---
title: "Managing Your Organization Hierarchy"
slug: "managing-your-organization-hierarchy"
updated: 2026-10-06T21:43:33Z
published: 2026-10-06T21:43:33Z
canonical: "docs.serenityops.com/managing-your-organization-hierarchy"
---

> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.serenityops.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Managing Your Organization Hierarchy

In Serenity, your company’s structure is represented using a flexible and scalable system called the **organizational hierarchy**. This hierarchy connects everything from high-level business units to shop-floor equipment, all through a system of records we call **entities**.

## What is an "Entity"?

We know the word "entity" can feel a bit abstract. But in practice, it just means **a piece of your organization**, like a site, department, machine, or process.

Every part of your business that you want to **assign work to**, **report on**, or **track compliance for** is considered an entity in the system.

## Common Example Hierarchy

To make this feel more real, here’s how many organizations build out their hierarchy in Serenity:

```plaintext
Organization (Acme, Inc.)
└── Org Unit (Manufacturing) 
 └── Child Org Unit (Vehicle Assembly) 
  └── Establishment (Plant A) 
   └── Zone (Paint Department / Shop) 
    └── Child zone (Body Panel Paint) 
     └── Process (Final Clear Coat Application) 
     └── Asset (Robotic Paint Sprayer)
```

You can go as high-level or as detailed as your operations require. Some organizations stop at **Establishment**, while others go all the way to **Assets and Processes**.

### Top-Down Approach (Recommended for New Orgs)

If you’re setting up your hierarchy from scratch, the top-down method is the most intuitive:

1. Open Organization Management in the left navigation and create your top-level entity, such as an Org Unit or an Establishment.
2. Open the new record and select Related entities in the left menu of the record.
3. Use the tabs (Zones, Vehicles, Assets, and People) and select New to add a child entity. The Parent field is filled in with the record you came from.
4. Repeat for each level. Open the child record and use its Related entities section to add the next level down.

This method helps keep things clean and ensures each level is linked correctly from the start.

![Related entities tab on an establishment showing the Zones, Vehicles, Assets, and People tabs and the New button](https://cdn.us.document360.io/7951ec8a-9aa7-4a24-82dd-bc5d6b13dc78/Images/Documentation/hierarchy-top-down-related-entities.png?sv=2026-02-06&spr=https&st=2026-11-03T19%3A53%3A54Z&se=2026-11-03T20%3A53%3A54Z&sr=c&sp=r&sig=9FMM0W4Eu4TIvyS0MY4pGEYPwEYuo2WJkQs1AkEPSZQ%3D)

### Bottom-Up Approach (Ideal for Updating Existing Records)

If you already have a lot of entities in the system, the fastest way to build the hierarchy is from the bottom up:

1. Open any entity record, or select New from its list in Organization Management.
2. Locate the Parent field. It is required when you create a new record such as a Zone.
3. Select the correct parent entity (for example, link a Zone to its Establishment).

As soon as you assign a parent, that entity becomes part of your org tree, no additional configuration needed.

![Create New Zone form showing the required Parent field pre-filled with the establishment](https://cdn.us.document360.io/7951ec8a-9aa7-4a24-82dd-bc5d6b13dc78/Images/Documentation/hierarchy-bottom-up-parent-field.png?sv=2026-02-06&spr=https&st=2026-11-03T19%3A53%3A54Z&se=2026-11-03T20%3A53%3A54Z&sr=c&sp=r&sig=9FMM0W4Eu4TIvyS0MY4pGEYPwEYuo2WJkQs1AkEPSZQ%3D)

## Why This Matters

Building your organizational hierarchy helps you:

- Route tasks to the correct site, department, or team
- Filter reports and dashboards by location or function
- Assign ownership and accountability
- Map your operations more clearly for audits, risk assessments, and inspections

**Note:** And once it's set up, Serenity can use it to automate workflows and task assignments based on location, role, or asset.

## Tips for Maintaining Your Hierarchy

- **Lay the foundation first:** Start by defining your **Org Units** and **Establishments**, then build out Zones, Assets, and Processes.
- **Use consistent naming conventions:** Keep naming simple, recognizable, and aligned across sites, departments, and asset types.
- **Assign ownership early:** Designate responsible users or groups at each level (e.g., site manager, EHS Group) to streamline routing and accountability.
- **Don’t overbuild**, only go as deep as you need
- Use the **Parent field** to link existing records together
- Review the hierarchy quarterly to reflect any organizational changes
- Reach out to your internal admin team before making structural changes at the top level
- **Leverage a source of truth:** Whenever possible, integrate Serenity with existing authoritative systems (HRIS, identity platforms, CMMS) to automatically maintain your structure and avoid manual errors.

We recommend leveraging our integration with **Azure Entra ID (formerly Azure Active Directory)** to create and manage **Establishments**. This ensures that users are automatically assigned to the correct site based on their organizational identity, reducing setup time and ongoing maintenance.

**Note:** Additional integrations are available. Contact your system administrator or sales representative to scope integrations and define a statement of work (SOW).