HRIS Integration: Import Your Staff List into an Org Chart

Supported systems and file formats

Built-in column presets cover Workday, BambooHR, SAP SuccessFactors, HiBob, Personio, Sage / SimplePay and Microsoft Entra / Azure AD. Recognition depends on the headings included in your export, not on the filename. Custom reports and other HR systems can also work: match their columns yourself if no preset is recognised.

Use a CSV or Excel (.xlsx) file with column headings in the first non-empty row. Excel import reads the first worksheet. Smart HRIS import is included in every paid plan, including the 24-Hour Access pass. The free plan remains available for building charts manually; editable PowerPoint downloads require a Monthly or 12-Month plan.

• Workday: Worker, Supervisory Organization, Business Title and Manager.
• BambooHR: Employee #, First Name, Last Name, Department, Job Title and Reporting to.
• SAP SuccessFactors: User ID, First Name, Last Name, Department, Title and Manager User ID.
• HiBob: Display Name, Department, Job Title and Reports To.
• Personio: First Name, Last Name, Department, Position and Supervisor.
• Sage / SimplePay: Employee Code, First Name, Surname, Department and Job Title.
• Microsoft Entra / Azure AD: UserPrincipalName, DisplayName, Department, JobTitle and Manager, where available.

Step 1: Prepare an authorised staff export

Use your organisation's approved reporting or export process. Export only the staff details needed for the chart: a full name, or first and last names, plus department and job title where available. Employee ID and Reports to are useful for matching reporting relationships; the manager value should match a person's name or employee ID in the same file.

Include managers in the export if you want reporting lines to be inferred. Remove salary, identity-document numbers and other information not needed for the chart. Keep a copy of your current chart before importing: the import builds a fresh chart rather than merging changes into your existing design.

Step 2: Open Import and check the column matches

Activate your paid licence on Manage Devices, open the Organogram Designer and choose Import. Select your CSV or Excel file. The Match your columns screen shows the recognised system when its headings match a preset; otherwise it offers suggested matches that you can adjust.

Check Full name or First name and Last name, Department, Job title, Reports to and Employee ID. Role (Head / Manager) is optional. Leave missing details as not in file. Review the preview's people, departments, heads and line-manager counts before pressing Import. Confirmed column choices are remembered in this browser for files with the same headings in the same order; clearing browser storage removes them.

Step 3: Review departments and reporting roles

The import groups people by department. If a person's department is blank and their manager can be matched, it can inherit the manager's department. People whose department remains unknown go into Unassigned so you can place them yourself.

When Reports to is mapped and no explicit Role is supplied, someone with direct reports is inferred as a line manager within the same department, or a head when their own manager is outside that department or cannot be matched. This is a starting point, not a guarantee of your company's hierarchy. Check senior leaders, acting positions and unusual reporting arrangements after import.

Each department currently has one head and one line-manager seat; additional people with those roles become team members. Imported departments initially sit alongside one another, not automatically nested beneath parent departments. Arrange levels, sub-departments and shared-service relationships in the designer after reviewing the draft.

Step 4: Choose the detail for your output

For a large organisation, use search, zoom and the overview map to review the chart. Collapse team lists when only leadership detail is needed: downloads follow what is visible on the canvas, retaining heads and line managers while omitting hidden team lists.

Use Smart fit to maximise readable content per page, or choose an overview plus department pages, pages by level, or a single department. Long staff lists wrap into side-by-side columns inside department boxes, with a 9-point minimum text size and labelled continuation pages where needed. PDF and PNG are included in every paid plan; editable PowerPoint is included in Monthly and 12-Month plans.

Privacy, refreshes and troubleshooting

Your staff file is read and processed on your own device. dial369 does not connect to your HR system, receive your staff list or write changes back. To refresh a chart, export an updated staff list and import it again; review the new draft and reapply any manual arrangement. This is not a background synchronisation service.

If the system name is not recognised, check the column matches rather than changing the filename. If managers are not inferred, make sure Reports to and Employee ID are mapped correctly and that manager values match names or IDs in the file. If people appear without departments, supply Department or include their manager's department. Use unique names where possible: the current chart builder combines repeated names, so different employees who share a name need distinct display names before import.

Treat browser storage as a working copy, not a backup. Save a local chart file before replacing a design or clearing your browser, and share only the output appropriate for your audience.