Onboarding
Overview
Joining and leaving are the processes with the most parties involved — contracts, access, equipment, induction, return. This page runs both as a checklist.
Offboarding is the more important half, even though onboarding is in the name: a forgotten step on joining is annoying; a forgotten step on leaving leaves access open and equipment missing.
Core tasks
Create a checklist from a template. Create from template produces the checklist with its steps. Going through the template is the point — hand-assembled lists forget exactly the step you rarely need.
Track progress. The figures show open, in progress, done and total; each card carries a due date and progress.
Work through the steps. Complete closes a step, Skip takes it out — visibly, not silently. Additional steps can be added.
Drag cards. Checklists are cards in the columns open, in progress and done. Dragging a card to done (or with the keyboard: focus the card, Ctrl/⌘ + arrow right) completes all open steps after a confirmation — including the actions attached to them, exactly like ticking them off in the detail. Moving back to open or in progress is not done by dragging: the status follows the steps, so the checklist opens instead.
Fields in detail
The What it does column answers what changes in the system — not what the field is called. The grey name behind the label is the API field: the same thing runs under that name through automation, import and AI tools.
Starting a checklist
| Field | Required | Values / format | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
Employee employeeId | yes | an employee | Who the list is for. |
Mode mode | yes | onboarding or offboarding | Which kind of list. The two are deliberately separate: offboarding is about returning and revoking, not about equipping. |
Template templateUlid | no | an existing template | Which template the items come from. Empty means an empty list you fill yourself. |
Items of the list
| Field | Values / format | What it does |
|---|---|---|
Title itemTitle | text, max. 255 characters | What is to be done. |
Action itemAction | kind of item | What happens on ticking — from "just tick" to creating a task for the responsible unit. |
Target itemTargetRef | chosen per action | What the action applies to. Grant role: a role from the list (the permission to maintain onboarding is enough). Provision user: optional starting role of the new account. Hand out/take back device: a device or licence from the list. Create task: a note as text. The other actions have no target. |
Category itemCategory | text, max. 30 characters | Grouping of the items — IT, workplace, paperwork. Turns one long list into three short ones. |
Responsible itemResponsibleId | an employee | Who completes this item. Without it the checklist is a pile of tasks with no addressee, and the question "what is on me?" cannot be answered. |
Due after days itemDueOffsetDays | number | Offset from the start or leaving date. Negative means before — the laptop should be there on day one, not be ordered afterwards. |
Item itemUlid | identifier of an item | Which existing item is changed or ticked. |
Checklist template
| Field | Required | Values / format | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
Name name | yes | text | The name the template is offered under at the start. |
Mode mode | yes | onboarding or offboarding | What the template is for. |
Contract type contractType | no | text | Which contract type the template is proposed for. That way a working student does not get the full-time joiner's list. |
Items items | no | list of items | The content, with the same fields as above. |
Steps from procedure procedureRef | no | published SOP | Takes over the steps of a standard procedure on save — they are appended, existing items stay. That way the template comes out of the procedure instead of being retyped. |
Active active | no | yes/no | Off means no longer selectable. Running lists are untouched. |
Template from a procedure. In the template form, below Steps, there is the picker Steps from procedure. It lists every published SOP with its number of steps; a draft is not offered. On save those steps are appended — title and role of the SOP step come along, and the role is resolved to an employee with that job title when the checklist is created. Due dates, categories and actions can then be adjusted per item as usual. Without the knowledge module the picker stays empty.
Questions about your own start. Your own profile carries the card Onboarding questions: the new joiner asks in their own words, and the answer is built from their personnel data and their open checklist steps. If no AI is set up, or the request limit is reached, the same information comes without a model — the list of open steps; the card says so.
Onboarding questions
| Field | Required | Values / format | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
Question question | yes | text, max. 2000 characters | The question in your own words, e.g. "What do I need to do in my first week?". |
Employee employeeUlid | no | employee identifier | Empty means your own person. For another person the field requires the permission to manage checklists. |
Accounts come from the list. Provision user creates the employee's account and sends the invitation to their e-mail address; a free account with the same address is linked instead. Create accounts in external systems creates them in connected systems — Google Workspace (integration google_workspace with domain, administrator and service account) and Slack (SCIM token on the Slack integration). Revoke access blocks sign-in, removes all roles, ends sessions, suspends a portal access of the same person (same email address; open portal invitations expire) and suspends the external accounts — the external accounts even if the person never had an own account. It also disconnects the personal connections: own mailboxes, connected calendars (Google, Microsoft, CalDAV, subscribed feeds) and contact sync. Stored access keys and passwords are deleted and a running calendar subscription at the provider is stopped. An OAuth access (integration) used only by these personal connections is deleted; accesses others still use (team mailbox, brand mail account, colleagues' calendars) are kept. If the personal Google or Microsoft access is also the brand's default access, it is kept: the personal binding is released, and whoever manages the brand's integrations gets a notice to replace it with a company access. Mails, appointments and contacts already imported are kept. The same revocation runs when the offboarding list is completed and via the automation on leaving.
Joining and leaving also run without a list. Two bundled automations: Notify IT/HR before joining (seven days before the start date) and Revoke access on leaving (the day after the leaving date). Both can be switched off under Automations.
Settings & permissions
- Module
module.hr. - Permission
hr.onboarding.manage. - Permission
hr.onboarding.notify— only be notified, e.g. for IT. - Permission
hr.employee.view_self— for the card Onboarding questions in your own profile.
Asking on behalf of another person requires hr.onboarding.manage.
- The checklist hangs off the employee and also appears in their record, see
- Templates are the lever. What is in no template will be forgotten again at the next joiner.
- For descriptive processes there are SOPs. A checklist ticks off, an SOP
explains — together they make a procedure.
FAQ & troubleshooting
The list of checklists is empty. Then none has been created from a template yet.
A step cannot be completed. Check the hr.onboarding.manage permission.
A skipped step shows up later. By design: skipping is documented and is not the same as completing. Anyone reconstructing what actually happened can see the difference.
**The picker Steps from procedure is empty.** There is no published SOP — or the knowledge module is switched off. A draft is deliberately not offered.
The answer to an onboarding question only lists steps. Then no model answered: either no AI is set up or the limit of 20 questions per minute and person was reached.
We need different steps per role. Create several templates rather than editing one list after the fact every time.