Create and manage workflows

Use workflows to give an employee a repeatable series of tasks for onboarding, offboarding, or another process. This guide covers templates, task routing, assignments, automation, and completion.

Who can use this?

HR Admins create and assign workflows in Salesforce. Employees, Managers, and assigned HR Managers complete and monitor tasks in the Employee Hub. Signature tasks require the paid flair eSign add-on.

Before you begin

• Enable the Employee Hub and invite each workflow assignee.
• Add a Company Email to each assignee's employee record.
• To use Signature tasks, enable the flair eSign integration under HR Admin → Integrations → eSign.

Create a Workflow Template

1. In flair HR, open Workflows from the navigation bar or the App Launcher (⋮⋮ grid icon).

2. Open Workflow Templates.

3. Click New Workflow Template.

   

4. Enter a name.

5. In the type field, select Onboarding, Offboarding, or Other.

6. Optional: For an Onboarding template, enable the widget for the new employee's Hub dashboard.

7. Optional: Enter a Description.

8. Save the template. You can now add steps and tasks.

Add steps and tasks

A step is a workflow phase that contains one or more tasks. A step can start after the previous step's mandatory tasks or relative to a date.

Add a step

1. Open the Workflow Template.
2. Click Create the First Step.
3. Enter a step name.
4. Select a trigger after the previous mandatory tasks, or relative to Workflow Start Date, Employee Start Date, or another supported event.
5. Click Add. The step appears in the template.

Add a task

1. Under the step, click Add New Task To This Step.

2. Enter a task name.

3. Select its parent step.

4. Optional: Enter a description.

5. Set a deadline.

6. Choose whether the task is mandatory.

7. Optional: Add a video URL or attach a video file.

   

8. Click Next.

9. Select a task type and complete its fields:

   Task type	What it does
   General	Creates a task that the assignee completes by marking it done.
   Upload	Requests a file and defines its Type, Category, and File Format. It supports PDF, PNG, JPG, JPEG, and GIF.
   Data	Requests values for selected data fields in the Employee Hub.
   Performance Review	Assigns an existing performance review and reviewer.
   Evaluation	Assigns an existing evaluation template for an employee or candidate.
   Signature	Requests signatures through the paid flair eSign integration.
   Email	Sends an automated email to the responsible person when the task becomes active.

10. Optional: Add subtasks. Subtasks appear as a Hub checklist but are not required to complete the step.

Choose the responsible person and visibility

1. Click Next to open Assignee.

2. Under Responsible Type, select who completes the task:

   Responsible type	How flair resolves it
   Manager	Uses the workflow assignee's manager.
   Performance Manager	Uses the workflow assignee's performance manager.
   Workflow Assignee	Uses the person who receives the workflow.
   Employee	Uses a selected employee.
   Team	Uses a selected team.
   SOQL Filter	Resolves employees from the workflow assignee's record when the workflow is assigned.

3. Under Task Visibility, select who can see the task. The responsible person always sees it.

   

   Responsible person	Available Task Visibility values
   Workflow assignee and manager	HR+Manager+Employee only
   Workflow assignee	HR+Manager+Employee or HR+Employee
   Workflow assignee's manager	HR+Manager+Employee or HR+Manager
   A specific employee, role, or team	HR+Manager+Employee, HR+Manager, HR+Employee, or HR

4. Review This workflow task is visible to. It lists HR, Workflow Assignee, Workflow Assignee's Manager, or The Responsible Type, as applicable.

5. Save the task. Managers can view and edit tasks assigned to their employees.

Tasks migrated from the former Hide From Assignee setting keep equivalent visibility. You do not need to reconfigure them.

Assign a responsible person with a SOQL filter

Use SOQL Filter when a task's responsible person comes from data on the workflow assignee's Employee record. flair resolves the responsible employees when the workflow is assigned.

1. Under Responsible Type, select SOQL Filter.
2. In Context Field, enter the API name of the field on the assignee's Employee record. It defaults to Id.
3. In SOQL Filter, enter a SOQL WHERE clause that queries the Employee object.
4. Use :contextFieldValue where flair should insert the context field's value.

warning

Wrap :contextFieldValue in single quotes. Id = :contextFieldValue silently resolves no one. Use Id = ':contextFieldValue'. The {contextFieldValue} syntax is not supported.

