---
title: Defining a role’s target population
description: "Choose which employees a role's permissions apply to: global scope, groups of criteria, exclusions and the “Exclude the employee themselves” setting."
url: "https://illizeo.com/en/centre-aide/roles-target-population/"
updated: "2026-11-05"
category: "Platform / Permissions & roles"
---

# Defining a role’s target population

A role’s target population is the set of employees on whom its permissions apply: everyone, one sub-company, each manager’s team… This article explains how to define it, exclude people from it, stop the holder from acting on their own file, and check the result. It is intended for the organisation’s administrators.

## Before you start

- The target population is set in **Settings › Manage Employees › Employee Roles**: click the role’s card, then the **Target population** tab, which opens by default.
- Permissions in the Roles & permissions section of the matrix: “View the visibility scope” and “View exclusions” (Access level) to view; “Set Global scope”, “Add/Remove criteria (Company, Department, Office, Team, Position)”, “Add/Remove OR groups”, “Restrict a global scope”, “Toggle Exclude self”, “Add/Remove exclusion pools” and “Configure exclusion criteria (by type + employee)” (Execute level) to change.
- Saving also requires “Configure dynamic members (criteria pools)” at Execute level. The impact preview requires “Impact preview (affected employees)”.

## What the target population controls

A role only acts on the employees in its target population: a member of the Manager role, whose population is “My N-1 (Manager)”, only sets objectives for their direct reports. Inactive employees are never part of it. The holder’s own data does not go through the target population: it is governed by “Exclude the employee themselves”, further down.

Each change saves itself, shortly after your last action, and the message “Target population saved.” confirms it.

## Global or groups of criteria

- **Global**: the role covers all employees. The “Global perimeter — all employees” box is displayed; **Restrict** takes you back to groups of criteria.
- **+ Add a group** creates a group of criteria. Add criteria to it with the buttons that follow, for example **+ Office** or **+ My N-1 (Manager)**, then choose the values of the criteria that need them.

The rule is shown on screen: “Each group of criteria is combined with AND. Groups between them are combined with OR.” Example: a group 1 “Office = Geneva” and “Department = Finance”, then a group 2 “My N-1 (Manager)”, covers Finance employees in Geneva, plus each member’s direct reports.

A criterion’s cross removes it; a group’s cross deletes the group. With no group at all, the role covers nobody.

![The Target population tab of the Manager role: the impact preview expanded (40 employees affected) with the names of the employees covered](https://i0.wp.com/illizeo.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/roles-target-population-01.en_.png?resize=800%2C131&quality=80&ssl=1)
The Manager role's target population and its impact preview.

## Criteria

Criteria with values keep the employees who have one of the chosen values. Criteria marked **DYNAMIC** have no value: they are worked out for each member of the role.

| Criterion | What it keeps |
| --- | --- |
| Sub-company, Office, Department, Team, Position | Employees attached to the chosen values |
| Employee | The people chosen by name |
| Organisational object types and the fields added to them | The active types of your organisation, under their own name; a text field is typed in rather than chosen |
| Themselves only | Each member sees only themselves |
| My N-1 (Manager) | Each member’s direct reports (Manager field) |
| My whole line (Manager) | Their direct and indirect reports, at every level |
| My HR Population | Their assigned HR population |
| My N-1 (Additional Manager), My N-1 (Custom Manager), My N-1 (Matrix Manager), My N-1 (Second Manager) | The employees for whom they are that type of manager |
| My sub-company, My office, My department, My team | The employees of their own sub-company, office, department or team |

The “My…” criteria avoid creating one role per entity: a single “Sub-company HR” role with “My sub-company” gives each member their own sub-company.

## Exclusions

Below the groups, the exclusions block removes employees from the target population, even if a group includes them: “Exclusions take priority. Groups combined with OR, criteria within a group with AND.”

1. Click **+ Add exclusion group**.
2. Add one or more criteria: **Employee**, **Sub-company**, **Office**, **Department**, **Team**, **Position**, or an organisational object type.
3. Choose the values to exclude. The message “Exclusions saved.” confirms the change.

