How to automate employee
onboarding and offboarding
process using BambooHR
and Azure AD

Imagine an everyday work scenario across IT operations. It reflects the same old activities 一 ensuring top-level operational efficiency across the IT environment, responding to employee requests, and so on and so forth. The agony of overseeing various aspects of ITSM operations sometimes goes overhead 一 a probable reason for ITSM fatigue and disengaged employees, not to mention a slump in employee experience altogether.

Over the years, employee-centric IT has emerged as a value-addition to enterprise operations. An AI-powered ITSM that improves ITSM capabilities to ensure improvement of service delivery and employee opportunities is considered an employee enabler.

Adding to this business expectation, employee experience management is one of the leading aspects of ITSM trends, meaning employee experience matters for an organization to thrive.

In the present scenario of a hybrid work setting, where employee expectations are volatile, an AI-driven ITSM can provide exemplified service delivery to help look into what matters most for employee issues and what satisfies employee expectations.

One of the core areas of ITSM to facilitate employee service delivery without friction and facilitate employee experience is to help with HR workflow automation.

Streamlining HR operations with AI-powered workflow automation brings down ticket volumes. It promotes IT self-service, making IT people more capable of managing strategic business problems and getting peace of mind.

Our article is a presentation of how organizations can help alleviate workloads for ITSM professionals in implementing HR workflow automation for expedited enterprise service management. Let’s find out.

Why implementing HR workflow automation is a challenge for IT teams?

employee lifecycle management or hr workflow automation challenge

IT professionals tend to experience automation and integration challenges in their workflows. There are many valid reasons for them that delay automation implementation and impact employee expectations.

  • Scarcity of appropriate documentation

When automation and integrations are being developed in-house, addressing any system breakdown is a very obvious challenge for the team handling the project for the first time. It is even more exhaustive if project leaders working on the automation project leave, making the current IT teams clueless about where to start.

A no-code solution, for example, Workativ Automate is easy to use to address new issues for new IT teams. It allows full visibility into workflows in action with specific apps and manages processes without prior knowledge of handling the system.

  • Waterfall approach for automation

The waterfall model is averse to scaling. Companies that follow this approach may wrap up the projects in a defined time but cannot return to the previous phases to address issues if any problem arises.

A no-code/low-code platform built on Workativ provides an agile methodology with a continuous feedback loop to improve automation functionalities in workflows.

  • Aesthetic challenges of an automation tool

Not all ITSM tools are equal. Their aesthetic aspects are different. As a result, organizations need to have an IT team with extensive programming expertise to work across particular ITSM platforms when it comes to setting up the UI/UX features or functionalities for custom solutions. But, limited skilled IT professionals can delay the automation project.

It also requires IT people to adeptly work with the Azure AD environment, which may be a constraint for organizations if they need to hire new resources.

Workativ is a no-code platform that does not require a steep learning curve to implement workflow automation, making it a breeze for IT guys to implement HR workflow automation in a few minutes.

  • Data governance

Data sanctity is integral to any organization to ensure top-level privacy policy and data governance at the workplace. The risk of data leakage increases with the adoption of third-party services.

However, Workativ provides a better approach to ensuring data governance by providing its cloud-based offering with robust HIPPA and GDPR compliance.

With Workativ Automate, HR workflow automation is easy for IT professionals, and thus, adoption can be made easy.

How do manual workflows vs. automated workflows impact the IT experience?

Manual and Automated employee lifecycle management

IT operations are critical and overwhelming for IT teams. With critical responsibilities involving setting up, configuring, and deploying Azure Active Directory user provisioning, it is a huge manual effort for them.

Simultaneously, creating HR workflow automation with Azure AD means process errors and configuration challenges should the IT team possess limited technical know-how.

Also, manual workflow management is a concurrent process that requires the active participation of IT professionals all the time. As a result, if anyone goes out of operations from the loop, the user experience can be impacted.

For example,

Azure AD user provisioning involves multiple steps when managed manually,

  • 1. Employee status update (the employee added or removed, etc.)
  • 2. Event created in BambooHR
  • 3. A ticket is created by HR into the ITSM system for user provisioning in Azure AD
  • 4. An ITSM platform gets a ticket
  • 5. Ticket in a queue for the system admin
  • 6. An account is created in Azure AD
  • 7. System admin notifies HR and manager through emails
  • 8. Employee lifecycle for HR flow completed

Now, observe how from HR to IT people are involved in the processes. It is an ongoing process for HR and IT people in a manual workflow. If they miss their responsibilities, communication will remain incomplete, and the process will be delayed.

