Workflow Template

Employee Promotion Workflow

Captures a manager's promotion request, calculates the salary increase, routes it through HR eligibility review and tiered approval (HR manager or HR director based on increase size), and notifies the employee and manager of the outcome.

Promotion requests often stall in email threads, with no clear record of who approved what or why a request was declined. This workflow captures a manager's promotion request, calculates the salary increase, routes it through HR eligibility review and tiered approval based on the size of the increase, then notifies the employee and manager of the outcome. HR teams and managers run it together, each handling their part through simple tasks and forms.

Business Outcomes

Helps reduce time spent chasing promotion approvals over email
Supports consistent eligibility checks before any approval step
Makes it easier to route larger salary increases to the right approval level
Improves visibility into where each promotion request stands
Designed to speed up communication with employees and managers on outcomes

Workflow Steps

Steps

1
Create Promotion Recordcreate record
Registers the submitted promotion request as a record.
2
Set Status to Submittedupdate record
Marks the promotion request status as Submitted and calculates the salary increase.
3
Email Manager Acknowledgementsend email
Sends the manager an acknowledgement email with the request reference number.
4
Set Status to HR Reviewupdate record
Updates the promotion status to HR Review before assigning the eligibility task.
5
HR Eligibility Reviewcreate task
Creates a task for HR to assess eligibility and record comments, due in 5 days.
6
Save Eligibility Outcomeupdate record
Persists the HR eligibility decision and comments to the record.
7
Route on Eligibility
Routes the request based on whether HR marked the employee eligible for promotion.
eligibility: "Eligible"→Route to Approval Tier
eligibility: "Not eligible"→Set Status to Declined (Not Eligible)
Default→End
8
Set Status to Declined (Not Eligible)update record
Marks the promotion as Declined because HR found the employee not eligible.
9
Email Manager: Not Eligiblesend email
Notifies the manager that the promotion request was declined at eligibility review, including HR's comments.
10
Route to Approval Tier
Routes to HR director approval for salary increases over $10,000, otherwise to HR manager approval.
salary_increase: "10000"→HR Director Approval
salary_increase: "10000"→HR Manager Approval
Default→HR Manager Approval
11
HR Director Approvalrequest approvalrequires approval
Requests HR director approval for promotions with a salary increase over $10,000.
12
Route on HR Director Decision
Routes the promotion based on the HR director's approval decision.
approval_status: "approved"→Set Status to Approved
approval_status: "rejected"→Set Status to Declined (Approval Rejected)
Default→End
13
HR Manager Approvalrequest approvalrequires approval
Requests HR manager approval for promotions with a salary increase of $10,000 or less.
14
Route on HR Manager Decision
Routes the promotion based on the HR manager's approval decision.
approval_status: "approved"→Set Status to Approved
approval_status: "rejected"→Set Status to Declined (Approval Rejected)
Default→End
15
Set Status to Declined (Approval Rejected)update record
Marks the promotion as Declined because the approver rejected the request.
16
Email Manager: Not Approvedsend email
Notifies the manager that the promotion request was not approved.
17
Set Status to Approvedupdate record
Marks the promotion status as Approved following successful approval.
18
HR: Update Employee Recordcreate task
Creates a task for HR to update the employee record and record the date it was updated, due in 5 days.
19
Save Date Updatedupdate record
Persists the date the employee record was updated to the record.
20
Email Employee Congratulationssend email
Sends the employee a congratulations email with their new role and effective date.
21
Email Manager: Promotion Completesend email
Notifies the manager that the promotion process is complete.

Fields

Show all 15 fields

FormEmployee Promotion Request

Manager Name*· Text
Manager Email*· Email
Employee Name*· Text
Employee Email*· Email
Current Role*· Text
Proposed New Role*· Text
Effective Date*· Date
Current Salary*· Number
Proposed Salary*· Number
Supporting Performance Evidence*· File upload

TaskHR Eligibility Review

Eligibility*· Choice
HR Comments*· Long text

TaskHR: Update Employee Record

Date Employee Record Updated*· Date

Other fields

Salary Increase· Number
Promotion Status· Choice

Manager Name*
Manager Email*
Employee Name*
Employee Email*
Current Role*
Proposed New Role*

Forms

Employee Promotion Request

10 fields

Data Views

Promotion Requests

employee_name, proposed_role, effective_date, salary_increase +1 more

Dashboard Widgets

Promotions by Status

Recommended integrations

Setup the following integrations to extend workflow capability.

Send email in the workflow
AWS SES

employee promotionpromotion approvalcareer progressionhr approvalcompensation

Similar Workflows

Employee Performance Review Workflow Job Requisition Approval Workflow Payroll Change Request Workflow

Similar Categories

Human Resources Finance & Procurement

FAQs

How do I set up this workflow for my HR team?

Publish the template in your workspace and it's ready to run immediately — there's no installation or development project involved. You'll want to add your HR manager and HR director as workspace members so the approval tasks can be assigned to them. The request form is public, so managers can submit promotion requests without needing an account.

How does the workflow decide between HR manager and HR director approval?

After HR confirms eligibility, the workflow checks the calculated salary increase. If it's over $10,000, the request routes to HR director approval; if it's $10,000 or less, it routes to HR manager approval. This keeps larger salary decisions with more senior sign-off without any manual routing.

What happens if HR marks an employee as not eligible?

The workflow sets the record status to Declined and sends the manager an email explaining the request was declined at eligibility review, including HR's comments. The eligibility decision and comments HR entered are saved on the record, so there's a clear timeline of what happened.

Can I customise the eligibility or approval tasks?

Yes — describe the change you want in plain English, or edit the steps directly in the workflow editor. For example, you could adjust the salary threshold that determines HR manager versus HR director approval, or change the due dates on tasks. Earlier versions of the workflow are kept, so you can review what changed.

Who is involved in this workflow and what do they do?

A manager submits the promotion request through the public form. HR completes the eligibility review task and records comments, then either an HR manager or HR director completes the approval task depending on the salary increase. HR also completes a final task to update the employee record once the promotion is approved.

What does the employee see or need to do?

The employee doesn't need an account or to take any action during the process. Once the promotion is approved and HR updates the employee record, the employee receives a congratulations email with their new role and effective date.

What happens if an approver rejects the promotion?

Whether it's the HR manager or HR director, a rejection sets the status to Declined and triggers an email to the manager letting them know the promotion wasn't approved. The record's timeline keeps a history of the rejection along with everything that happened before it.

How long do the HR tasks take to complete?

The HR eligibility review task and the employee record update task are each set with a 5-day due date by default. You can adjust these deadlines in the workflow editor if your team needs a different timeframe.

Where can I track the status of a promotion request?

Every submission creates a record with a reference number, a current status, and a full timeline of what's happened so far. Table views and dashboards in your workspace show all promotion records grouped by status, so you can see at a glance what's submitted, in review, approved, or declined.

Does this workflow handle salary calculations automatically?

Yes, once the request is submitted, the workflow calculates the salary increase from the current and proposed salary entered on the form. That calculated figure is what determines whether the request routes to HR manager or HR director approval.

Ready to use this workflow?

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