## Exclude the employee themselves

This setting decides what the role allows its holder to do on their own file, in every section the role opens: profile, performance, absences, expenses, payroll…

| Choice | Effect |
| --- | --- |
| None | The holder keeps access to their own file. |
| Writing | They can view their file, not change it. |
| Everything | Neither viewing nor editing through this role. |

The exclusion only applies to this role: if another of the holder’s roles grants the same permission without excluding them, they keep that access. The “All employees — on others” role is provided set to **Everything**: it never grants anything on one’s own profile. To set the exclusion for a single permission, use Alt+click in the matrix (see [Setting permissions in the matrix](https://illizeo.com/en/centre-aide/roles-permission-matrix/)). Separation of duties between roles is covered in [Governance & security](https://illizeo.com/en/docs-category/platform-en/platform-governance-security/).

![The exclusions block of the All employees — on others role: exclusion priority rule, Add exclusion group button and the Exclude the employee themselves setting with the None, Writing and Everything choices, Everything selected](https://i0.wp.com/illizeo.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/roles-target-population-02.en_.png?resize=800%2C103&quality=80&ssl=1)
Exclude the employee themselves: the All employees — on others role is provided set to Everything.

## Checking the result

- **Impact preview** shows the number of employees covered. Click the box to display the first names, followed by the number remaining.
- **View target as a member** (preview only): choose a member of the role in **Select a member…**; Illizeo shows “[name] sees: N employee(s)” and their names. This is the only way to check a dynamic criterion, whose result changes from one member to another.

## Settings specific to the Time modules

Further down the tab, other cards limit what the role opens in the absence, attendance and scheduling modules:

- **Colleagues’ absences**: how far members can see that a colleague is absent, never the reason, from “No one (only their own absences)” to “The whole company”. See [The absence calendar](https://illizeo.com/en/centre-aide/absences-calendar/).
- **Calendar**: what members receive in their calendar and calendar subscription (My calendar, Birthdays, Start and end dates).
- **Allowed lists**: the schedules they can assign, the absence types they can enter, and those they see for other employees.
- **Presence reasons that can be entered**: see [Clocking rules, entry closing and presence reasons](https://illizeo.com/en/centre-aide/attendance-rules-and-presence-reasons/).
- **Schedule viewing extension**, **Entry window extension** and **Input control levels**: how far into the past and future members can view and enter data, and how input controls apply to them.

![The Colleagues' absences and Calendar cards on the Target population tab: drop-down list for the scope of visible absences and, for My calendar, Birthdays and Start and end dates, the scope received by the role's members](https://i0.wp.com/illizeo.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/roles-target-population-03.en_.png?resize=800%2C210&quality=80&ssl=1)
The cards specific to the Time modules, below the target population.

## Good to know

- A criterion with no value chosen shows “No choice — ignored”: it does not count. A group in which no criterion counts keeps nobody.
- The roles provided have a starting population: Global for Administrator, HR Manager, Payroll Manager, Accounting and Auditor; “My N-1 (Manager)” for Manager; “Themselves only” for All employees. Restricting the Administrator role’s population restricts what your administrators see.
- With a relative criterion (“My N-1”, “My whole line”, “My sub-company”, “My office”, “My department”, “My team”), the population of a member who has several current contracts depends on the contract under which they hold the role: see [Assigning a role to employees](https://illizeo.com/en/centre-aide/roles-assign-a-role/).
- Duplicating a role copies its target population and exclusions.

## FAQ

### A manager cannot see their team.

Check that the role’s target population contains “My N-1 (Manager)” or “My whole line (Manager)”, that the employees’ Manager field names them, then check with **View target as a member**. If they have several contracts, check the contract that carries the role.

### How can I limit an HR person to a single sub-company?

Duplicate the HR Manager role, click **Restrict**, then add the **Sub-company** criterion to the group created and choose it. If each HR person should see their own sub-company, use the dynamic **My sub-company** criterion instead.

### *Similaire*