Requests in Humaans let employees submit structured HR requests, such as salary increases, promotions, or equipment issues. Each request type has its own form and approval flow for greater efficiency and increased visibility. Those assigned to the approval flow have the option to leave comments for each other.
This guide covers how to set up request types as an admin.
Step 1 - Adding a request type
When creating a request type, provide sufficient context so that the user filling out the request form knows exactly what it’s related to. Each request type has a form, an approval flow, and a post-approval action. To create a request form:
In Settings, click Requests.
Click Create request type.
Click New request type to start from scratch, or choose a template as a starting point.
Add a name and description. These are visible to employees when they select a request type.
Toggle off the Enabled option if you want the form to remain as a draft. Toggle it on if you want the request to be accessible to employees after publishing.
Step 2 - Setting the request scope
Under Request scope, restrict who can submit each request type using filters. For example, filter using Org level if only managers should have access to this request.
Tip: For the filters Reports up to and Teams, you can choose to filter further using Includes all of, Includes any of, Does not include any of, or Does not include all of.Control who employees can create the request for from a selection including, Themselves, Anyone, Their reports, Their department, and Their teams.
Step 3 - Building the request form
Building out the request form is very similar to building a Workflow form. To build the form:
Open the request form by clicking Edit.
Add a title and description for context.
The Requested for field will be added by default. The dropdown options will vary for the requester depending on the settings applied in the steps above.
Drag and drop profile fields or form elements from the side panel to build your form.
Note: On approval, any data added by the recipient to profile fields will sync with their user profile.Click the form field to edit its title and placeholder text, to add its configuration settings for hints and requirements, or to remove it.
To style the form, in the Form elements tab, there are options for heading, text area, and divider.
Click Leave in the top-right corner when finished building the form.
Note: You can tell when a field is a profile field in a form by the syncing arrow icon.
Step 4 - Configuring approval flows
Approval flows determine who needs to approve a request before it can proceed. You can set up single or multi-step approvals, and use filters to send requests to different approvers. If you have multiple approval flows, the first one in the list matching the filters will be prioritised.
Adding approval steps
Each approval flow contains one or more steps and each step can have one or more approvers assigned. A request must pass through each step in order before it's considered approved. An approver can't see a request until it reaches their step. To add one or more steps to an approval flow:
In the Approvals section, click Edit approval flow.
Add the name of the step, ensuring that enough context is provided for those it applies to.
Use filters if you want the step to apply to a specific target group. The filters include contract type, department, manager, org level, payroll provider, place of work, place of work city, place of work country, reports up to, and teams.
Tip: For the filters Reports up to and Teams, you can choose to filter further using Includes all of, Includes any of, Does not include any of, or Does not include all of.Click Add step to add one or more approval steps.
For each step, select the approvers. You can add teams, a specific employee, or the subject's manager or manager's manager.
Click All to choose to set the minimum number of approvers who must approve before the step passes. For example, if a step has three approvers and is set to Any, the step passes as soon as any one of them approves.
Click Save when finished.
Adding conditional approval flows
You can create multiple approval flows for the same request type, each with different conditions. This lets you route requests to different approvers based on attributes of the requestor, such as:
Department
Team
Contract type
Place of work
Reporting line
Org level
Payroll provider
An example use case for this would be if you had a Learning and development budget request set up. The standard approval process for this would involve seeking approval from the Finance and People teams. However, you may need a separate approval flow for members of the leadership team who require approval from not only the Finance and People teams, but also the CEO.
When a request is submitted, the system evaluates the approval flow filters and applies the first matching approval flow.
Step 5 - Setting an after-approval action
Once all approval steps pass, the request can be handled in one of three ways:
Mark request as completed: the request is marked as completed immediately. This is the default.
Assign the request: the request moves to In progress and is assigned to a person or team for completion. You can assign to a specific person, a team, or the subject's manager or manager's manager.
Trigger a workflow: the approval triggers a separate workflow for further automation.
Step 6 - Publishing the request
To publish a request, ensure that the Enabled toggle at the top of the page is toggled on. Then, click Save in the top-right corner. If you want to save the request as a draft, toggle off the Enabled setting, and click Save.
Disabling a request type
To temporarily stop employees from submitting a certain request type, you can disable it:
Go to Settings, followed by Requests.
Click the three dots icon next to the request type.
Click Edit.
Toggle off the Enabled setting to deactivate the request type.
Click Save.
Inactive request types display a badge and are no longer available for new submissions. Existing requests of that type aren’t impacted.
Deleting a request type
To delete a request type that hasn’t been used:
Go to Settings, followed by Requests.
Click the three dots icon next to the request type.
Click Delete.
Confirm the deletion.
Request form use cases
Below are some examples of use cases for our Request form feature involving collection of data through form elements and collection of data that syncs with user profiles through profile fields.
Manager requests a pay raise for team member
You can create a request form for line managers or heads of department to submit pay raise requests for their team members. If profile fields are added to the form, this means the requester could propose changes to an employee’s salary. If the request is approved, those proposed changes will automatically sync with the employee’s user profile.
Learning and development budget request
A form can also consist of a mix of profile and form element fields, or specifically form element fields. Another use case is collecting information for a learning and development request that wouldn’t necessarily need to sync with a user profile.