Adobe Sign New Hire Scenario
This scenario steps through the process of using the Adobe Sign action to send documents for digital signing with the Adobe e-signature platform.
Scenario: Your HR department wants to automate the new hire process. Currently, the hiring manager contacts HR to begin the contract process. But with an automation process, the hiring manager fills out a form that populates a template, which is then sent out for digital signing using the company’s Adobe Sign account. The new employee signs the contact and the documents are automatically sent back to HR.
Create a list and form
First, create a list and a corresponding form. This information is used to populate the contract you send out for signing. For instructions on creating a form with Nintex Forms for Office 365, see Creating and working with forms in the product help.
| List column | Form value |
|---|---|
| Name | The name of the new hire. |
| Contact Email Address | New hire's email address. |
| Position | The job title of the new hire. |
| Hiring Manager | Then name of the new hire's manager. |
| Start Date | Day the new hire starts. |
For example:
Design the workflow
Now, let's dive a little deeper and configure the workflow that corresponds with the form.
The high level of the workflow
- Set and update the workflow status.
- Configure and set all variable data inserted in the documents.
- Dynamically build the employee contract with the Document Generation action.
- Send the generated contract to the new hire with the Adobe Sign action.
- Wait for new employee to sign document using Adobe Sign and save the contract back to SharePoint.
For instructions on accessing the workflow designer from Nintex Workflow for Office 365, see Accessing the Nintex Workflow designer product help.
- Easily see what state the workflow is in by updating the workflow instance with a "Generating Contract" status. Add the Set Workflow Status action.
Open the action and configure the fields as follows.
Field Enter the value Status Generating Contract
- Set up a variable for each form field, except attachments (name, email address, position, hiring manager, and start date). These variables will insert data into the document.
- Create a variable for each form field to pull data from the form fields into workflow actions.
Click Variables in the workflow ribbon and then configure the variables as shown in the screenshot.
- Map each variable to each form field.
For each variable, add a Set Workflow Variable action.
Open the Set Workflow Variable action and configure the fields as shown for the first action.
Field Example value (Italics indicate variables) Variable Employee Name
Value {Current Item:Name}
Select Name from Item Properties.
The screenshot shows all actions renamed to show the form fields. To rename an action, double click the label.
- Create a variable for each form field to pull data from the form fields into workflow actions.
- Set up the Document Generation template to pull form fields for the contract. Add the Document Generation action.
Open the action and configure the fields as follows.
Field Example value Template document library Template Library
Template Contract Template.docx
Output document library Agreements.
For this example, I created a specific document library named Agreements so HR can access the output files quickly.
Output file name {Current Item:Name}-Employee Contract
To create my template, I used the Nintex Document Generation tagger to insert variable data in the template when the workflow runs.
Template example.
- Update workflow instances with a "Sending contract" status to easily see what state the workflow is in. Add the Set Workflow Status action.
Open the action and configure the fields as follows.
Field Example value Status Sending contract
- Log a message recording the email address and list item name of the contract, letting your HR department quickly see the contracts that have been sent out. Add the Log to History List action.
Open the action and configure the fields as follows.
Field Example value Message Contract has been generated, sending for signature to {Current Item:Name} - {Current Item:Contact Email Address}
Select Name and Email Address from Item Properties.
- Send the contract to the new hire for a digitally signature. Add the Adobe Sign action. Open the action and configure the fields as follows.
Field Example value Initiator The email address linked to the Adobe Sign account. The user logs into the Adobe account to authorize the workflow.
Recipient [%Current Item:Contact Email Address%] – new hire email
Click
for more options and configure as show in the screenshot.
Agreement name Employment Contract for {Current Item:Name}
Select Name from Item Properties.
Document location I selected SharePoint. (The following fields depend on this choice.)
SharePoint relative URL SiteAssets/Standard%20Cover%20Page.docx (The location of the cover page you send.)
You can merge multiple templates together to form one document. In this example, I use a cover page and the document outputted from the Document Generation action.
To add another SharePoint relative URL, click Add document.Output document library Signed Agreement.
For this example, I created a specific document library named Signed Agreement to let HR access the output files quickly.
Output document name/path Employee Contract for {Current Item: Name}.
Select Name from Item Properties.
- Set up the process logic for Yes and No responses. Add a Conditional Branch action.
Open the action and configure the fields as follows.
Field Enter the value Status Configure as shown in the screenshot.
- Update workflow status to record the digital signature response. Add a Set Workflow Status action under each branch to update the Workflow Status page.
Open each action and configure the fields as follows.
Field Enter the example value Status Declined (under the No branch).
Status Accepted (Under the Yes branch).
- Publish and close the workflow.
Run the workflow
Now you're ready to run the workflow. After the form is filled out, start the workflow. The initiator you specified in the Adobe Sign action is prompted to authorize the workflow.
When the initiator has authorized the workflow, the contract is sent to the recipient. The recipient clicks on the link, which goes to the Adobe site. The contract opens and is filled out with the information you entered in the form.
The recipient signs the document and submits it. Both the recipient and the initiator get email copies of the signed documents.
Back in the SharePoint Online environment, the signed contract is saved in the document library you specified in the Adobe Sign action. In this example, the signed document is saved in the Signed Agreements library, allowing HR easy access to the list of completed contracts.
Hope this scenario has been helpful. Let us know your thoughts or questions in the comments below.
