Expedo has a document building and editing tool which allows for a customised document to be used within the onboarding experience and letter sending functions, including:
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Contract Templates
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Additional Documents
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Onboarding - Details (Edit Contract)
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Letter Templates
Please Note: In most cases a locally saved and accessible MS Word document is used as the source file which is then uploaded to pre-fill the contract & formatting details. This article will detail the steps required to build your own contract from such templates/starting point.
Upload & Edit your own Documents
When creating or editing a position you will see the options to:
These are the options you will see when uploading or creating a document:
| Name the Document | This will be the name presented within the contract library. Be sure to be as consistent as possible as these document may be shared across multiple positions where appropriate. |
| Document Type |
This drop-down list presents a range of 'system templates' which pre-define common questions/merge steps you may need to use for the build. Note you can 'hide' a lot of these steps, and still add custom questions where needed even if using the system templates. Note: Admins can add document types and templates. |
| Require Company Signature | Toggle on if this document requires a company's signing manager to sign this document. See Onboarding for more information on the workflow & roles during the onboarding and contract sign-off steps etc. |
| Require Worker Signature | Toggle on if you require the worker to e-sign this document during the onboarding process |
| Require Worker Acknowledgement | Toggle on if this document only requires an acknowledgement and not an e-signature requirement. (note it will turn off the signature option if toggled on). |
The Document Editor
You will now see the Document Editor which functions similarly to other word processing tools.
Click the 'Open' button to import an existing document.
From here you can then edit the contract and details within the live document builder environment.
Items you can add and edit include:
Text, Formatting, Paragraphs - Just as you would with any standard Word document, adjust these where needed using the tools visible:
System Merge Fields - Place your cursor into position, or highlight a current piece of text or merge area, and then search (by clicking on the section) and select the relevant merge fields presented in the list on the bottom right hand side to embed the new merge field accordingly.
You will notice the <<mergefield>> will be updated accordingly. This will result as an embedded merge data into the document when appropriate (when the input data is captured during the relevant execution step throughout the onboarding workflow).
Repeat this process for the required merge elements, replacing/editing existing text or fields with the relevant system fields throughout the document.
Manage Onboarding Question Merge Fields
Depending on the document type selected, you may see a range of miscellaneous questions/merge items being presented within this section. These, where appropriate, can also be incorporated into the document where needed, but the input data driving these fields are typically entered during the 'Onboarding Details' step of the onboarding process
Onboarding Question Merge fields' are found on the right-hand side un the 'Questions' Merge Fields.
You can see the details of these questions, and by clicking 'Show merge field questions':
From here you can:
Hide Onboarding Questions - that are not relevant to that document build, or the onboarding data grab that drives the merge fields within it.
Note: It is highly recommended to hide as many as possible so that workers are not presented with irrelevant questions.
Add Custom Questions - where needed, add new custom questions are needed for a merge field build.
Note: All of these questions are presented during the Onboarding - Details phase of the onboard build and NOT an employee facing question in any way.
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Step Title - is the main name used during the steps within the Onboarding - Details phase of the onboard build:
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Note: You can have a step title which acts as the name of a 'group of questions' if they are interrelated or similar enough to have a generic 'step instruction' etc. See below for more information here.
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Step Instructions - Provide guidance material which will show to the user when completing this step.
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Question Text & Instructions - Further fields/detail presented to the user to guide them on the appropriate input task.
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Merge Field Name - enter a name without spaces, and one which is unique and not the same as other system fields.
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Condition (Advanced) - TBC
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Type:
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Input - Free text field
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Date - will show calendar/date picker to the user for consistent date format use. (note that Company Details has options on date formats within the system)
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Drop Down - An ability to build a pre-set list of options of which the user must select, good for consistency and reporting.
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Multi Line- similar to input-free text field, but allows for multi line and sentence input data.
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Checkbox - an ability to present this question to the user to check/uncheck and merge into the document.
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Add an Item - an ability to add multiple questions under the same 'Step Title' as described above (and repeated in its build)
Be sure to then add your expected merge field into the document as well (where required).
Preview, Save and Test your contract build - As contracts serve as a highly important and risky (if incorrect) component of the onboarding experience. It is highly recommended that you preview and test your contract a few times before actively using it in a live on-board.
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Preview contract - by heading to the 'preview' button within the contract builder, note this will pre-fill a lot of the 'system merge fields' that you may have merged in, but not the custom (and some system) ones. This preview is a great way to have a quick glance at basic merge items that may be incorrect and formatting that needs correcting. For a more thorough test, we recommend the test onboard:
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Attached your test contract to a Position - See Customise Position - Select Contract Template for more information here.
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Test onboard
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follow the Create Onboarding - Positions, and Onboarding - Details process to check that all of your question steps present as expected.
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Review the contract, as seen in the Onboarding - Review, Sign & Release to worker section, and specifically check the contract merge fields etc.
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There is no real need to push this test all the way through to the worker experience step as the merge items don't require worker input, normally just the signature field only which is seen in the preview section above. See Expedo - Tips & Tricks - Document Builder for more.
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Expedo Tips & Tricks - Document Builder
All users will have their own preferences when building out their documents, whether it be for 1 contract, or 15, here are some tips and tricks you may find useful:
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Download your initial document build for duplicate/multiple builds - Where you may have multiple contracts or documents that need building out, but generally have the same merge fields needing to be embedded etc, you can download the one you have already fine-tuned into Word, copy any relevant merge fields or sections into that version, and then use that as the upload template. Saving you having to build out each merge item again on repeat. (Follow the Upload/Edit your own contract process however)
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Use Chrome's 'incognito' and multi-screens when testing your contract or document build. - When following the Preview, Save and Test your contract build process, you can view the 'document builder within 'incognito' (using required admin login where needed) whilst at the same time using your 'Approving Manager' login (using normal chrome browser) for the document approval/review step. This works very well when you have two screens to put side by side and adjust where needed, saving you having to jump between screen/logins when updating the contract builder.
Note: Access 'incognito' by right clicking on your Chrome icon within bottom taskbar (on PC's)