Permission control for staff appraisals

This guide explains in detail how permission control for staff appraisals works in AmpliFlow. Since the system uses a combination of roles AND manager relationships, it is important to understand exactly how these interact.

This guide is for you if you:

• Are an administrator configuring permissions for staff appraisals
• Are a manager wondering why you can or cannot see certain staff appraisals
• Are responsible for HR and need to understand access control for staff appraisals
• Need to troubleshoot permission issues for staff appraisals

Overview of the permission system

The permission system for staff appraisals is more complex than for other features in AmpliFlow because it combines:

• Roles — Traditional permission roles (Administrator, Owner, Editor, User)
• Personal relationships — Who reports to whom (the “Manager” field in the user profile)
• Ownership — Who the appraisal is about (“Subject”) and who conducts it (“Appraising Manager”)

Staff appraisals contain sensitive personal information. The system must therefore ensure that:

• Managers can see appraisals for their direct reports
• Employees can see their own appraisals
• HR/administrators can see all appraisals (if they have the right role)
• No one sees appraisals they should not have access to

The four questions the system asks

When you try to view or edit a staff appraisal, the system checks:

1. What role do you have? (Administrator, Owner, Editor or User)
2. Is this your own appraisal? (You are the “Subject” of the appraisal)
3. Is this an appraisal for someone who reports to you? (The person under “Subject” has you as their “Manager”)
4. Are you conducting the appraisal? (You are listed as “Appraising Manager”)

Depending on the answers, you get different permissions.

Roles and their permissions

There are four roles that control access to staff appraisals:

Administrator

• View all staff appraisals
• Create staff appraisals for anyone
• Edit all staff appraisals
• Archive all staff appraisals
• Delete archived staff appraisals

Use case: System administrators, super users. Full control.

Owner

• View all staff appraisals
• Create staff appraisals for anyone
• Edit all staff appraisals
• Archive all staff appraisals
• Cannot delete staff appraisals (Administrator only)

Use case: HR managers, HR directors. Full access but cannot delete.

Editor

• View all staff appraisals
• Create staff appraisals for anyone
• Edit all staff appraisals
• Archive all staff appraisals
• Cannot delete staff appraisals (Administrator only)

Use case: HR team, HR administrators. In practice the same permissions as Owner. The difference is semantic — Owner signals a higher level of responsibility.

User

Limited permissions controlled by relationships:

Can view:

• Own staff appraisals (where you are “Subject”)
• Staff appraisals for people who report directly to you
• Staff appraisals where you are “Appraising Manager”
• Archived and active appraisals (for the above)

Can create:

• Staff appraisals for themselves
• Staff appraisals for people who report directly to them

Can edit:

• Own staff appraisals
• Staff appraisals for people who report directly to them
• Staff appraisals where you are “Appraising Manager”
• Cannot edit the “Who” (Subject) field — this is disabled for the User role

Can archive:

• Own staff appraisals
• Staff appraisals where you are “Subject”
• Staff appraisals where you are “Appraising Manager”
• Staff appraisals for people who report directly to you

Can delete:

• No staff appraisals (Administrator only)

Use case: Managers, team leaders. Can manage their own appraisals, appraisals for their direct reports and appraisals where they are appraising manager.

Reporting relationships (the Manager field)

What is the “Manager” field?

Each user in AmpliFlow can have a “Manager” field in their user profile. This creates a reporting relationship.

Example:

• Anna has “Manager” = Lisa
• David has “Manager” = Lisa
• Lisa has “Manager” = (empty)

This means Anna and David report to Lisa.

How do you set the “Manager” field?

1. Go to Settings > Users
2. Click on a user to edit
3. Select a manager in the “Manager” field
4. Save

Why is the “Manager” field important?

The “Manager” field automatically controls which staff appraisals a user with the User role can see and edit.

Lisa (with the User role) can:

• Create staff appraisals for Anna
• Create staff appraisals for David
• View and edit Anna’s and David’s staff appraisals

Anna (with the User role) can:

• Create staff appraisals for herself
• View her own staff appraisals
• NOT see David’s staff appraisals (they have the same manager but are not in a direct relationship)

Important things to know

• Only direct reporting counts — If Anna reports to Lisa, and Lisa reports to Karl, Karl CANNOT automatically see Anna’s staff appraisals (if Karl only has the User role).
• A user can have multiple direct reports — Lisa can have 10 people who have her as “Manager”. She can see all of their staff appraisals.
• A user can only have ONE manager — Anna cannot have both Lisa and Karl as “Manager” at the same time.
• No manager = no one reporting — If no one has “Manager” set to Anna, Anna (with the User role) can only see her own staff appraisals.

