Author: Jonathan Aitken
Scenario: A mid-sized company overwhelmed by manual onboarding
We recently partnered with a mid-sized client struggling to streamline their employee onboarding process. Their HR team was inundated with manual tasks, emailing documents, chasing approvals, and ensuring compliance. Their existing Human Capital Management (HCM) system, while functional for basic employee records, lacked the workflow capabilities to deliver a cohesive onboarding journey.
Recognising the inefficiencies and the drain on HR time, the client approached us with a challenge: to automate the entire onboarding process using tools they already had – specifically Office 365.
Our solution: A seamless, automated workflow built within Office 365
Working closely with the client, our team at HRTorQue developed a comprehensive onboarding automation process that transformed their experience. Here is how we approached it:
Step 1: Initiating the process – a simple form/app
Everything begins with a simple yet powerful Microsoft form or power app, completed by an HR representative to kick off the onboarding. This form captures key candidate details and triggers the automated workflow in Microsoft Power Automate.
Step 2: Workflow in motion – approvals and documentation
Once submitted, the workflow dynamically moves through several automated stages:
- Managerial approvals: Local and senior management receive sequential approval requests, with built-in escalations to avoid bottlenecks.
- Offer of employment: Upon approval, a conditional offer letter is automatically generated and sent.
- Contract management: Using Adobe Sign, the system dispatches a full employment contract to the candidate (catered for their type of employment) and relevant internal signatories. This includes mandatory document uploads by the candidate such as ID, proof of address, medical aid application, and digital acknowledgment of company policies and the job description.
Step 3: Internal coordination – departments in sync
After all signatures are captured, the system automatically informs and sequences tasks for various internal departments:
- IT and facilities: Assign and prepare equipment
- HR and payroll: Perform pre-employment checks, onboard to medical aid, provident fund, and union.
- Learning and development: Schedule induction and onboarding sessions
Each step is tracked to ensure accountability and completion before the employee’s start date.
Step 4: Visibility and reporting – SharePoint and Power BI
All onboarding data is stored in a central SharePoint list, giving HR and leadership a live view of onboarding status across all new hires. Integrated with Power BI, the team now enjoys:
- Real-time dashboards on onboarding progress
- Status reporting by department or individual
- Identification of delays or blockers
Step 5: Smart filing – final document storage
Once completed, all documents including contracts, policy acknowledgements, and ID documents are automatically sorted and saved into predefined folders based on department, role, and start date.
Bonus feature: AI for smarter decisions
To support better-informed hiring decisions, we integrated AI-driven insights:
- Market-related salary benchmarks: Before the offer is finalised, management receives a snapshot of market salary ranges for the role to assess competitiveness.
- Auto-generated job descriptions: Using role inputs from the form, AI creates a tailored job description aligned to company structure and policy ready to be sent with the offer.
The result: From reactive to strategic HR
The entire onboarding process can now run with minimal HR intervention. The HR team’s role has shifted from task execution to quality control, reviewing documents, ensuring compliance, and enhancing the candidate experience.
What started with a single form has grown into a fully automated, AI-enhanced onboarding ecosystem, tailored to the client’s exact needs without purchasing new software.
At HRTorQue, this is just one example of how we help clients unlock the power of the tools they already have, turning complexity into simplicity, and time-consuming tasks into intelligent automation. Contact us for more information.