ApproveThis manages your Sapling Integration approvals.

When HR Meets Approval Automation

Lets cut to the chase: HR teams using Sapling are already killing it at managing employee data, onboarding, and compliance. But when every org change needs five sign-offs from people who cant find the "reply all" button? Thats where things get sticky. Enter ApproveThis  the approval system that plugs into Sapling via Zapier to automate the "Hey, can you approve this?" dance.

This isnt about replacing Sapling. Its about giving your People Ops team superpowers. Think auto-routed approvals for new hires, instant alerts when budgets get spicy, and zero back-and-forth emails with finance. Were talking about cutting approval delays from days to hours, without making IT set up some Rube Goldberg machine.

Why This Combo Works for Mid-Sized Companies

Sapling handles the HR heavy lifting. ApproveThis handles the decision-making bureaucracy. Together? Theyre like HR process ninjas  especially for companies scaling past 100 employees where ad-hoc approvals start to crumble. Heres the real juice:

• No more approval black holes: Track every pending hire, promotion, or exit request in real time
• External approvers dont need Sapling logins: CFO approves budget? Use email. Legal needs to vet something? Theyll never know you have a SaaS tool

Example: A 350-person tech company auto-routes all manager promotions through department heads + compensation teams in sequence. No lost Slack threads. No duplicate forms. Just a paper trail that would make auditors cry happy tears.

Use Case 1: Onboarding Without the Approval Hangover

The Problem: New hire starts Monday. IT needs gear, facilities needs a desk, payroll needs forms. But someone forgot to get the department heads sign-off on the salary band. Cue the frantic 4:45 PM emails.

The Fix: Connect Saplings onboarding triggers to ApproveThis. Every new hire auto-generates an approval chain:

- Department lead confirms budget
- HRBP verifies compliance
- IT gets notified to provision access after approvals

Real-world impact: A retail chain reduced onboarding delays by 80% by adding location-specific approvals (regional manager > HR > loss prevention) without complicating Sapling workflows.

Use Case 2: Offboarding That Doesnt Leave Security Gaps

The Nightmare: Employee leaves. Their SaaS accounts stay active. Their managers out sick. Three weeks later, someone notices Slack access is still live.

The Sapling + ApproveThis Play: Offboarding triggers in Sapling? That kicks off a parallel approval storm:

1. Immediate IT ticket to disable accounts (after manager confirms)
2. Legal approval for NDA compliance
3. Automatic final paycheck release once all boxes are checked

Bonus: ApproveThiss vacation delegation means if the CFO is hiking in Patagonia, their backup auto-gets the exit cost approval request.

Use Case 3: Hiring Freezes That Actually Work

The Chaos: Department A hires 3 people despite a company-wide freeze because "they didnt know." Finance is pissed. HR is cleanup crew.

The Automation: Saplings pending hires trigger ApproveThis checks:

- If freeze is active, auto-route to CFO + CEO
- If under $90k, maybe just department approval
- All requests show real-time budget impact via calculated fields

Pro tip: Use approval thresholds to auto-approve replacement hires under certain roles, but escalate new positions. Makes managers feel heard without breaking the budget.

Use Case 4: Promotions That Dont Start Office Drama

The Tinderbox: Maria gets promoted. Carlos in the same role doesnt. Now theres chatter about favoritism because approvals were rushed.

The Solution: Sapling profile changes trigger structured approvals:

- Performance data pulled into approval request
- Requires peer feedback survey completion
- Compensation team reviews equity adjustments

Key move: Configure ApproveThis to require diversity committee sign-off for leadership roles. Makes DEI goals operational, not just PowerPoint fluff.

Beyond HR: Where Else This Combo Shines

Yeah, weve harped on People Ops. But lets talk cross-functional wins:

Finance: Saplings payroll data + ApproveThis thresholds = auto-approve raises under 3%, escalate anything higher. Budget stays intact without micromanaging.

IT: New SaaS access requests in Sapling? Auto-route to InfoSec for approval before provisioning. No more shadow IT surprises.

Facilities: Office transfer request in Sapling? Get location manager approval before updating badges. Because no one wants a desk war at the new HQ.

Setting This Up Without Losing Your Mind

Heres the beauty of Zapier: If you can order a burrito online, you can connect Sapling to ApproveThis. The TL;DR steps:

1. Pick a trigger in Sapling (new hire, offboarding, etc.)
2. Choose ApproveThiss "Create Request" action
3. Map Sapling data to approval fields (role, department, $ amounts)
4. Set who approves what and when

Pro move: Use ApproveThiss conditional logic to skip steps. Example: If its a contract role under 6 months, skip VP approval. Save everyones time.

Need the step-by-step? Zapier's guide covers it. Or just book a 15-minute demo and we'll walk your team through it.

Why This Isnt Just Another Integration

Most HR tools bolt on a half-baked approval feature. ApproveThis + Sapling via Zapier is different because:

It's approval-centric: Built for complex, multi-step decisions  not just "Approve" buttons buried in Sapling.

Works cross-platform: Approvers in Slack, email, MS Teams? Doesn't matter. They don't need another login.

Audit-ready: Every decision timestamped, with comments and data snapshots. Because "Who approved this?!" shouldn't be a horror movie.

Bottom Line: Approval Processes That Don't Slow Growth

Sapling keeps your HR data clean. ApproveThis keeps your decision-making clean. Together, they're the antidote to scaling pains for companies hitting that 200-500 employee crunch.

Best part? Approvers don't need Sapling seats. External partners, board members, or penny-pinching CFOs can review requests without getting deep into your HR system. That alone saves enough license costs to pay for the coffee machine upgrade.

Ready to stop herding approval cats? Get started with ApproveThis or explore Sapling's HR magic. Or better yet, do both and watch your process bottlenecks evaporate.