Defining Workflows

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Workflow Forms

To create a workflow form:

  1. After logging into the Subscribe-HR HCM Cloud Platform, select Development from the left hand navigation.
  2. Select the Objects Folder.
  3. Select the Object that you wish to define a workflow form for.
  4. Select the Workflow Form sub folder
  5. Enter the Form Name
  6. Check Document Approval if this form is going to be used for contract, letter of offer, or canvas approval using the on boarding deployment or canvas deployment tools
  7. Select the desired Document Field, this is the document that you wish to be approved
  8. Select Add Field and from the first drop down, Select the name of that you wish to add to the form . You can add as many fields as required.
  9. Choose whether the set approver can edit the form, or only view it
  10. Choose whether the set requester can edit the form, or only view it
  11. Once the Definition has been completed Select the Actions on the top left
  12. Select the green Add Action button. You can add as many actions as required
  13. Add an Action Name
  14. Set who the action will be Assigned To
  15. Select from the drop down which Snippet you would like this form to trigger
  16. Select from the drop down which workflow you would like this form to trigger
  17. Once this workflow's conditions have been met, select the Status you would like it to be set too
  18. Check Completes Workflow if this action is the end of the task.
  19. Select the Save button

What is a Workflow

A workflow consists of a sequence of connected steps, that are run when conditions are met.
The Dictionary definition is: It is a depiction of a sequence of operations, declared as work of a person, a group of persons, an organisation of staff, or one or more simple or complex mechanisms.
Workflows are triggered by meeting a condition, or reaching a step defined in the workflow process.
By looking at the SubTabs in the Workflow Tasks it can be said to be broken down into:
General - What type of Workflow am I.
Condition - When do I start.
Reminder - What do I do when I start.
Updates - Do I need to update any fields in the system after I have started.

Defining Workflows for Objects

We first of all need to select the Object we wish to create the workflow for. Our choice of the object will be based on the information we are collecting.

Creating a Workflow for an Object

  1. After logging into the Subscribe-HR portal, select the Development TAB
  2. Select the Objects Folder.
  3. Select the Object that you wish to define a workflow for.
  4. Select the Workflow Tasks SubFolder from the left side menu.
  5. Select the [Add new record] button.
  6. Decide whether the Workflow is Active or not
    If this is set to Yes then the Workflow is active in the system, and when triggered the workflow will carry out its task.
  7. Enter the Name of the workflow you are creating.
  8. Select the Workflow Type as defined below.
  9. Select the Workflow mode as defined below.
  10. Select the Create Task Yes or No, as defined below.
  11. Select the Task Type as defined below.
  12. Select the Enable External Approvals Yes or No, as defined below.
  13. Select the Anniversary Date as defined below.
  14. Enter the Description for the Workflow.
  15. Activate SMS. Yes or No. You can Activate SMS for each Workflow individually or in bulk from the Activation Hub also. Doe this from the Push Notifications and Adding Functionality Widget.
  16. Select the [Save] button.

Mandatory fields are marked with Red Asterisk, the record will not be saved unless mandatory fields are filled in first.

General TAB

Active

Yes or No to whether the Workflow is turned on (Active) or not.

Name

Enter the Name by which the Workflow will be referenced.

Workflow Type

Workflow types define when an action should be triggered. The Workflow types are:

  • Create New Records - Workflow is triggered when a new record is created
  • Update Existing Records - Workflow is triggered when an existing record has been updated
  • Create New or Update Existing Records - Workflow is triggered when a new record or an existing record has been updated
  • Time Based - Workflow is triggered when a time condition has been met.
  • Triggered by another Task - Workflow is triggered by another Task.

Example: An Example of a Time Based Workflow Type: Employee Birthdate
We could setup an Employee Birthdate workflow with the conditions of where the Employee birthday is less than 3 days. When the condition of 3 days before the Employee Birthday is met an action is triggered.

Example: An Example of a Create New or Update Existing Records Workflow Type: Employee Address Update Notification.
When an employees address details are updated or a new record inserted, a notification can be automated.

Workflow Mode

Select the Mode for the Workflow:

  • Standard - This should be used for most Workflows created where the conditions inside the workflow are adequate.
    It will use the Standard Condition outlined in Condition TAB.
  • Custom Condition - This is available as some areas of the system have pre-programmed custom conditions that cannot be otherwise defined by the Standard Workflow Mode, if selecting the custom condition you loose the ability to define your own conditions.

