Updated July 2026 — Reflects current product capabilities, org planning features, and what HR, IT, and Finance teams should actually ask vendors.
Organization charts help employees do their jobs. It helps in onboarding, when someone is looking for a resource, and to better understand the organization as a whole. In fact, an org chart is one of the most utilized tools that a company provides. The 2023 Sift Data Report showed that users accessed the interactive org chart an average of 4 times per week.
But what are the major considerations you should think about as you define the requirements for your internal org chart? This page will give you an overview of some of the major elements that you should consider to select the right tool for your organization.
You've outgrown your current solution. Now what?
The company just crossed 300 employees. Or 1,000. Your PowerPoint org chart from Q3 is already wrong — three reorgs, two acquisitions, and a wave of new hires have seen to that. HR is fielding the same question every week: "Who should I talk to about X?" And the executives want a headcount model for the board deck that doesn't live on someone's personal laptop.
None of this is new. What is new is that the bar for what software should handle has risen considerably. Org chart tools used to mean one thing: a static visualization of who reports to whom. Today, that's table stakes. The market has moved toward platforms that do the org chart and support the people planning work that happens alongside it — headcount tracking, open role visibility, scenario modeling.
If you're re-evaluating your org chart software (or shopping for the first time), this guide walks through the key decisions you'll face. It's designed for the people who own this purchase: HR and People Operations, IT, and Finance or the CFO's office. Each group has different questions, and we'll get to all of them.
What's actually changed in this category
Before getting into the evaluation framework, it's worth naming a few things that have shifted in the org chart world. Org planning is no longer a separate conversationA few years ago, you bought an org chart tool and a separate workforce planning tool, and they didn't talk to each other. That gap has closed. Buyers now expect one platform to handle both the live org chart — what exists today — and the planning layer on top of it. Can you model a proposed reorg before it happens? Can you track open roles as part of the org structure? Can a VP see their team's growth plan alongside their current headcount? These questions have moved from "nice to have" to baseline expectations for any mid-market or enterprise purchase. Workday is now a first-class integrationWith over 65% of Fortune 500 companies now using Workday, any serious org chart platform needs a native, direct sync — not a CSV workaround or a middleware patch. This matters because the accuracy of your org chart is directly tied to how quickly people data flows in. A two-day lag is the difference between an org chart people trust and one they stop checking. Roles and permissions have gotten more sophisticatedOrg charts used to be "everyone sees everything or nothing." That's no longer workable. Finance teams need visibility into compensation data that shouldn't flow to the whole company. Managers need to edit their team's profiles without getting admin access to the entire directory. Modern platforms handle granular, role-based permissions — and if a vendor can't walk you through exactly how that works, that's a flag. Open roles belong on the chartWhen a team is carrying three open headcount slots, those vacancies are as important to understand as who's currently filling the seats. Platforms that visualize open roles inline — alongside existing people — give managers and HR a much clearer picture of team capacity and growth trajectory. Multi-page and bulk export is now expectedPrinting or exporting a 500-person org chart used to be a nightmare. Today's tools should let you generate a multi-page PDF by leader or by team, with configurable depth levels, on demand. If exporting still requires stitching screenshots together, keep looking.
A common mistake is letting this purchase live entirely with HR while IT and Finance sit it out. That tends to produce a tool HR loves and no one else adopts — or a tool IT can't support and never gets properly integrated. Here's how each stakeholder group typically shows up in this purchase:
HR and People Operations This team generally owns the decision and has the strongest opinions about what the product needs to do for employees day-to-day: onboarding experience, profile depth, search quality, and the planning workflows around headcount and open roles. If you're in this seat, pay close attention to how the platform handles data coming out of your HRIS — and whether it keeps pace with org changes without manual intervention. ITThis team cares about integration architecture and security. The questions that matter: How does data sync work? Is it a direct API connection or does it require middleware? What authentication methods are supported? What's the data model for permissions? Is it SOC II compliant? IT should be in any vendor demo that touches these topics — not just looped in after the decision is made.
Finance and the CFO's office This team have become more active buyers in this space as org planning features have matured. Finance wants visibility into headcount by cost center, the ability to model growth scenarios against budget, and reporting that connects people data to financial plans. If Finance is involved in your purchase, they'll want to see the analytics layer and understand how the tool serves planning conversations — not just day-to-day lookups.
Define what "success" means before you look at a single demo
Step 1
The most common reason org chart software fails to stick is that success was never defined at the start. The purchase happens, implementation runs, and six months later usage data shows it's mostly the HR team and the occasional new hire. Before you talk to vendors, get alignment internally on two things: what problem you're trying to solve, and how you'll know you've solved it. Common use cases and what they require:
Onboarding When someone starts, they need to understand who's who, how teams fit together, and where they belong in the structure. For this use case, the chart needs to be accurate on day one, show photos and titles prominently, and let new hires click through to richer profile information. A static PDF or a deeply buried HRIS view won't cut it.
Finding people. "I need to find the right person to help me with X, and I don't know who that is." This is one of the highest-frequency use cases at any company, and it requires more than an org chart — it requires search that runs across skills, interests, project history, and anything else your organization wants to surface in a profile. The org chart and the directory need to work together.
