Digitalisation of the Onboarding Process

Team Members

Jasmin Winter
Gilles Müller
Claudio Schwaiger

Introduction

The company, headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland, is a subsidiary of a German industrial group and a recognized leader in the development of advanced air defence systems. With approximately 1,000 employees, the company specializes in radar-guided target tracking systems, anti-aircraft artillery, and missile defence technologies. Its globally deployed solutions—such as modular defence platforms—are known for their accuracy and high operational effectiveness.

The organization benefits from a centralized and standardized IT strategy defined at group level.

This project aims to address inefficiencies in the current onboarding process by focusing on the digitalization of cross-departmental workflows. The existing process involves multiple internal and external systems (e.g. Enboarder, ServiceNow, Confluence, Active Directory, MDM, SAP) and stakeholders (HR, IT, SAP, supervisors, external providers). Despite having a defined structure, the process is heavily dependent on manual activities and informal communication channels.

Goal

The core objective of this digitalization initiative is to ensure that new employees are equipped with all necessary IT hardware and system access on their first working day. This requires a fundamental redesign of the existing onboarding process, which is currently characterized by high manual effort, fragmented systems, and inconsistent handovers.

Key goals include:

Digitalizing the end-to-end onboarding process to eliminate manual dependencies,
Reducing process delays between stakeholders by streamlining and standardizing communication, and
Automating repetitive and time-sensitive activities, such as ticket creation and form handling.

These improvements aim to increase operational efficiency, reduce onboarding lead time, and ensure a positive employee experience from day one.

As-Is Process

The onboarding process begins in the HR department, when HR receives the signed contract of the new employee. After creating a new employee profile in Enboarder, an automatic e-mail is sent to the supervisor, requesting them to complete the PDF form “Request New Employee”. HR further creates an Active Directory User for the new employee.

After HR receives the completed form from the supervisor by e-mail, they add the new entry in Confluence and open a ticket in the internal ticketing system “ServiceNow” with the PDF attached to initiate the process of setting up the new employee’s equipment by the IT department.

Communication between the HR and IT department is centered around ServiceNow and the Confluence page to provide information on the ticket status of the new employee’s entries. The Confluence page is maintained by IT as a comprehensive overview for HR, as the status of the ticket can only be queried on a user-specific basis in ServiceNow.

To ensure hardware provision to the new employee on time, the ticket must be created at least two weeks prior to the employee’s start date. When the IT department receives the ticket, it checks it for completeness and accepts the new ticket. If the ticket does not meet the time criteria, the availability of the hardware on the start date cannot be guaranteed and a new date must be set for the hardware handover.

The PDF “Request New Employee” is then saved in the network drive and the Confluence page is updated. Furthermore, the IT department opens a ticket at the external provider’s ticketing system, requesting the setup of the hardware of the new employee. The external ticketing system is the primary communication channel with the external provider. The requested setup includes configuring the notebook, ordering a proxy, granting user access and creating the user in the MDM system. These tasks at the IT department generally require two working days.

There is an SLA with the external provider in place. The ticket must be processed and finalized within six working days, including handover of the hardware back to the IT department.
Upon receiving the notebook, the IT department verifies the completeness and, if necessary, finalizes the setup. The notebook is then personalized and access to the required file shares configured. Further, the business mobile is prepared. One to two working days before the employee’s start date, the workstation is completely set up to ensure everything is ready on the first day. The last step is to update the Confluence page.

The supervisor is informed by HR about the readiness of the hardware by e-mail.

On the first workday, the new employee receives their hardware from the IT department and takes part in an introductory IT training session.

HR also notifies the SAP department about the new employee for user creation. The SAP team then carries out a user comparison in the system and creates the new user account. If no additional rights are required, the account is handed over to the new employee.

If additional rights are required, the supervisor opens a ticket in ServiceNow to request the necessary roles. An authorization request is created by the SAP department, the signature of the key user is obtained, and the supervisor signs the request. The account is updated accordingly.

Identified Challenges of the As-is Process

The current onboarding process faces several critical challenges that impact efficiency, transparency, and user experience. Below are the key pain points:

High Process Complexity & Fragmentation

The onboarding workflow spans multiple systems (Enboarder, ServiceNow, Confluence, external provider systems, Active Directory, MDM, SAP) and various stakeholders (HR, IT, supervisors, SAP department, external providers).
Risk: Increased coordination effort, handover delays, and risk of process breakdowns.

Manual and Email-Dependent Communication

Key process steps—such as submitting forms, notifying stakeholders, and updating statuses—are handled manually via email.
Risk: Low transparency, high error probability, and lack of auditability.

Lack of Workflow Automation

Tasks like PDF processing, ticket creation, Confluence page updates, and internal approvals are executed without automation.
Risk: Operational inefficiencies, inconsistent data, and increased manual workload.

Time Sensitivity vs. Lack of Enforcement

Although tickets must be created at least two weeks before the start date, there are no automated controls or escalation paths to enforce this timeline.
Risk: Missed hardware provisioning deadlines and onboarding delays.