Execute

This option is only visible when modifying a Workflow, not when Adding a Workflow.
It is also only available if Workflow Mode is set to Standard:

  • Once - Once Triggered the first time, this Workflow will not trigger it again.
  • Always - This will Trigger every time the Conditions are met.

Create Task

Yes or No to create the Task Type selected below.

Task Type

Task Types define what the workflow type is when it is triggered. The Task types are:

  • Reminder - Send the recipient a reminder that a certain task or action is required within the system.
  • Request - Send the recipient a request to be completed before the workflow can continue. Workflow Forms can be attached to requests.
  • Checklist - Send the recipient a checklist of action and tasks that they are required to complete.

Enable External Approvals

Yes or No to Enables the recipient of the workflow to make an action on the workflow without having to log into the Subscribe-HR portal.

Anniversary Date

The Anniversary Date option in the "General" Tab allows you to set reminders based on a Anniversary Date.
Example: Birthday, Start Date. Based on setting this, Subscribe-HR will send a notification every 12 Months from this original date.

Description

Type in the Description of the Workflow.

Activate SMS

Activate SMS sending by selecting Yes. You can Activate single SMS through this field. One at a time. Of you can do this when Activating SMS through the Activation Hub. Through the Activation Hub, you can activate Single - at a time or all Workflows to send SMS. SMS will be sent to mobile numbers including the selected international prefix. For Team Dashboard Users Only.

Condition TAB

  1. Select the Conditions SubTAB.
  2. From the first drop down select the field that you want to trigger the workflow on.
  3. Select the condition that applies to the selected field.
    If the selected field is a date field then the operator would be Is Less Than or Was More Than, If the selected field is a Yes / No field then the operator would be Equals To.
  4. Select the value from the drop down, The value changes depending on the field chosen, If the field chosen is a date field the value would contain date / time periods such as 1 hour, 1 day, 1 week. If the field chosen is a Yes / No field then the value is more likely to be Yes or No.
  5. Additional conditions can be added by selecting the Add condition link.
  6. Select the [Save] button.

Workflow Conditions Explained

A Workflow needs to know when to start (when to be triggered) and that's what the conditions are for. Every condition that is added uses an AND statement meaning each condition must be met or the workflow is not triggered.

A considerable amount of flexibility exists in the Subscribe-HR system. You may notice the available fields in the conditions are not all from the same object. In fact the Subscribe-HR system allows you to select fields from the parent object as well as the child object.
Example: Say you were creating a Workflow for Employee Property. The parent object is Employee and the child is Employee Property this means you have access to all fields in the Employee Object and the Employee Property Object. A further example could be Jobs and Job Benefits.

To add a condition select a field from the drop down. You may notice that the drop down contains the field name and in brackets (the object name).
Example: Date Allocated(Property) simply means that we are reading the Date Allocated field from the Employee Property Object.

Reminder TAB

Key Dates

  1. Select the Reminder SubTAB.
  2. In the Due Date Field drop down select the date field that will define due date for the task or reminder. NOTE: Setting this field will generate a calendar reminder. The reminder will be attached to the e-mail that gets sent out by S-HR. The user can click on the file (called an ICS file). Doing so will create a calendar entry for the reminder.

Example: If we select Start date (Employee) then a reminder is sent on the Employee's Start Date. Training Reminder: When a training booking is done. Notification can be sent to the attendee (person who the training record is for). They can book this training event into their calendar by clicking on the ICS file attached to the e-mail

Main Recipients (Managers and Approving)

