> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.accessowl.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Managers and Executives

> How the manager attribute is set and kept up to date, what it drives, and how the Executive designation works.

Each user in AccessOwl can have a manager. The manager relationship drives several workflows, so keeping it accurate pays off across the product.

## What the manager attribute is used for

* **Approval workflows.** Access requests can be routed to the requester's manager for approval. See [Approval Policies](/guides/requests/approval-policies).
* **Access Reviews.** Manager-based [Access Review](/guides/access-reviews) campaigns assign each user's access to their manager for review.
* **Onboarding and offboarding.** Managers are notified about on- and offboardings of their direct reports and can be asked to select applications for a new hire. See [User Onboarding](/guides/onboarding-offboarding/onboarding).

## How the manager is set

* **HRIS integration.** With an [HRIS integration](/integrations/all/HRIS), AccessOwl imports each employee's manager automatically and keeps it in sync. This is the recommended setup, especially at scale.
* **Manual override.** You can overwrite the manager on any user by opening their profile in the [Users](https://app.accessowl.io/users) page and selecting **Edit**. If the user is managed by your HRIS, the manager field is locked. Enable the **Override** toggle to set the manager by hand, which disables the manager sync for that user. A manual override is fine for a handful of users, but an HRIS integration is the reliable way to keep manager data correct across the whole organization.
* **Direct reports.** From the same Edit view you can also manage a user's direct reports, which sets that user as the manager of the people you add.

<Note>For users synced from Slack or another directory, fields like name and email cannot be edited in AccessOwl. Change them in the directory and they sync over.</Note>

## Users without a manager

If a user has no manager listed, any approval step in an [approval policy](/guides/requests/approval-policies) that involves their manager is approved automatically for them. Approval steps that involve other approvers still apply as usual. Executives and other users at the top of the reporting chain commonly have no manager set.

## Executives

Users can be marked as **Executive** in AccessOwl, and the **Manager** column on the [Users](https://app.accessowl.io/users) page shows **Executive** for them instead of a manager.

* **Access requests** from Executives are approved automatically.
* **Notifications.** AccessOwl does not send manager notifications for Executives, for example when access is created for them.
* **Access Reviews.** In manager-based campaigns, Executives review their own access instead of being reviewed by a manager, so they never block a campaign from completing. See the [Access Reviews FAQ](/guides/access-reviews#faq).