In this article:
- Overview
- Requirements
- About Multi-Step Approvals
- How to Use Multi-Step Approvals
- How to Manage Multi-Step Approvals
Overview
Multi-Step Approvals allow admins to designate multiple approvers for performance reviews, creating a step-by-step workflow. This ensures the right people can review, provide feedback, and approve content in order—helping maintain consistency, accuracy, and visibility throughout the review process.
Requirements:
This feature is available to admins and focused admins with designated Reviews access.
About Multi-Step Approvals:
Think of Multi-Step Approvals as a stair-step approach to signing off on performance reviews. As an admin, you can set up a clear path for approvals—designating specific team members to review and approve feedback in a set order.
This option is especially helpful when reviews require input or approval from more than one person, like a direct manager, department head, or HR leader. This is useful for:
- Ensuring feedback aligns across leadership before it’s shared
- Catching inconsistencies or issues early in the process
- Supporting a collaborative approach to performance reviews
- Providing a clear audit trail of who approved and when
- Accommodating unique org structures or approval needs
Whether you're managing large teams, cross-functional reviews, or sensitive feedback, Multi-Step Approvals help keep the process structured, transparent, and aligned.
How to Use Multi-Step Approvals:
Multi-Step Approvals let you define who needs to review and approve a Performance Review before it’s shared. You can build this workflow by adding approvers manually or by importing them in bulk using a file.
A Guided Walkthrough
For a complete walkthrough of how to setup Multi-Step Approvals, take a look here:
How to Manually Add Multi-Step Approvals:
Adding Multi-Step Approvals can easily be done individually when setting up a Review cycle by the Approvals Workflow.
On the Cycle Setup page, clicking "Facilitators must 'Submit for Approval' before sharing" will expand the Multi-Step Approvals options, including the Manual option.
Follow this step-by-step guide to add Approvers manually:
How to Add Multi-Step Approvals via File Import:
Another way to set up Multi-Step Approvals is by importing approvers using a downloadable CSV template.
Learn how to do so here:
How to Manage Multi-Step Approvals:
Once you’ve added approvers—either manually or via file import—and selected participants for the review cycle, you can manage Multi-Step Approvals directly from the Participants step.
Multi-Step Approvals Notifications:
Approvers receive notifications in multiple locations throughout the Multi-Step Approval process. Take a look at these examples of these notifications below!
- Approvers receive email notifications when Reviews are waiting for their sign-off. Here's an example:
- When an Review is sent back at any stage with recommendations, a notification is emailed to the Facilitator including the reason for rejection, seen below:
- Bell alerts will also appear for Approvers in the top right within Quantum Workplace. Clicking into these notifications will open the Approver's pending Reviews:
- When an Approver sends back a Review with feedback, the original Facilitator will receive a notification via email, and will also be able to look over the revision notes within the Review itself by clicking "View Recommendations":
- If enabled, Slack or Teams notifications would also alert for pending approvals and rejections.
Activity Log
The Activity Log within Multi-Step Approvals offers a time-stamped record of each action in the approval process, showing who approved or rejected a request and when. It ensures transparency, accountability, and a clear audit trail for every step.
To locate the Activity Log, click into it on the right of the Reviews landing page:
A modal will appear with a detailed record of actions occurring during the approval process, including time stamps:
