You can create up to 50 templates for commonly used forms that you send new hires (such as contracts), have them sign them electronically using Hello Sign and upload the signed forms as part of the onboarding process.
Create new document templates
You can create up to 50 onboarding document templates for your new hires to be sign and upload.
1. Click on the Add People button on the People page and select Onboard new hire.
2. Now click on Settings.
3. Click on Enable to start configuring forms. First, you will need to configure the sender settings so that the new hire will know who the forms are being sent from.
If you need to change this later, you can also click on Change Sender.
4. Add the email address and the name or organisation you would like your onboarding email sent from. Click Save.
5. Start creating a form template by clicking on Create template.
6. Complete the Template Name and Description then upload a template file (max size 10MB) in the format:
- JPEG
- PNG
- DOC
- DOCX
Your template file is a previously saved document containing all the fixed information that is NOT likely to change each time you send the document.
You might choose to write this template file in Google docs or Word. When creating a template file be sure to leave sufficient space to later insert the fields that can be customised or completed by the person completing or signing the document.
Click Next.
7. Choose or add the custom fields required to complete this template.
Custom fields are the fields where the text will change each time you send the document. The person sending out the onboarding invites will use these fields to customise the form for the new hire.
The custom fields you create will depend on the type of form you are creating. Some examples of custom fields you might use in a new hire employment contract might be:
-
Employee's name
-
Employee's email address
-
Start date
-
Work hours
-
Position Title
-
Work Location
-
Wage
You can choose from the existing list or add new fields by typing a field name in the Search field and clicking Add.
When you are done, click Set up template.
8. You will now be taken to a template generator, powered by Hellosign.
Click OK to begin creating your template.
9. You can now add fields to the template document you uploaded. Depending on which 'Signer' you select the top left-hand side drop-down menu will control who completes the fields you then insert into the template.
- Me (now) - these are fields that you, the creator of the template, want to add to the template such as a tick box (Note: Do not use the Name and Email fields from this option, use the Name and Email address options from the pink Sender signer options)
- Sender - these are the fields that the manager has to complete when they send the new hire the document to sign (Use the Name and Email address fields from this menu)
- Team Member - These are the fields that the new hire signing the document will complete.
10. Go to the menu on the top left-hand side and change the Signers field to Sender. The sender is the person who will be sending out this document or form to new hires.
11. Drag the pink Text Box field to the point in the document where you need it to appear. If it's not showing the correct custom field from the list you configured in Step 7, simply click on the field in the document and a menu will appear on the right-hand side of the window.
You can select the correct field from the menu "What text goes here?". You can also configure other aspects of the text appearance using the panel of setting on the right-hand side if you need.
Note: It's recommended to enter some 'example' free text in the Placeholder text field so that if the manager sending out the document wants to preview the template before sending it, they will get a better idea of how it will look. If you don't add any placeholder text then this field will display as blank during the template preview.
12. Continue to drag pink text boxes into the field and select their purpose from the menu on the right-hand side, until you have placed one in every position where you require a custom field.
13. Click on the Signer sector again and select Team Member.
14. Now drag the blue boxes into the document that represent fields that relate to the team member signing the document such as their name or where you need them to sign.
15. When you are happy with the template click Continue.
Hot tip: If you don't need a signature but require an "I agree to terms" or "I have read the terms" checkbox. Use the "Tickbox" field then change the Signer to "Me (now)" and drag a textbox field to include the declaration.
You will be returned to the Onboarding Settings page where you can see your new template listed.
Managers can click on the document name to see a preview of how it looks, or what the document contains, before sending it to new hires for onboarding. As shown in the example below.
Note: The light grey 'example' text shown in the fields is pre-populated from what the manager setting up the template entered in the placeholder text field in Step 11. If no placeholder text was entered when the template was created then the field will appear blank in the preview as shown in the 'wage' field and 'first shift date' fields below.
Editing existing document templates
You can edit some fields from an existing template that you created previously, but please note:
- If the information you want to change is within the file you uploaded in Step 6 of Create new document template then you can't use Edit template. You will have to edit your original file and then start again to create a new template to upload the new file.
- Any changes you make to edited templates will only affect documents sent to new hires after you save the changes and not any documents already sent out before the edit took place.
- If you find you need to resend onboarding forms and documents to a new hire where a template has been edited in the meantime then you should remove and re-add the edited documents to ensure the most up-to-date version is sent.
1. Return to the Settings page.
2. Then click on the pencil icon next to the template title you wish to edit.
3. If you need to remove a previously added custom field hover over the field name and click the cross to delete it. You can click Add field to add a new custom field then click Edit template.
4. You can now edit the template fields as detailed from Step 9 in Create new document templates.
Once you are happy with your changes click Continue to save the template.
Deleting document templates
If you want to delete a template you have set up you can do so by clicking the trash bin icon.
Note: when you click the trash bin icon, the template is deleted immediately. There is no "Are you sure you want to delete" question to warn you.
If you delete a template, any employees that have already been onboarded using this template will not be affected, their completed forms will remain on their profile.