Recruiting Basics

Requisition Approval Workflow

A requisition approval workflow is the routed sequence of sign-offs that turns a headcount request into an open, funded job requisition. Approvers typically include the requesting manager, a budget owner or finance reviewer, an HR or compensation reviewer, and an executive above an agreed threshold. Recruiting begins only once the route completes.

Who approves a job requisition, and in what order?

The route reflects who carries the risk. The requesting manager states the need and the level. A budget owner confirms the money exists in the right cost center. Finance checks the request against the approved headcount plan rather than against enthusiasm. An HR or compensation reviewer confirms that the level, title and salary range are consistent with roles that already exist. Above a value or seniority threshold, an executive signs. Order varies by company and reasonable designs differ: some route compensation review early so the range is settled before anything is advertised, others leave it until funding is confirmed. What should not vary is that every approver has something specific to check. A step that exists only so somebody feels consulted adds delay without adding control, and it is the first candidate for removal whenever the route is reviewed.

Should requisition approvals run in series or in parallel?

Both, chosen deliberately. Serial routing suits steps that genuinely depend on the one before, such as a compensation review that only makes sense once the level is fixed. Parallel routing suits independent reviewers who are checking different things and do not need each other's answer, and it collapses several days of waiting into one. A common design runs the dependent steps in sequence, fans the rest out simultaneously, and adds conditional branches so a backfill inside plan travels a shorter route than net new headcount above a threshold. Encoding those branches in the system matters more than the shape you choose, since rules held in people's heads get applied inconsistently and cannot be audited afterwards. Teams building this into their [ATS features](/ats-features) often find the mapping exercise itself surfaces approval steps nobody can justify.

Where do requisition approvals stall, and how do you spot it?

They stall on individuals, not on process design. The usual causes are an approver on leave with no delegate, a step owned by a job title rather than a named person, requests routed by email where nothing is timestamped, and approvers who cannot distinguish an urgent request from routine noise. You spot it by measuring time spent in each step rather than total time to approve. Once each step carries a timestamp you can see that the typical request clears four steps quickly and waits on the fifth, which turns a vague complaint about bureaucracy into one fixable queue. Reminders, named delegates and escalation after a defined wait handle most of it, and [recruitment automation](/recruitment-automation) can chase without a human doing it. Approval age belongs on the same report as requisition age, because a role waiting to open is still a role not being filled.

How is requisition approval different from offer approval?

Different stage, different approvers, different exposure. Requisition approval happens before any search begins and asks whether the organization should add this role at all: is it in the plan, is it funded, is the level right. The risk it controls is committing to headcount the business never agreed. Offer approval happens at the far end, once a specific person has been chosen, and asks whether this particular package is correct and consistent with what others are paid. Its risk is pay inconsistency and a lost candidate. The two approver groups overlap only partly, the evidence they review is entirely different, and the tolerable turnaround is not the same. A requisition can reasonably sit for a few days. An offer sitting on the same route is a candidate making a decision in silence.

Related terms

Job Requisition Aging Requisition Offer Approval Workflow Requisition Forecasting

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FAQ

Requisition Approval Workflow — FAQs

Should backfills follow the same approval route as new headcount? +
Usually a shorter one. A backfill for an approved role at the same level and location already sits in the plan, so many companies route it straight to the budget owner and drop the executive step. New headcount changes the plan and deserves the fuller route. Define that exception inside the workflow rules rather than leaving each manager to decide what counts as a backfill.
Can sourcing start before the approval route finishes? +
Some teams allow early market research on a likely role, and it can save weeks. The risk is real though. Candidates approached for a requisition that is later rejected have been sold something that does not exist, which wastes goodwill and damages the employer brand. If you permit it, cap it at research and mapping, and hold back interviews and pay conversations until the route completes.
What should the workflow check automatically? +
Anything a system knows better than a person: whether the cost center exists and has budget left, whether the role sits inside the approved headcount plan, whether the requested level and range match the published band, whether you can legally employ in that location, and whether a duplicate open requisition already covers the same position. Automating those checks leaves approvers free to judge what needs judgment.
How many approval steps is too many? +
No universal number exists, but a practical test does. If an approver has never once rejected or amended a request, that step is a notification rather than a control, so convert it to a notification. Long routes tend to accumulate because a single bad requisition prompted an extra reviewer and nobody removed it afterwards, which is why a periodic review of the route is worth scheduling.
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