Can I set up automation to copy a row to another sheet and duplicate there based on specific criteria?

Question

We're using Smartsheet to track the number of vacancies and the subsequent recruitment process to fill them. Most of these vacancies are multiple openings for the same job role and we have how many openings on the sheet (e.g. 3x HR Coordinators). Currently, we're using a sheet to set-up the vacancy (settle on job description, T&Cs etc) with multiple stakeholders and once the head of HR approves, our recruitment team takes over.

Ideally, once these are approved, we are looking for the row (again, using HR Coordinator as an example) to copy over to another sheet 3 times . We don't want to start with a separate row for each opening from the offset as this will mean the multiple stakeholders receiving duplicated automations each time, when only one is sufficient.

Does anyone know if I can set a automation to copy to another sheet based on a numerical value in a specific field?

Melissa Yamada · Accepted Answer

Automations can copy/move a row, but they can’t say “copy this row 3 times based on a number.”

What about setting up the automations to only run on parent rows, then when copying you'll already have the child rows below ready to go?

-During your vacancy setup phase, create the approved row as a parent with the individual openings already set up as child rows beneath it (e.g. 1 parent "HR Coordinator" row with 3 child rows below it)

-Use a helper column to flag parent rows (e.g. a formula using COUNT(CHILDREN()) to identify it as a parent)

-Set your automation to only trigger on parent rows using that helper column as a condition

This way your stakeholders only ever see the single parent row during approvals, and your recruitment team gets the pre-built individual rows ready to work on!