A workflow is a combination of steps taken to lead a job application through the recruitment process. These steps are called Workflow steps, and lead a candidate from the entry point (e.g. "1.0 New") to the status where he or she is hired, rejected, or has decided to withdraw (e.g. "8.0 Hired", "9.2 Rejected after CV review", "9.0 Candidate has withdrawn").
These steps may differ within the same organization when using different workflows. By default, the following three workflows are already configured (they can be amended or removed at any time): Campus event, Job application, and Open application workflow.
Create a new Workflow
Create a new Workflow status
Create a new Workflow status transition
Other Workflow settings
Default Workflow in the Applicant tracking
Create a new Workflow
- Go to Connexys Setup.
- In the section Advanced Setup choose Workflows. From here you can either edit an existing workflow or create a new workflow.
- At the top-left, click the button New Workflow. This will result in the following screen:
- The following fields need to be populated:
- Name Workflow: Enter a name for the new workflow, and choose a recognizable name.
- Job application recordtype: Select in which case this workflow should be used. This new workflow can only be used for a candidate that applies for the recordtype that is selected here.
- Owner of new job applications: Next to a workflow, an owner will also be linked to new job applications. Who the owner will be is indicated in the creation of a new "Form". This field is used as a fall-back mechanism on the value filled during the creation of the form. Optionally, use the magnifying glass to search for the right user.
- Click Save and you will be redirected to the following page (see image below).
Now it is time to create the statuses that a candidate can have during this workflow.
Create a new Workflow status
- Click on the button New Workflow status in the section Workflow status at the bottom (see screenshot above). The following screen will then appear:
- The following fields have to or can be filled in the section "Information":
- Workflow status Name: Provide a name for the new status. For example, "1.0 New", "7.0 Job offer made" or "9.1 Rejected after CV review". By the status and number in front of the text, it should be easy to see in which phase of the recruitment process a candidate is.
- Display order: Provide a number to determine in which order statuses should be displayed in the workflow. Use numbers like 10, 20, and 30 instead of 1, 2, and 3. This leaves the opportunity available to easily insert a new status at a later point in time.
- Workflow: Decide for which workflow the new status must be made. This field is automatically filled with the workflow you were active in before clicking "New Workflow status".
- Entry point?: Check this checkbox if a Candidate can enter the workflow at this point. This checkbox can only be used once (so on one status). Therefore, this checkbox is most checked in statuses like "1.0 New", when a candidate has submitted a form.
- Active?: Check the box if this status is active. This implies that a candidate is still in the process when he or she is in this status. An inactive status is, for example, "Rejected after CV review". There is no need to do anything with a candidate because this is an endpoint and there is no possibility to set "Workflow steps". A candidate with this status can not be found in the Applicant Tracking/Workflow tab.
- Is hired?: This box should be checked if this is a status that a candidate reaches after he or she is hired.
- # days green --> yellow: In this field, it is possible to indicate after how many days the green checkmark will transform into a yellow flag if this status remains the same. Green indicates that a step is taken recently and no action is required at this time, and Yellow if the status hasn't changed for a certain amount of days.
- # days yellow --> red: This field is used to determine after how many days this status will go from a yellow flag to a red exclamation mark. If nothing is done with this yellow flag, the candidate reaches a point in which the last action is too long ago and the field "Progress" turns into a red exclamation mark.
- Is hidden from proposal portal: If this field is checked, job applications with this workflow status will not be shown in the Proposal Portal (be sure this is added to the layout).
- Besides the section "Information", it is also possible to fill the "Translation" fields, like "Workflow status Name". These fields can be used in case an organization uses multiple languages in the Connexys application.
- Click Save to save the new status or Save & New to save it and directly create another status. After the creation of the new status, the screen will look like this:
Create a new Workflow status transition
When all statuses are created, the foundation of the workflow is ready. At this point, the workflow consists only of statuses, but there are no possibilities to go from one status to another.
- To configure the possibility of going from one status to another, "Workflow steps" need to be used. If these are already created, the next step is to click "New Workflow status transition" in the section "Workflow status transitions (Old workflow status)". In that case, the following screen will be given:
- Fields that need to be filled for the creation of a new workflow status transition:
- Old workflow status: This field contains the status in which a candidate is before the step is taken. It is automatically filled with the status from which the button "New Workflow status transition" was clicked.
- Workflow step: To progress from one status to another, it is necessary to take a "Workflow step". In this field, the Workflow step that needs to be taken, can be configured. The magnifying glass can be used for searching for the right step.
- New workflow status: In this field, the new status must be given, which a candidate reaches after the specific step that is given in "Workflow step". The magnifying glass can be used to search for the status. Note: be aware that you choose the status of the correct workflow.
- New owner: A "Job application" is always owned by a user, but the ownership can differ per status. For example, the CV review can be the responsibility of the recruiter, while the job interview can be the responsibility of the hiring manager. Possible options are Recruiter, Hiring manager, Assistant, and HR adviser.
- External ID: The Salesforce External ID field allows you to store unique record IDs from an external system, typically for integration purposes.
- Used by: Make a step/transition available for only the Hiring manager, Recruiter, or both.
- Click Save to create the new workflow status transition or Save & New for saving this one and creating another one.
Go on with the process of creating new workflow statuses and workflow status transitions for each status. Resume this process until the workflow is configured in line with the recruitment process of the organization.
Other Workflow Settings
Next to the creation of steps, there are also some settings that need to be configured. Go to Connexys Setup > Application settings and go to the left sidebar to Step.
The settings that need to be configured are:
- Allow steps outside of workflow: A workflow is usually configured in a certain way that makes sure every candidate is guided through the same steps in the same order. If this setting is not checked, it is not allowed to skip steps or take steps that are not available at a certain point in the workflow.
- Stylesheet: One of the possible steps that are available in the application, is sharing candidates with the hiring manager (or another contact). When this is done, the manager will receive an email with a link that leads the manager to one or more candidates that are proposed. This screen that is shown after clicking the link, can here be adjusted.
Default Workflow in the Applicant Tracking
Another place in the application where workflows play an important role is the tab "Applicant tracking". This tab shows all candidates that are currently in the recruitment process for a job. The top of the page has a filter that can be used to configure which job applications should be shown on this tab. The filter includes "Workflow", "Status", "Job", "Campus event" and more. For this tab, it is important to configure these settings in a good manner.