Understanding the organization. Employees — not just managers — want to understand the company they work at. How big is engineering? Who runs operations in EMEA? Who does the CMO's marketing team report up through? A good org chart makes this exploration fast and intuitive. A bad one requires IT to export something every time someone asks. Resource allocation and workforce planning. This is where org planning features come in. Leaders need to see team sizes, identify where capacity is thin, understand how skills are distributed, and model what a team might look like with additional headcount. If this is a priority use case, make sure the platform you're evaluating has purpose-built planning features — not just an org chart with a spreadsheet attached to it. Headcount reporting for Finance. Finance needs regular visibility into headcount by department, location, cost center, and open roles. If getting this data currently requires a manual pull from HR, you're leaving time on the table. The right platform makes this a query, not a project.
Decide how the chart gets built and kept current
Step 2
This is where most evaluations go sideways. Teams fall in love with a demo and then discover during implementation that maintaining accuracy requires two IT projects and a weekly CSV export. Have this conversation early. Manual builds make sense if: Your organization is small (under 100 people), the chart is for a point-in-time project, and you don't need it to stay accurate over time. That's the only scenario where manuals are genuinely appropriate. Automated builds make sense if: You have more than 150 employees, accuracy matters to the people using the tool, or you want the chart connected to profiles and communication tools. Which is most organizations that are serious about this purchase. The key question for automated builds: what systems does the sync pull from, and how deep is the connection? Most organizations don't have all their people data in one place. There may be a primary HCM like Workday or BambooHR, an IT directory in Azure or Google Workspace, a separate payroll system, and contractor data that lives somewhere else entirely. A platform that can only pull from a single source will always give you an incomplete picture. Look for the ability to merge data from multiple sources into a single, unified profile. For Workday users specifically: ask vendors whether their Workday integration is a direct API sync or a report-based export. The difference matters. Report-based exports are slower to update, more fragile, and push the maintenance burden on your HRIS admin. A direct API connection keeps data current without manual intervention. Also check on which objects are getting pulled from Workday (people, departments, locations, etc.) to see if the values they want updated are pulled. Watch for this in demos: Vendors will often show you a clean, fast sync in a demo environment — with 50 test employees and no edge cases. Ask what happens when someone has two jobs, when a contractor exists in IT but not HR, or when a manager changes and the system needs to update reporting lines for 80 people. That's where integration quality shows up.
Map where people need to access the chart
Step 3
The most underrated adoption lever is making the org chart available where people already are. An org chart that requires opening a separate app tends to get used rarely; one that's embedded in the tools employees use every day gets used constantly. Sift's own data shows that employees access a modern org chart an average of 4.5 times per week — but only when access is easy. Web browser. The baseline. Any device, any time, from any browser. Essential. Mobile app. On the way to a meeting, about to call someone you've never met, traveling to a customer site — these are real moments where mobile access pays off. Check that the mobile experience is actually built well, not just a responsive version of the desktop that's painful to use on a phone. Microsoft Teams. For organizations running Teams, the ability to search the org chart and pull up profiles without leaving the app is meaningful for adoption. Look for a native Teams integration, not just a link to the external app. Intranet embed. If your company runs a SharePoint intranet or similar internal portal, embedding the org chart search there adds a lot of value — employees are already there, and the org chart makes the intranet more useful, which improves adoption of both. Export. Users need to be able to take a slice of the org chart into a presentation, a board deck, or a document. Look for flexible export options: PDF (including multi-page PDFs for larger teams), standard image formats, and the ability to configure what's shown before exporting. Bulk export by leader — where you select a starting point and a depth level — is a newer capability that's worth specifically asking about.
Understand the org planning layer
Step 4
If your organization is roughly past 150 people, or if Finance and HR are having regular conversations about headcount, you need more than a visualization tool. This is where org planning features come in — and where the market has moved most significantly in recent years.
What org planning features look like in practice: Open roles on the chart. The org chart should show where a team has approved-but-unfilled positions, not just current employees. This gives managers, recruiters, and Finance a shared view of the team as it's meant to be — not just as it currently is. Ask how open roles are created, how they appear on the chart, and whether they can carry detail, like job descriptions or hiring manager assignments.
Org nodes and department structure. A more recent development: the ability to represent organizational groupings — departments, divisions, cost centers — as their own nodes on the chart, separate from individual people. This matters when you need to model a reorg, show structure that isn't purely about who reports to whom, or build a chart that makes sense to Finance as well as HR.
Scenario modeling. This is the planning feature that most buyers want but fewest have yet. Can you create a proposed org structure, share it with stakeholders for review, and then compare it against the current state? If you're doing M&A work, planning a major restructuring, or building a hiring plan, this is significant. Ask vendors directly whether this is on their roadmap and in what form.
Bulk import for structure. If you're building or rebuilding org structure at scale — say, after a merger or a major expansion — the ability to import pages, departments, and hierarchy relationships via CSV is genuinely useful. Doing it one record at a time is painful.
Analytics for leaders. Finance and executives want headcount data by team, department, and location without asking HR to pull it. Look for analytics that show report counts, team distribution, skill distribution and open role status at the level of granularity that matters for planning conversations.
Set requirements for profile depth and information display
Step 5
Org charts are lines and boxes. What makes them valuable is what's behind the boxes. The richer the profile data, the more useful the chart becomes for all the use cases that matter. On the card itself — what shows on each node without clicking through — the table stakes are photo, name, title, department, and direct/indirect report counts. Modern platforms let you configure what appears on the card, including toggling report counts on or off, choosing the card layout, and setting different defaults by view type. Ask if custom attributes can appear on the card too. Being able to surface a key skill, a location, or a cost center code directly on the org chart card changes what the chart is useful for. In the profile itself, depth matters. A profile that only has what came out of your HRIS is a start. A profile that also captures skills, interests, what someone should be reached out to about, certifications, project history, and how they prefer to work — that's the directory that actually helps people find the right colleagues. On permissions and visibility: not every piece of profile data should be visible to every employee. Compensation data, performance review notes, HR-managed flags — these need role-based access controls that are granular and easy to manage. Ask vendors to walk you through how restricted attributes work, how roles are assigned, and what the admin experience looks like for managing permissions at scale. Org chart highlighting. The ability to color-code nodes by department, location, remote/in-office status, or any other attribute gives the chart a new layer of usefulness. A manager trying to understand where their team is geographically distributed, or HR trying to visualize demographic spread, can get that at a glance from a well-configured highlight view.