Viewing staff appraisals

Administrator, Owner, Editor

Can see all staff appraisals in the entire system, archived and active, regardless of who is “Subject” or “Appraising Manager”. No automatic filters are applied. The list shows all appraisals.

User

Can see:

• Staff appraisals where you are “Subject”
• Staff appraisals for people who have you as “Manager”
• Staff appraisals where you are “Appraising Manager”
• Archived and active appraisals (for the above)

The system automatically shows only the staff appraisals where you are involved in one of these ways.

No role

If you do not have any of the roles (Administrator, Owner, Editor or User), you cannot see any staff appraisals at all and cannot access the feature.

Creating staff appraisals

Administrator, Owner, Editor

Can create staff appraisals for anyone in the system. The “Subject” field shows all users.

User

Can create staff appraisals for themselves and for people who have them as “Manager”. The “Subject” field only shows yourself and users who have you as “Manager”.

Editing staff appraisals

Administrator, Owner, Editor

Can edit all staff appraisals without restrictions.

User

Can edit staff appraisals where you are “Subject”, for people who have you as “Manager”, and where you are “Appraising Manager”. The “Who” (Subject) field is always disabled for the User role.

Archiving staff appraisals

Administrator, Owner, Editor

Can archive all staff appraisals.

User

Can archive staff appraisals based on three conditions:

• You are Subject of the appraisal
• You are Appraising Manager of the appraisal
• You are the direct manager of the person the appraisal is about

Example:

• Lisa is manager for Anna (Anna has “Manager” = Lisa)
• Karl is conducting a staff appraisal with Anna (Karl is “Appraising Manager”)

Result:

• Lisa (with the User role) CAN archive the appraisal (she is Anna’s direct manager)
• Anna (with the User role) CAN archive the appraisal (she is Subject)
• Karl (with the User role) CAN archive the appraisal (he is Appraising Manager)
• David (with the User role) CANNOT archive the appraisal (he is not involved)

Deleting staff appraisals

Only Administrator can delete staff appraisals, and only archived ones.

Process:

1. First archive the staff appraisal
2. Delete the archived staff appraisal

Owner, Editor and User cannot delete any staff appraisals at all.

Practical examples

Example 1: HR manager Maria

• Roles: Owner
• “Manager”: (empty)

Maria can view, create, edit and archive all staff appraisals in the organization. She cannot delete staff appraisals (requires Administrator role).

Example 2: Team leader Erik

• Roles: User
• “Manager”: Maria (HR manager)
• Direct reports: Anna, David, Lisa (all have “Manager” = Erik)

Erik can:

• See his own staff appraisals and staff appraisals for Anna, David and Lisa
• See staff appraisals where he is “Appraising Manager”
• Create staff appraisals for himself and for Anna, David and Lisa
• Edit his own and their staff appraisals (except the “Who” field)
• Archive his own and their staff appraisals

Erik cannot:

• See staff appraisals for other team leaders’ employees
• Delete any staff appraisals
• Edit the “Who” field in any staff appraisal

Example 3: Employee Anna

• Roles: User
• “Manager”: Erik
• Direct reports: (none)

Anna can view, create and edit her own staff appraisals (except the “Who” field) and archive her own staff appraisals. She cannot see other people’s staff appraisals.

Frequently asked questions

Why can I not see an employee’s appraisal even though I am their manager? Check that the employee has you listed as “Manager” in their user profile. The system checks the “Manager” field, not the organizational structure.

Can I see appraisals for my indirect reports? No, with the User role you can only see appraisals for people who have you as their direct “Manager”. If you need broader access, talk to your administrator about getting the Editor or Owner role.

What happens if an employee changes manager? When the “Manager” field is updated on the employee’s profile, the new manager automatically gets access to the employee’s appraisals, and the old manager loses access (if the old manager only had the User role).

Can I give a colleague temporary access to an appraisal? No, there is no system for temporary access. Permissions are controlled by roles and the Manager field. Ask an administrator for help if needed.

Troubleshooting

I cannot see the “Staff Appraisals” feature in the menu You do not have a role for staff appraisals. Ask your administrator to give you at least the User role.

I cannot see an employee’s appraisal Check that the employee has you as “Manager” in their profile. Check that you have the User role (or higher) for staff appraisals.

I cannot edit the “Who” (Subject) field This is by design. The User role cannot change the “Who” field. Only Administrator, Owner and Editor can change it.

I can see the appraisal but cannot archive it Check whether you are Subject, Appraising Manager or direct manager of the person the appraisal is about. At least one of these conditions must be met.