Redundant Documentation & Storage

Employee-related information is captured and stored redundantly (e.g. PDF form, network drive, Confluence, ticketing systems), often manually.
Risk: Data inconsistencies, version control issues, and unnecessary duplication of effort.

Limited Transparency & Status Tracking

ServiceNow does not offer a consolidated view of onboarding tickets. HR relies solely on a manually maintained Confluence page by IT.
Risk: Poor visibility, dependency on IT updates, and inefficient coordination.

Reactive Issue Handling

Late or incomplete ticket submissions trigger reactive measures like rescheduling hardware handovers rather than proactive interventions.
Risk: Deteriorated first-day experience for new hires and reduced onboarding quality.

To-Be Process - Digitalisation of the Onboarding Process

Process Improvements

Benefits of the New Onboarding Process

The improved onboarding workflow delivers tangible benefits across teams:

Higher Automation

Key steps like contract handling, ticket creation, setup payload generation, and SAP account provisioning are now automated.
Result: fewer manual handovers, reduced error rates, and faster turnaround times.

Unified Platform

All teams work within the same centralized ticketing system (e.g. ServiceNow).
This creates a single source of truth, ensuring consistent data and better traceability.

Improved Handling of Short-Notice Hires

Automatic notifications for hires with <2 weeks’ lead time.
Replaces fragile workarounds (e.g. saving forms to file shares) and improves preparedness.

Clear Role Allocation

Responsibilities are defined:
HR → Contract management
IT → Hardware preparation
SAP Team → Account creation
Leads to smoother collaboration and fewer misunderstandings.

Measurable Process Completion

Process concludes with a defined step: “Onboarding new employee completed”.
Enables structured reporting and quality monitoring.

Scalability Through Structured Workflows

The standardized and automated setup scales efficiently across teams and sites.
Ideal for growing organizations or high onboarding volumes.

PROCESS START - AUTOMATED CONTRACT CREATION AND DELIVERY

BPMN Overview

This part of the digital onboarding process starts with the event New contract requested, which is triggered by HR when a new employee is to be onboarded. It then handles the automated generation, dispatch, and tracking of employment contracts. It ensures that contract data is captured in a structured format, transmitted to external services for processing, and monitored until the signed document is returned. All steps are fully automated and require no manual intervention after HR submits the initial form.

WHAT THIS MODULE DOES

GOAL

To automate the contract creation and delivery process by digitizing employee data input, generating PDF contracts, logging relevant data, and waiting for confirmation — all while maintaining process stability and compliance.

FLOW SUMMARY

HR fills out a structured input form in Camunda
All form fields are mandatory to ensure completeness and data quality, and to enable fully automated downstream processing without the need for manual data correction
A script task generates a JSON payload (contractPayload) from the form data
A service task sends the payload to a Make.com scenario
Make.com creates a PDF contract (via PDF.co) and logs the data in Google Sheets
The payload is removed after dispatch to prevent serialization issues, specifically Spin deserialization errors such as SPIN/JACKSON-JSON-01006, which may occur if nested objects persist across asynchronous steps
Camunda waits for the signed contract (up to 7 days) using an event-based gateway. If the message is not received within this period, a timer boundary event on the message catch task ends the process
If received: process continues
If not received: process ends

IMPLEMENTATION DETAILS

CAMUNDA BPM

User Task: Define contract — HR enters all relevant data via structured form
Script Task: Create contract — transforms data into contractPayload (JSON)
Service Task: Send contract — sends payload to Make via HTTP
Script Task: Remove variable — deletes contractPayload to prevent Spin deserialization errors
Message Catch Event: waits for SignedContractReceived
Timer Boundary Event: cancels the process if no signature is returned within 7 days

MAKE SCENARIO OVERVIEW

Webhook receives the payload from Camunda
Router triggers two parallel paths:
- PDF.co: generates the contract as PDF
- Google Sheets: creates a new row entry that logs all relevant employee and contract information, including:
  - Employee name and ID
  - Start date
  - Contract status
  - Timestamp of creation

POSTMAN OVERVIEW - USED FOR MESSAGE CATCH EVENT

The event is triggered externally by sending a message via the Camunda REST API. This allows simulation and integration with external systems (e.g. Docusign).

To simulate the message reception via Postman:

Method: POST
URL: https://<camunda-server>/engine-rest/message
Headers: Content-Type: application/json
Body:

{ "messageName": "SignedContractReceived", "businessKey": "YOUR_PROCESS_INSTANCE_BUSINESS_KEY" }

FUTURE IMPROVEMENTS - eSIGNATURE INTEGRATION

The process can be extended to include digital signing via services like DocuSign or Adobe Sign. After contract generation, the PDF would be:

Sent automatically for signature
Tracked via API callback or polling
Stored with legal validity This would complete the contract flow digitally and eliminate manual handovers.

