Chapter 89 — Managers in Operentra
HR runs the system; managers make most of its daily decisions. A leave request, a forgotten punch, an expense claim, a performance review: each lands first with the person's manager, who knows whether it is right. This chapter is what a manager does in Operentra, so HR can set managers up properly and help them when they are stuck.
What this chapter covers
- 89.1 What a department head can do in the admin panel
- 89.2 Approving leave, overtime and regularisations
- 89.3 Team expenses, reviews, interviews
The concept
Good delegation gives managers the decisions they are best placed to make, about their own team, and no more: they approve their people's leave and corrections, judge their work and their claims, and see their team's attendance, without seeing the whole company's salaries. Two things make it work: a correct reporting line for every employee, and a manager role that matches it.
How Operentra handles it
- Reporting manager on each employee record (Chapter 19) decides whose requests a manager sees.
- The Department Head role (Chapter 14) gives a manager the approvals and team views; its scope is direct reports only.
- In the admin panel, a Department Head sees only the pages their permissions open: a team dashboard, their team's attendance and leave, the approvals, tasks, assets, onboarding and holidays.
- In the portal, they also get Team Expenses and Reviews, and My Interviews when on an interview panel.
- A manager on the plain Employee role sees none of it, however many people report to them.
Walkthrough
Northwind has eighteen reporting managers, and all but one are on the Employee role, so none of this appears for them yet. The example is Callum Ferreira (NWL-0004), who leads four people in Software Engineering: giving Callum the Department Head role is the first step.
89.1 What a department head can do in the admin panel
A Department Head signs in to the admin panel; Employee Portal in the account menu opens their own portal. Their Dashboard is the team's: Your team today (direct reports at work, late, on leave and absent) and Waiting for your decision (pending leave, attendance corrections, overtime and team expense claims, each linking to its page). If nobody reports to them yet, it says so. The menu shows only what the role opens:
| Area | Pages | Whose |
|---|---|---|
| Attendance | Daily Attendance, Regularizations, Overtime Requests | Direct reports |
| Leave | Leave Applications, Pending Approvals, Leave Calendar | Direct reports |
| Performance | Tasks | Direct reports |
| Assets | All Assets, Categories | The whole company |
| Onboarding | Pipelines | The whole company |
| Holidays | Holiday Calendar | The whole company |
Attendance, leave, tasks and every approval are limited to the manager's direct reports: someone in another team is simply not there, and opening their record by link answers "not found". They cannot see salaries or payroll, the employee directory, or settings. For anything wider, the person needs an HR role.
89.2 Approving leave, overtime and regularisations
Daily Attendance shows the team's day, or one person's month when the manager picks them (Chapter 37). Leave › Leave Applications and the Leave Calendar show the team's leave, so the manager can see who is off before approving more (Chapter 48).
Leave › Pending Approvals lists the direct reports' leave applications awaiting the manager, with the type, dates, days and reason; Approve or Reject with a reason (Chapter 48). Leave types marked "On request — HR approval" go to HR instead.
Attendance › Regularizations lists their correction requests (a missing clock-out, a wrong status) with the requested change and reason; approving it changes the day (Chapter 39). Overtime Requests lists their claimed overtime hours; approved overtime is the record the overtime reports and settings use (Chapter 39).
The employee is notified of each decision. HR, who approve for the whole company, see every request too, so they can decide when the manager is away or for someone with no manager.
89.3 Team expenses, reviews, interviews
In the portal, Team Expenses shows the direct reports' submitted expense claims: View items, Approve (to HR for final approval) or Reject with a reason (Chapter 66). Reviews shows the appraisals they review, to rate each competency and submit (Chapter 69). In the admin panel, Tasks lets them set, confirm and grade their team's tasks (Chapter 71). As a member of an interview panel, My Interviews shows their rounds and takes their feedback (Chapter 88).
What happens next
- Part 15 turns to reports, audit and data.
What the employee sees
Their manager's decisions, by email and in the portal, on their requests, claims, tasks and appraisals.
Common mistakes
- Managers on the Employee role. They see no approvals and their team's requests fall to HR; give them a manager role.
- Wrong reporting lines. A request goes to whoever the record says is the manager; keep the org chart current.
- Giving managers an HR role "to make it work". They then see everyone's data and salaries.
- No cover for absent managers. Requests wait; HR approves them, or reassigns the reporting line for the period.
- Expecting team reports. The Reports section needs an HR role; a manager's view of the team is the dashboard, Daily Attendance and the leave pages.
Practice
Use your own trial workspace, not a customer's.
- Give a test manager the Department Head role and sign in as them; compare their dashboard and menu with an HR Manager's.
- As one of their direct reports, apply for leave and request a regularisation; approve both as the manager.
- Submit an expense claim as the report and approve it from Team Expenses.
Quiz
1. What decides whose requests a manager sees?
The reporting manager on each employee record; the scope is direct reports only.
2. Why might a manager see no approvals at all?
They are on the Employee role; a manager needs a role such as Department Head.
3. Which leave requests go to HR rather than the manager?
Leave types approved by HR ("On request — HR approval"), and requests from people with no manager.
4. Which admin pages show a Department Head the whole company?
Assets, onboarding pipelines and holidays. Attendance, leave, tasks and approvals show only their direct reports, and they see no salaries or payroll beyond their own.
5. Where does a manager approve team expense claims?
In the portal, under Team Expenses.