Workflow Approval Framework

Our Journal approval workflow design requires the requestor is always the first approver because we want a record of their approval.  We have setup a very simple workflow with the 'Route to Requestor' flag checked at both the Definition and the Step levels.  We then  used the generic Supervisor by UserId for the user list and role SUPERVISOR.  Criteria on the Definition, Path and Step are all set to Always True.

Per PeopleBooks,

Route to RequestorSelect this check box to route this approval to the requester. When this check box is selected and the requester is also an approver, the requester must manually approve the transaction, unless the minimum approvals have already been satisfied.