VARIABLE CLEANUP - JAVASCRIPT

execution.removeVariable("contractPayload"); execution.removeVariable("ticketPayload");

RELATED TOOLS

Make (Integromat): Automation platform
Camunda Modeler: BPMN workflow management
Google Sheets: Central data hub for information on employee
Postman: Simulation of signed contract received

DMN - DETERMINE SETUP OF NEW EMPLOYEE

This repository contains a DMN (Decision Model and Notation) table used to determine the appropriate IT setup for new employees during the onboarding process. The decision logic ensures standardized, rule-based allocation of hardware, software, phone equipment, and encryption settings based on employee role and mobility requirements.

Purpose

The DMN decision table automates the selection of IT equipment and software configurations for new hires. It supports consistent decision-making and reduces manual coordination between HR, IT, and other stakeholders.

Input Parameters

Role (string): The employee's job function (e.g., "Office Employee", "CAD Designer", "Software Developer")
Mobility (boolean): Indicates whether the employee requires a mobile setup (true/false)

Output Parameters

Based on the combination of Role and Mobility, the following outputs are defined:

Hardware: The assigned device type (e.g., ThinClient, Notebook, Workstation)
Application: The main application package needed (e.g., M365, Team Center, Visual Studio)
Phone: Type of phone equipment assigned (e.g., IP phone, iPhone 16 SE)
Encryption: Whether encryption is required for the setup (true/false)

Example Rules

Role	Mobility	Hardware	Application	Phone	Encryption
Office Employee	false	ThinClient (Igel)	M365	IP-Telefon	false
Office Employee	true	Notebook Office (T14)	M365	iPhone 16 SE	true
CAD Designer	false	Workstation CAD (P5)	Team Center, NX	IP-Telefon	false
CAD Designer	true	Notebook CAD (P15)	Team Center, NX	iPhone 16 SE	true
Software Developer	true	Notebook Entwickler	Visual Studio	iPhone 16 SE	true
Software Developer	false	Workstation Entwickler	Visual Studio	IP-Telefon	false

Benefits

Reduces manual effort in IT configuration
Ensures consistent and secure setup across the organization
Easy to extend and maintain as roles or equipment evolve
Integrates into automated onboarding workflows

SAP USER CREATION TICKET VIA MAKE

While the DMN logic defines the required SAP access levels, the process also triggers a separate Make scenario to create a ticket for the SAP department.

This side branch of the onboarding workflow performs the following:

Camunda sends a webhook to Make with all necessary SAP-related data
Make creates a new row in a Google Sheet representing the SAP ticket
The ticket includes:
- Employee ID
- Required SAP roles or access
- Timestamp for tracking
Once the SAP team has created the user, the status field in the sheet is updated accordingly

This integration ensures a seamless and traceable handover between the automation system and the SAP department—even though this module is not the core focus of the project.

PROCESS SECTION – CREATE TICKET IN SERVICE PORTAL

This section of the onboarding process automates the creation of an internal IT onboarding ticket by sending a structured JSON payload from Camunda to a Make.com scenario. The data is recorded in a central Google Sheet used as the service portal log.

FLOW OVERVIEW

Determine IT Requirements (DMN Decision Table)
A DMN decision table evaluates the employee's role and determines the required hardware, software, and access rights.
Generate Payload
A script task in Camunda compiles the determined values and other employee details into a structured ticketPayload object.
Send to Webhook
The payload is transmitted via HTTP POST to a custom webhook in Make.com.
Create Row in Google Sheet
Make.com adds a new row in the SNOW sheet of the Ticketing System SNOW spreadsheet, capturing all relevant data fields.

GOOGLE SHEETS INTEGRATION DETAILS

Column	Field	Source
A	Ticket ID	(optional / autogenerated)
B	Requested by	`ticketPayload.requestedBy`
C	Employee ID	`employeeId`
D	Name	`ticketPayload.name`
E	Surname	`ticketPayload.surname`
F	Start Date	`ticketPayload.startDate`
G	Hardware required	`ticketPayload.hardwareRequired`
H	Delivery date	`ticketPayload.deliveryDate`
I	Description	`ticketPayload.description`
J	Date requested	`ticketPayload.dateRequested`
K	Ticket Status	`ticketPayload.ticketStatus`
L	Ticket Status updated	`ticketPayload.ticketStatusUpdated`

CONFIGURATION NOTES

Spreadsheet ID: / Ticketing System SNOW
Sheet Name: SNOW
Table headers: Must be enabled
Ticket ID: Can be auto-generated using Google Sheets formula (e.g. =ROW()-1)
Webhook: Expects a valid JSON body from Camunda

ADVANTAGES

Fully automated creation of IT onboarding tickets
Eliminates manual data entry and email-based coordination
Ensures consistency and completeness of ticket data
Enables process tracking, escalation logic, and SLA adherence
Reduces operational friction and onboarding cycle times
Easy to extend with notifications, escalations, or status updates

AUTOMATED DELIVERY DATE CHECK FOR NEW EMPLOYEE ONBOARDING

This Part in the digital onboarding process ensures that IT hardware can be delivered on time for new employees. It validates if the lead time before the employee's start date is sufficient and triggers appropriate actions if not.

If the entry date is less than 14 days away, a new delivery date is calculated automatically, the supervisor is informed, and the onboarding ticket is updated—all without manual interaction.