Nail down customization requirements before the contract
Step 6
Customization is the most common late-breaking issue in org chart implementations. Teams discover in week three of rollout that a field they need doesn't exist, or that the branding can't be applied the way they expected, or that the admin experience for managing it is more cumbersome than anticipated. Admin-level customization to verify:
White-labeling — can vendor branding be removed, particularly in intranet embeds? What does that actually look like in practice? Custom profile fields — can you add, remove, and configure the fields that appear on profiles? Can you set field types (text, single select, multi-select, links)? Can you control whether fields are public or restricted? Card content defaults — can admins set the default card style and content that new users see on the org chart, rather than leaving it up to individual users to configure? Homepage defaults — can the admin set whether the default landing page after login is the org chart, the directory, or the homepage? Different teams have different workflows, and this level of configurability prevents a one-size-fits-all frustration. User-level customization to verify: Individual users should be able to adjust their own org chart view — orientation, what appears on cards, whether dotted-line relationships are shown — without those preferences affecting everyone else. This is the difference between a tool that feels personal and one that feels institutional.
Build your integration list before vendor conversations
Step 7
The more systems connected to your org chart platform, the more valuable it becomes. Every integration is also a surface where things can go wrong. Go into vendor conversations with a clear picture of what you need connected, and ask specifically about each one. People data integrations. Your HCM is the obvious starting point — Workday, BambooHR, ADP, UKG, or whatever drives your source of record for employee data. But consider what else might need to feed in: an IT directory (Azure AD, OKTA, Google Workspace), a contractor management system, or a separate payroll provider. Ask whether the platform can handle multiple simultaneous data sources, and how conflicts are resolved when data disagrees between systems. Collaboration tool integrations. The ability to jump from a profile card directly into a Slack message, Teams chat, or email thread is a real-time saver. Going the other direction — being able to search the org chart from within Teams, for example — drives adoption by putting the tool where people already are. Ask whether these integrations are fully built or are on the roadmap, and what the setup looks like on your end. Intranet. If you're running a SharePoint intranet, ask specifically about the integration path. Org chart software embedded in an intranet is meaningfully more used than org chart software accessed separately. The right question to ask every vendor: Is this integration built and maintained by the vendor, or is it a third-party connector that requires middleware? What does the implementation look like for our IT team, and what does ongoing maintenance require?
Evaluate cost against the real scope of value
Step 8
There's no clean ROI formula for org chart software, but the value case is straightforward if you think through it department by department. HR. Time spent answering "who should I talk to about X" drops. Onboarding ramp time shortens because new employees can self-orient. The manual work of building and updating org charts — which at some organizations is a weekly task for an HR coordinator — disappears. Finance. Headcount reporting that used to require an HR data pull becomes self-service. The planning conversation between Finance and HR gets easier when both are looking at the same live data. IT. Adoption of existing collaboration tools improves when employees can get to them from within the org chart. The integration maintenance burden is lower with a platform that has native, API-based connections to the systems IT already manages. Managers. Finding the right person to answer a question, bring onto a project, or escalate an issue — faster. Understanding who's on their team, what skills they have, and where the open seats are — visible without a data request. Everyone else. Every employee who's ever wasted 20 minutes trying to figure out who owns something before they could make progress on their actual work benefits from a tool that makes organizational navigation fast. On pricing structure: ask whether the pricing is per seat, number of employees on the org chart or a different model. Some platforms charge separately for admin capabilities vs. end users; some charge for integrations as add-ons. Understand the full cost at your current headcount and at likely future headcount, especially if you're planning significant growth.
Questions to ask in every vendor demo
A few questions worth asking in every evaluation, regardless of which vendor you're talking to:
How is the org chart updated when someone's manager changes? How long does it take for that change to appear?
Walk me through what happens when we have people data in two different systems with conflicting information. How does the platform resolve that?
Show me how a Finance leader would pull a headcount report by department, including open roles, without asking HR for help.
Show me the roles and permissions interface. How do I restrict compensation data from general employees while keeping it visible to HR and managers?
What does the mobile experience actually look like? Can you demo it on a phone?
How does export work for a 500-person org chart? What does bulk export by leader look like?
What's your roadmap for org planning features over the next 12 months?
A note on what to avoid during evaluation
Avoid platforms where integration is a project, not a product. If the vendor's answer to "how do we connect this to Workday" is "we'll need to scope a custom integration," that's a signal. Native integrations from official partners in that product’s ecosystem are categorically different from custom development work that requires ongoing maintenance. Avoid treating the HR-only use case as the end state. The platforms that deliver real organizational value are ones that every employee uses — not just HR practitioners navigating the system for administrative purposes. If the demo is focused on admin capabilities and light on the end-user experience, that's a gap worth probing. Avoid making this decision without IT in the room. The integration questions that come back to bite organizations are the ones that weren't asked until after the contract was signed. Avoid confusing a pretty demo with a functional product. Demo data is clean, small, and purpose-built to look good. Before you sign, ask to see the product working with messy, real-world scenarios: employees in multiple systems, changes processing in real time, permissions working as configured, and mobile working the way the vendor says it does.
