Workflows consist of triggers, actions, rules, and conditions. They automate tasks and help you work more efficiently in Personio. You can customize these components to create a workflow specific to your needs. Triggers start the workflow, rules and conditions define when it begins, and actions are the steps that happen once all conditions are met.
Triggers
Workflows always start with a trigger. Triggers prompt the automation to begin, and subsequent actions follow. There are three types of triggers: Scheduled, Event-based, and Relative to a date.
Scheduled trigger
Scheduled triggers start workflows on specific dates, times, or frequencies. When using a schedule trigger, you must define:
- A start date
- The time of day
- The frequency
For example, use this trigger to send employees reminders on a monthly basis, for things like performance reviews, data audits, or employee surveys.
Tip:
When scheduling triggers for specific times, note that the feature works based on the UTC. The first half of the day is 9 AM UTC and the second half of the day is 1 PM UTC.
Event-based trigger
Event-based triggers
Create workflows that start when a specific event happens in Personio, like when a document is uploaded, or an employee goes on a leave. When defining an event-based trigger, you can:
- Choose from the events listed in the workflow builder, like when an employee is created, goes on leave, or changes team.
- Add rules and conditions to specify the exact criteria that must be met.
For example, only when employees from specific offices are created, or documents uploaded to a certain category. - Use custom attributes to define which employees the workflow affects. Find out more about rules and conditions.
Relative to a date trigger
These triggers execute workflows based on another date, like an absence start date, or a new employee's start date.
- Define if the workflow should start on the date, or a set number of days before or after the date.
- Optionally, add rules and conditions to set criteria related to absence types, employee types, statuses, or other info.
Note:
Workflows that involve employee data trigger at 6 A.M. (GMT), while workflows based on absence data trigger at 12 A.M. in the user's timezone.
Rules and conditions
Rules and conditions provide more control over event-based and date-related workflows. Use them to specify when a workflow should trigger, and who it should impact.
Conditions
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Add conditions to event-based triggers to define the criteria an event must meet before triggering a workflow.
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If you add multiple conditions, you can choose if the workflow should trigger once it matches any of the conditions, or only when it matches all the conditions.
Rules
- Add rules to event-based or date-related triggers to filter who the workflow affects.
- Create rules based on preset and custom attributes, or for quantity-related data.
- If you add multiple rules, the workflow only triggers once all are met.
Example rules and conditions for triggers
| Trigger type | Specifications |
| Absence creation | Specify whether a certain duration, absence status, absence type, or requester should trigger a workflow to begin when an employee absence is created. |
| Document upload |
Define what categories should trigger a workflow to begin once a document is uploaded. |
| Changes to a document's signature status |
Define which users should receive a notification when a document's signature status changes. Define the type of status change, category, or uploader that should trigger a workflow. |
| Employee attribute update |
Define the specific attribute(s) that should trigger a workflow to begin when changed. |
Actions
After you create a trigger, you can add one or more actions. Actions are the steps performed once a workflow starts. The primary actions are: Assign a task, Request confirmation, Notification, and Send an email. Depending on the action type, it can occur sequentially or synchronously.
- Sequential actions require each step to be finished before the next one can start. For example, if you add a task before a "send an email" action when creating a workflow, the assigned user must mark their task as complete in order for the email to send.
- Synchronous actions occur at the same time as another action.
Assign a task
Assign tasks to a specific person or role to streamline processes. Tasks appear in the assignee's Personio Inbox. You can define the following info:
An assignee: the specific person or role that should receive the task. Before adding assignees, ensure they have the necessary access rights to perform the task. Include additional assignees in sequence by adding multiple tasks to the workflow.
A message: provide assignees with details about the task.
- Use variables to mention specific employees in the message, and provide additional context like document names.
- Insert links that may provide additional info.
Tasks occur sequentially. Any actions in the workflow that follow a task only trigger once the assignee marks the task as completed. Monitor a workflow's progress via the Activity tab.
Request confirmation
Request confirmation from a specific person or role to ensure organized change reviews. Confirmation requests must include the following info:
An assignee: the specific person or role that should receive the request.
- Only one person or role can be assigned to a confirmation. Include other assignees in sequence by adding multiple request confirmation steps to the workflow.
- Select Role so that any member of that role can confirm or reject the request. The workflow only requires one role member to action the request, helping to speed up the process.
A message: provide assignees with details about the confirmation. Use variables to mention and link specific employees or other components.
Confirmed and Rejected steps: add steps depending on the assignee's decision.
Confirmation requests occur sequentially. Any actions in the workflow that follow a confirmation only trigger once the assignee confirms or rejects the request. Monitor a workflow's progress via the Activity tab.
Notification
Send updates about a workflow to a user's Personio Inbox. This keeps everyone informed and aligned without manual reminders. To receive workflow-related notifications, users must have "Other" activated in their personal notification settings. Here, recipients can also choose to receive email updates. Notifications must include the following info:
Recipients: select the people or roles to receive the notification. Before adding recipients, ensure they have the necessary access rights for the data related to the notification.
A title: provide context about the notification.
A message: provides recipients with details about the update. Use variables to mention specific employees, and provide additional context.
Notifications occur synchronously, and trigger at the same time as the next action. Monitor a workflow's progress via the Activity tab.
Send an email
Email a specific person or role, for example HR or IT. This helps personalize the employee experience with minimal effort. Email actions require:
Recipients: select the people or roles from the dropdown menu. Include any email address, including external, by typing the address and pressing enter.
(Optional) Cc, Bcc, Reply-to
The email subject: add a brief description.
The email body text: use rich text formatting and links. Add variables like the title of the workflow, the affected person, or supervisor of the affected person to provide more context.
Emails occur synchronously. They trigger at the same time as the next action. Monitor a workflow's progress via the Activity tab.
Note:
Emails can only include up to 50 recipients, including Cc and Bcc.
Use cases
Examples
- Set an absence-related workflow for specific absence types, like Sick leave or Parental leave.
- Create a document-related workflow triggered by specific document categories, like work visas. Tailor the workflow even more depending on an Employee's Office or Country of employment.
- Notify relevant employees when a document's signature status changes from Pending to Signed.