Creating Custom Roles

Learn how to create and manage custom organizational roles in the Shifts platform, define their permissions, and establish hierarchical relationships to create a role structure that matches your organization’s needs.

Overview

The Shifts platform allows you to create custom organizational roles that match your company’s specific management structure. These roles define what users can access and modify within the system, allowing for precise control over permissions and responsibilities. This article explains how to create, configure, and manage these custom roles.

Understanding Organizational Roles

Organizational roles in Shifts serve several important functions:

• Access Control: Define what features and data users can access
• Permission Inheritance: Establish hierarchical relationships between roles
• Responsibility Delegation: Assign appropriate capabilities based on job responsibilities
• Organizational Structure: Map your actual organizational hierarchy within the platform

Default System Roles

The Shifts platform comes with four built-in system roles that cannot be deleted:

• Super Admin: Complete access to all features and settings
• Administrator: Full administrative access except system-level settings
• Manager: Operational management capabilities
• Staff: Basic self-service access

Creating a Custom Role

To create a new custom role:

1. Navigate to Admin Settings > Roles & Permissions
2. Click the Create New Role button
3. In the form that appears, enter:
   • Role Name: A clear, descriptive name (e.g., “Regional Director”)
   • Description: Details about the role’s purpose and responsibilities
   • Hierarchy Level: Numerical value determining position in organizational hierarchy (lower numbers = higher rank)
4. Optionally select a Parent Role if this role reports directly to another
5. Click Create Role

Setting Role Hierarchy

Roles exist in a hierarchical structure, with higher-level roles having authority over lower-level ones:

1. Hierarchy Levels: Each role has a numerical hierarchy level (1 = highest)
2. Relative Positioning:
   • Roles with lower numbers supervise roles with higher numbers
   • Roles with the same number are peers
3. Parent-Child Relationships: Optionally establish direct reporting relationships
4. Inheritance Impact: Hierarchy affects how permissions can be inherited

Example Hierarchy Structure

• Level 1: Executive (C-Suite)
• Level 2: Director
• Level 3: Regional Manager
• Level 4: District Manager
• Level 5: Location Manager
• Level 6: Supervisor
• Level 7: Staff

Configuring Role Permissions

After creating a role, you need to configure its permissions:

1. From the Roles list, click on the role you want to configure
2. Go to the Permissions tab
3. You’ll see permission categories (Shifts, Users, Leave Requests, etc.)
4. For each category, set permissions:
   • View: See information in this category
   • Create: Add new items in this category
   • Edit: Modify existing items
   • Delete: Remove items
   • Manage: Special actions specific to the category

Permission Inheritance Modes

For each permission, you can set how it applies to users and their subordinates:

1. Self Only: Permission applies only to this role
2. Direct Reports: Applies to this role and immediate subordinates (one level down)
3. Full Hierarchy: Applies to this role and all subordinates (all levels down)
4. Custom Depth: Applies to this role and a specific number of levels down

To set inheritance mode:

1. Click the Advanced option next to a permission
2. Select the inheritance mode from the dropdown
3. For Custom Depth, enter the number of levels

Assigning Users to Custom Roles

Once roles are configured, you can assign users to them:

1. Go to Admin Settings > Users
2. Select a user to edit
3. In the user’s profile, find the Role section
4. Click Change Role
5. Select the appropriate role from the dropdown
6. Click Save Changes

Alternatively, assign a role when creating a new user:

1. Go to Admin Settings > Users
2. Click Add New User
3. Complete the user details
4. Select the role in the Role dropdown
5. Complete the user creation process

Managing Existing Roles

You can modify, deactivate, or (for custom roles) delete roles:

Editing a Role

1. Go to Admin Settings > Roles & Permissions
2. Find the role you want to edit
3. Click the Edit icon
4. Make your changes to the name, description, or hierarchy level
5. Click Save Changes

Deactivating a Role

1. Go to Admin Settings > Roles & Permissions
2. Find the role you want to deactivate
3. Toggle the Active switch to Off
4. Confirm your decision

Note: Users assigned to deactivated roles will lose the permissions associated with that role.

Deleting a Custom Role

1. Go to Admin Settings > Roles & Permissions
2. Find the custom role you want to delete
3. Click the Delete icon
4. Confirm the deletion

Important: You cannot delete system roles (Super Admin, Administrator, Manager, Staff).

Role Permission Reports

To review your role structure and permissions:

1. Go to Admin Settings > Roles & Permissions
2. Click Permission Reports
3. Here you can:
   • View a complete matrix of roles and their permissions
   • Compare permissions between roles
   • Export the permission structure for reference

Best Practices

For effective role management:

1. Match Your Organization: Create roles that mirror your actual organizational structure
2. Use Clear Naming: Make role names intuitive and consistent with your company’s terminology
3. Apply Least Privilege: Grant only the permissions needed for the role’s responsibilities
4. Document Role Purpose: Add detailed descriptions of each role’s intended use
5. Regular Audits: Periodically review roles and their assigned permissions
6. Limit Super Admins: Restrict Super Admin access to only those who truly need it
7. Consider Hierarchy Carefully: Plan hierarchy levels to ensure proper inheritance

Troubleshooting

• Permission conflicts: When a user has multiple roles, the highest-level permissions apply
• Cannot delete a role: Ensure no users are currently assigned to the role
• Permission inheritance not working: Verify hierarchy levels are set correctly
• Custom role not appearing: Check that the role is marked as Active

Related Resources

• Permission Management
• Organizational Hierarchy
• Employee Management

This article should be updated when:

1. The role management interface changes
2. Additional permission types are added
3. Changes to inheritance models occur
4. New system roles are introduced