Frequently asked questions
What is org chart software? Org chart software builds and maintains a visual representation of an organization's structure — who reports to whom, how teams are organized, and where individuals sit in the hierarchy. Modern platforms also include employee directories, profile pages, and increasingly, org planning features like open role tracking and headcount modeling. What's the difference between an org chart tool and an org planning tool? Org chart tools show current state. Org planning tools help organizations model, manage, and communicate future state — proposed structures, open headcount, scenario comparisons. The category has converged: the better platforms now do both. What's the difference between an org chart tool and an HCM? HCMs (human capital management systems like Workday, BambooHR, or ADP) are systems of record for HR data — payroll, benefits, compliance, performance management. The org chart functionality built into most HCMs is basic, difficult to access, and not designed for end-user adoption across the whole workforce. Dedicated org chart platforms connect to HCMs to pull data but are purpose-built for visualization, navigation, and planning. How much does org chart software cost? Pricing varies significantly by platform and company size. Most modern platforms price per user per month or annual contracts, with enterprise pricing available for larger organizations. Some may charge based on total employees represented on the org chart. The right comparison isn't just price — it's price relative to the integrations included, the admin tools, and whether the platform serves the whole workforce or just HR practitioners. What should I look for in an org chart software integration with Workday? Look for a direct API integration — not a report-based export or a middleware connector. A native API sync means org data updates quickly when changes happen in Workday, without manual intervention from your HRIS admin. Also, look for signs that they are an official partner of Workday and listed on the Workday Marketplace. Do I need org planning features if I'm a small company? Probably not at 50 people. At 150 to 200 people, the answer starts to shift — particularly if you have a Finance team that's asking headcount questions, or if the organization is growing fast enough that the current structure changes frequently. At 300+ people, org planning capabilities become a real differentiator between platforms, especially if that platform can expand and handle the increase in headcount. Can an org chart tool replace a people directory? It shouldn't have to — but the best platforms do both. A standalone org chart without profile depth is limited in usefulness. The combination of a live org chart, rich profiles, and powerful search is what drives the usage numbers that justify the investment.
Build your own evaluation worksheet
The eight steps in this guide are only useful if they translate into something your team can actually work from during vendor conversations and internal alignment meetings. Below are three prompts — one for each of the primary stakeholders in this purchase — that you can drop into any AI assistant to generate a tailored evaluation worksheet. Each prompt is written to produce a working document, not a generic summary.Copy the prompt for your role, paste it into your AI tool of choice, and use the output as a starting point. Edit it to match your organization's specific systems, headcount, and priorities before sharing it with the rest of your buying team.
For HR and People Operations
PenCopyable Prompt Card
I'm leading the evaluation of org chart and org planning software for our organization. We have approximately [X] employees across [X] locations. Our primary HRIS is [Workday / BambooHR / ADP / other]. Help me build a practical evaluation worksheet I can use across all vendor conversations and internal stakeholder alignment.
The worksheet should walk through eight evaluation areas:
(1) defining our goals and use cases — including onboarding, people search, org understanding, and workforce planning;
(2) how the tool builds and maintains the org chart, including automated sync from our HRIS and any secondary data sources;
(3) where and how employees access the chart, including mobile, Microsoft Teams or Slack, and intranet;
(4) org planning capabilities, specifically open role visualization, department/org nodes, and headcount analytics;
(5) what profile information we want displayed on the chart and in full profiles, including any restricted attributes;
(6) admin and user customization options, including role-based permissions, card content defaults, and homepage defaults;
(7) integration requirements — list the specific systems we need connected and the questions to ask each vendor about integration depth;
(8) cost and value assessment, with a department-by-department breakdown of expected impact.
For each section, include: a space to document our internal requirements before demos, a checklist of vendor questions to ask, a column to score or annotate each vendor's response (assume we're evaluating three vendors), and a section to note red flags or unresolved questions. Format it as a working document with clear headers and enough white space to fill in during or after vendor meetings.
For IT
PenCopyable Prompt Card
I'm the IT stakeholder in our organization's evaluation of org chart and org planning software. My role is to assess integration architecture, security posture, and the long-term maintenance footprint of any platform we consider. Help me build a technical evaluation worksheet I can use across vendor conversations.
The worksheet should cover eight areas:
(1) data source architecture — specifically how the platform syncs from our HRIS [Workday / BambooHR / ADP / other], whether it supports multiple simultaneous data sources, and how data conflicts are resolved;
(2) integration methods — for each system we need connected [list your systems: e.g., Azure AD, Google Workspace, Slack, Microsoft Teams, SharePoint], document whether the integration is a native API connection, a third-party connector, or a middleware dependency, and what setup and ongoing maintenance looks like on our end;
(3) authentication and SSO — supported identity providers, SCIM support, and how user provisioning and deprovisioning work;
(4) roles and permissions — how role-based access controls are configured, how restricted attributes are managed, and what the admin experience looks like at scale;
(5) security and compliance — data encryption, SOC 2 status, data residency options, and how the vendor handles a security audit request;
(6) performance and reliability — uptime SLAs, how the platform handles large organizations, and what the failure mode looks like if a sync breaks;
(7) implementation requirements — what our IT team is actually responsible for vs. what the vendor handles, realistic timeline, and what "done" looks like;
(8) total cost of ownership — factoring in not just licensing but integration setup, ongoing maintenance, and internal IT hours.