But it is a completely seamless experience for IT people when they use a cloud HR to Active Directory or Azure AD integration platform.

Simplified processes to manage for IT with BambooHR and Azure AD integrations

All they need is to create the workflow automation just once and forget, and never involve them in overseeing the activities such as handling user provisioning tickets, creating an Azure AD account, and then writing emails back to HR and managers.

Conversely, HR teams can free themselves from managing user provisioning in the ITSM platform.

With a solution like Workativ Automate, there are fewer steps to configure for IT people as opposed to what it takes to create accounts directly in Azure AD and then integrate with cloud HR apps such as BambooHR, SAP SuccessFactors, or Workday to create an automated Azure AD user provision workflows.

Traditionally, when your IT people work with Azure AD to sync with cloud HR apps to create automated user provisioning for HR workflow automation, they must employ multiple steps carefully. Even a small wrong configuration step can delay automation deployment.

There are as many as seven HR provisioning app deployment topologies in Azure AD. These are quite intricate and hard to manage.

By removing all these extra steps and manual efforts for your IT people, Workativ Automate makes deploying Azure AD user provision easy.

It means Workativ Automate delivers dual benefits with its capability to automate Azure AD user provision.

  • 1. Workativ Automate provides flexible and convenient Azure AD configuration that is simple to manage and deploy with no high-level programming expertise.
  • 2. Post-deployment, Workativ Automate removes human oversight from IT people and HR to completely automate user provisioning that helps with onboarding and offboarding automation and employee updates.

3 simplest implementation methods for employee lifecycle management automation using BambooHR to Active Directory or Azure AD integration with Workativ Automate

Let’s discover how easy it is to implement workflow automation for employee lifecycle management using BambooHR to Azure AD integration with Automate platform.

Employee onboarding using Azure AD integrations

employee onboarding automation using BambooHR and Azure AD integration with Automate
  • 1. Access Automate Workflow Builder
  • 2. Create a workflow by downloading it from a marketplace
  • 3. Select the applications, i.e., BambooHR, Azure AD, and Outlook
  • 4. Click on View Workflows
  • 5. Find and click Employee Onboarding workflows, among other workflows
  • 6. When a new employee is added to BambooHR, a workflow starts
  • 7. A workflow has multiple steps, which involve adding an Azure AD user, updating a user, assigning a license to a user, assigning a manager, and sending an email
  • 8. Download the workflow automation
  • 9. It is stored in the Draft file
  • 10. Now, edit the app workflow
  • 11. For a new employee trigger, BambooHR is already added toflow
  • 12. Add a new employee account
  • 13. Select connect application, BambooHR
  • 14. Click on Test connection and click on Save
  • 15. Now, configure the Azure AD user flow
  • 16. Connect with Azure AD
  • 17. Update predefined Input fields if you wish
  • 18. Click on Save
  • 19. 19. Set the timer to allow Azure AD to fetch updates and Save
  • 20. Update users now
  • 21. Connect application for Azure AD
  • 22. Update users by providing details in the ‘Action Input’ section and save
  • 23. Assign a license to a user
  • 24. Connect to the Azure AD account
  • 25. In the Action Input field, provide the license name if you created it for Azure AD
  • 26. Save it
  • 27. Assign a manager for approval
  • 28. Select Azure AD for manager details from the Action Input field
  • 29. Create a step to send an email to HR once onboarding is completed
  • 30. Connect with an Outlook account and provide an HR email
  • 31. Add a CC email
  • 32. Save it
  • 33. ctivate the workflow

It is that easy. So, when an employee is added to BambooHR, a workflow trigger will be activated to complete the action of Azure AD provisioning and help execute the onboarding process on behalf of the HR executive.

Employee offboarding with Active Directory sync

employee offboarding automation using BambooHR and Azure AD integration with Automate

The steps of implementing Azure AD integrations for employee offboarding are the same as employee onboarding except for two or three processes.

