Workflows 2.0 overview
Workflows 2.0 is a rebuilt workflow builder. A workflow starts from a trigger and then runs a series of actions, each timed relative to the trigger. Select the Workflows 2.0 icon in the left navigation (below Reports) to open it. Classic workflows are described in Workflows - everything you need to know.
Triggers
A trigger is the event that starts a workflow, like a new employee being added or a date arriving. Once you publish a workflow, it runs automatically every time its trigger happens. No one needs to start it by hand.
Employee created at Shapes
Runs when a new employee is added to Shapes, for each new person who matches the workflow's audience.
Example: when a new hire is added, send their manager an onboarding checklist and book a welcome meeting for the first day.
Employee field value changed
Runs when a field you choose changes on an employee's profile, such as their manager, department, job title or salary.
Example: when an employee's manager changes, send the new manager a task to schedule an intro 1:1.
Employee profile date
Runs on a date stored on the employee's profile, such as start date, probation end or contract end. You can run it on the date itself or before or after it, and choose whether it repeats.
Example: 30, 60 and 90 days after the start date, send the manager a check-in form.
Employee birthday and Work anniversary are ready-made options in the Add trigger menu. Choosing one sets the workflow to run on each employee's birthday or start-date anniversary every year, with no end date. The date, timing (for example a week before), repeat and audience stay editable.
Manual run
Runs only when someone starts it, for the employees they choose. Use it for one-off processes that don't follow a fixed event.
Example: run a policy acknowledgement workflow for everyone in the Sales team.
Actions
Any action can run right away, after a delay, or relative to an employee date, and can be limited to a group of employees with filters.
You control when each action runs and who it runs for:
Right away: the action runs as soon as the workflow is triggered. For example, send a welcome email the moment a new hire is added.
After a delay: the action waits a set time after the trigger, such as 2 days or 1 week. For example, send a feedback form a week after a manager change.
Relative to an employee date: the action runs before or after a date on the employee's profile. For example, create an IT setup task 5 days before the start date.
Filtered to a group: add filters so the action only runs for some employees, such as one department, location or employment type. For example, book an office tour only for employees based in London.
Action types:
Complete task, Send email, Fill form, Sign a doc and Send webhook.
Send Slack message: sends a direct message to the people in the workflow or posts to a public channel. It supports bold, italics, strikethrough, code and lists, emoji from the Slack workspace, and @ mentions of a person, the employee or their manager. A Slack-style preview with a "fill with sample data" button shows the message before publishing. Workflow messages always send and are not muted by personal notification settings; people outside the connected Slack workspace are skipped. Admins who can manage integrations are prompted to connect Slack if it isn't connected.
Book a meeting: sends each guest a calendar invite by email. Guests can be specific people or groups, or the employee, their manager or their buddy. The date can be relative to an employee date or fixed, with a time and time zone, and weekend dates can move to the employee's next working day. The title and description support rich text and variables. Invites are sent from [email protected] on behalf of the account; accepts and declines go to the account's Reply-to email, or to the workflow creator if there is none.
Change field value: updates a single field, a dated entry (such as Job or Compensation) or a table row. Dated entries take effect on the day the step runs, on the Start Date or a set number of days after it. The step skips a value the person already has, and fails with a reason, changing nothing, if something such as the Start Date is missing. A workflow can only change what its creator is allowed to edit.
Assign permissions: applies a permission level and type to the employee. A workflow can only give levels its creator could give and never makes anyone a Super Admin.
Invite employee to Shapes: sends the standard invite to the employee's work email in the company's name, with the permission level you choose. Invite links expire after 7 days, and the builder warns if the step would run after the start date or more than 7 days before it. Each run shows "Invited as ..." or why the employee was skipped (already has a login, no usable work email, terminated). The step never invites anyone as a Super Admin.
Generate work email: fills the employee's Work Email from up to 3 address patterns on a company domain, such as first.last or f.last. Addresses are always unique, and accents and symbols are removed. It only fills a Work Email that is empty, a placeholder, a copy of the personal email, or not on a company domain. Only people who can edit everyone's Work Email can add it.
Add time off days: adds days, hours or both to the employee's balance for a chosen reason, with an optional note shown in the balance history. Employees with no policy for that reason, an unlimited policy, or a policy counting the other unit are skipped, and the activity shows why.
Assign time away policy: assigns or removes time away policies for the employees the workflow runs for. One action can change several reasons. The policy applies from the day the action runs.
Message settings (email, Complete task, Fill form, Sign a doc)
Variables: type {{ in a rich text editor to pick an employee field at the cursor.
Subject: Fill form and Sign a doc steps have an optional Subject field between Assignee and Message. It is used as the email subject and as the Slack or Teams notification title. If it is empty, the default is used.
Field access: appears once a field variable is inserted. Follow each assignee's permissions (default) shows only the fields the recipient can see. Bypass permissions shows every field in the step to everyone it goes to, including people without a Shapes account and typed email addresses. An admin can save or publish a bypassing step only if they can view every field it uses.
Outside recipients: in Send email, type any address in the To field, up to 10 per email, mixed with people. Each outside address gets its own email with public fields only (other fields show {Missing Info}) and no files from employee file fields, unless the step uses Bypass permissions.
Running a workflow
Run Workflow uses the same participant picker as Surveys and Performance Reviews:
All employees: everyone you can see, not including terminated employees or employees who haven't started yet.
Specific groups: build conditions (Where / And) on fields such as Team, Department, Office, Level or Gender. A live count shows who will take part before you click Run. You can only filter by fields you are allowed to read.
Anyone who can manage workflows can run one. Managers reach only their own reports. After you click Run, a "Running workflow" card shows how many employees started.
Managing workflows
To delete several workflows, select them with the checkboxes in the Workflows list (the header checkbox selects all and works with search and filters), click Delete workflows and confirm once. A published workflow that can't be safely stopped stays in the list, and you are told how many of the selected workflows were deleted. Only people who can manage workflows see the checkboxes.
