In most companies, a training request starts as an email. The employee writes to their manager, who forwards it to the learning lead, who asks for the quote, which arrives in another thread. Three weeks later nobody knows whether the request is approved, pending or forgotten, and the team’s budget is pieced back together by hand at year end.
AlibeeZ treats these internal requests as real processes. You design the form, you design what it triggers, and the request then lives in the tool. The panel above shows this on a deliberately ordinary case: a training request, as the employee fills it in, then as it stands a few hours later.
What the panel shows
On the left: what the employee sees
The “Training request” form has six fields: the course (Kubernetes level 2), the provider, the cost (€1,800), the dates, a development plan picked from a list, and the quote as an attachment. Course, cost and dates are marked as mandatory. The “Development plan” field carries a badge: it is a custom field, added by the company, proof that the form is theirs rather than an imposed template.
On the right: what it becomes
The same request, tracked step by step:
- Sent by Camille R. at 09:12.
- Manager: approved at 11:40.
- Learning lead: the current step, required because the cost is above €1,500.
- Budget drawn down: still to come, against the team’s envelope.
Below, four building blocks sum up what makes this possible: your own fields, a rule on the amount, an alert to the requester, and pick-up by your reports. Names, amounts and times are examples.
You design the form
The form is yours: you choose its fields, which ones are mandatory, the pick lists and the attachments expected. A quote, a receipt or a course outline is attached to the request instead of travelling in a separate email thread.
The fields are not limited to a standard list. As everywhere in AlibeeZ, you can add the field your organisation needs, like the development plan in the example. It is not a free-text note but a real field, which then turns up in reports, exports and your rules.
Mandatory fields have a very concrete effect: the request arrives complete. The approver does not have to chase the cost or the dates; they decide on a request they can read in one go.
You design what it triggers
A form on its own would just be a better-looking email. What makes it a process is what happens once it is sent, and that is configurable too:
- Who receives it: the manager, then the person or people you designate.
- Above which amount it needs a second approver: in the example, the learning lead only steps in above €1,500.
- What it draws down: once approved, the request is charged against the team’s envelope.
- Who is told: an alert keeps the requester informed of where the request stands.
The chain behind the form is the same as the one behind timesheets or expense claims. So it gets the same mechanisms: automatic delegation while the approver is on leave, a reminder after a few days without an answer, a refusal sent back to the requester with the comment, and every step recorded.
For training, what comes next can leave AlibeeZ: with Dendreo, an approved training request creates the session in Dendreo, and the training days come back into the capacity plan, so nobody is staffed while away.
A request with a status, a history and a place in your reports
This is the essential difference from email. In AlibeeZ the request has a status: everyone can see where it stands, without chasing by message. It has a history: who sent it, who approved it, at what time, and which step is left. And it has a place in your reports: the year’s training requests, by team, by cost or by development plan, are read in a report rather than in an inbox.
Forms also fit naturally with the home screen. An announcement published there, such as registration opening for the annual offsite, can point to the registration form, available in everyone’s requests.
The same building blocks for other requests
The training request is just one example. The same building blocks (fields, a rule on the amount, a chain, an alert, pick-up by reports) serve every internal request that travels by email today:
- equipment requests;
- internal mobility;
- unpaid leave;
- clearance requests;
- one-off remote work;
- expense advances;
- company car bookings.
Simple or scoped: you know before you start
A simple form is built from the admin area. As soon as it carries rules or calculations, we scope it with you, and you know which of the two before you start. As long as it stays within configuration, it is included in your subscription; bespoke development is quoted before any commitment. Either way, the form can be tried on a test base, on your own data, before it reaches production.
What it changes
- a request arrives complete, with its attachments, instead of an email exchange to fill the gaps;
- the requester knows where their request stands, without chasing anyone;
- the right approver steps in at the right threshold, and the budget is drawn down as approvals come in;
- the year’s requests end up in a report, not in inboxes.
Going further: the chain behind each form is covered in the article on approval workflows, and the field added in the example is a case of AlibeeZ custom fields. For how a request becomes a figure you can read, see custom reports.
Frequently asked questions
Can we create our own request forms?
Yes. A simple form is built from the admin area, with your fields, your mandatory ones and your attachments. As soon as it carries rules or calculations, it is scoped with our teams, and you know before you start which side it falls on.
Can a request follow a different chain depending on the amount?
Yes. The chain can add a step above a threshold: in the training-request example, the learning lead only steps in above €1,500. The chain also handles delegation while the approver is on leave and chasing when there is no answer.
Where do requests end up once approved?
In AlibeeZ: each request keeps its status and history, and it is picked up by your reports. The year’s requests can then be read in a report, for instance by team or by cost.
Can a training request feed the capacity plan?
Yes, with Dendreo: a training request approved in AlibeeZ creates the session in Dendreo, and the training days come back into the capacity plan, so nobody is staffed while away.