Employee Onboarding

Automate the full employee onboarding lifecycle. An orchestrator agent coordinates across IT provisioning, benefits enrollment, training assignments, equipment ordering, and compliance documentation — triggering specialized workflows for each domain and handling exceptions when systems conflict or approvals are needed.

Architecture

flowchart TD A["New Hire Record from HRIS"] --> B["Orchestrator Agent Coordinates full onboarding"] B --> C["__run_workflow__ IT Provisioning"] B --> D["__run_workflow__ Benefits Enrollment"] B --> E["__run_workflow__ Training Assignment"] B --> F["__run_workflow__ Equipment Ordering"] C --> G{"All systems provisioned?"} D --> G E --> G F --> G G -->|"Yes"| H["✅ Onboarding Complete Welcome email sent"] G -->|"Conflicts / failures"| I["Human Review HR Coordinator"] I --> H style B fill:#dcfce7,stroke:#16a34a style C fill:#f3e8ff,stroke:#7c3aed style D fill:#f3e8ff,stroke:#7c3aed style E fill:#f3e8ff,stroke:#7c3aed style F fill:#f3e8ff,stroke:#7c3aed style I fill:#dbeafe,stroke:#2563eb

Deployment pattern: Agent-as-orchestrator (Pattern C). The agent is the decision-maker, each sub-workflow is a capability it invokes via __run_workflow__. The agent decides sequencing, handles dependencies, and manages exceptions.

Sub-Workflows

The orchestrator coordinates four domain-specific workflows. Each is a standard Hyphen workflow that can also be run independently.

IT Provisioning Workflow

Provisions accounts across all required systems:

json

{
  "name": "it_provisioning",
  "definition": {
    "actions": [
      {
        "type": "create_ad_account",
        "properties": {
          "first_name": "@input.first_name",
          "last_name": "@input.last_name",
          "department": "@input.department",
          "role": "@input.role"
        }
      },
      {
        "type": "provision_email",
        "properties": {
          "username": "@input.email",
          "distribution_lists": "@input.dl_membership"
        }
      },
      {
        "type": "assign_licenses",
        "properties": {
          "user_email": "@input.email",
          "licenses": "@input.required_licenses"
        }
      },
      {
        "type": "grant_system_access",
        "filter": {
          "condition": {
            "greaterThan": [{ "length": "@input.system_access" }, 0]
          }
        },
        "properties": {
          "user_email": "@input.email",
          "systems": "@input.system_access"
        }
      },
      {
        "type": "PbotApproval",
        "filter": {
          "condition": {
            "in": ["@input.access_level", ["admin", "elevated"]]
          }
        },
        "properties": {
          "comment": "New hire {{input.first_name}} {{input.last_name}} requires {{input.access_level}} access. Manager approval needed.",
          "request_payload": {
            "employee": "@input.first_name",
            "role": "@input.role",
            "systems": "@input.system_access",
            "access_level": "@input.access_level"
          }
        }
      }
    ]
  }
}

Benefits Enrollment Workflow

json

{
  "name": "benefits_enrollment",
  "definition": {
    "actions": [
      {
        "type": "check_eligibility",
        "properties": {
          "employee_type": "@input.employee_type",
          "start_date": "@input.start_date",
          "location": "@input.location"
        }
      },
      {
        "type": "create_benefits_profile",
        "properties": {
          "employee_id": "@input.employee_id",
          "eligible_plans": "@eligibility.plans"
        }
      },
      {
        "type": "PbotForm",
        "properties": {
          "expected_keys": ["health_plan", "dental_plan", "vision_plan", "retirement_contribution", "life_insurance"],
          "ttl_seconds": 604800,
          "reminder_intervals": [172800, 432000]
        }
      },
      {
        "type": "enroll_benefits",
        "properties": {
          "employee_id": "@input.employee_id",
          "selections": "@formData"
        }
      }
    ]
  }
}

