This workflow recipe will provide the steps to create and configure a workflow for a simple onboarding process, within this process the workflow will inform the HR team that they must create a contract for the new starter, a user account will be generated, a reminder will be sent out to let the new starter's manager know they're starting soon and a HMRC checklist will be sent out to the new starter for their completion before the HR team confirms that all outstanding tasks have been completed.

If you're interested in creating your own onboarding workflow this recipe can provide a bit of a head start in regards to the workflow configuration, how to set up various workflow step types as well as how to set your step triggers so that tasks are assigned at the correct time intervals.

To begin following this guide you'll first need to navigate into Administration -> HR -> Workflows and click Add.

The Workflow

Workflow Name: Onboarding (or something along those lines).

Category: Task.

Type: Onboarding.

Trigger against leavers/archived employees? No.

Trigger against employees in probation? Yes - including those out of probation.

All comments visible: No

Restrictions: Any that you desire.

Length of service (years): Blank.

Only manager roles? No.

Active: Active.

Once you've submitted this page you should be redirected to the Workflow steps page, this workflow is nice and simple so we won't have to do much work here, to start just click Add Step.

Workflow Steps

Step 1

The first step of our workflow will instruct the HR team to create the contract for the new starter.

Name: Create contract for [employee_name] (this tag will automatically complete with the correct new starter's name when the workflow is triggered against them).

Description: HR team to create the contract for new starter and mark this action as done once completed.

Type: Assign To.

Recipient(s): HR Mailbox

Message Subject: Contract required for new starter: [employee_name]

Message Content: 

Hi Team,

 

Please organise the creation of an employment contract for our new starter [employee_name].

Their start date is [employee_start_date] please ensure the contract is completed in a timely manner to ensure there is enough time between now and the start date to allow for any obstacles.

 

Thanks,

HR.

(The message and subject above are just generic examples of what could be used, it's entirely up to you what is entered in these fields though).

Sensitive Message: Unticked

Send message as plain text: Unticked

Custom button link: https://www.naturalhr.net/hr/employee/employee-card/[employee_system_id] (using the custom button link this way will cause this step to take the user to the new starter's employee card when using the button in their workflow email, this way they can see the details of the employee that they are completing the workflow for. This is entirely optional so if you'd prefer this can be left blank which means the button will take the user to the Workflow Action itself).

Custom button text: Blank

Workflow step order: 1

When should this happen? 0 days after creation date.

Escalation Options: 

I've set two escalation options in this step, they are both just reminders for the HR team and are as follows:

Once submitted the workflow step should now look like so:

Step 2

Our second step will send out the new starter's NaturalHR user account details to their email.

Name: Generate Account Email

Description: Blank (Add as needed)

Type: Send Account Email

Recipient(s): No recipient field for this step type (sends to the employee the workflow was triggered against).

Message Subject: Your NaturalHR account is ready for use.

Message Content: 

Hi [employee_name],

 

Your NaturalHR user account is now ready! Please log in at your earliest convenience in order to ensure that access is working as expected!

 

Thanks,

HR.

(The message and subject above are just generic examples of what could be used, it's entirely up to you what is entered in these fields though).

Sensitive Message: Unticked

Send message as plain text: unticked

Custom button link:  Blank

Custom button text: Blank

Workflow step order: 2

When should this happen? 0 days after last workflow action.

Escalation Options: Unticked.

The workflow step should now look like so:

Step 3

Name: New Starter Details

Description: Blank (Add as needed)

Type: Send email to specified recipient

Recipient(s): Finance Mailbox | Facilities Mailbox

Message Subject: [employee_name] is starting work soon, please review their details

Message Content: 

Hi Team,

 

[employee_name] is starting work soon, please review their details on NaturalHR before their start date on [employee_start_date].

 

Thanks,

HR.

Sensitive Message: unticked.

Send message as plain text: unticked.

Custom button link: https://www.naturalhr.net/hr/employee/employee-card/[employee_name] (doing so will change the "login" button in the workflow email to link to this page rather than the homepage).

Custom button text: [employee_name]

Workflow step order: 3

When should this happen? 0 days after last action

Escalation Options: 

I've set two escalation options in this step, they are both just reminders for the HR team and are as follows:

The workflow step should now look like so:

Step 4

Name: [employee_name] is starting in 1 week.

Description: Blank (Add as needed).

Type: Assign To

Recipient(s): Employee's Manager

Message Subject: [employee_name] is starting in 1 week!

Message Content: 

Hi [current_manager_first_name],

 

Your new starter [employee_name] starts in just 1 week, please ensure you have everything you need for their onboarding.

 

Thanks,

HR.

Sensitive Message: Unticked

Send message as plain text: Unticked

Custom button link:  Blank

Custom button text: Blank

Workflow step order: 4

When should this happen? 1 week before start date

Escalation Options: unticked

The workflow step should now look like so: 

Step 5

Name: Please complete HMRC checklist

Description: Blank (add as needed).

Type: Send new form

Recipient(s): Employee

Message Subject: Please complete HMRC checklist

Message Content: 

Hi [employee_name],

 

Congratulations on your first day of employment! Please click the button below to log into NaturalHR and complete your HMRC Checklist, once done mark the Completed field as "Yes" and click Submit.

 

Thanks,

HR.

Sensitive Message: Unticked.

Send message as plain text: Unticked.

Custom button link:  Blank.

Custom button text: Blank.

Workflow step order: 5

When should this happen? 0 days after start date

Escalation Options: Unticked

The workflow step should now look like so:

Step 6

Name: Have all new starter tasks been completed for [employee_name]?

Description: Blank (add as needed).

Type: Assign to.

Recipient(s): HR Mailbox

Message Subject: Have all new starter tasks been completed for [employee_name]?

Message Content:

Hi Team,

 

Please check and confirm that all new starter tasks have been completed for [employee_name], once done please mark this workflow step as complete.

 

Thanks,

HR.

Sensitive Message: Unticked.

Send message as plain text: Unticked.

Custom button link:  Blank.

Custom button text: Blank.

Workflow step order: 6

When should this happen? 0 days after start date.

Escalation Options: 

I've set two escalation options in this step, they are both just reminders for the HR team and are as follows:

The workflow step should now look like so:

Once complete click the Submit button, all 6 steps of the workflow should now look like so:

Once the workflow is set active it will begin working, if there is no other onboarding workflow in the system it will automatically trigger against new starters when they are added to the system. If more than one onboarding workflow is active on the system and is applicable to the new starter then a dropdown will appear allowing the user to choose which onboarding workflow to publish against this new starter.

 

This is a simple recipe for an onboarding workflow which can be used in full or just used as the foundation of your own workflow so if you'd like to use this as a guide and then add in your own steps and tweaks it's a good way to give you a head start and get the basics complete before building up your full process.