Evaluation approvers provide an additional review step before an evaluation is finalized. Organizations can configure one or more approval levels to ensure evaluations are reviewed by the appropriate individuals before moving forward.
Express Evaluations supports three approver types: Individual Approvers, HR Admin Approvers, and Manager Chain Approvals. These approver types can be combined to meet your organization's approval process.
Jump to a section below to learn how to:
- Understanding Approval Levels
- Configure Individual Approvers
- Configure HR Admin Approvers
- Configure Manager Chain Approvals
- Combine Multiple Approval Types
- Add Approver Instructions
- Important Notes and Limitations
Understanding Approval Levels
Approval levels determine the order in which evaluations are reviewed.
Each approval level must be completed before the evaluation moves to the next approval level.
For example:
- Level 1 → Individual Approver
- Level 2 → HR Admin Approval
The evaluation will first be sent to the Level 1 approver. After Level 1 is completed, it will automatically move to the Level 2 approver.
Within an approval level, you can assign multiple individual approvers. When multiple approvers are assigned to the same level, they can approve in any order.
Configure Individual Approvers
Individual Approvers allow you to assign specific employees to approve evaluations.
- While creating or editing an evaluation schedule, navigate to the Approvers section.
- toggle on "Enable Approvals".
- Choose Individual(s) as the approver type.
- Select one or more employees to serve as approvers.
You can configure up to four approval levels using Individual Approvers.
Multiple Approvers on the Same Level
You may assign multiple individuals to a single approval level.
For example:
Level 1
- Employee A
- Employee B
- Employee C
Each assigned approver must complete their approval before the evaluation moves to the next approval level.
Approvers on the same level can complete their approvals in any order.
Configure HR Admin Approvers
HR Admin Approvals automatically route evaluations to your organization's HR Admins.
- While configuring an approval level, select HR Admins as the approver type.
When an evaluation reaches an HR Admin approval level:
- All HR Admins receive an email notification.
- Any HR Admin can complete the approval.
- Only one HR Admin approval is required.
- Once approved, the evaluation immediately moves to the next approval level or the next evaluation status.
HR Admin approval is useful when any member of your HR team can complete the approval.
Configure Manager Chain Approvals
Manager Chain Approvals automatically determine approvers based on an employee's reporting structure.
Instead of assigning individual employees, the system uses each employee's manager hierarchy to determine who should approve the evaluation.
- While configuring an approval level, select Manager Chain Approvals.
- Select the number of manager levels to include.
Available options include:
- 1 Level Up
- 2 Levels Up
- 3 Levels Up
- 4 Levels Up
- 5 Levels Up
- 6 Levels Up
The approval process begins with the employee's next-level manager and continues up the management hierarchy.
Example
Consider the following reporting structure:
- Employee A reports to Employee B.
- Employee B reports to Employee C.
- Employee C reports to Employee D.
If Employee A's evaluation is completed by both Employee A and Employee B:
- Employee C becomes the first Manager Chain approver.
- After Employee C approves, the evaluation moves to Employee D.
- The process continues until the configured number of manager levels has been completed.
If the evaluation is configured for four manager levels but the employee only has three managers above them, the evaluation will continue after the third approval. It will not wait for a non-existent fourth-level manager.
Each employee's approval chain is determined dynamically based on their reporting structure.
Combine Multiple Approval Types
You can combine different approver types within the same evaluation schedule.
For example:
- Level 1 → Individual Approver
- Level 2 → HR Admin Approval
Or:
- Level 1 → Manager Chain Approval
- Level 2 → HR Admin Approval
The evaluation always progresses through approval levels in order.
Approval Level Limits
Individual and HR Admin approvers support up to four approval levels.
If an HR Admin approval level is used:
- Only one HR Admin approval level may be added to the schedule.
Manager Chain Approvals have additional limitations.
If a Manager Chain Approval is included as one of the approval levels:
- No additional approval levels can be added after the second level.
-
For example:
- Level 1 → Manager Chain Approval
- Level 2 → Individual Approver
or
- Level 1 → Manager Chain Approval
- Level 2 → HR Admin Approval
No third or fourth approval levels can be added when a Manager Chain Approval is included.
Add Approver Instructions
You can provide instructions that will be displayed to approvers while they review evaluations.
- While creating or editing an evaluation schedule, locate the Approver Instructions field.
- Enter any instructions you want approvers to see.
These instructions appear in a highlighted message at the top of the approval screen to help guide approvers during the review process.
Important Notes and Limitations
Important:
- Evaluations move through approval levels sequentially.
- Multiple individual approvers can be assigned to the same approval level.
- All individual approvers assigned to the same level must approve before the evaluation moves to the next level.
- HR Admin approval notifies all HR Admins, but only one HR Admin approval is required/allowed.
- Manager Chain Approvals automatically determine approvers using each employee's reporting hierarchy.
- Manager Chain Approvals support up to six manager levels.
- If an employee has fewer managers than the configured number of levels, the approval process ends after the highest available manager approves.
- Only one HR Admin approval level may be configured within an evaluation schedule.
- If a Manager Chain Approval is included, approval levels are limited to a maximum of two total levels.
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