3749615 - Admins can assign non-manager observers despite the 'Observer must be primary manager' setting being enabled

Although the setting 'Observer Must Be Primary Manager' is enabled at the item level, learning admins can bypass it and assign a different observer to the task.

SAP SuccessFactors Learning

1. Configure the task checklist (Observer Must Be Primary Manager: Yes, User Can Request Observation: Yes, Observers Must Be Authorized Instructors: No) >
2. Assign the item to a specific user >
3. Launch a proxy session as the user and attempt to request observers. Verify that only the designated manager is selectable as an observer >
4. Navigate to the Learning Administration section and go to the "Assign Task Observers" area >
5. Choose the specific item and select the desired observer for the task >
6. Select the user for whom the observation request is being made and send the observation request >
7. Confirm that the request has been sent successfully >
8. As the observer, navigate to the "Requests for Me" section on the learning home page >
9. Locate the task observation request, open it, complete the task, and record the completion.

This behavior is by design and is working as expected.

The setting 'Observer Must Be Primary Manager' is an administrator-controlled configuration. While this setting ensures that, by default, the primary manager is assigned as the observer, Learning Administrators retain the ability to manually add additional observers to the workflow, and this is intentional.

In real-world scenarios, observation workflows can become stuck if the designated primary manager is unavailable (e.g., due to absence, role change, or organizational restructuring). To prevent such workflows from being blocked indefinitely, Learning Administrators have the ability to intervene by adding alternative observers. This ensures business continuity without requiring a system-level configuration change.

In summary:

• The 'Observer Must Be Primary Manager' setting controls the default observer assignment behavior.
• Admins can override this by explicitly adding observers to unblock stuck workflows. 
• This capability is scoped to Administrators only and is not available to end users.

Task Checklist Settings | Help Portal

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