For each area, include: a space to document our current environment and requirements, specific technical questions to ask each vendor, a notes column for vendor responses, and a section to flag dependencies or blockers. Format it as a working document I can share with my team and reference during technical deep-dives.
For Finance and the CFO's Office
PenCopyable Prompt Card
I'm evaluating org chart and org planning software from a Finance perspective. Our organization has approximately [X] employees and [X] cost centers. We currently get headcount data from [HR via manual pull / HRIS reports / other]. Help me build an evaluation worksheet focused on the business case, planning capabilities, and financial governance aspects of this purchase.
The worksheet should cover these eight areas:
(1) the current cost of the status quo — time HR spends on manual org chart maintenance and headcount reporting, and what that translates to in hours per month;
(2) headcount visibility requirements — what data Finance needs to see (by department, cost center, location, open roles), how often, and whether the platform makes that self-service or still requires an HR pull;
(3) org planning features — specifically whether the platform supports open role visualization, headcount modeling, and scenario comparison, and how those map to our budget planning cycle;
(4) access and reporting — what the Finance-specific user experience looks like, what reports are available out of the box vs. configurable, and whether data can be exported to the tools Finance already uses;
(5) integration with Finance systems — whether the platform connects to or exports data compatible with our FP&A tools [Adaptive, Pigment, Mosaic, spreadsheets, etc.];
(6) data governance — how the platform handles sensitive data like compensation or performance information, and what the controls look like for Finance-specific visibility;
(7) vendor evaluation criteria — pricing model, contract terms, implementation cost, and what the renewal process looks like;
(8) the business case summary — a template to present the ROI of this purchase to leadership, including time saved, adoption assumptions, and the value of better headcount visibility for planning.
For each section, include: our current-state baseline, the questions to ask vendors, a column to compare up to three vendors, and a final section to draft the internal business case. Format it as a working document with enough structure to use in a vendor meeting and enough flexibility to build into a board-ready summary afterward.
The company just crossed 300 employees. Or 1,000. Your PowerPoint org chart from Q3 is already wrong — three reorgs, two acquisitions, and a wave of new hires have seen to that. HR is fielding the same question every week: "Who should I talk to about X?" And the executives want a headcount model for the board deck that doesn't live on someone's personal laptop.
None of this is new. What is new is that the bar for what software should handle has risen considerably. Org chart tools used to mean one thing: a static visualization of who reports to whom. Today, that's table stakes. The market has moved toward platforms that do the org chart and support the people planning work that happens alongside it — headcount tracking, open role visibility, scenario modeling.
If you're re-evaluating your org chart software (or shopping for the first time), this guide walks through the key decisions you'll face. It's designed for the people who own this purchase: HR and People Operations, IT, and Finance or the CFO's office. Each group has different questions, and we'll get to all of them.
The manual org chart
In many organizations the org chart is a document posted on an intranet page as a reference. Often created by the HR or internal communications team in PowerPoint or Visio, these static org charts require a frustrating amount of work to keep current as new hires, internal transfers, and attrition cause constant changes in the reporting hierarchy. These snapshots are also challenging for end users to parse and leverage, especially for users on mobile devices who have to deal with tiny fonts on a large document via their mobile phone (if they can even access it on mobile!)
The bundled org chart
Today, many HR systems include a simple org chart as part of their product suite. These tools are helpful for HR practitioners when navigating the organization, however they rarely serve the needs of the broader work-force. Often, these tools are rigid and don’t allow customization. They also don’t integrate well with other collaboration tools, requiring users to bounce between their HR system and chat or email solutions to effectively communicate. Lastly, these tools are often buried deep in the HR tools, making it a challenge to access quickly (and often completely inaccessible from mobile devices) and the user interface is well below consumer grade. These challenges often prevent end users from using the tool, or even know it exists in the first place!
A better way
Technology has advanced and made access to information easier across a range of business areas so it makes sense to be looking for new options—especially ones that do the creation work for you. What else should org chart software do? Let’s find out.
Step 1
Define your goals for org chart software
Before you shop features, you need to consider your objectives for org chart software. Most importantly, what you want to accomplish with the purchase and who needs access in order to achieve the goals.
What can you do with org chart software?
The most obvious thing that most people want to do when shopping for org chart software is to build an organization chart. But let’s take a step beyond that and ask yourself, “What do I want the organization chart to do for my company?”
Is easy to manipulate (pan, zoom, click-thrus, etc.)
Finding known colleagues
We’ve all had situations where we need to reach out to a colleague but we can only remember who they report to or their job function. Employees need a way to:
Quickly access the org chart
Utilize search functionality to quickly navigate to the person or team they are looking for
Access deeper information (like photos and responsibilities) to validate it is the right person
Quickly contact the person once they have been found
To make finding colleagues simple, make sure the org chart software:
Has easy-to-use search functionality
Has the ability to search throughout an employee profile (not just name)
Is tied to employee profiles for easy matches
Is connected to communication tools for one-click message, email, call, etc.
Finding unknown colleagues
There are many times when people may be looking for colleagues based on skills or job function—such as when looking for help to solve a problem or internally recruiting. Users need a way to:
Utilize search functionality that can search on skills, interests, or any other information a company wants to be listed in an employee profile
Access deep enough information to determine which of the employees they should contact
Understand the role and reporting structure of the employee to determine the best way to get connected
To make finding unknown colleagues simple, the org chart software needs to have the functionality listed above. Just make sure the search is comprehensive enough and tied to profiles so you can get the highest value from your org chart solution.
