What is Role Hierarchy?
A Role Hierarchy is a system of organization in which roles or positions are arranged in a hierarchy, with each role having a specific level of authority and responsibility. The roles at the top of the hierarchy have more authority and responsibility than those at the bottom. This structure is commonly used in businesses, government agencies, and other organizations to establish a clear chain of command and ensure effective decision-making and communication.
Define Role Hierarchies in Salesforce:
For example, you might have a role hierarchy in which the CEO of the company is at the top, followed by the Vice Presidents, then the Directors, then the Managers, and so on. This hierarchy allows the CEO to see all records and information in the organization, while the Vice Presidents can only see the records and information that are relevant to their departments, and the Managers can only see the records and information that are relevant to their teams.
In Salesforce, a role hierarchy is a way to organize and manage the roles of users within your organization. It allows you to specify which users have access to certain records and information, and to control the level of access that each user has.
The role hierarchy is important because it determines the level of visibility and access that each user has to records and information within Salesforce. It also plays a role in determining which users can approve or reject requests or actions, such as approving a leave request or approving a new account.
Different types of Role Hierarchy in Salesforce
In Salesforce, the roles in a role hierarchy are generally named according to the positions or responsibilities of the users assigned to them. The specific names used for roles can vary depending on the organization, but some common examples include:
- CEO/President: This role is at the top of the hierarchy and typically has the highest level of access and visibility to data.
- Vice President: This role is typically one level below the CEO/President and has a high level of access and visibility to data.
- Manager: This role is responsible for managing a group of users and typically has a moderate level of access and visibility to data.
- Team Lead: This role is responsible for leading a team of users and typically has a moderate level of access and visibility to data.
- Sales Rep: This role is responsible for selling products or services and typically has a low level of access and visibility to data.
- Support Rep: This role is responsible for providing support to customers and typically has a low level of access and visibility to data.
These roles are just examples, the role hierarchy may vary depending on the company, organization, and the nature of the business.
Creating a Role Hierarchy in Salesforce:
To create a role hierarchy in Salesforce, follow these steps:
- Go to the “Setup” page.
- In the left-hand menu, under “Users,” click on “Roles.”
- Click on the “New” button.
- Enter the name of the new role and a description, if desired.
- Click on the “Save” button.

Once you have created a new role, you can then assign users to that role. To do this, follow these steps:
- Go to the “Setup” page.
- In the left-hand menu, under “Users,” click on “Users.”
- Click on the name of the user you want to assign to a role.
- In the “Role” field, select the role you want to assign to the user.
- Click on the “Save” button.


You can also specify the level of access that a user has within their role by setting up record-level security. This allows you to control which records and information a user can see and interact with. To set up record-level security, follow these steps:
- Go to the “Setup” page.
- In the left-hand menu, under “Security Controls,” click on “Sharing Settings.”
- Click on the “Edit” button next to the object you want to set up record-level security for (such as Accounts, Opportunities, or Cases).
- In the “Grant Access Using Hierarchies” section, select the checkbox next to “Grant access to records owned by users higher in the hierarchy.”
- Click on the “Save” button.

This will allow users in higher roles in the hierarchy to see and access records owned by users in lower roles, but not vice versa. You can also use sharing rules to specify more granular levels of access for different users and groups.
Conclusion:
In conclusion, role hierarchy in Salesforce is an essential aspect of controlling access to data and ensuring that the right people have the right level of access to the right data. It allows organizations to establish a clear chain of command and ensure effective decision-making and communication. With a well-structured role hierarchy in place, businesses can restrict access to sensitive data to only those who need it, while still allowing others to access the data they need to do their jobs. It also impacts the visibility of data in reports and dashboards and can be used to implement sharing rules and organization-wide defaults. By understanding the importance of role hierarchy in Salesforce, businesses can effectively manage their data access and maintain the security and integrity of their data.
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