This article explains how to approve, reject and answer a request assigned to you. Two groups do this:
Approver: An employee assigned to a step in the request type's approval process or, if the step is defined as Manager, the request owner's manager.
Responsible employee: The person chosen as Responsible Employee on the request type. They give the final answer to a request whose approval process is complete.
Before you start
The request type must have a responsible employee and, if needed, approval steps (Creating request types, Approval process).
On the Requests screen you see the requests waiting for your approval step and the requests of the types you are responsible for. To see all requests of the company you need the Approve Request List permission together with a request management permission (e.g. Delete Request List or Add Request Type List). Being chosen as responsible employee does not give it.
Step by step
When it is your turn you receive an email and an in-app notification. There are two ways to open the request:
In the inbox on the home page, click the Reply button on the request's row.
Choose Answer from the request's Actions menu on Comms and docs > Requests. Answer appears only on requests that are waiting for you. To find the ones waiting for an answer, open the Pending tab above the list; the search box searches the sender's name, personnel number and request type, and the Request type and Date filters narrow the list.
The Answer window shows the Request Type, Request Message, URL and any Files. Click Open next to a file to view the attachment.
Act according to the request's status:
For a request In Approval Process (approver): Approve sends the request to the next approval step or, if you are the last step, to the responsible employee. Reject ends the request. When rejecting you can write a reason in Rejection reason (saved only if you reject); the request owner sees it in the request's Detail window. It is not saved when you approve.
For a request In Responsible Approval (responsible employee): Write the answer for the request owner in Request Response (up to 255 characters), then click Approve or Reject.
Result
Approve at an approval step: The request moves to the next step; the approver of that step and the request owner are informed. If the last step was passed, the request becomes In Responsible Approval and the responsible employees receive an email and an in-app notification.
Approve / Reject at the responsible stage: The request becomes Approved / Rejected, your answer is saved and the request owner receives an email and an in-app notification. The owner sees your answer in the Detail window.
Reject at any approval step: The request becomes Rejected, the reason is saved if you wrote one, and the request owner is notified.
If the request owner is also a responsible employee of the request type, the request becomes Approved on its own 10 minutes after the approval process ends (the system checks every few minutes). Nobody answers their own request, so Answer does not show on it.
Users with Approve Request List together with a request management permission see all requests in the branches they are responsible for on the Requests screen; users with Delete Request List can remove requests with Delete.
Common problems
Symptom: I see the request in the list but there is no Answer option.
Cause: The request is not currently at your approval step, or you are not the request type's responsible employee.
Solution: Check the request's status; hovering over the In Approval Process label shows which approval step the request is at.
Symptom: The answer field is grey and I can't type.
Cause: The request is not at a stage that can be answered.
Solution: At an approval step the field is only for a rejection reason; the final answer is written at the In Responsible Approval stage.
Symptom: As a manager I can't see the request waiting for me.
Cause: You are not recorded as the employee's manager, or the step is assigned to a specific employee.
Solution: Ask your HR administrator to check the employee's manager and the approval process.