Resource allocation/ optimizing operations
Initiatives and their priorities change quickly. Leaders need to understand what skills their employees have and how they are being utilized in order to be successfully agile. Leaders need to:
Understand the number of resources in each team
Evaluate the skills and experience of resources
Make connections with other leaders to discover untapped potential
To optimize operations effectively, make sure the org chart software:
Allows leaders to click-thru to get deeper information on employees
Is connected with all collaboration tools to easily connect
Report creation
Often org chart information is needed for internal and external reports. Report creators needs to be able to quickly:
Visualize reporting paths
Add or remove context to each member of the org chart
Take org chart details into report building tools
To support the creation of reports, ensure the org chart software:
Can allow the customization of data displayed
Export into a variety of formats
Use Case & Description
Features Needed
Onboarding
When a new employee starts work they are instantly overwhelmed. Part of this feeling comes from the fact that they have no idea what their place is in the organization. They need to have a way to:
Discover who reports to who
See how big the teams are that they’ll be working with
Find where their colleagues are located
Put names to faces
Explore their career path
To make onboarding successful, make sure the org chart software:
Keeps the chart current
Displays things like names, faces, titles and report counts at a high level
Allows users to click-thru to get deeper information on each new colleague
Understanding the Org
Organizations continue to evolve and even the most senior employees need to understand the changes and who makes up each team. Employees need to see:
Changes in team structure
Direct and indirect report counts
New titles and promotions
New job responsibilities
To make it easy to see changes in a large organization, make sure the org chart software:
Can show summary information like direct and indirect reports so a user knows where to dive deeper
Is easy to manipulate (pan, zoom, click-thrus, etc.)
Finding Known Colleagues
We’ve all had situations where we need to reach out to a colleague but we can only remember who they report to or their job function. Employees need a way to:
Quickly access the org chart
Utilize search functionality to quickly navigate to the person or team they are looking for
Access deeper information (like headshots and responsibilities) to validate it is the right person
Quickly contact the person once they have been found
To make finding colleagues simple, make sure the org chart software:
Has easy-to-use search functionality
Has the ability to search throughout an employee profile (not just name)
Is tied to employee profiles for easy matches
Is connected to communication tools for one-click IM, email, call, etc.
Finding Unknown Colleagues
There are many times when people may be looking for colleagues based on skills or job function—such as when looking for help to solve a problem or internally recruiting. Users need a way to:
Utilize search functionality that can search on skills, interests, or any other information a company wants to be listed in an employee profile
Access deep enough information to determine which of the employees they should contact
Understand the role and reporting structure of the employee to determine the best way to get connected
To make finding unknown colleagues simple, the org chart software needs to have the functionality listed above. Just make sure the search is comprehensive enough and tied to profiles so you can get the highest value from your org chart solution.
Resource Allocation/ Optimizing Operations
Initiatives and their priorities change quickly. Leaders need to understand what skills their employees have and how they are being utilized in order to be successfully agile. Leaders need to:
Understand the number of resources in each team
Evaluate the skills and experience of resources
Make connections with other leaders to discover untapped potential
To optimize operations effectively, make sure the org chart software:
Can show summary information like direct and indirect reports so leaders know where to dive deeper
Allows leaders to click-thru to get deeper information on employees
Is connected with all collaboration tools to easily connect
Report Creation
Often org chart information is needed for internal and external reports. Report creators needs to be able to quickly:
Visualize reporting paths
Add or remove context to each member of the org chart
Take org chart details into report building tools
To support the creation of reports, ensure the org chart software:
Can allow the customization of data displayed
Export into a variety of formats
The key to most of these use cases is the integration. Org charts are rather limited as a standalone output. They need to be linked to employee profiles with pictures and deeper information for users to truly understand who’s who and amp up collaboration and productivity. Be wary when looking at vendors who say they can do this. Ask if this functionality is in one product or separate products. If separate, users will get frustrated with a clunky, limited experience.
Who needs access to the org chart software?
Initially, many people searching for org chart software are thinking about an individual use case where they need to see the organization structure for a point-in-time project. If this is you, then a basic, manual-build option is right for you. However, many of those same people quickly start to realize that an always on, ubiquitous org chart accessible to the entire organization has incredible value for the rest of the use cases above. In fact, when companies deliver modern org chart software to their entire workforce, data shows that employees access the org chart software 4.5 times each week. So consider carefully if you want to limit access or make it available to everyone.
Users of a modern org chart software accessed it on average
Some org chart software is built for small companies while others are scalable for infinitely large organizations. Be sure to ask if there is a limit on the number of employees that the software can handle.
Step 2
Consider org chart build and maintenance
The manual versus automated comparison comes into play in two different areas with org chart software—the original build and maintenance. You’ll want to talk through both with any org chart software vendor to ensure you can handle the workload.
How much work will it take to create an organization chart?
You have a very small organization (less than 100 employees)
You only need the chart for a point-in-time project or evaluation
Deep information is not needed
Access will be static - no search or connection to employee profiles
Automate the build if
You have a medium to large organization (250+ employees)
Accuracy is important
Access to deeper information to get maximum value from the chart is desired
Connection to other data and tools is desired
What data is needed to make the org chart accurate?
Many org chart software solutions only allow you to bring in data from a single source, such as your HR system. However, most companies find they need to bring in data from multiple systems to have an accurate and complete organizational chart. This can be multiple HR systems, IT systems, collaboration tools, etc. Look for org chart software that can accept multiple inputs—particularly when looking for full automation so there is no maintenance needed.
