5.2 Business Process Step Types
Key Takeaways
- Initiation is always the first step of a business process and cannot be removed; it defines who can start the process.
- Approval steps let a user approve, send back, or deny, but do not allow editing of business process data; an Action - Review step allows both editing and approval.
- If an approver denies on any approval-related step, including consolidated approvals and approval chains, they deny the entire business process.
- An approval chain seeks approval up a management hierarchy until it reaches the top or meets an exit condition.
- To Do steps are reminders configured with the Maintain To Dos task; they can be assigned to any active security group in the tenant, whether or not that group is on the business process security policy.
Not every step type exists on every process
Before the list, the governing rule: not all step types are available on every business process type, and the Business Process Configuration Options report displays which are available for each.
Workday's courseware groups step types into categories purely as a teaching aid and states plainly that this classification does not exist in Workday. Do not expect a "step category" field in the tenant.
The delivered step types
| Step type | What it does |
|---|---|
| Initiation | Defines who can start the business process. It is always the first step and cannot be removed |
| Action | Either prompts users to review the process or initiates a subprocess |
| Approval | Allows the user to approve, send back, or deny the entire business process. Approval recipients cannot edit any information |
| Approval Chain | Seeks approval up a management hierarchy or organization, starting with users in the assigned security group, continuing until it reaches the top or meets an exit condition |
| Consolidated Approval | Combines multiple approvals for the same worker into a single approval task notification |
| Consolidated Approval Chain | Combines the properties of an approval chain with a consolidated approval |
| Mass Approval | Provides a dashboard for multiple approvals from a single process. Only available for processes dealing with multiple organizations, such as bonus, merit, and salary actions |
| To Do | Sends an Inbox task with instructions for something to do inside or outside Workday. Workday does not deliver To Dos - configure your own |
| Checklist | Sends selected users a collection of To Do steps |
| Service | Starts a separate processing thread for a Workday-delivered service, such as creating a Workday user account |
| Integration | Triggers a Workday operation that transfers data to or from an external application, and initiates a separate processing thread |
| Batch/Job | Runs the selected batch process as a business process step |
| Report | Runs a report to inform users' decisions; it appears in My Reports for the assigned users |
| Report Group | The same, for a report group - multiple reports run as a single unit |
| Review Documents | Distributes documents, including custom or standard reports, and can require electronic signature or acknowledgment |
| Complete Questionnaire | Distributes questionnaires to gather information. Not available on all business process types |
| Edit Additional Data | Lets assigned users provide data for custom fields within the process. Business process validation rules do not apply to this step |
| Shared Participation | Notifies and requires several workers to complete specified actions, each of which is a participant detail event |
The most-missed item on this list: Complete is not a step type. Completion is a designation applied to an existing step through Business Process > Set As Completion. An exam option offering "Complete" among step types is a distractor.
Action steps and the review distinction
Action steps either send users a review of information or start a subprocess. Review steps allow the user to edit the business process data and approve it.
That contrast is the highest-value fact in this section:
| Can edit data? | Can approve? | |
|---|---|---|
| Approval step | No | Yes - approve, send back, or deny |
| Action - Review step | Yes | Yes |
Whenever a requirement says "the reviewer must be able to correct the amount before approving," the answer is an Action - Review step, not an Approval step.
Workday's own examples: in the Expense Report Event, the expense partner reviews every fifth expense report; in Change Business Title, the manager reviews a title change before the HR partner's approval.
Approval steps in depth
There are five approval-flavored step types: Approval, Approval Chain, Consolidated Approval, Consolidated Approval Chain, and Mass Approval.
Denial is total. On all approval-related steps - including consolidated approvals and approval chains - if an approver denies, they deny the entire business process. There is no partial denial and no "deny this step only."
Approval chains climb a management hierarchy from the assigned security group upward. The chain continues until it reaches the top or meets an exit condition. A common exit condition requires approval from only two workers in the management chain, which is how organizations avoid a raise request travelling to the CEO.
Consolidated approval is a user-experience optimization: several approvals for the same worker arrive as one task with simplified information per step and links to details. It does not change who approves.
Mass approval is narrow - only for processes dealing with multiple organizations, such as bonus, merit, and salary actions.
To Do steps and their security quirk
To Do steps are reminders or activities the worker must do inside or outside Workday. Add, configure, and delete them with the Maintain To Dos task. Run the To Dos report to see which business processes use which To Do steps.
Workday's examples: in Period Close Event, the accounting manager closes ledgers; in Hire, the employee submits a W-4; in Change Job, the security administrator reviews changes to user-based security group assignments.
You can embed Workday tasks in To Do steps, which puts a link to the task in the recipient's Inbox. You can also include SAML links, which carry additional authentication - for example, signing a user into a job website with data prefilled from Workday.
The security exception worth memorizing: you can assign To Do steps to any active security group in the tenant - they do not need to be on the business process security policy. But if you associate a Workday task with the To Do, verify the assigned group can actually access that task, or the recipient gets a link they cannot open.
Service and Integration steps
Service steps start a Workday-delivered automated process as part of the business process. Examples: the Create Workday Account service creates a user account and emails a temporary password; the Document Delivery service transports an integration output file to an external server.
Integration steps trigger a Workday operation that transfers data to or from an external application, and initiate a separate processing thread. Both Service and Integration steps use the Run As User column.
Because both start a separate processing thread, a failure inside them does not always present as a failed business process step. When a Service or Integration step appears to hang, check the integration event itself rather than only the business process.
Choosing a step type from a requirement
| Requirement | Step type |
|---|---|
| "Reviewer must be able to change the value before approving" | Action - Review |
| "Approver reviews only; no edits" | Approval |
| "Route up the management chain until two managers approve" | Approval Chain with an exit condition |
| "Several approvals for one worker should arrive as one task" | Consolidated Approval |
| "Remind someone to do something outside Workday" | To Do |
| "Give a group several To Dos at once" | Checklist |
| "Create the user's Workday account automatically" | Service |
| "Send the record to a third-party system" | Integration |
| "Collect a signature on a document" | Review Documents |
| "Capture values for custom fields" | Edit Additional Data |
A requirement states that the reviewer of a compensation change must be able to correct the proposed amount before approving it. Which step type meets this requirement?
An approver denies a step in an approval chain. What happens to the business process?
Which statement about To Do steps is correct?