Workflow rules without code
Tell the HRMS what to do when a record is added, gets a value or a date comes, and it matches your filter. It can set a field, make a to-do, write a note, tell someone or ask for an approval, and every run is logged.
PLANSScale only
The problem it solves
- Probation reviews are missed because nobody remembered the date.
- When a resignation is approved, IT hears about the laptop return a week late.
- Each special case, such as a large loan needing the finance head, needs a developer or a reminder on someone's calendar.
- Nobody can tell whether an automatic step ran, or why it failed.
How it works
- The HR administrator opens Workflow Rules and makes a new rule. Give it a name, the kind of record (employees, leave requests, separations, loans and more) and when it runs.
- Choose when: a record is added, or a field gets a value (a leave request becomes Approved). Or a date of the record comes, some days before or after, such as 30 days before probation ends.
- Add a filter so the rule acts only on the records you mean, such as Stage is Probation or Amount at least 2,00,000.
- Add the actions in order: set a field, create a to-do, write a note, tell someone or ask for an approval. Use {name} and {employee} in texts.
- Press Which Records Match Now to see how many records match today; nothing is done. Then switch the rule on.
- Each run is listed under Runs with the record, what was done and any error.
Everything it does
Records a rule can watch
- Employees, attendance days, leave requests, payslips, salaries, loans and advances
- Expense claims, travel requests, appraisals, separations
- Goals, improvement plans, skill requests, applications, transfers and promotions
- Only those your plan has installed are offered
When it runs
- A record is added
- A field gets a value: type the value as you see it on screen, for example Approved, or Yes / No
- A date of the record comes: Days After, with a minus for days before
- Only Records Where: a filter on the record
Actions
- Set a field: a choice by its name, a link by its name, Yes / No, a date or +N for N days from today
- Create a to-do: for the employee, their manager, the HR administrators or a person, due in N days (2 by default)
- Write a note on the record's history
- Tell someone: a notice with your text to the employee, the manager, HR or a person
- Ask for an approval: a request in the approvals inbox, to the people named or by the workflow approval chain
- Actions run in their order; one that fails does not stop the others and never stops the save
Approvals inside a rule
- An approval request shows in the approvals inbox and under Workflow Approvals
- Give other actions the phase When the approval is given or When the approval is refused; they run once it is decided
- Approvers: the people the rule names; with none, the HR administrators; never the employee the record is about
Trying and tracing
- A new rule is off; switch it on when it is right
- Which Records Match Now counts the records that match today, without doing anything
- Runs on the rule, and Workflow Rule Runs for all rules: the record, the phase, what was done and any error
Examples
- Probation ending: employees, 30 days before Probation End, Stage is Probation: a to-do for the manager
- Resignation approved: separations, Status gets Serving Notice: tell HR, and a to-do for IT to plan the laptop return
- Big loan: loans and advances, a record is added with Amount at least 2,00,000: ask the finance head to approve; when given, write a note
Who uses it
HR administratorWrites, tests and switches on rules, and reads the runs.
Manager, HR, a named personGets the to-dos, notices and approval requests that rules make.
Where you use it
- Web: HRMS > Employees > Configuration > HRMS Setup > Workflow Rules, Workflow Rule Runs and Workflow Approvals
- The SmartMy HRMS app: approval requests from rules in My approvals, and their notices (built and in testing, not in the app stores yet)
- Not in the app: writing rules; that is on the web
What you control
Settings
- Active: off for a new rule
- When: A field gets a value, to start with
- Days after (minus for before): 0
- To-do Due In (days): 2; for the manager, to start with
Approvals
- Workflow Approval: one chain per entity; the people the rule names, else the HR administrators, with levels you add. The employee the record is about never decides it.
Notifications
- HR Workflow Rule Notice: to whom the rule says, with the rule's own text; in the app, by email and as a phone notice
- Sent at once; each person can switch off a channel, such as email, but in-app notices always arrive. Phone notices are ready for the app, which is not in the stores yet
Questions
Do we need a developer to write a rule?
No. You pick the record, the trigger, a filter and the actions from lists on one screen. Rules start switched off so you can check them first.What happens if an action fails?
The other actions still run, and the record is still saved. The run is logged with the error so you can fix the rule.Can a rule ask for an approval and then act on the answer?
Yes. Add Ask for an approval, then give other actions the phase When the approval is given or When the approval is refused.Can we test a rule before it acts?
Which Records Match Now shows how many records match today without doing anything. It counts matches; it does not play the actions.Can a rule change records in other SmartMy products?
No. Rules work on the HR records in the list, such as employees, leave, payslips, separations and applications.Related features
ACROSS SMARTMY HRMSApproval chains and one approvals inboxEvery HR request, from a day's leave to the full and final, goes through its approval chain and waits in one Approvals inbox. Levels, approvers, reminders, escalation and stand-ins are settings you control, per Entity and kind of request.ACROSS SMARTMY HRMSNotificationsSmartMy HRMS tells each person what needs them: a request to approve, a decision, a payslip, a holiday declared today, an exit task, an interview. More than 200 events, each with its own recipients and channels, by email and in the app inbox, with a log of every message.JOINING AND PROBATIONProbation, confirmation and new joiner check-insA probation review opens for the manager 30 days before probation ends, with attendance during probation already filled in. HR approves confirmation, an extension up to your policy limit or no confirmation, and the letter goes out. Short check-ins at 30, 60 and 90 days show who is unhappy before they leave.EXITResignation, exit interviews and clearanceAn employee resigns, or HR records a termination, retirement or other separation. The notice comes from your policy, the manager and HR approve, every department clears the leaver, and the exit interview is on record.ENGAGEMENT, GOALS AND HR TOOLSAPI and webhooksYour own systems read employees, attendance, leave and payroll results with API keys that have scopes. They are told at once when an employee joins, changes or leaves, a leave or payslip is approved, or a resignation is sent.VIEWS AND REPORTSHR reports and the custom report builderHeadcount, attrition, salary cost, leave liability and more than 20 payroll and statutory reports, most of them on screen, in Excel and as PDF. In Scale, HR builds its own reports without code and shares them; each person sees only what their access allows.
See your own month run in it.
Tell us how many people you have, how you take attendance and how your salary is structured. We will show you SmartMy HRMS set up that way.