Onboarding tasks and phases
How tasks and phases behave once onboarding has started: what new starters see, how your team completes internal tasks, locked tasks, statuses, email tasks, and what happens when the last task is done.
How tasks and phases behave once onboarding has started: what new starters see, how your team completes internal tasks, locked tasks, statuses, email tasks, and what happens when the last task is done.
An onboarding is a list of tasks grouped into phases. The task type decides who deals with it. New starters complete Content and Form tasks in their portal, your team completes Internal tasks, and Email Trigger tasks complete themselves. Building the template is covered in "Setting up onboarding templates". This article covers what happens after onboarding starts.
Phases
A phase is a heading that groups tasks, such as Compliance, Pre-start or Day 1. It has no status of its own and it does not lock anything. Only a task's own prerequisite can hold a task back, never the phase it sits in.
A phase counts as complete when every task in it is Complete or Skipped. On the candidate's Onboarding tab each phase card shows a count such as "3 of 5 complete". Nothing else happens when a phase reaches that point. Tasks that do not belong to any phase are grouped under Other.
The new starter's portal also shows a count on each phase, but it counts only tasks marked Done and only tasks they can see. A phase made up entirely of Internal or Email Trigger tasks shows 0/0 to them. Phases that still hold unfinished tasks are open when the portal loads.
The four task types
| Type | Who deals with it | How it is completed |
|---|---|---|
| Content | The new starter | They read the text and confirm. A content task can also carry a form, which they fill in instead. |
| Form | The new starter | They fill in a form built in Recruit, confirm an outside form, or upload a completed copy of a shared document, depending on the form's source. |
| Internal | Someone on your team | A user with access completes it from the Onboarding hub or the candidate's Onboarding tab. The new starter never sees it. |
| Email Trigger | Nobody | Recruit sends the email and marks the task complete. The new starter never sees it. |
The Onboarding tab labels these Content, Form, Internal and Email. Every task counts towards the progress bar on that tab, but the portal counts only the Content and Form tasks. The two totals will not match, for example 5 of 8 on the tab and 3 of 5 in the portal.
Task statuses
Staff and new starters see different names for the same status.
| Onboarding tab | Portal | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Not Started | To do | Available, with nothing done yet. |
| In Progress | In progress | Started by staff, or the new starter used Save progress. |
| Pending Review | Under review | Submitted and waiting for approval. |
| Complete | Done | Finished. |
| Skipped | Skipped | Set aside on purpose. It counts as finished for progress, unlocking and completion. |
| Locked | Locked | Waiting for another task to finish. |
Locked tasks and prerequisites
In the template, the Dependency list on a task picks the one task that must be finished first. A task with a dependency starts out Locked. The portal shows it greyed out with Waiting on: [task name]. Nobody can act on a locked task, including staff, and its buttons are hidden.
The task unlocks and becomes Not Started as soon as its prerequisite is Complete or Skipped, whoever does it. A prerequisite that is only Under review does not release anything waiting on it until it is approved.
When a task unlocks:
- a Content or Form task emails the new starter that a new task is available, unless Send to candidate email is off for that task (it is on by default)
- an Email Trigger task sends its email straight away
- an Internal task appears for its assignee, with no email
If a finished prerequisite is reset, the tasks waiting on it that have not been started go back to Locked. Tasks already In Progress stay as they are. A task can have only one prerequisite, and a template cannot be saved if dependencies loop back on themselves ("Task dependencies contain a cycle").
Due dates and overdue tasks
Each task's Due Offset (days) is counted from the day onboarding is started, and the due date is fixed at that moment. A negative offset gives a date before the start, so that task is overdue immediately.
A task is overdue once its due date has passed and it is not Complete or Skipped. Overdue tasks are shown in red in My Tasks and counted as Overdue on the Onboarding hub. Reminder emails to new starters follow the due dates on their Content and Form tasks. See "Reminder settings for onboarding tasks".
What the new starter does with each task
The full walk-through is in "What new starters see in the onboarding portal". In short:
- A Content task shows Read this. The text opens on its own page and I've read this marks the task Done. If a form is attached, the button reads Fill out form instead.
- A Form task shows Fill out form for a form built in Recruit, Open form and I've completed this for an outside link, or View document and Upload document for a shared file. For a shared file the new starter has to choose their completed file first. Upload document stays greyed out until they do, and the file is stored with their application.
- Save progress on a form keeps the answers and moves the task to In progress. It never moves a finished or Under review task backwards.
If HR cancels the onboarding, the new starter's link shows an Onboarding Closed page with the message "This onboarding is no longer active." and no tasks. This includes a page they already had open.
Tasks that need review
The Requires review switch is on Form tasks in the template. With it off, a submitted form is Done straight away and anything waiting on it unlocks. With it on, the task becomes Under review and the new starter sees "Your submission is being reviewed by the team." The job's recruiters and hiring managers get an email saying the form was submitted, provided they have onboarding update notifications switched on.
An Admin or HR user then opens the candidate's Onboarding tab and either:
- selects Approve, which marks the task Complete, unlocks anything waiting on it and emails the new starter that their submission was approved, or
- selects Reset, which returns the task to Not Started and emails the new starter asking them to do it again. Their new submission replaces the earlier answers.
