How can I pull the manager's manager?

Question

I have a request to build an approval process on a custom object and the request should be routed to the "Director" (ie, the record owner's manager's manager), and it appears the way to accomplish this is with a trigger.

From what I've read, this is what I think I need:

I need to create a 'Director' field on the User object that will populate the manager of the user's manager to reference for the approval.

On the User object, the trigger should fire whenever the Manager != NULL or if the user's manager is changed and update the Director field.

How can I implement this requirement?

Answer 1

I think you'll be able to implement this requirement without any Apex. Instead you should be able to use Process Builder to retrieve and set this field.

1. Create a new Process Builder flow.
2. The process starts when: a record changes.
3. Add Object: User.
   • Start the process: when a record is created or edited.

4. Add Criteria named something like "Manager Changed". Use a formula:

   OR(
       ISNEW(), ISCHANGED([User].ManagerId)
   )
   

5. Add an action to update the record which triggered the flow.
6. Select your lookup field, then set the Type: Field Reference.
   • First select the Manager ID > option (includes arrow).
   • Next select the Manager ID option (without arrow).
7. Save your action and your flow.
8. Activate.