For: Admins
Before you assign forms or training, it helps to decide how you'll describe your team. Site App Pro gives you two ways to do it: job roles and user groups. Getting this right at the start means new workers automatically get the right training and forms, and your training matrix stays easy to read.
Job roles and user groups at a glance
Think of a job role as the outfit someone wears to site: everyone has exactly one. User groups are the tickets and badges on it: a person can have as many as they need, or none at all.
| Job role | User group |
Answers the question | What is this person's job? | What else is true about this person? |
How many per person | One | As many as needed |
Best used for | Most training, and forms everyone in a trade or title needs | Extras that cut across job roles: tickets, regions, new starters |
Examples | Site Manager, Foreman, Carpenter, Electrician, Labourer | Hot Works, Confined Spaces, Waikato, New Starters |
Both job roles and user groups can be used to assign training, tasks and resources, and to restrict which forms people see.
Note: Forms that aren't restricted to a job role or user group are visible to everyone.
Decide whether to use a job role or a user group
Use this table to match common situations on your sites to the right option.
Situation | Use | Example |
Everyone with the same job title needs the same training | Job role | Every Roofer needs Working at Heights |
Only some people hold a ticket, and they work in different trades | User group | A Hot Works group with two Plumbers and a Carpenter |
Someone does two jobs | Job role for their main job, user group for the other | A Foreman who also scaffolds: Foreman job role plus a Scaffolding user group |
Everyone in a job role, plus a few others | User group with the job role linked | A First Aid Responders group that includes every Site Manager, plus two Labourers added by name |
Forms or training only apply in one region | User group | Auckland and Waikato user groups for region-specific forms |
People need something for a limited time | User group | A New Starters group for induction training, removed once they're inducted |
Workers come from a subcontractor | Assign to the subcontractor | Site Safe Passport assigned to an electrical subcontractor |
If you find yourself wanting to give someone two job roles, that's a sign you need a user group.
Why we recommend job roles for training
You could run all your training through user groups, but job roles keep things simpler as your team grows:
Each person appears once. Because everyone has one job role, rows in the training matrix don't overlap, and scores by job role give you a true picture of each trade.
Role changes take care of themselves. When someone's job role changes, they're no longer required to complete training assigned to their old role. Anything they've already completed stays completed.
Less to keep track of. When training is spread across lots of user groups, it's easy to miss updating one when someone's job changes.
Start with job roles for training. Add user groups only for the extras that don't fit a single job title.
Example: a residential building company
A builder with crews in Auckland and Waikato sets up four job roles and four user groups:
Person | Job role (one) | User groups (any) |
Aroha | Site Manager | Auckland, First Aid Responders |
Ben | Foreman | Waikato, Scaffolding |
Priya | Carpenter | Auckland, Hot Works |
Tom | Labourer | Waikato, New Starters |
In the training matrix, they assign:
To job roles: Working at Heights to Carpenter and Foreman, Site Safe Supervisor to Site Manager, and First Aid to every job role
To user groups: Hot Works Permit to Hot Works, Scaffolding Ticket to Scaffolding, and Site Induction to New Starters
When Tom finishes his induction, he's removed from New Starters. If he's later promoted to Foreman, changing his job role brings his training in line with his new job, with no other changes needed.
Plan and set up your team structure
It's quickest to plan on paper or in a spreadsheet first, then set it up in the Admin Console.
List each person and their main job title
Combine titles that mean the same thing, for example "Supervisor" and "Site Supervisor"
Create a job role for each title (see Managing job roles)
Assign each person to one job role
List the tickets, regions and temporary situations that cut across job roles
Create a user group for each one (see Set up and manage user groups)
Add people to each user group, or link a job role so everyone in that role is added automatically
Assign training to job roles in the training matrix (see Using the training matrix)
Assign any extra training to user groups
Tip: Start each user group name with its type, such as "Ticket – Hot Works" or "Region – Waikato". It keeps your user group list easy to scan as it grows.
Avoid common setup mistakes
Combined job roles. Roles like "Foreman-Scaffolder" multiply quickly. Use one job role and add a user group instead.
Training only in user groups. This works, but it makes the matrix harder to read and role changes harder to manage.
Groups that never get cleaned up. Remove people from temporary groups, like New Starters, once they no longer apply.
Duplicate job roles. If two roles mean the same thing, merge them from the Job Roles tab.