Organograms: Definition, Uses, and Examples

What's an organogram?

An organogram is a graphical representation of an organisation’s structure. It’s used to show hierarchical relationships between managers and the people who report to them, as well as departments. An organogram is a useful tool for organisations to both visualise reporting relationships and communicate employees’ names, skills, and contact information. The term "organogram" is used most often in the UK and is synonymous with "org chart."

Organogram examples

• Marketing Agency

  

• Tech Company

  

• Large Restaurant

  

• Small Restaurant

  

What can you do with organogram software?

Besides providing an easy way to visualise an organisation’s reporting relationships, organograms can help you with:

• Workforce Planning • Design your organisation’s dream team with the roles you’d like to hire for. In your ideal organogram, list employee costs as a way to visualise and plan for the future.
• Employee Onboarding • Introduce new employees to your organisation by sending them a link to your organogram. They’ll be able to see where they fit into the company, and the names, skills, and contact info of their coworkers.
• Succession Planning • HR teams can create private versions of their organograms to represent multiple business scenarios. Succession planning can help your company prepare for things like promotions or a leader moving on, helping the HR team be ready for any shift in their workforce.
• Staff Directory • Organogram software can double as a staff directory where employee contact information is easily accessible. Modern organograms should contain a list of employee names and roles. Even better, they should be mobile so you won’t ever have to wonder, “Who’s responsible for that?” or “What’s their name again?”
• Cross-Functional Teams • Organograms can be built to show the structure of a cross-functional team. Employees can reference the organogram to understand who leads a team and who’s responsible for what. Having a single source of truth for a team can only improve communication.

• Internal Hiring Tool • With some organogram software, organisations can highlight open roles right on the organogram. This lightweight internal job board is a great way to increase employee retention and engagement by showing the workforce that there are opportunities to move up within your company.

  Build Your Organogram

How to make an organogram

You can build organograms in any Microsoft Office tool or Google Sheets.

Or, build an org chart with Pingboard to simplify creation and maintenance. Connect to your HRIS or employee database to build your organogram in seconds. If someone joins, leaves, or is promoted in your company, that info from your HR system will automatically flow to your org chart.