Workflows

Run your people processes - onboarding, offboarding and more - as templates of steps, and track each one through to done.

Overview

The Workflows module enables you to:

Build reusable templates for onboarding, offboarding and other processes
Break each process into steps, each with an owner and a due date
Have new starters complete their own steps - their details, documents and signatures
Track every workflow in progress and catch overdue steps

Workflows or Automations?

Mployr has two related tools, and it's worth knowing which to reach for:

Workflows are structured processes with steps that people move through - onboarding a new starter, or offboarding someone who's leaving. A workflow has a shape and a state.

Automations are event-driven rules: when this happens, do that. No steps, no owners - a trigger, some conditions, and actions.

Use a workflow when there's a process with steps someone owns. Use an automation when there's a reaction that should just happen. They work together - a workflow starting, a step being completed and a workflow finishing are all events an automation can act on.

Workflow Dashboard

Workflows > Dashboard shows:

Pending and in-progress workflows
Workflows completed this month
Overdue steps

Shortcuts to Templates, Onboarding, Offboarding and Active Workflows - the Onboarding, Offboarding and Active Workflows shortcuts count the workflows under way (pending, in progress or on hold)

Understanding Workflows

Workflow Components

Each workflow consists of:

Template - the reusable plan: its type, its steps and how long it should take

Steps - what has to happen, who does it, and when it's due

Running workflow - a template started for one person, tracking each of their steps

Workflow Types

Onboarding - bringing someone new on board

Offboarding - someone leaving

Transition - a change of role or circumstances

Custom - any other process

Creating Workflows

Basic Workflow Setup

Navigate to Workflows > Templates

Click Create Template (or New Template on the dashboard)

Enter template details:

Name
Description
Workflow type
Estimated days

Active status, and Set as Default if it's your standard template for that type - it's picked for you when you start that kind of workflow

Click Create & Add Steps, then add the steps

Steps

Adding a Step

Open the template and click Add Step

Enter:

Step name and description
Step type

Due in Days (from start)

Who it's assigned to

Any steps it Depends On

Whether it's Required and Active

A list of Tasks, if the step has several parts - whoever does the step ticks them off, and a Required task has to be ticked before the step can be completed

Save the step, then drag steps into the order you want. Tick steps and click Toggle Active to switch them off or on - Undo puts them back if you picked the wrong ones

Assignment

Each step lands with one person, chosen under Assignment Type:

Employee (Self) - the person the workflow is for

Manager - their manager

Workflow Creator - whoever started the workflow: from the People list or the person's Onboarding tab, by adding someone with self-service onboarding, or by hiring them. For a workflow an automation starts, it's the person who made the automation. A self-service onboarding that starts when someone accepts an invitation has no creator, so its Workflow Creator steps go to nobody

Specific User - pick the person, who must work in your business. A Specific User step has to name someone

A step that isn't assigned to anyone still appears on the person's Onboarding tab, where it can be completed.

Switch on Notify on Assign to tell that person when the step reaches them, and Notify on Complete to tell whoever started the workflow when the step is done. When nobody started it - a self-service onboarding that began when someone accepted an invitation - the people who manage workflows in your business are told instead, both as steps are done and when the workflow finishes.

The person a workflow is about hears about their own steps once, in their own words: a new starter is sent to their onboarding, and anyone else to their record, where their steps are done.

Dependencies

A step that depends on others waits until they're completed or skipped, then becomes available - and its assignee is notified then, not before. Skipping a step releases the steps waiting on it.

A step can only depend on other steps in the same template, never on itself, and steps can't wait on each other in a loop - Mployr refuses a dependency that would make two steps wait on each other for ever. A step it depends on that a workflow doesn't have - one switched off before that workflow started - doesn't hold it back.

Step Types

The step type decides what the step asks for:

Personal Information, Emergency Contact, Bank Details and Superannuation - the new starter enters their own details

Tax File Declaration - tells the new starter their employer will ask for their tax details separately; nothing is entered in the step

Contractor Details and Insurance - a contractor's business entity and certificates of currency

Document Signing - attach at least one of your document templates. Each document is generated with the person's details, and they read and sign it within the step. The step can't be completed while a document is unsigned, and if they decline one you're told, and can re-issue it from their People record. If a document template attached to the step is later deleted, the step says so - remove it from the step, or attach a current one

Award Arrangements - the new starter signs the annualised wage arrangement you've prepared, and the step can't be ticked off without them

Document Upload, Qualifications, Training, Custom Form, Approval, IT Provisioning and Notification - steps worked and ticked off by whoever they're assigned to. In a new starter's own onboarding, one assigned to them shows as a task they mark as done

Self-Service Onboarding

Every business starts with two ready-made onboarding templates - Employee Self-Service Onboarding and Contractor Self-Service Onboarding. Any onboarding template can be made self-service: open it, switch on Self-service, and choose Employees or Contractors. Mployr starts it for each new starter of that kind when they're added or accept their invitation; if you have more than one for the same kind of starter, the one marked Default is given.

