People

The People module is where you record who works at each plant, how they are organized, and when they are available. It brings your workforce directory, reporting lines, absence tracking, shifts, departments, job titles, and internal company news into one place, so the rest of Bulk — production, training, and analytics — can reference real people rather than free text. Use it when you are setting up a plant's workforce for the first time, when someone joins or leaves, when you need to book or approve time off, or when you want to see at a glance how many people are active today.

"People" here means the workforce at the plant (also called an "entity") you are currently working in. Bulk scopes people to a plant, so switching plants shows a different workforce, org structure, and absence list.

You reach the module from the left sidebar under the MODULES group. Select People to expand it, then choose one of its sections: Home, News, Employees, Org Structure, Absences, or Absence Calendar.

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What each part of the module does

The People module organizes work by what you are managing. Each section has its own list and its own step-by-step guide; this page explains what each is for and links you to the detailed instructions.

• Home (/people/home) opens the People Dashboard, described in the app as "Overview of employees, departments, and absences". It summarizes workforce headcount and absence activity for the current plant. It is a read-only summary — you act from the other sections.
• News (/people/news) is the Company news feed, an internal noticeboard for announcements your team sees inside Bulk. See Publish company news.
• Employees — the "Employees" directory, described as "Manage your workforce directory". This is the master list of people at the plant. From here you add one person at a time or several at once, and open any person's record. See Create an employee and Review an employee record.
• Org Structure — described as "Visualize your reporting lines, or draft hypothetical reorg scenarios." It draws the reporting hierarchy as a chart and lets you plan changes safely before you commit them. See View the organization structure.
• Absences — the "Absence Management" screen, described as "Review requests, track absences, and plan team availability". This is where time-off requests are recorded, reviewed, and approved. See Record an absence.
• Absence Calendar — the "Absence Calendar", described as "Plan team availability and track scheduled absences". It shows booked absences on a calendar so you can spot clashes before scheduling work. See Use the absence calendar.

On the Employees page, the header offers two ways to add people: Add Employee for a single person and Bulk Add for several at once.

Configure People before you start

Four supporting lists live under Settings → People. Setting them up first means every employee record uses the same departments, titles, absence types, and shifts, which keeps the directory and reports consistent.

• Departments (/settings/people/departments) — "Shape the org. Group people, assign managers, and nest reporting lines." Departments group people and can be nested. See Manage departments.
• Job Titles (/people/job-titles) — "Define standard job titles for employees." A shared list of titles so classifications stay consistent. See Manage job titles.
• Absence Types (/settings/people/absence-types) — "Configure types of absences for leave management." The categories (for example holiday or sick leave) that an absence can be booked against.
• Shifts (/settings/people/shifts) — "Configure work shifts with rotation patterns." Work patterns you assign to employees. See Manage shifts.

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Prerequisites

Access to People is controlled by permissions, and each action checks its own permission on the server. The built-in People role ("Manage employees, job titles, working hours, and training operations.") grants the whole module. The Entity admin, Manager, and Super user roles include the same People permissions as well. An administrator assigns roles to each person, per plant.

Individual capabilities map to individual permissions — for example adding an employee requires employees.create, approving time off requires absences.approve, editing a department requires departments.update, and posting an announcement requires company_news.create. If you can open a section but a button is missing or an action is refused, you likely hold view access without the matching edit permission; ask an administrator to adjust your role for that plant.

Reading the People Dashboard

The Home page gives you a fast read on your workforce for the current plant. It has two summary strips and two cards:

• Workforce — total headcount, broken down as full-time, part-time, and contractors, with how many are Active versus On leave right now.
• Pending requests — absence requests "Awaiting manager decision".
• Approved absences this month and Upcoming this week — absences "starting in the next 7 days", so you can plan around them.
• Headcount Forecast (±45 days) — the estimated active workforce over time, accounting for scheduled joiners and absences.
• Absences — a card listing upcoming absences; when nothing is booked it reads "No upcoming absences" with "No leave scheduled in the next 30 days", and a View All Absences link takes you to the full list.

Because the dashboard only summarizes, you make changes from the Employees, Absences, and Settings → People sections and the dashboard reflects them.

Example: standing up a plant's workforce at Granite Peak Manufacturing

Granite Peak Manufacturing runs its Leeds Fabrication Plant in Bulk. When the plant first goes live, the operations lead sets up People in order:

1. Under Settings → People, they create Departments — Fabrication, Welding, and Finishing — and Job Titles such as Welder, Press Operator, and Shift Supervisor. They also define Absence Types (holiday, sick leave) and the Shifts the plant runs (an Early/Late rotation).
2. On the Employees page they use Bulk Add to bring the shop-floor team in together, assigning each person a department, a job title, and a shift, then Add Employee for a late-arriving hire.
3. They open Org Structure to draw the reporting lines — supervisors reporting to the plant manager — and use it to sketch a proposed reorg before committing to it.
4. When a welder requests a week off, it appears under Absences as a pending request; the supervisor approves it, and it shows on the Absence Calendar so no one schedules that welder for critical jobs that week.
5. The plant manager posts a shift-pattern change to News so everyone sees it the next time they open Bulk.

From then on, the People Dashboard shows the plant's live headcount and who is away, and other modules — production and training — reference these same employees.

Expected result

Once People is set up, every person at the plant is a record with a department, a job title, and a shift; reporting lines are drawn in Org Structure; time off is requested, approved, and visible on a shared calendar; and announcements reach the team inside Bulk. The People Dashboard reflects this live, and the rest of Bulk can attribute production and training to real, named people.

Feature state and limitations

The People module is generally available. Its sections carry no Beta label. The four configuration lists (Departments, Job Titles, Absence Types, Shifts) live under Settings → People rather than inside the module's own sidebar group, so if you cannot find one, look under Settings.

Permissions are enforced on the server, so what you can do depends on the role an administrator assigned you for the current plant. The dashboard's forecast and absence figures are calculated by Bulk for the plant you are in; they do not aggregate across plants.

Troubleshooting

• A section opens but the action button (for example Add Employee or Approve) is missing or refused. Your role for this plant grants view access without the matching edit permission. Ask an administrator to add the specific permission (such as employees.create or absences.approve) or a role that includes it.
• The directory, org structure, or absences look empty or wrong. Confirm which plant you are in — People is scoped per plant. Switch to the correct plant and the workforce, reporting lines, and absences update to match.
• You cannot find Departments, Job Titles, Absence Types, or Shifts in the People sidebar group. These are configuration lists under Settings → People, not sections of the People module itself.

Dates and time zones

Absence days, shift dates, and training-validity dates stay on the selected calendar day in the person's plant, including the People dashboard and absence calendar. Clocked, submitted, approved, and completed events keep their exact moment; personal schedules use the user's saved timezone when available.

Related guidance

• Create an employee and Review an employee record
• View the organization structure
• Record an absence and Use the absence calendar
• Manage departments, Manage job titles, and Manage shifts
• Publish company news
• Related areas: Training and the People and training overview