# Send new-hire paperwork and team handoffs

A new hire touches several teams. HR needs signed paperwork, IT needs provisioning details, and the manager needs a clear handoff without relying on a spreadsheet.

<dl class="fc-recipe-meta not-content" aria-label="Recipe details">
	<div class="fc-recipe-meta__group">
		<dt class="fc-recipe-meta__label">Good for</dt>
		<dd class="fc-recipe-meta__value">HR, operations, and agencies onboarding staff or clients</dd>
	</div>
	<div class="fc-recipe-meta__group fc-recipe-meta__group--level">
		<dt class="fc-recipe-meta__label">Level</dt>
		<dd class="fc-recipe-meta__value">
			<span class="fc-recipe-meta__level" data-level="advanced">
				<svg class="fc-recipe-meta__level-icon" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 16 16" aria-hidden="true" focusable="false">
					<rect class="fc-recipe-meta__level-bar" x="1" y="10" width="3" height="4" rx="1" />
					<rect class="fc-recipe-meta__level-bar" x="6.5" y="6" width="3" height="8" rx="1" />
					<rect class="fc-recipe-meta__level-bar" x="12" y="2" width="3" height="12" rx="1" />
				</svg>
				Advanced
			</span>
		</dd>
	</div>
</dl>

## What you'll build

One intake form starts the process. The workflow sends the new hire a paperwork form and waits for it to come back, notifies each team with its own instructions, and records when those handoffs have been sent.

```mermaid
flowchart TD
    A[New hire form submitted] --> B[Send Email: paperwork<br/>link with run key]
    B --> C[Wait for Form Submission:<br/>signed paperwork]
    C -->|Submitted| D[Copy Entry Fields:<br/>paperwork answers]
    C -->|Expired| E[Email HR to chase]
    D --> E1[Send Notification: HR file]
    E1 --> F[Send Notification: IT provisioning]
    F --> G[Send Notification:<br/>manager welcome prep]
    G --> H[Set onboarding status:<br/>Handoffs sent]
    H --> I[Send Email: welcome]
```

![Onboarding workflow with a paperwork wait, copied equipment choice, HR, IT, and manager handoffs](/documentation/flowcrafter/screenshots/use-case-onboarding-new-hire-workflow.png)

## Before you build

- Create separate intake and paperwork forms.
- Add an administrative **Onboarding status** field to the intake form.
- Decide which paperwork answers may be copied to the intake entry. Avoid duplicating sensitive values unless staff truly need them there.
- Prepare the HR, IT, manager, and new-hire messages.

## Build it step by step

1. Create a second **New hire paperwork** form with the fields that need answers or signatures — tax forms, bank details, emergency contact, equipment choices. Add a hidden field for the workflow key and turn on **Allow field to be populated dynamically** with `key` as its parameter name.
2. Open your new hire intake form and click **Workflows** in the form toolbar. Click **New Workflow**, then **Add Trigger** and choose [Form Submitted](/documentation/flowcrafter/nodes/triggers/form-submitted/).
3. Add [Send Email](/documentation/flowcrafter/nodes/actions/send-email/) with the paperwork form link, populating the hidden field from the query string: `https://your-site.test/paperwork/?key={{run.key}}`. Replace the domain and path with the real paperwork page.
4. Add [Wait for Form Submission](/documentation/flowcrafter/nodes/flow/wait-for-form-submission/) named **Wait for paperwork**. Set **Form to wait for** to the paperwork form, add a match rule where its hidden key field equals `{{run.key}}`, and set **Expiry** (hours) to `168` for a one-week deadline.

   
   ![Paperwork wait matching the response form's Workflow key to the run key with a 168-hour expiry](/documentation/flowcrafter/screenshots/use-case-onboarding-new-hire-settings.png)
5. On **Submitted**, add [Copy Entry Fields](/documentation/flowcrafter/nodes/actions/copy-entry-fields/). Use `{{ "Wait for paperwork".entry_id }}` as the source, leave the target empty to use the intake entry, and map the answers you want on the master record — insurance option, equipment choice, tax status.
6. Add [Send Notification](/documentation/flowcrafter/nodes/actions/send-notification/) or Send Email for each team in sequence: HR with the file to complete, IT with the accounts and equipment to provision, then the manager with the start date. Each notification fires only when the run reaches it, in order.
7. Finish with [Update Entry Field](/documentation/flowcrafter/nodes/actions/update-entry-field/) setting **Onboarding status** to `Handoffs sent`, followed by a welcome email to the new hire. Do not call the hire `Ready` unless later nodes actually wait for HR and IT to confirm completion.
8. Wire **Expired** to an email to HR so an unanswered paperwork form gets chased before the start date, not after it.

:::tip[Pre-fill the paperwork form]
[GP Easy Passthrough](https://gravitywiz.com/documentation/gravity-forms-easy-passthrough/) can fill the paperwork form from the intake entry, so the new hire confirms existing answers rather than retyping them.
:::

## Data passed between nodes

| From | Data used later | Where it goes |
|---|---|---|
| Run context | `run.key` | Paperwork URL and Wait for Form Submission match |
| Wait for paperwork | Returned paperwork `entry_id` | Copy Entry Fields source |
| Copy Entry Fields | `updated_count` and `skipped_fields` | Optional audit note and staff review |
| Updated intake entry | Fresh copied answers | HR, IT, and manager notifications |

## Edge cases

- The run key correlates the response; it is not proof of the person's identity.
- A present blank source field can clear its mapped target. A missing or null source field is skipped.
- **A handoff queue, not a task manager:** Each team gets instructions in order, and the run history records each step. Flowcrafter does not give teams a personal task inbox or a per-team done button. Add [Wait for Approval](/documentation/flowcrafter/nodes/flow/wait-for-approval/) or another [Wait for Form Submission](/documentation/flowcrafter/nodes/flow/wait-for-form-submission/) when a team must confirm completion before the run continues.
- Permanently deleting the original intake entry through Gravity Forms cancels its active runs, including parked waits. Moving it to Trash does not cancel them.

## Test and activate safely

New workflows start **Inactive**. Point every message at test inboxes, then temporarily activate on staging or for a controlled live run so the intake can create a parked wait. Submit paperwork with the correct key and confirm that run resumes; submit an incorrect key and confirm it does not. Inspect every copied field. The Expired path requires a real parked run, so verify it on staging or during a controlled live test with a short deadline. Restore the real expiry and recipients, activate, and follow the first hire through Runs before treating the status as operational truth.

## What Flowcrafter adds

Gravity Forms can collect the intake and send a notification. Flowcrafter holds the sequence together: the paperwork wait parks until the right person responds, every team is notified in order, progress is written to the entry, and the welcome email waits until the run actually reaches it.

The same shape works for client onboarding, volunteer onboarding, and student enrollment — anywhere one intake starts a checklist across several people.

## Related resources

- [Wait for Form Submission](/documentation/flowcrafter/nodes/flow/wait-for-form-submission/) — wait for the returned paperwork
- [Copy Entry Fields](/documentation/flowcrafter/nodes/actions/copy-entry-fields/) — write answers onto the master entry
- [Send Notification](/documentation/flowcrafter/nodes/actions/send-notification/) — notify each team at its point in the process
- [Pausing & Waiting](/documentation/flowcrafter/building/pausing-workflows/) — how event-driven waits resume