Start one onboarding record for a hire. Open Employee Lifecycle, then Employee Onboarding.

You need an Onboarding template before the activities and documents can be built. The hire needs an email before you can send the portal link.

Create the record

1. Choose New Employee Onboarding.
2. The header says New Employee Onboarding, and the subtitle says to add the hire, joining date, and template, then create the record.
3. Fill Employee Name and Date of Joining. These are required.
4. Choose Onboarding Template. You can also set Email, Department, Designation, Type of Contract (Seasonal, Permanent, or Contractor), Boarding Begins On, and Employee portal language.
5. Optional links are Job Applicant and Employee. Choosing one fills the name and email when SmoothHiring already has them.
6. Choose Create Employee Onboarding.

You should see the person’s name as the title and a Draft status. The subtitle tells you to submit so activities and documents are built from the template. A missing name or template is named in that subtitle.

Submit and send the portal

1. Choose Submit. The button shows Submitting… while it runs.
2. You should see Onboarding submitted. The page opens Activities. Documents lists what the template asked to collect. Status moves to the boarding status, usually Pending or In Process.
3. On Documents, the table shows Document, Template, Instructions, Status, Uploaded, and File. An empty list says No documents on this onboarding and tells you to add documents or sync from the template.
4. Choose Send Portal Access. You should see Portal access sent. The side panel Portal line shows the date. The button becomes Resend Portal Access.
5. If you resend, confirm Portal access was previously sent. Send the credentials email again?

Preview Portal opens a read-only view titled Onboarding Portal Preview, with Desktop and Phone. The banner says employees see the live version after onboarding is submitted and portal access is sent. Close it with Close.

While they work

• Activities lists Activity, Role, Due On, and Status (Pending, In Progress, Completed). If it is empty, the page says to sync from the template or submit again after assigning a template.
• Add document asks for Document name, Capture mode (Upload, Signature, ID Document, or Headshot), and Instructions. Signature mode also asks for Signature template. Choose Add document.
• Open Actions for steps that are available on this record:
  • Sync From Template keeps existing uploads and entered values. Confirm the message, then you should see how many documents and activities were added.
  • Save Progress saves task and document updates. You should see Progress saved.
  • Create Employee asks you to confirm, then opens the new Employee record. Open Employee is on the header when an employee is already linked.
  • Mark as Completed sets every task to completed and boarding status to Completed. Confirm before it runs.
  • Unlock for Employee appears after the hire has submitted. It lets them edit again. They get an email that onboarding was unlocked.
  • Cancel stops the onboarding. You should see Onboarding cancelled. The status returns to Draft, and the activity and document tabs close.

A declined signature shows a Refusé warning with the reason, and the list can show the decline. A document can also read Missing file, Re-upload required, Waiting on company, Signed, or Declined.

If it fails

• Create Employee Onboarding does not save when Employee Name or Date of Joining is missing. The screen names the required fields.
• Submit fails with Action failed when the template or required details are not ready. The record stays Draft.
• Send portal access stays off until the record is submitted. If there is no email, the subtitle says to add an email on Setup, then send portal access.
• A save that conflicts with someone else’s edit says to reload and try again. Your other edits are still on the page when a save fails with Save failed. Your edits are still here.
• Upload failure says Upload failed. Try again once the file is ready. Download failure says Download failed.
• A Zoho subtitle asks you to confirm Type of Contract before you send portal access. A Returning hire chip means this person has been onboarded before.

Next

Onboarding portal is what the hire sees after the email arrives.