Referral Workflow Automation - Email and SMS

Description

In a Job Order, the assigned Referral Workflow provides users with the ability to refer Candidates and move them through stages that correspond to a defined recruitment process. From stages users can also perform various manual actions like view the Candidate record, send Emails / SMS, add stage comments etc.

In this release we are introducing the ability to assign stage automation events when configuring Referral Workflows in Maintenance > Referral Workflow. Automated events include:

Email - where referred candidates are moved to the stage, an email is automatically generated, queued and then dispatched.
SMS - where referred candidates are moved to the stage, a SMS is automatically generated, queued and then dispatched.

Multiple email and or sms events can be assigned to a stage, for example, where communication needs to be sent to more than one recipient, like both the Referral Candidate and the Order By Contact.

Where Automation items have been applied to a Referral Workflow that is being used, the user will see an icon next to the stage so they are aware that there is a triggered event.

To view the assigned Template(s), click on the stage and use the existing Right Mouse Click action and select Automation Event Details.

Once queued, automation items are displayed in the Stage History within the Referral Record. Open the Referral Record by clicking on a Referral Candidate and using Right Mouse Click. From this menu select Edit Referral and scroll to the 'Referral Stage History' section.

New Columns for 'Email' and 'SMS" have been added and an icon will show where an event is scheduled:

Icon colours will indicate the status of the event, Black for queued, Amber where some items have been dispatched (when you open the record, the system may be in the process of creating and dispatching items where large volumes have been triggered), Green where all items have been dispatched.

Click on an icon to display a list of events, where the user can select an item from the list to display a pop up of the Email / SMS that was dispatched.

What if Referrals are moved to the wrong Stage?

If a user inadvertently moves referrals into a stage which has subsequently queued an automation event, the Undo action can be selected. This will return the referral to the previous stage, and providing the Email / SMS has not dispatched, the event will be cancelled. A notification will advise the user if an event could not be cancelled. Please be aware that the Undo action only works where one Referral is selected - if multiple items are selected, only the first one in the list will be undone.

What if I apply a Candidate to the same Stage twice?

Stage Automation event items will dispatch once for each Referral Candidate. For example, if a user has moved a Referral Candidate to a stage where automation items have been executed, then at a later time returns the same Referral Candidate back to the same stage, the system checks to see if automation items have been sent, and if they have, the event will not be triggered a second time. Where a user needs to re-send communications, the normal manual Right Mouse Click Email / SMS actions would need to be utilised.

Benefits

This enhancement will save users time, and ensure consistency in communication.

Configuration

Automation events are configured and managed in Maintenance > Referral Workflow.

Two new items have been added that relate to Automation events:

a new tab labelled Automation, where the auto events are configured.
a new checkbox labelled Stage Move Alert. Tick this where you would like the user to be alerted if they move Referred Candidates to a stage that has one or more auto-events assigned.

To setup an Automation item:

1 Click on the Automation Tab.

The Automation Tab displays a list of configured automation events.

2. Click Add Automation.

The Add Automation pop up displays.

3. Select the Stage the event is to apply to.

4. Select if the event is Email or SMS.

5. Select the recipient, this list includes:

Referral Candidate
Order By Contact
Site Contact
Report To Contact
Job Creator
Job Owner
Client Owner
Filled By User
Candidate Owner
Logged in User - this will be the user that has evoked the email / sms ie; the user that moves the Referral Candidate to the stage with the automation item.

6. Select the Email / SMS Template.

The Load Template screen defaults to the Email / SMS folders applicable to the Recipient, so Candidate, Client (for Contacts) or User.

7. Click Save to add the item to the list.

The Automation Event displays in the list. Note: You will need to select Save Changes on the bottom of the Referral Workflow maintenance screen to commit the change.

Once automation event(s) have been configured within a Referral Workflow, they will appear the next time the effected Referral Workflow is assigned to a Job Order. Where subsequent changes are made to Automation events, changes will only be available the next time the Referral Workflow is applied, so please be aware that existing applied Referral Workflows are not updated OR Referral Workflows assigned to Job Templates (these will need to be manually re-applied). Where a Job Template has been assigned a Referral Workflow with automation items, these items will not display within the Job Template's Referral Workflow, however they will display once the Job Template is applied to a Job.

Template Creation

To configure Templates that will utilise the merge tags available to the Referral and related records, it is best to set these up from a job with a Referral Workflow, utilsing the Create Template action (users with permission to 'Email Template' and 'SMS Template' will see this action. For example open the Global Referral Workflow screen, find a job with a referral. Select a Referral from a stage and right mouse click. Pick 'Email Candidate' if creating a template for Email or 'SMS Candidate' if creating a template for SMS - for Contact templates, pick Email / SMS Contact items.

Within the Email / SMS pop up screen create the template you require, and assign any relevant Merge Tab items. Click Create Template and select the appropriate folder. As above when you are assigning the Template to the Automation item, the screen will default to the folders applicable to the recipient selected.

Referral Workflow API Please note that using the API to move referrals between stages will not trigger the automated email / sms communication as per taking the same action via the UI. We will apply this functionality in a future release.