Training Assignment Workflow

json

{
  "name": "training_assignment",
  "definition": {
    "actions": [
      {
        "type": "lookup_role_requirements",
        "properties": {
          "role": "@input.role",
          "department": "@input.department",
          "location": "@input.location"
        }
      },
      {
        "type": "loop",
        "properties": {
          "mode": "foreach",
          "items_path": "@role_requirements.required_courses",
          "item_variable_name": "course",
          "actions_to_execute": [
            {
              "type": "assign_course",
              "properties": {
                "employee_id": "@input.employee_id",
                "course_id": "@course.id",
                "due_date": "@course.due_date"
              }
            }
          ],
          "max_concurrency": 5,
          "failure_strategy": "continue_on_error",
          "result_key": "enrollment_results"
        }
      }
    ]
  }
}

Equipment Ordering Workflow

json

{
  "name": "equipment_ordering",
  "definition": {
    "actions": [
      {
        "type": "lookup_standard_kit",
        "properties": {
          "role": "@input.role",
          "location": "@input.location"
        }
      },
      {
        "type": "PbotApproval",
        "filter": {
          "condition": {
            "greaterThan": ["@standard_kit.total_cost", 3000]
          }
        },
        "properties": {
          "comment": "Equipment order for {{input.first_name}} {{input.last_name}} exceeds $3,000. Items: {{standard_kit.items}}. Approve?",
          "request_payload": {
            "items": "@standard_kit.items",
            "total_cost": "@standard_kit.total_cost"
          }
        }
      },
      {
        "type": "submit_equipment_order",
        "properties": {
          "employee_id": "@input.employee_id",
          "items": "@standard_kit.items",
          "ship_to": "@input.work_location"
        }
      }
    ]
  }
}

Orchestrator Agent

The top-level agent coordinates everything:

json

{
  "name": "employee_onboarding_orchestrator",
  "definition": {
    "actions": [
      {
        "type": "loop",
        "properties": {
          "mode": "react",
          "objective": "Onboard new employee:\n\nName: {{input.first_name}} {{input.last_name}}\nRole: {{input.role}}\nDepartment: {{input.department}}\nStart date: {{input.start_date}}\nLocation: {{input.location}}\nEmployee type: {{input.employee_type}}\n\nSteps:\n1) Run IT provisioning workflow — wait for completion\n2) Run benefits enrollment workflow — this may take days (PbotForm), run async\n3) Run training assignment workflow — wait for completion\n4) Run equipment ordering workflow — wait for completion\n5) If any workflow fails, log the failure and pause for HR review\n6) Once IT provisioning and training are done, send welcome email\n7) Complete with a summary of all onboarding steps and their status",
          "tools": [
            { "type": "action", "name": "gmail_send" },
            { "type": "workflow", "id": "wf_it_provisioning" },
            { "type": "workflow", "id": "wf_benefits_enrollment" },
            { "type": "workflow", "id": "wf_training_assignment" },
            { "type": "workflow", "id": "wf_equipment_ordering" }
          ],
          "model": "gpt-4",
          "max_iterations": 20,
          "timeout_ms": 600000,
          "on_stuck": {
            "iterations": 4,
            "action": "escalate"
          },
          "result_key": "onboarding_result"
        }
      },
      {
        "type": "custom-table",
        "properties": {
          "table": "onboarding_log",
          "operation": "write",
          "keys": ["employee_id"],
          "values": ["@input.employee_id"],
          "fields": {
            "name": "@input.first_name",
            "role": "@input.role",
            "start_date": "@input.start_date",
            "onboarding_status": "@onboarding_result.answer",
            "completed_at": "@now"
          }
        }
      }
    ]
  }
}

Sample Reasoning Trace

text

Iteration 1:
  Thought: "Starting onboarding for Sarah Chen, Senior Engineer, Platform Team. First: IT provisioning."
  Action: __run_workflow__
  Input: { "workflow_name": "it_provisioning", "input": {
    "first_name": "Sarah", "last_name": "Chen", "department": "Engineering",
    "role": "Senior Engineer", "email": "[email protected]",
    "required_licenses": ["GitHub Enterprise", "AWS Console", "Datadog"],
    "system_access": ["production_k8s", "staging_db"],
    "access_level": "elevated"
  }, "wait": true }
  Result: { "status": "completed", "context": { "__approved": true } }

Iteration 2:
  Thought: "IT provisioned. Elevated access was approved by manager. Storing this and moving to benefits."
  Action: __store_memory__
  Input: { "key": "it_status", "value": "completed — elevated access approved" }