Route a task to an HR specialist

If flair__HR_Specialist__c is a lookup from the assignee to another Employee, enter these values:

Field	Value
Context Field	flair__HR_Specialist__c
SOQL Filter	Id = ':contextFieldValue'

flair reads the assignee's lookup and assigns the task to the Employee whose Id matches it.

The filter can match any Employee field. For example, use Context Field flair__Manager__c and this filter to assign every employee who shares the assignee's manager:

flair__Manager__c = ':contextFieldValue'

The query runs against flair__Employee__c, so use Employee field API names and the flair__ namespace where applicable. If the filter resolves multiple employees, each becomes responsible for the task.

Add an e-signature request

Configure the Signature task

1. On a Workflow Template, add or edit a task.

2. Select Signature.

3. Select an existing Document Template, or click Upload a Document.

   

4. Enter a task name.

5. Select a Document Category.

6. In Visibility, choose who can see the document.

7. Optional: Add notes and subtasks.

8. Select the primary signer as the responsible person.

9. Optional: Click Add a Signer for each additional signer.

   

Place the signatures

1. Click Add Placeholders.
2. In the preview, drag a signature placeholder to the document for each signer.
3. Click Done.
4. Click Save. When you assign the workflow, each signer receives a separate signature task.

Sign a workflow document

1. In the Employee Hub, open the signature task.
2. Click Sign Document. The document opens in a new browser tab.
3. Review the document.
4. Insert a standard signature with your full name or draw a signature.
5. Finish the signing flow. The workflow records the completed signature task.

Add an Email task

An Email task sends a message to the responsible person's Company Email when the task becomes active.

1. Add a task, and select Email.

2. Complete the email fields:

   Field	What it does
   Email Subject	Sets the email subject.
   Email Body	Sets the message content.
   Email Button Name	Sets the label for an optional call-to-action.
   Email Button Link	Sets the call-to-action URL.

3. Save the task. If the button name and link are empty, the email includes a default link to the workflow in the Employee Hub.

Use merge fields

Add a merge field with triple braces and its full API path:

{{{flair__Workflow_Item__c.flair__Responsible_Name__c}}}

For example:

Hi {{{flair__Workflow_Item__c.flair__Responsible_Name__c}}}, you have a new onboarding task to complete.

flair replaces the merge field with the responsible person's name.

Add video instructions

1. On a workflow task, attach a video file under Attachments, or paste a YouTube, Loom, or Wistia URL into Video Instructions.
2. Save the task. After assignment, the Employee Hub embeds the video in the workflow item.

Assign a workflow

You can assign only a Workflow Template that contains at least one task.

1. In flair HR, open Workflows → Overview.

2. Click Assign Workflows.

3. Under Template, select a type from All Categories.

4. Search for and select the template.

   

5. Click Next.

6. Select an individual or choose multiple employees by location, department, or team.

7. Finish the assignment. The employees receive the workflow in the Employee Hub and may receive Slack or email notifications based on their settings.

On Overview, you can review assignees, categories, progress, the nearest task due date, and the source template. Use the down arrow to edit or delete a workflow.

Automate workflow assignment with Salesforce Flow

Use a record-triggered Salesforce Flow to assign a Workflow Template when an employee joins a team.

Prepare the team and template

1. Create a Workflow Template with at least one task.
2. In flair HR, open Teams.
3. Open the team that should trigger the workflow.
4. Copy the alphanumeric team ID between /c/ and /view in the browser URL.

Create the record-triggered flow

1. In Salesforce Setup, open Flows.

2. Click New Flow.

3. Select Record-Triggered Flow.

4. Click Create.

   

5. In Object, select Team Member.

6. Select Trigger the flow when a record is created.

   

7. Under Condition Requirements, select All Conditions Are Met (AND).

8. Set Field to flair__Team__c.

9. Set Operator to Equals.

10. Set Value to the team ID, such as a2X7S000006kWN9UAM, and click Done.

Create the employee ID collection

1. In Flow Builder, click Toggle Toolbox.

2. Click New Resource.

   

3. Set Resource Type to Variable.

4. Set API Name to employeeIds.

5. Optional: Enter a Description.

6. Set Data Type to Text.

7. Select Allow multiple values (collection).

8. Click Done.

Add the employee ID assignment

1. Between Start and End, click the add circle.

   

