When I was given the responsibility to set up an onboarding process in Jira Service Management, my main goal was simple:
Make onboarding smooth, structured, and less dependent on emails and manual follow-ups.
Before this, onboarding in our team was a bit scattered HR, IT, and Admin were all working separately, and sometimes tasks were missed or delayed.
So I designed and implemented a centralized onboarding system in JSM, integrating multiple teams and automating most of the process.
Here’s how I built it.
My Approach
I wanted a flow where everything happens in a structured way:
- HR creates or raises a request from the JSM portal
- A Jira ticket is created instantly
- HR reviews and validates the information
- Tasks are assigned to different teams automatically
- Emails and notifications go out without manual effort
This helped me turn a manual process into a fully trackable and automated workflow.
Step 1: Creating the Onboarding Request in JSM Portal
Instead of using external forms, I created a request type directly in the JSM portal called:
"New Employee Onboarding"
This form includes important details like:
- Employee name
- Department and role
- Joining date
- Contact details
- Work type (Onsite / Remote / Hybrid)
What I noticed:
Having everything inside JSM made the process more centralized and easier to manage.
Step 2: Ticket Creation and Assignment
Whenever HR submits the request through the portal:
- A ticket is automatically created in JSM
- It gets assigned to the HR team
This becomes the main onboarding ticket for that employee.
Step 3: Designing a Simple Workflow
Initially, I made the mistake of adding too many workflow steps.
Later, I simplified it to something more practical:
- Request Created
- HR Review
- HR Completed Details
- IT Provisioning In Progress
- Admin Setup
- Marketing Communication
- Onboarding Cancelled
- Onboarding Completed
Lesson I learned:
Simple workflows are easier for teams to follow and maintain.
Step 4: Creating Subtasks Automatically
Once HR validates the details, I set up automation to create subtasks like:
- IT Provisioning
- Documentation & LOI
- Induction & Admin Setup
- Marketing Welcome Email
Each subtask is automatically assigned to the respective team.
This made a big difference:
No manual task creation and clear ownership for each team.
Step 5: Adding Smart Automation
This is where most of the efficiency comes in.
Some automations I implemented:
- Auto-assign tickets to HR
- Create subtasks after HR review
- Send emails to IT for account setup
- Notify employees with onboarding updates
- Share policies (leave, attendance, etc.)
- Trigger insurance enrollment
- Handle conditional tasks like parking or RFID
Impact:
Reduced manual coordination and improved consistency.
Step 6: IT Provisioning Setup
For IT tasks, I ensured:
- IT team receives all employee details automatically
- Email and workspace accounts are created
- Slack and other tool access is provided
Step 7: Adding an HR Checklist
To make sure nothing is missed, I added a checklist including:
- Documentation
- LOI
- Biometric setup
- Insurance enrollment
- Welcome kit
- Induction session
This helped standardize the onboarding process.
Step 8: Email Automation
I automated key communication emails like:
- IT setup confirmation
- HR welcome email
- Marketing welcome announcement
- Leave & attendance policy
- Payroll portal access
Result:
Employees receive all necessary information without manual follow-ups.
Step 9: Reporting and SLA Tracking
Finally, I created dashboards to track:
- Onboarding progress
- Pending IT tasks
- Induction schedules
- SLA compliance
Defined SLAs:
- HR review -> within 24 hours
- IT setup -> within 48 hours
- Full onboarding -> before joining date
Challenges I Faced
While building this, I learned a few things:
- Initially added too many fields -> simplified later
- Overcomplicated workflow -> reduced steps
- Missed some automation -> improved over time