Update manually if
Use a hybrid approach if
Fully automate updates if
Your organization rarely changes
Real-time accuracy is not important to your organization
Employees depend on accurate information to discover and collaborate with colleagues
Update manually if
Your organization rarely changes
Fully automate updates if
Real-time accuracy is not important to your organization
Use a hybrid approach if
Employees depend on accurate information to discover and collaborate with colleagues
Beware of promised integrations that end up being more work on your IT team than on the vendor. Make sure admins from all employee data systems and collaboration tools are part of the discussion to determine the relative ease or difficulty of each approach.
Step 3
Determine how users will access the org chart
There are more options for where and how to access an org chart than most people think. We’ll list here the various options and the benefits of having each. Select those you would like to have and don’t worry, there is org chart software that can do all of these.
Where do you want people to access the organization chart?
There are more options for where and how to access an org chart than most people think. We’ll list here the various options and the benefits of having each. Select those you would like to have and don’t worry, there is org chart software that can do all of these.
Access
Benefit
Application downloaded on work computers
Every employee would have access from their managed work devices—even if internet service was not available.
Application via web browser
Every employee would have access from any device provided the internet was available.
Application on mobile device
Every employee could access org structure and search whether on the way to a meeting or when travelling to a customer site.
Embedded into intranet (or similar internal portal)
Every employee would have seamless access via a system they already use. Bonus - org charts are also known to increase visits to intranets!
Via communication tools (like Microsoft Teams)
Being able to access the org information within the communications tools your company already uses is an easy way to boost adoption and satisfaction with those tools.
Digital export
Users can export the chart to popular image and document formats to share, print, or modify for presentations. Be sure to ask about modification if desired—very few solutions can do this!
No single access option is perfect. Make sure that any org chart software you select can deliver a majority (if not all) of these access points to ensure that your people can utilize your investment and reap the benefits.
Step 4
Decide what you need the org chart to do
Static org charts are so 2000’s. Much of today’s org chart software can provide dynamic capabilities to quickly peruse the organization or dive deep into a team. Review these features and determine which are important for your users.
What features do your users want?
Feature
Functionality
Pan and zoom with cursor
Similar to a mapping program, the user can intuitively click to move through the org chart or reduce and expand their view.
Pan and zoom with touch (for mobile and touchscreen devices)
With many devices moving to touchscreen, it is important to check that the org chart software can be utilized effectively on these devices.
Display or hide direct and indirect reports
Information such as reports, titles, photos can be customized to display or be hidden on a person within the chart.
Click into person to view profile
Information deeper than name and title can be accessed by linking the org chart to employee profiles.
Scale org display
Intelligent scaling will show more or less of the organization as a user pans and zooms.
Functionality like this is great, but only if it is within an intuitive and appealing interface. Younger employees will expect a beautiful and simple experience or they won’t use it.
As org chart software vendors added functionality, sometimes performance suffers. Be sure to test this functionality for yourself and check user reviews as poor performance will inhibit your organization from reaping the benefits of this investment.
Step 5
Determine information you want included
While today’s org charts are still lines and boxes, there are many options for more information that can be included to both humanize the organization as well as make it efficient for users to quickly find the information they need.
What information do you want on your org chart?
Photo
The best way to make a box represent a person is to add a picture! This also helps put faces to names.
Title
This is a high level way to understand the person’s role within the organization.
Company
Today’s org chart software can be shared with partners and sister companies so that users can connect and collaborate farther.
Department
Understanding the department or special team name can help people orient and navigate within the chart.
Contact info
Add a quick way for users to connect that is linked to your communication tools so it is simple to IM, email or call.
Direct reports
Displaying the number or direct reports can be helpful for high level views and to determine if a click-thru is warranted to see their team.
Indirect reports
Displaying indirect reports provides a larger understanding of the size of the team.
Profile link
High level information is great, but being able to have quick access to deeper information such as skills, experience and interests is highly valuable.
Headshot
The best way to make a box represent a person is to add a picture! This also helps put faces to names.
Title
This is a high level way to understand the person’s role within the organization.
Company
Today’s org chart software can be shared with partners and sister companies so that users can connect and collaborate farther.
Department
Understanding the department or special team name can help people orient and navigate within the chart.
Contact info
Add a quick way for users to connect that is linked to your communication tools so it is simple to IM, email or call.
Direct reports
Displaying the number or direct reports can be helpful for high level views and to determine if a click-thru is warranted to see their team.
Indirect reports
Displaying indirect reports provides a larger understanding of the size of the team.
Profile link
High level information is great, but being able to have quick access to deeper information such as skills, experience and interests is highly valuable.
Step 6
Define level of customization needed
When shopping for software that will be utilized by all employees, there are inevitably aspects that an organization will want to customize so it fits the way they work. This could be anything from branding to specific fields that need to be added. Here are some options to check with vendors for availability.
What do you want admins to globally customize on your org chart?
Branding
Brand colors and logos should be able to be applied to make the org chart yours.
White labeling
Vendor branding should be removable as desired, particularly when functionality is embedded within your intranet.
Confidentiality
Not all users should see all information from HR systems that flow into your org chart. You should be able to select which information is displayed for which users.
Profile fields
Make sure the fields that appear on employee profiles are changeable. Fields should be added or removed to meet the needs of your organization.
People card fields
Similar to profiles, you should be able to select which information you want displayed on your people cards (or boxes) of your org chart.
Branding
Brand colors and logos should be able to be applied to make the org chart yours.
