Automate New Hire Onboarding w/ SharePoint & Power Automate

The built-in Employee Onboarding list template is not usable without customization. It can't be customized or repeated for individual new hire.

Customize the list created from the template to our purposes. Delete unnecessary columns and add extra columns that our solution requires.

Add a column for location. The same logic might be used for a Job Role column. Ultimately, because this column is going to reappear several times, it would make sense to create a Site Column to be able o reuse the same column for consistency.

The Category column pertains to the category or purpose of the task being assigned. Is it administrative? Technical? Logistical? That's what this column is intended to highlight.

Many tasks, especially ones that involve several technical steps, will require some guidance and instructions. Technically, it is possible to attach the instructions documentation to the task checklist, but that makes maintenance and upkeep very complicated. In this solution, we store instructional material in a separate document library and share the relevant link to the document in the context of the task assignment.

Store the instructions as documents (Word or PDF) in a document library and use the sharing link as the URL for the "Relevant link" in the task checklist.

The Employee Onboarding list template comes very close to the requirements for the New Hire Tracking list we need.

The Employee Onboarding list template has several columns that don't apply to our solution. While it might be convenient to leave them unused, it's actually cleaner to simply delete them.

Some columns from the template can be reused, but may need to be renamed for our purposes. Keep in mind, though, that renaming columns is merely superficial; their technical names are still defined by SharePoint.

Because there may be location-specific task to complete, we are building in that capacity. The same logic might apply to a job role instead of a location (or in additional to a location).

The built-in Employee Onboarding list template again comes closest to fulfilling our requirements, with some additional modifications.

These are the modifications, deletions, and additions to the task list required for our solution.

Use the New Hire's Start Date and the (integer) Daytocomplete column from the task list to calculate the due date for individual tasks, based on the new hire's start date.

This demo does not apply directly to our solution. It is simply one of the ways workflows can be linked to SharePoint lists.

While we will work through the process of developing this workflow, this is how the final workflow can work.

This is a demonstration of how a workflow can be triggered based on a selected item in a SharePoint list.

The demo workflow is triggered by the creation of a new item in a SharePoint list. In order to trigger such a workflow, you must create a new item in that list.

Whereas the demo workflow is triggered by the creation of an item in a list, our final workflow will be triggered based on the selection of specific items in the New Hire Tracker list.

There are many types of variables that can be used in Power Automate. This is a demo of a string (text) variable.

In the context of our workflow, there are some tasks that were tagged for all new hires (Location = All). Later, other tasks will be location-specific.

This video demonstrates the use of OData Query Filters for specific variables (taken from the New Hire Tracker list).

By combining the two values in the OData Query Filter (All locations plus Location-specific tasks) using an OR function, we have a Get Items action that will get the tasks for all employees as well as those for the New Hire's specific location.

The creation of an action that is meant to be performed on multiple items gets embedded automatically in Power Automate inside of a For Each loop.

Once all of the onboarding tasks have been created (and assigned) for a new hire, change their Processing status, in order to prevent duplicate processing of the same tasks.

As you are testing the functionality of the workflow on live list items, just realize that you will need to delete the test items - both new hires (unless Elvis really is working for your company) and the tasks assigned to sample new hires.

This is going to be our first introduction to Condition statements in Power Automate. We also compile multiple actions together inside of a Scope in Power Automate.

The modern SharePoint interface provides most of the same types of views as the classic interface, but now offers even more types of views and with greater functionality.

Because we are using list templates to create our working lists, they will tend to start with a wide variety of views, some of which we can use with a little customization.

There are several ways to edit views, including the classic menu that you get from list settings. There are some features like Grouping and Filtering, that are more obvious in the classic interface.

When you create a new view, SharePoint gives you several options to choose from.

In order to create a Calendar view, the list has to have at least one date field. The items appear on the calendar based on the date values in that field.

Board views organize items in the list based on the selected Choice field. Dragging an item card from one block to  another has the effect of changing the value in that Choice field.

The two dynamic filters are [Me] and [Today]. The [Me] filters a Person column for the current user. We use this dynamic filter to create the individualized view of the assignments list. Technically, everyone's tasks are in the same list, but the view only shows the user the ones assigned to them.

The [Today] date filter examines date columns relative to the current date.

Instead of sending users to the lists and expecting them to know what to do (and what not to do), we create Site Pages that allow us to guide the user experience by pulling in list view web parts.  Instead of adding the lists to the site's navigation, we add these pages.

Any solution is going to change and evolve over time, as requirements and details change and as users provide feedback. These are some of the things you will probably need to consider at least acknowledging proactively.

Our due date on assignments is a calculated column, which can't be used in a Power Automate workflow. In order to find incomplete items that are past their due date, we have to recalculate that date within the context of the workflow itself.

Addressing the new to review the documentation for relevance and accuracy, we create a date column specifically to mark that information.

Create a calculated column to alert users of upcoming reviews of documentation. Once a document has been reviewed, update its (new) review deadline. The reminder date is based on the review deadline set.

SharePoint lists have what's known as a "list view threshold". The modern interface has gotten better about working with large lists, but responsible admins should think about maintenance anyway.

If you are required to retain onboarding tasks, create a separate archive list specifically to store them.

This video walks through the configurations of actions in a scheduled workflow.