Quick Answer
Pinnacle Series synchronizes manager relationships from Microsoft Entra ID when an administrator enables Synchronize Users Managers from Active Directory in the Azure Active Directory integration and then runs Sync with Active Directory from Users in the Pinnacle Series Admin Portal.
What This Article Helps With
This article explains how to maintain manager relationships centrally in Microsoft Entra ID (formerly Azure Active Directory) and synchronize those relationships into Pinnacle Series. Synchronized manager relationships let managers see learning records for the employees who report to them, support hierarchical management of external learning assignments, and allow managers with Assignor permissions to approve or reject learning requests. The guidance applies to Microsoft Entra ID administrators and Pinnacle Series administrators setting up manager synchronization for the first time.
Before You Start: Manager Synchronization Prerequisites
- Each employee must have a manager assigned in the Manager field in Microsoft Entra ID.
- Each manager must exist as a user in the Microsoft Entra ID directory.
- Each manager must already exist as a current user in Pinnacle Series. Pinnacle Series ignores manager updates for managers who are not Pinnacle Series users.
How to Assign a Manager in Microsoft Entra ID
A Microsoft Entra ID administrator completes these steps for each employee whose manager needs to be set or updated.
- Sign in to the Microsoft Entra admin centre.
- Go to Entra ID > Users > All users.
- Search for the employee.
- Select the employee to open their profile.
- Select Edit properties.
- Open the Job information section.
- In the Manager field, select the employee's manager from the directory.
- Select Save.
- Confirm that the correct manager now appears under Job information on the employee's profile.
How to Enable Manager Synchronization in Pinnacle Series
The Synchronize Users Managers from Active Directory setting is disabled by default. A Pinnacle Series administrator completes these steps.
- Sign in to the Pinnacle Series Admin Portal.
- Select Integrations.
- Select Azure Active Directory.
- Select Configure.
- Enable Synchronize Users Managers from Active Directory.
- Save the configuration.
- Reopen the Azure Active Directory configuration and confirm that Synchronize Users Managers from Active Directory is still enabled.
How to Sync Managers from Microsoft Entra ID
- In the Pinnacle Series Admin Portal, select Users.
- Select Sync with Active Directory.
- In the synchronisation preview, review the Managers field for each affected user. The Pinnacle Series value shows the current manager or managers, and the Active Directory value shows the manager's display name from Microsoft Entra ID.
- Select Sync Now.
- In Users, search for an employee whose manager was updated.
- Open the employee's profile.
- Confirm that the Managers field shows the manager assigned in Microsoft Entra ID.
Manager Synchronisation Behaviour
When manager synchronisation is enabled, Microsoft Entra ID is the authoritative source for manager relationships, and existing Pinnacle Series manager assignments may be replaced.
- Manager exists in Microsoft Entra ID and in Pinnacle Series: Pinnacle Series assigns the manager to the employee.
- Employee has multiple managers in Pinnacle Series but one manager in Microsoft Entra ID: Pinnacle Series replaces the existing manager assignments with the Microsoft Entra ID manager.
- Employee has no manager in Microsoft Entra ID: Pinnacle Series removes the employee's existing manager assignments, leaving the Managers field empty.
- Manager exists in Microsoft Entra ID but is not a current Pinnacle Series user: Pinnacle Series ignores the manager update and keeps any existing Pinnacle Series manager assignment.
Helpful Tips
- We recommend testing manager synchronisation with two or three employees and reviewing the results before syncing your whole organisation.
- Provision all managers as Pinnacle Series users before running the first manager synchronisation, so that manager updates are not ignored.
- Check that every employee has a manager in Microsoft Entra ID before syncing, because an empty Microsoft Entra ID Manager field clears that employee's Pinnacle Series manager assignments.
Common Questions
Why isn't the manager from Microsoft Entra ID showing in Pinnacle Series?
Check that Synchronize Users Managers from Active Directory is enabled, that the manager is a current Pinnacle Series user, that the employee's Manager field is populated in Microsoft Entra ID, that the synchronisation preview shows the expected manager, and that Sync Now was selected to complete the synchronisation.
Why did an employee's existing manager disappear after syncing with Active Directory?
Microsoft Entra ID takes precedence when manager synchronisation is enabled, so Pinnacle Series removes an employee's manager assignments when the employee has no manager assigned in Microsoft Entra ID. Assign the manager in Microsoft Entra ID and run Sync with Active Directory again.
Why can't a synced manager approve learning requests?
Synchronising a manager relationship from Microsoft Entra ID does not grant Pinnacle Series permissions. A manager needs Assignor permissions in Pinnacle Series to approve or reject learning requests.
Why does the manager show as a code instead of a name?
Microsoft Entra ID identifies each user with a unique Object ID, and some exports, integrations and APIs may show the manager's Object ID instead of a display name. A Microsoft Entra ID administrator can look up the Object ID to find the matching user. The Pinnacle Series synchronisation preview shows the manager's display name.