to their parents, which re-runs automatic registrations. Re-attach only the groups whose parent changed. |
| A manager cannot see another branch | Managers see their group and the groups below it only — the Area – Rouen manager does not see Lille. Appoint them on each group they need to follow. |
| Learners removed from a course are registered again | Expected after adding a parent or a child group: automatic registrations re-run and only active registrations are checked. Check registrations after any change to the tree. |
| Areas, reps or retailer teams are missing from the Groups list | Only top-level groups show by default. Use the search, which looks at every level, or open the parent’s tree. |
| Sub-group members do not match a parent’s smart rules | Expected: a parent’s smart rules only filter its own direct members; sub-group members are always indirect members. |
| After deleting a group, its reps sit directly under the regional office | Expected: child groups move up under the deleted group’s parent. Re-attach them if needed. |
| A sales rep or regional manager does not receive emails about a learner | Emails go to the managers of the learner’s direct group. Also appoint them on that group if they need the emails. |
| A manager manages more courses than expected | Their rights add up across all their groups. Appoint them only where they need it, with a List of permitted courses. |
| A manager’s Data Lab does not load | Their tree contains hundreds of groups: contact Support. |
| No level can be added | The 7-level limit is reached: merge levels. |
Start from an outcome, not a setting.
Want help setting up this use case on your platform? Our team can review your group tree with you.
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