Iteration 3:
  Thought: "Benefits enrollment requires employee input (plan selections). Running async — it may take days."
  Action: __run_workflow__
  Input: { "workflow_name": "benefits_enrollment", "input": {
    "employee_id": "EMP-4521", "employee_type": "full_time",
    "start_date": "2026-02-15", "location": "San Francisco"
  }, "wait": false }
  Result: { "workflow_run_id": "run_ben_789", "status": "running" }

Iteration 4:
  Thought: "Benefits running async. Proceeding with training and equipment in parallel."
  Action: __log_progress__
  Input: { "message": "IT ✅ | Benefits ⏳ (async) | Training: starting | Equipment: pending" }

Iteration 5:
  Thought: "Assigning required training."
  Action: __run_workflow__
  Input: { "workflow_name": "training_assignment", "input": {
    "employee_id": "EMP-4521", "role": "Senior Engineer",
    "department": "Engineering", "location": "San Francisco"
  }, "wait": true }
  Result: { "status": "completed", "context": { "courses_assigned": 7 } }

Iteration 6:
  Thought: "7 courses assigned. Now equipment."
  Action: __run_workflow__
  Input: { "workflow_name": "equipment_ordering", "input": {
    "employee_id": "EMP-4521", "first_name": "Sarah", "last_name": "Chen",
    "role": "Senior Engineer", "location": "San Francisco", "work_location": "SF Office"
  }, "wait": true }
  Result: { "status": "completed", "context": { "order_id": "EQ-8832" } }

Iteration 7:
  Thought: "IT, training, and equipment complete. Benefits still async. Sending welcome email now."
  Action: gmail_send
  Input: { "__oauth_account__": "[email protected]",
    "to": "[email protected]",
    "subject": "Welcome to the team, Sarah!",
    "body": "Hi Sarah,\n\nWe're excited to have you join the Platform Team on Feb 15!\n\nYour accounts are set up:\n- Email: [email protected]\n- GitHub, AWS, and Datadog access: ready\n- 7 training courses assigned in the LMS\n- Equipment shipping to SF Office\n\nYou'll receive a separate email about benefits enrollment. Please complete your plan selections within 7 days.\n\nSee you on the 15th!"
  }
  Result: { "sent": true }

Iteration 8:
  Thought: "Welcome email sent. All synchronous steps complete. Benefits enrollment is async and will complete when Sarah submits her selections."
  Action: __complete__
  Input: {
    "answer": "Onboarding 90% complete. IT provisioned (elevated access approved), 7 training courses assigned, equipment ordered (EQ-8832), welcome email sent. Benefits enrollment pending employee input (async).",
    "confidence": 0.95,
    "summary": "4 workflows triggered, 3 completed, 1 async pending"
  }

Why Agent-as-Orchestrator

This template demonstrates why a human coordinator is the bottleneck in onboarding — they manually sequence across disconnected systems, track which steps are done, handle exceptions, and send follow-up communications.

The orchestrator agent replicates that judgment:

Human coordinator does	Orchestrator agent does
Checks which systems need provisioning	Reads role requirements, triggers `it_provisioning`
Follows up on pending approvals	Waits for `PbotApproval`, escalates if stuck
Decides sequencing (IT before training)	Reasons about dependencies, runs workflows in logical order
Sends welcome email once ready	Sends email after confirming IT + training are done
Tracks overall status	`__log_progress__` at each milestone
Escalates when things go wrong	`__pause_for_human__` when workflows fail

The difference: the agent does it in minutes, across any number of simultaneous new hires, with a complete audit trail.

Customization

HRIS integration: Replace @input with a webhook trigger from your HRIS (Workday, BambooHR, Rippling) that fires when a new hire record is created.

Sub-workflows: Add or remove sub-workflows based on your onboarding process — background check, office badge provisioning, parking assignment, team buddy assignment. Each is a standard Hyphen workflow the agent can invoke.

Approval routing: IT provisioning requires manager approval for elevated access. Equipment requires finance approval above $3K. Adjust thresholds and approval routing per your policies.

Timeline handling: Benefits enrollment uses PbotForm with a 7-day TTL and reminders at 48h and 5 days. The orchestrator runs this async so it doesn't block the rest of onboarding.

Offboarding: Mirror this template for employee offboarding — revoke access, recover equipment, process final pay, transfer knowledge base ownership. Same orchestrator pattern, reverse direction.