2. Add an Assignment.

3. Set Label to Add Id to Employee Id.

4. Set Variable to {!employeeIds}.

5. Set Operator to Add.

6. Set Value to {!$Record.flair__Employee__r.Id}.

7. Click Done.

Add the workflow action

1. Between the Assignment and End, click the add circle.

   

2. Add an Action.

3. Search for and select Create Workflow From Template.

4. Set Label to Assign workflow.

5. Set API Name to Assign_workflow.

6. Set Employee IDs to {!employeeIds}.

7. In Template Id, enter the Workflow Template ID between /c/ and /view in its flair HR URL.

8. Click Done.

Save and activate the flow

1. In Flow Builder, click Save.
2. Enter a Flow Label, such as Auto-assign workflow for HR team members.
3. Save the flow.
4. Click Activate. New members of the selected team receive the Workflow Template automatically.

Update workflow item statuses in bulk

Use a Salesforce data tool, such as Salesforce Inspector or Data Export, to update many workflow items.

1. Export the workflow items with a query such as this one, adjusted for your employee and status:

   SELECT Id, Name, flair__Responsible_Name__c, flair__Status__c
   FROM flair__Workflow_Item__c
   WHERE flair__Responsible_Name__c = 'Employee Name'
   AND flair__Status__c = 'NOT_STARTED'

2. Copy the exported rows into a spreadsheet.

3. Set flair__Status__c to COMPLETED for each item to update.

4. In the data tool, use Data Import to paste the rows, map the fields, and run the import.

Complete workflows in the Employee Hub

1. In the Employee Hub, open Workflows. You can also use the link in an assignment email.

2. Filter by workflow name, employee, type, year, or status.

3. To list individual tasks, switch the view from Workflows to Tasks.

   

4. Open a workflow to see its steps, responsible people, due dates, statuses, and comments. Mandatory tasks have an asterisk, and locked tasks depend on earlier tasks.

   

5. Open a task to see its description, subtasks, requested data, or upload field.

6. Enter requested data or upload the requested document.

7. Optional: Mark a subtask done. Completing a subtask updates the parent task status, but subtasks are not mandatory.

8. Change the task status to In Progress or Completed.

Tasks assigned to other people may be hidden from you. If your mandatory tasks are complete but the next step remains inactive, another responsible person may still have an incomplete mandatory task.

Review workflows as an HR Manager

If an employee record lists you in HR Manager, you can view and update that employee's workflows in the Employee Hub.

• Open Workflows → All to see your workflows and the workflows of all employees you manage as HR Manager.
• Open Workflows → Others to see workflows where you are not the direct assignee.
• Open a workflow item to view its details or update its status.

Comment on a workflow

1. In the Employee Hub, open Workflows.
2. Select a workflow.
3. Click the speech-bubble icon in Comments, or open a task and select Comments.
4. Enter a comment.
5. Optional: Attach a document or image, tag a colleague, or react to a comment.
6. Post the comment. Other participants can read it with the workflow.

Update legacy Workflow Templates

When workflow steps were introduced, existing tasks moved into Step 1. Their content remains unchanged, but their start dates and deadlines may need review.

1. Open an existing Workflow Template and review its former task structure.

   

2. Confirm that its existing tasks now appear under Step 1.

   

3. Review the former task-level start dates. Start dates now apply to every task in a step.

   

   

4. If a task previously used a trigger other than Workflow Start Date, create a step for that trigger and move the task into it.

   

5. Configure the new step and its trigger.

   

   

6. Adjust task deadlines for the new step structure, and save the template.

   

Troubleshooting

A workflow shows an orange warning icon

The workflow may contain a Manager task while its assignee has no manager in flair.

1. On Workflows → Overview, click the down arrow next to the affected workflow.

2. Click Edit.

   

3. Find the task with missing information.

4. Next to the task, click the down arrow.

5. Click Edit.

6. Click Next until Assignee opens.

7. Select a responsible employee.

8. Save the task. The warning clears when the workflow has all required information.

To prevent this error, assign every employee a manager on Company Structure. See Create and manage positions.

Related articles

• Onboarding in flair
• Offboard an employee
• Create and run performance reviews
• Use e-signing