On Monday, I submit a request in Vfficient.
My manager is:
Sarah
The request is waiting for approval.
On Wednesday, my internal transfer becomes effective.
My new manager is:
David
Friday arrives.
The request is still pending.
Now I have a surprisingly important question:
Who is supposed to approve it?
Changing a manager and completing an already-existing workflow aren’t necessarily the same event.
A reporting relationship can change while an older request is still somewhere in the approval process.
Start With the Timeline
Imagine this sequence:
September 14 — request submitted
September 14 — Sarah is my manager
September 16 — transfer becomes effective
September 16 — David becomes my manager
September 18 — request still pending
The request existed before the organizational change.
That matters.
It may already have entered an approval workflow based on the information that existed when I submitted it.
I shouldn’t automatically assume that changing my manager rewrites every open workflow associated with my profile.
My Current Manager and My Request Approver Can Temporarily Differ
This feels strange when I first encounter it.
My employee information can correctly show:
Manager: David
while an older request may still require attention from a workflow connected with Sarah or another approver.
That doesn’t necessarily mean the manager change failed.
It can mean two different records are being viewed:
Current employment relationship
and
Existing approval transaction
They have different histories.
Think of the Request as Its Own Record
When I submit something for approval, the system needs to know where that request goes.
At that moment, it may capture or determine an approval route.
The request then has its own lifecycle:
Created
→ Submitted
→ Pending review
→ Approved / denied / otherwise resolved
Changing another piece of employee data doesn’t necessarily reset that lifecycle.
PTO Is an Easy Example
Suppose I request:
16 PTO hours
for October 8–9.
Sarah is my manager when I submit it.
Before she acts on it, I transfer to David’s department.
My PTO balance may be fine.
The requested dates may still be valid.
The only problem is that nobody is sure who now owns the approval.
If everyone assumes someone else received it automatically, the request can sit unresolved.
Time Corrections Can Be More Urgent
Now imagine the pending item isn’t future PTO.
It’s a correction for a missing time entry from the current reporting period.
The manager change happens just before the applicable cutoff.
A routing problem that would merely be annoying for a vacation request can now become time-sensitive.
That’s why outstanding approvals should be reviewed when reporting relationships change.
Don’t Submit the Same Request Three Times
I see the original request sitting in Pending status.
I assume it’s stuck.
So I create another one.
Then another.
Now Vfficient may contain multiple requests representing the same underlying event.
For example:
Request #1 — 8 hours — Pending
Request #2 — 8 hours — Pending
Request #3 — 8 hours — Pending
This doesn’t solve the routing issue.
It creates a duplicate-record problem.
Before submitting again, I want to understand what happened to the original request.
Canceling and Recreating Isn’t Always Necessary Either
Another instinct is:
“My manager changed, so I’ll cancel everything and start over.”
That may also be unnecessary.
The existing request may still be valid and simply need appropriate administrative attention.
If the system or HR process can resolve the approval path, deleting a legitimate request can remove useful history and force everyone to repeat work.
I first determine whether the existing request can continue.
The Effective Date of the Manager Change Matters
Suppose David becomes my manager next Monday.
Today is Thursday.
My profile may already contain information about the upcoming change depending on how the employer processes future-dated job changes.
But Sarah is still my actual manager today.
This is why the effective date matters.
I don’t want a future organizational change treated as though it became effective immediately.
Manager Changes Often Come With Other Changes
A new manager may be part of a larger transfer.
For example:
Old department: Customer Support
New department: Operations
Old manager: Sarah
New manager: David
Effective date: September 16
Now the company isn’t merely replacing one name.
The employee is moving into another organizational structure.
Any outstanding workflow needs to be considered in that transition.
The Old Manager May Lose Visibility
Suppose Sarah could see my pending request Monday.
After my transfer, her responsibility for my employee record changes.
Depending on the employer’s configuration and workflow, her ability or responsibility to act on the request may also change.
That’s exactly why the company shouldn’t rely on:
“Sarah probably still has it somewhere.”
The actual workflow should be checked.
The New Manager May Not See Historical Items Automatically
David opens his team information.
He sees me as a direct report.
But he doesn’t immediately see the request I submitted before the transfer.
That can happen conceptually because the request predates his reporting relationship.
Again, the solution isn’t to guess.
The company needs to determine where the outstanding transaction currently sits.
HR Needs an Exception Process
A good approval workflow needs an answer for organizational changes.
People:
Transfer
Get promoted
Change departments
Go on leave
Leave the company
Managers themselves can also leave.
Requests don’t conveniently wait until organizational charts are stable.
There needs to be a way to identify and resolve outstanding items when the normal approver changes.
What If the Manager Leaves the Company?
This is an even clearer example.
I submit a request Tuesday.
My manager leaves the organization Friday.
My request is still pending.
Obviously, waiting indefinitely for the original manager isn’t a workable process.
The request needs to be handled through the employer’s applicable reassignment or escalation procedure.
The same principle applies when a manager becomes unavailable for another reason.
Delegation Can Matter
Some organizations establish delegation or alternate-approver processes.
For example, a manager goes on vacation for two weeks.
Rather than allowing every request to sit untouched, another authorized person may handle applicable approvals.
The exact setup depends on the employer.
The important part is that absence of the usual approver should have a defined solution.
I Check the Status Before Contacting Anyone
If my manager changes while I have a pending request, I first look at the request itself.
I want to know:
Is it still pending?
Was it already approved?
Was it returned or denied?
Did anything change after the transfer?
That gives me a concrete question to bring to my manager or HR.
“Pending” for Two Hours and “Pending” for Two Weeks Are Different
A pending status isn’t automatically a problem.
I may have submitted the request ten minutes ago.
But if the normal approval period has passed and a manager change occurred in the meantime, the reporting transition becomes an obvious thing to investigate.
Context matters.
Managers Should Review Open Items During Transfers
Suppose Sarah knows I’m transferring Friday.
A useful transition step is to review outstanding approvals before the effective date.
Maybe she has:
2 PTO requests
1 time correction
1 schedule-related request
Those items can be resolved or appropriately handed off rather than discovered after the transfer.
This makes the organizational change much cleaner.
Vfficient Workflows Depend on Accurate Relationships
Vfficient can connect employee information with approval and HR workflows.
That makes accurate reporting relationships important.
If the employee’s manager is wrong in the underlying record, future requests may also follow an unexpected path.
After a transfer, I therefore check that the new manager relationship itself is correct.
My Transfer Checklist Includes Pending Requests
When my manager changes, I check:
Current Manager
Does Vfficient show the correct reporting relationship after the effective date?
Existing Requests
Do I have anything still pending from before the change?
Request Status
Has the item actually moved since the transfer?
Duplicate Risk
Have I already submitted this request once?
Escalation
If the original approver is no longer appropriate, who should resolve the existing item?
This takes only a few minutes.
It can prevent a request from disappearing into an organizational transition.
The Organizational Chart Can Change Faster Than the Workflow
Return to the original example.
Monday:
Sarah is my manager.
I submit a request.
Wednesday:
David becomes my manager.
Friday:
The original request is still pending.
The mistake would be assuming either:
“Sarah definitely still owns it.”
or
“Vfficient definitely transferred it to David automatically.”
Instead, I check the actual request and follow the employer’s approval process.
That’s the important distinction.
A manager change updates who I report to now.
A pending request has its own history describing what was submitted earlier and where that workflow currently stands.
When those two timelines cross, the request deserves a quick review rather than an assumption.