  1. Send to Employee Manager - select Yes or No in the Look-up
    If this is Yes then the Employee's Manager will receive the Main Template.
  2. Send to Location Manager - select Yes or No in the Look-up
    If this is Yes then the Location Manager will receive the Main Template. (Location managers are defined under the Maintenance Tab, Locations Folder)
  3. Send To Managers Manager - select Yes or No in the Look-up
    If this is Yes then the Employee's Manager's Manager will receive the Main Template.
  4. Field On The Form (Email) - This allows you to delegate an email address that is entered into a field on the Object form.
    Example: If the Object we are working with is the Employee Object then all email address fields found in the Employee object will be listed in the Field On The Form drop down. The email address that is saved on the delegated field is the email address that the Field On The Form Template will be sent to.
  5. Field On The Form (Mobile) - This field will only show Mobile Fields for Applicant, Employee - User Profile. If the Workflow is set-up for Applicant, you will only see Applicant Mobile fields. If you set-up an HR Workflow you will see Employee or User Profile Fields. You can send an SMS to a User who is not an Employee. Select User Profile field for this purpose.
  6. Send to Users - select the users you wish to receive the reminder. The list of users are users of the Subscribe-HR System, any selected user will receive the Main Template.
  7. Send to Groups - select the user groups you wish to receive the reminder. The list of recipients will include all the users that belong to the user group/s selected, and will receive the Main Template.
  8. Link Survey - select the Canvas/Survey you wish to include/send to users via the Workflow. A link to that Canvas/Survey will be sent via the correspondence template linked to the Workflow.

Note: In Team Dashboards, Performance Reviews (Canvases/Surveys) are sent/deployed People & cultures Users via the Performance Management Widget only. They can't be sent via a Workflow.

  1. Main Template - select the template that you wish for Employee Manager, Location Manager, Manager's Manager, Users and Other Email Addresses to receive.

Other Recipients (Requesting Entities)

  1. Send to Employee - select Yes or No in the drop down
    If this is Yes then the Employee Template will be sent to the employee. If No then nothing is sent to the employee.
  2. Field On The Form (Email) - This allows you to delegate an email address that is entered into a field on the Object form. The email address on the form will be sent the selected Template from the Other Recipients (Requesting Entities) Template drop down.
  3. Field On The Form (Mobile) - This field will only show Mobile Fields for Applicant, Employee - User Profile. If the Workflow is set-up for Applicant, you will only see Applicant Mobile fields. If you set-up an HR Workflow you will see Employee or User Profile Fields. You can send an SMS to a User who is not an Employee. Select User Profile field for this purpose.
  4. Send to Record Creator - This will allow the person who created a record from this form to be sent the selected Template from the Other Recipients (Requesting Entities) section.
  5. Template - The selected template will be sent to anyone who is delegated in the Other Recipients (Requesting Entities) section.

Note: It is important to know that when creating a Request Task Type Workflow that the Other Recipients (Requesting Entities) section is used for the employee making the request and the Main Recipients (Managers and Approver) section is used for the managers dealing with the request.
Example: If we are setting up a Leave Request workflow, we use the Main Recipients Managers and Approver) section to delegate which managers receive the request to approve or deny, and what template they would receive.
We would then use the Other Recipients (Requesting Entities) section to delegate if we wish to send a template to the Employee, and which template to send them.

Updates TAB

  1. Select the Updates SubTAB.
  2. From the first drop down select the field you wish to update as a result of this workflow being triggered.
  3. Select the Operator:
    The operator changes depending on the field chosen, If the field chosen Is a Yes / No field then the operator would be Equals To, If the field chosen is date field the Operator is more likely to contain Plus or Minus.
  4. Select the Value
    The value changes depending on the field chosen, If the field chosen is a date field the value would contain date / time periods such as 1 hour, 1 day, 1 week. If the field chosen is a Yes / No field then the value is more likely to be Yes or No.
  5. To update additional fields select the Add update link and select the field from the next drop down.
  6. Select the [Save] button.

Workflow Updates Explained

Updates simply refer to a nominated field being updated as a result of a defined value.
After a workflow is triggered the update can be performed additional to the reminder.
A considerable amount of flexibility exists in the Subscribe-HR system. You may notice the available fields in the Updates are not all from the same object. In fact the Subscribe-HR system allows you to select fields from the parent object as well as the child object.

This is not mandatory or is it necessary to have fields automatically updated as a result of a workflow being executed.

Workflow Delegation

Employee records marked as recipients can set up the Delegation field to forward to emails if they will not be able to address the email themselves. This can be found here.

Webhook TAB

Workflows can be linked to a webhook. When condition of the workflow is met it will post an update to valid URL.

  1. Select the Webhook SubTAB.
  2. Set "Enable Webhook" field to Yes.
  3. Set Webhook URL to the URL where you want update to be posted.
  4. Set "Enable Basic Authentication" field to Yes if you would like to enable basic authentication.
  5. Set Username and Password fields if basic authentication is enabled.
  6. Select the [Save] button.



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