This article provides a general overview of workflows and how they work. To learn more about creating workflows, see Create workflows.
Workflows help you manage tasks in Personio and improve your team's efficiency. They're automated actions that start when certain events or conditions occur. These actions replace manual tasks, saving your teams time so they can focus on more strategic work.
All workflows use an "if this happens, then do that" logic. You can create workflows using a no-code environment, where you connect triggers and actions to fit your specific needs.
Access workflows
Access Personio's workflow automation capabilities by going to Automations > Workflows. Here, you'll find a list of all the workflows you've created and information about each one. If you haven't created any workflows, you'll see a prompt to create one from scratch or using a template.
Example workflows to set up
Depending on how your team or organization uses Personio, certain workflows can be more useful than others. Here are some example workflows to consider setting up:
- Document upload notifications: Automatically notify specific employees or role members, like HR managers, when an employee uploads a document to their profile. Or, start a workflow when a document is created in someone's profile using a template.
- Status updates for document signatures: Keep your team informed about the status of electronic signature requests. Create a workflow to notify certain users when a document's signature status changes. This saves the team from having to check manually.
- Time tracking reminders: Remind employees to complete and submit their attendance every Friday. This helps ensure timely and accurate submissions.
- Expiring vacation days reminder: Use this workflow template to remind employees to use any carryover vacation days before they expire. You cannot include the number of remaining days in the message — employees need to check and request their days themselves.
- Employee start date reminders: Use the Relative to a date trigger to notify supervisors a few days before a new employee's start date, so they can prepare introduction meetings and coordinate with their teams.
- Employee attribute change reminders: Use the Event in Personio trigger to alert HR instantly when an employee's details change. For example, notify Health and Safety administrators if emergency contact information changes, or inform payroll administrators if an employee's working country changes.
Workflow components
Workflows are made up of four main components: triggers, actions, conditions, and rules. Each plays a specific role in achieving a desired outcome.
- Triggers start the workflow based on an event that occurs or a set time. They prompt Personio to begin a process.
- Rules define who a workflow applies to based on attributes in Personio. Add rules to a trigger to customize it further. For example, trigger a document upload notification only when someone from a specific department uploads a document.
- Conditions define the criteria that need to be met before a workflow can begin. Add conditions to a trigger to further customize the workflow. For example, trigger a document upload notification only when a document is uploaded to one or more specific document categories.
- Actions are the steps that occur once the triggers, rules, and conditions match.
See Workflow components for a description of every workflow component.