Workflow Automation
Workflow Automation runs trigger-based workflows — sequences that fire when something happens, covering probation, contracts, transfers and documents.
Where: My Team › Settings › Approvals & Access › Workflow Automation You need: the workflow automation right
What a trigger-based workflow is for
The events it covers share a shape: they are predictable, dated, and easy to miss.
- Probation ending
- A contract reaching its end date
- An employee transferring between departments or branches
- A document needing to be issued or signed at a particular point
Each of these has a date known well in advance, and each causes a problem when the date passes unnoticed. A probation that lapses confirms someone by default; a contract that expires leaves someone working without one.
Automating them turns a thing somebody has to remember into a thing that happens.
Workflow Automation or Profile Automations?
Both automate, but on different triggers, and picking the wrong one means nothing fires.
| Fires on | Typical use | |
|---|---|---|
| Profile Automations | Placement — someone added, or their department/branch changes | Apply the right settings for where a person sits |
| Workflow Automation | Events and dates — probation ends, contract expires, transfer happens | Make sure something is done at the right moment |
The short version: Profile Automations answer "what settings should this person have?" Workflow Automation answers "what needs to happen now?"
Build it around the dates you already track
The dashboard and Key Dates already surface probation ends and contract expiries — which means you have a ready-made list of what is worth automating first. If a date shows up there and someone has to act on it manually every time, it is a candidate.
Before you automate something
- Make sure the manual process is right first. Automating a broken process just makes it
happen faster and more often.
- Know who receives the output. A workflow that raises an approval needs a working
approval route, or it stalls silently.
- Start with one. Probation is usually the best first candidate: it is high-value, the
timing is unambiguous, and the consequence of missing it is real.