Combining Checklists, eSignatures & Forms
By now you might already know how to set up and use a simple Checklist for Onboarding and Training, but do you know how to combine other areas of the HR Partner system into a single Checklist to make them work together?
Checklists
Checklists are an incredibly powerful tool and you can link other areas of HR Partner inside a Checklist to make the system work cohesively and create a workflow - especially when you need to collect Employee information!
A Checklist Item can:
- Be a Standard Check Item - great for simple tasks like "Bookmark your HR Partner Employee Portal"
- Link To External Site - you can ask an Employee to log into their Benefits
- Download a Library Document
- Fill Out A Custom Form - (and don't forget that you can link other fields of an Employee Profile using a Form!)
- Electronically Sign A Document
- Link to a Video Clip for the Employee to watch
In this article, we will specifically focus on the benefits of incorporating both Custom Forms and eSignature documents into a comprehensive Checklist to gather Employee Information that you may need to collect during Onboarding a new Employee.
eSignature Documents
Our eSignatures section of HR Partner is an excellent tool for collecting an online, digital signature for a document like an Offer Letter, Employment Contract or a Policy Disclosure. It was intended to document electronic signatures, short text fields and dates in a simple and easy way!
One of the biggest reasons that this area of the system is so popular with our clients is because this area is the ONLY area of the system where you can send an electronic signature to an Employee, an Application or even an outside party (a client or vendor!).
Collecting eSignatures in a Checklist
To collect an eSignature document inside a Checklist Template, you would just need to go into the Checklist Template (Checklist -> Configure -> Templates) and select "Electronically Sign a Document" under the Checklist Type heading. Then you will need to link to the Document To Be Signed.
Once this is done, you will now have a Checklist Item included in your Checklist where the Employee will be asked to Sign Document to complete that checklist task item.
This is especially helpful because now your Employee has an item that they are meant to complete via the Checklist AND the document that they have signed will be permanently stored as a part of their Employee Profile. Just scroll over to the Modules section and scroll down until you see eSignatures and the eSignature Document that you've sent over via a Checklist will be contained here!
However, because of the limitations within eSignatures, it's a much better idea to collect Employee Information - especially if you have a lot to collect - by using a Custom Form. Remember, eSignatures is powerful but was only intended to collect a digital signature from one person at a time and to collect shorter text fields of information like First Name and Last Name.
Forms
If you haven't yet used our Custom Forms section of HR Partner, it is an incredibly powerful area of the system! You can create any type of online Form and then distribute it to your staff so that they can complete information. Learn more about Custom Forms by going to Getting Started with Custom Forms.
Completing a Form in a Checklist
Just like with eSignatures, you can link any Custom Form to a Checklist Item so that an Employee is required to complete the Form as a part of their Checklist!
Simply go into the Checklist Template (Checklist -> Configure -> Templates) and select "Fill Out A Custom Form" under the Checklist Type heading. Then you will need to link to a Custom Form Template. (Please note: You must already have the Form created in the system before you can link it in a Checklist.)
Once this is done, your Employees will be prompted to Fill Form in the Checklist. Once they click on the Fill Form button, they will be taken to a new window and asked to complete the Form in its entirety.
Collecting Employee Information
Using Checklists can be a very efficient way of asking the Employee to complete various task items during their Onboarding period.
It's also a great way to collect Employee Information!
Say you have a new Employee starting at your Organization, and there are a variety of things that they need to complete during their first week of employment. Using a Checklist is the perfect way to streamline this process!
Here is an example of a few Checklist Items that can be used together to collect vital Employee Information!
- "Complete your New Hire Details Form" - link this item to a Custom Form that asks the Employee for things like Name, Date of Birth, etc.
- "Sign the Workplace Safety Policy" - link this item to an e-Signature Document for signing.
- "Watch our Welcome Video" - link this item to Video that is saved in your Company Library.
- "Upload your Employment Agreement" - have the new Employee upload important documents for their file.
By using a Checklist to collect these various pieces of information you are not relying on ONE area of the system (like eSignatures) and are using all parts of the system for a better user experience overall!