  • 1. Access Automate Workflow Builder
  • 2. Create a workflow by downloading it from a marketplace
  • 3. Select the applications, i.e., BambooHR, Azure AD, and Outlook
  • 4. Click on View Workflows
  • 5. Find and click Employee Offboarding workflows, among other workflows
  • 6. When an employee leaves, the details are added to BambooHR, and a workflow starts
  • 7. Download the workflow automation
  • 8. Add the employee details to the BambooHR account
  • 9. Employee history account is checked, and the workflow will be triggered
  • 10. In this workflow, there are two extra steps for approval
  • 11. If approved, the user license will be removed, their account will be suspended, and HR or the manager will be notified
  • 12. Apply the condition for "If Approved"
  • 13. Fill 'Approval' details
  • 14. Remove the user's license
  • 15. Suspend the user account
  • 16. Provide an email address to notify a particular manager or HR for that specific user
  • 17. If you disapprove or reject, set up your conditions by removing the workflow trigger and sending a confirmation email to HR or the manager
  • 18. Activate the workflow

So, your BambooHR and Azure AD onboarding workflow is ready to go.

Employee update in Azure AD

employee update automation using BambooHR and Azure AD integration with Automate

When a new employee status comes up in BambooHR, a new status can be updated in the Azure AD Identity management system using the Workativ Automate integration platform.

The steps are pretty much similar to the previous two workflows.

  • 1. Create a new workflow for employee updates in Azure AD
  • 2. Choose your applications, i.e., BambooHR, Azure AD
  • 3. Find "Employee Update" workflow templates among other templates and choose it
  • 4. Download the workflow
  • 5. Similarly, like other workflows, connect the BambooHR account and save it
  • 6. Modify the Azure AD account by providing details for the appropriate fields
  • 7. It is all done
  • 8. Activate the workflow

Watch our tutorial video

To learn more about implementing successful workflows for employee onboarding/offboarding and employee updates, watch our YouTube video now.

What are the benefits of BambooHR X Azure AD integrations for HR workflow automation with Workativ Automate?

As you observe through the steps for workflow implementation, it is an absolute no-brainer.

No coding or exerting complicated programming skills here.

Workativ Automate is a highly useful automation platform for employee onboarding, onboarding, and employee updates. It does not unleash extra effort for your IT people to work with the platform and implement workflow automation. The platform delivers ample employee benefits to improve IT productivity and employee experience.

  • Fast deployment, zero waste of productivity

While creating manually for Azure AD accounts per user may take several hours. But, with workflows being implemented with Workativ Automate, an action for employee onboarding/offboarding or user updates takes place in a few minutes.

Organizations can have a faster deployment of workflows and reduce productivity loads, meaning time savings and cost efficiency for IT leaders.

  • Effective employee life cycle management

Workativ Automate flexibly helps you manage the employee lifecycle by allowing you to create incidents in ITSM platforms and notify the right person to execute the action.

For example, if a new employee is onboarded, an ITSM can send a notification for Outlook or Slack to allow the IT asset team to allocate appropriate resources.

  • Reduction in ticket volumes

Yes, this is a huge respite for ITSM managers as they are less likely to spend time addressing tickets in queues for employee lifecycle management, cutting off the need to connect with HR and then employees back and forth for every update.

All happens silently in the backend with Workativ Automate workflow automation.

  • Seamless regulatory compliance

In many instances, employee offboarding does not complete the suspension of licensing in Azure AD, inadvertently allowing for misusing enterprise data.

Workativ Automate helps comply with organizational laws and rules by seamlessly automating the deprovisioning and suspending of user accounts from the Azure AD.

  • Enhanced productivity

With Workativ Automate, there are no longer back-and-forth IT maneuvers in the Azure AD, which frees up more time for IT people from manual work and allows them to work more on strategic aspects of the business.

Conclusion

Employee lifecycle management is critical for every organization to improve operational efficiency while offering enhanced employee experience and facilitating organizational growth.

This is where the HR cloud app and Azure AD integrations make it easy to build end-to-end employee lifecycle management processes.

Workativ is a no-code platform, and workflow implementation is just easy with this platform. It eliminates all the intricate manual steps for Azure AD account creation and helps speed up employee onboarding/offboarding and employee updates.

If you want to simplify employee lifecycle management through BambooHR and Azure AD integrations and give your IT people less headache, Workativ Automate is your answer.

To book a demo with our workflow automation expert, set up your preferred discovery call today.

Deepa Majumder

Content Writer

Deepa Majumder is a writer who nails the art of crafting bespoke thought leadership articles to help business leaders tap into rich insights in their journey of organization-wide digital transformation. Over the years, she has dedicatedly engaged herself in the process of continuous learning and development across business continuity management and organizational resilience.

Her pieces intricately highlight the best ways to transform employee and customer experience. When not writing, she spends time on leisure activities.