An onboarding cannot finish while a task is still Under review.
Internal tasks
An internal task is work for your own team, such as ordering a laptop or setting up a payroll record. In the template, set who owns it with Assigned to user and Assigned to department. You can set either, both or neither. Then choose the Task mode: Content, with instructions for the person to read, or Form, with a form for them to fill in.
If the assigned person leaves, an Admin or HR user deactivating them can transfer their outstanding onboarding tasks to a colleague in the Transfer responsibilities and deactivate window.
Who can complete an internal task:
- Admin and HR users can complete any internal task, from the Onboarding hub or from the candidate's Onboarding tab.
- Members can complete only tasks assigned to them personally or to their department, and only on jobs where they are the hiring lead or a team member. They use the Onboarding hub. On the candidate's Onboarding tab they have view-only access. If a Member tries to complete a task that is not theirs, they see "You are not assigned to this task".
- Agency users cannot see the Onboarding hub.
Nobody is emailed when an internal task becomes available. Assignees find it under Onboarding in the main menu, on the My Tasks tab. Members see their own tasks there. Admin and HR users see every pending internal task in the organisation, with an Assigned To column, so a task with no assignee is visible only to them. The list shows tasks that are Not Started, In Progress or Under review on active onboardings, with overdue tasks first. Locked tasks appear once they open up.
To complete a task, select its title. The page shows the task's text or form. For a Content task select Mark complete. For a Form task filled in inside Recruit, complete the form and submit it, and the answers are stored with the candidate's other onboarding forms. The Complete button on the row in My Tasks marks the task done without opening it, so use the title for form tasks.
Internal tasks go straight to Complete. They have no review step, and the Onboarding tab shows only a Complete button, plus Reset once the task is done.
Email Trigger tasks
An email trigger task sends one email and needs nobody's attention. In the template you choose who it goes to under Send to:
- Candidate sends it to the new starter. This is the only choice where the portal link is filled in.
- Reporting manager sends it to whatever was typed in Reporting Manager (optional) when onboarding was started. That box must hold an email address. A name produces no email.
- Custom email address sends it to the address entered under Recipient email.
Under Email template pick one of your email templates, or leave it on Use default template for a plain notification that names the task.
The task fires the moment it becomes available: when onboarding starts, if it has no prerequisite, or when its prerequisite is finished. It marks itself Complete immediately, which unlocks anything waiting on it, and the activity list records "Email trigger auto-completed". If no recipient can be worked out, for example a blank reporting manager or a candidate with no email address, the task still completes, no email goes out and no error is shown.
Moving tasks along as staff
Admin and HR users can update any unlocked task from the candidate's Onboarding tab while onboarding is active. This is useful when a new starter completes something on paper. The buttons depend on the status:
| Status | Buttons |
|---|---|
| Not Started | Start, Complete, Skip |
| In Progress | Submit for Review, Complete, Skip, Reset |
| Pending Review | Approve, Skip, Reset |
| Complete or Skipped | Reset |
| Locked | None |
Complete on a Form task marks it done but records no answers. The exception is a task that collects an uploaded document: Complete and Submit for Review are refused until the new starter has uploaded the file ("The candidate must upload a document before this task can be completed or sent for review."). A task that was already waiting for review before this rule applied can still be approved.
Reset on a Complete, Skipped or Pending Review task emails the new starter to say it needs doing again. Start and Skip send no email.
If two people change the same task at once, the second sees "Task status changed concurrently. Please refresh and try again." Reload and check its current status.
Each unlocked task also has Email Candidate, which sends the new starter a message about that task.
When every task is finished
An onboarding is complete when every task, including Internal and Email Trigger tasks, is Complete or Skipped. At that point:
- the onboarding's status becomes Completed and the tab shows the completion date
- the new starter is emailed to say they are all set
- the job's hiring managers are emailed that the onboarding is complete, if they have onboarding update notifications on
- the portal shows You're All Set! in place of the checklist
The task buttons disappear and a completed onboarding cannot be reopened. The new starter cannot submit anything further.
While onboarding is in progress the portal link has no expiry. Completion starts a 30 day clock, shown on the tab as Portal expires [date]. After that date the link shows Link Expired and asks the new starter to contact your HR team. Admin and HR users can change the date with Extend portal access, as described in "What new starters see in the onboarding portal".
Problems you may hit
- A task is stuck on Locked. Its prerequisite is not Complete or Skipped yet. A prerequisite that is Under review needs approving.
- The onboarding will not complete. Look for a task on the Onboarding tab that is still Not Started, In Progress, Pending Review or Locked, including Internal tasks.
- A new starter cannot find a task. Internal and Email Trigger tasks are hidden from them.
- A new starter sees Onboarding Closed. The onboarding was cancelled. Start a new one if that was a mistake.
- A Member cannot see an internal task. It is assigned to someone else, or to no one, or the Member is not on the job's team.
- An email trigger sent nothing. Check the recipient in the template, and the Reporting Manager box if you used that option.