Deleting or switching off your self-service template stops new starters' onboarding from starting, so Mployr asks before it does. While starters are part-way through a template, it can't stop being self-service, and no template can change its type while workflows started from it are under way - duplicate it and change the copy.

When a self-service onboarding is running for someone, they're taken into it when they sign in, for as long as a step of theirs is waiting, and complete their own steps there - including any tasks the steps carry. Their own steps can't be ticked off from their People record. Steps assigned to someone else - a manager's approval, say - show as waiting on that person; once only those are left, the new starter can carry on into Mployr. Add Document Signing or Award Arrangements steps to have them sign documents as part of it. New starters under 16 can't onboard themselves - their employer completes it for them. See the People Management guide for bringing on new starters.

Changing a Template

Edit a template at any time from Workflows > Templates. A step you add is picked up by workflows already under way, not just new ones - finished workflows are left as they were. A step you delete is withdrawn from workflows under way: it's marked as skipped there, and anything waiting on it carries on. A template can't be deleted while a workflow using it is under way or on hold.

Cloning Workflows

Find the template under Workflows > Templates

Click Duplicate

Modify as needed

The copy keeps the steps, their tasks and their dependencies. It's an ordinary template - it's never your default, and never the self-service onboarding new starters are given.

Set as Default marks your standard template of each type. It's picked for you when you Start Onboarding or Assign Workflow on a person, when you start an offboarding as you Terminate someone, and in Start Self Onboarding.

Managing Workflows

Starting a Workflow

Onboarding - on People, choose Start Onboarding from a person's menu and pick an onboarding template

Offboarding - when you Terminate an employee from the People list, switch on Start offboarding workflow and choose the template

Any type - on the person's Onboarding tab, click Assign Workflow, choose the template and due date, and click Assign & Start. It offers your active templates of every type, leaving out any type the person already has under way

A person has one workflow of each type at a time - one on hold still counts. An automation can start one too, with the Start Onboarding, Start Offboarding and Start Workflow actions: pick the template, and the workflow starts exactly as if you'd assigned it, unless the person already has one of that type under way.

A template needs at least one active step before a workflow can be started from it - one with none would never finish. The same goes for a self-service onboarding: if the template new starters are given has no active steps, their onboarding isn't started.

Workflow Status

Pending - Assigned, not yet under way

In Progress - Steps being worked

On Hold - Paused: nothing on it can be done until it's resumed

Completed - Finished

Cancelled - Stopped before it finished

Steps are completed, skipped and have their tasks ticked while a workflow is in progress. A skipped step stays skipped. A cancelled workflow stays cancelled - finishing its remaining steps doesn't turn it into a completed one.

Tracking Progress

Workflows > Onboarding and Workflows > Offboarding list each person's workflow with its status and progress - click one to open their record

Workflows > Active Workflows covers every type, with search and filters by type and status. Lists load a page at a time (Load more), and search finds people by the name they go by as well as their legal name

On a person's Onboarding tab, each workflow shows its progress, its start and due dates, and its notes. Click View Steps to see the steps - with Complete on each one, each step's tasks to tick off, Skip on steps that aren't required, and an Overdue flag on late ones. Start begins a pending workflow, Put on Hold pauses one and Resume carries it on, and Cancel stops the whole workflow - holding and cancelling ask for an optional reason, kept in the workflow's notes

A step is overdue once its due date has passed - in your business's time zone, so not on the day it's due. Dates on a workflow are your business's dates too.

Who sees a person's workflows: the person themselves, anyone whose role lets them view workflows (HR, managers, administrators), and anyone given a step in that workflow, who sees that workflow only.

Common Workflow Examples

Onboarding Workflow

Type: Onboarding Steps:

Personal information, emergency contact, bank details, super and tax file declaration - assigned to the employee
Employment contract and policies - a Document Signing step assigned to the employee
Equipment and system access - an IT Provisioning step assigned to the workflow creator
Induction training - a Training step for the manager, depending on step 3

Offboarding Workflow

Type: Offboarding Steps:

Collect equipment and remove access - an IT Provisioning step assigned to the manager
Final pay check - assigned to the workflow creator, the person who terminated the employee and started the workflow
Exit interview - assigned to the manager

Workflow Completed Follow-up

Pair a workflow with an automation:

Trigger: Workflow Completed Actions:

Send a notification to your HR lead
Wait 7 days, then send them a second notification to book the first-week check-in

Workflow Completed fires when any workflow finishes; Onboarding Completed fires for onboarding workflows only.

Best Practices

Workflow Design

Keep each template focused on one process
Use clear, descriptive step names
Add descriptions so the assignee knows what done looks like
Start simple, add steps later - running workflows pick them up

Timing

Set realistic due days, so an overdue step means something
Use dependencies to hold back steps that can't start yet, rather than notifying people early

Maintenance

Review templates quarterly
Deactivate templates you no longer use
Check overdue steps on the dashboard each week

Tips

Assign personal details to the employee - they know them best
Use Document Signing steps so paperwork is signed as part of onboarding
Keep one default template per type - it's the one picked for you

Switch on Notify on Assign for steps that are easy to miss

Check each step's Assignment Type before you save it - a Specific User step needs someone picked

In this guide