White Labeling
Vendor branding should be removable as desired, particularly when functionality is embedded within your intranet.
Confidentiality
Not all users should see all information from HR systems that flow into your org chart. You should be able to select which information is displayed for which users.
Profile Fields
Make sure the fields that appear on employee profiles are changeable. Fields should be added or removed to meet the needs of your organization.
People Card Fields
Similar to profiles, you should be able to select which information you want displayed on your people cards (or boxes) of your org chart.
What do you want users to locally customize on their view of the org chart?
Org structure
Users should be able to change the format of the org chart so that the front line team members are at the top, left, right, or bottom of the chart.
Reports
People cards should be able to include direct and indirect report counts so it’s simple to understand the span of control or hide them for a more simplified view.
Displayed information
Users can have the ability to customize their org chart experience by choosing which elements appear on their people cards so that just the right information is available .
Org structure
Users should be able to change the format of the org chart so that the front line team members are at the top, left, right, or bottom of the chart.
Reports
People cards should be able to include direct and indirect report counts so it’s simple to understand the span of control or hide them for a more simplified view.
Displayed information
Users can have the ability to customize their org chart experience by choosing which elements appear on their people cards so that just the right information is available .
Customization is the biggest fail point with org chart software and it often isn’t discovered until late in the buying process or during implementation. Be sure to ask about these capabilities early so you know you can create a chart that will fit your business.
Step 7
Evaluate systems to integrate with org chart software
With each internal system that is connected to the org chart software, the more powerful and valuable it becomes. From people data integrations to collaboration connections, there are many options to consider. With each system you identify that you want connected, be sure to ask vendors the depth and breadth of the integration. Use this table to think through the options and create your integration wish list.
Applications to Integrate
Connection Benefits
HR systems
Integrating the data from HCM and Identity Management systems allows your org chart to be complete and accurate.
Collaboration tools
Being able to dive into an IM chat or start a Skype, Slack or Zoom call is a powerful way to boost collaboration. The reverse is also true. Being able to search the organization at a deeper level from within tools like Microsoft Teams provides a more valuable experience.
Communication tools
Allowing users to one-click launch into a phone call or email with a colleague from the org chart saves time and makes for a great user experience.
Intranet
Having functionality like the ability to search the org chart embedded in your intranet can provide a great experience and improve the adoption and use of the intranet.
Integrations is an area where a few org chart software solutions shine and many fail miserably. That said, they all claim to have integrations. Make sure you have a knowledgeable IT resource question the vendor on how strong the connections and integrations are, how much information is passed, if the integration is already built or an extra service charge and/or if an API is available.
Step 8
Consider org chart software cost versus value
There is no ROI equation that can be used to calculate the value an organization will see relative to the cost of the org chart software. However, there are some logical assumptions and some clear organizational benefits to consider.
What org chart features are important for organizational value?
Intuitively, we know that while manual org chart software is relatively inexpensive, it adds little value to the organization as a whole. The reverse is also true, the better the functionality and useability of the org chart software and the easier the access by employees, the more it will be used and the higher the positive impact will be on the organization.
What is the value we should expect from org chart software?
Assuming you purchase org chart software that meets the majority of the requirements listed in this guide, you can expect some significant benefits. The biggest of which is employees working better together. Particularly when the workforce is distributed and partially (or fully) remote. But let’s think about how org chart software that includes a powerful directory search with deep profiles can impact each department.
Department
Use
Value
Sales
Find the right person to answer customer questions and move opportunities forward.
Close deals faster and keep them happier.
Services
Quickly find the right people with the right skills for the project.
Employees learn about each other and interactions are humanized and engagement improves—even when WFH.
Increase employee satisfaction.
Communications
Utilize trends in employee interests to improve communications and easily create lists to email the right information to the right people.
More effective internal communications.
Department
Use & Value
Sales
Find the right person to answer customer questions and move opportunities forward.
Close deals faster and keep them happier.
Services
Quickly find the right people with the right skills for the project.
Improve people utilization and project outcomes.
Support
Quickly escalate issues to the right expert.
Reduce TTR (time to resolution).
IT Ops
Employees are better utilizing existing communication and collaboration tools.
Improve adoption and satisfaction of existing tools
Engineering
Find employees with the right skills and experience for projects.
Increased innovation and process improvement.
Data Management
Easily aggregated data from disparate HR solutions for a unified view of employee data.
Gain a single source of truth for employee data.
Recruiting
Find more employees with the right experience to promote from within.
Reduce costs.
Human Resources
Give employees an easy way to understand the organization and connect with colleagues.
Faster onboarding.
Employee Experience
Employees learn about each other and interactions are humanized and engagement improves—even when WFH.
Increase employee satisfaction.
Communications
Utilize trends in employee interests to improve communications and easily create lists to email the right information to the right people.
More effective internal communications.
Integrations is an area where a few org chart software solutions shine and many fail miserably. That said, they all claim to have integrations. Make sure you have a knowledgeable IT resource question the vendor on how strong the connections and integrations are, how much information is passed, if the integration is already built or an extra service charge and/or if an API is available.
The larger the organization, the more important it is to have powerful solutions like modern org chart software that can help your people feel connected to their colleagues and improve their work experience. But when it also saves time and drives revenue, it just makes sense to invest in the most powerful org chart software you can get.
Start shopping
Congratulations! Now that you know the factors involved in selecting org chart software and have determined your requirements, you’re ready to shop. Get started by seeing what Sift can provide to make your org chart a truly valuable tool for your organization.