People Workflows Glossary

The administrative area where People Workflows configuration, access, integrations, and related organization controls are managed.

A rule-driven behavior that performs or schedules workflow work without requiring someone to manually start every action.

An issue that prevents a workflow or step from progressing, such as missing information, an incomplete task, or an unmet dependency.

The collection of settings that defines how a workflow operates, including its trigger, steps, participants, timing, data, and behavior.

An organization-defined field used to store structured information that is not represented by a standard Ashby field. Custom fields can support workflow inputs, reporting, and integrations.

A rule that determines whether a workflow, step, or branch should run. Dependancies are commonly based on a person’s record, workflow data, or the state of an earlier step.

The date or time by which a step or task is expected to be completed. A due date may be calculated from an event, a start date, or another workflow milestone.

A person represented in Ashby as part of the employee or People Ops lifecycle. Employee workflows are generally intended for people who are already employees rather than candidates who are becoming new hires.

A custom field attached to an employee record. It can provide workflow context and can be used in reporting or downstream integrations when supported.

The event or rule that starts enrollment. In an onboarding workflow, the trigger may be connected to a hiring or offer milestone; in a form-triggered workflow, it is connected to a submitted form or configured form event.

A structured set of questions or fields used to collect information. In People Workflows, a form can provide data for a workflow or act as the event that starts one.

An individual question or data input inside a form. A form field can capture information needed by later steps, tasks, conditions, or integrations.

A workflow that starts when a form is submitted. It is distinct from and more generic than an onboarding workflow, which is designed around the new-hire onboarding lifecycle.

A connection between Ashby and another system that allows supported data or actions to move between the systems. People Workflows documentation references integrations such as HRIS systems, e-signature providers, and background check providers.

A person who has accepted an offer and is moving into the employee onboarding process. In the People Workflows context, a new hire is commonly the subject of an onboarding workflow and may receive a dedicated welcome portal.

A dedicated, new-hire-facing space where the new hire can see the onboarding work that applies to them and understand what they need to do.

A workflow designed to coordinate the activities required to prepare and onboard a new hire. It can bring together tasks, communications, approvals, data collection, and handoffs before and around the start date.

An automated rule or schedule that enrolls people, creates work, sends reminders, advances steps, or otherwise reduces manual onboarding coordination.

A hiring milestone indicating that the candidate has accepted an offer. People Workflows materials describe offer acceptance as a possible starting point for onboarding activity.

A user who configures and administers People Workflows for the organization, including workflow setup, permissions, integrations, and reporting access.

Ashby’s workflow capability for coordinating employee-lifecycle work—especially onboarding—through structured, multi-step processes, automated actions, tasks, communications, handoffs, and progress visibility.

A person involved in a workflow. Depending on the step, a participant may be the new hire, an employee, a manager, a People Ops partner, an IT partner, or another assigned stakeholder.

Permission settings determine who can administer workflows, view workflow data, or use related reporting and integrations.

The action that makes a workflow configuration available for use. Publishing is separate from drafting or editing; changes normally need to be reviewed and published before they affect future workflow activity.

A saved analysis that uses a reporting subject, fields, filters, and groupings to present workflow or employee data.

The type of record or activity being analyzed in a report. A subject defines the population and fields available for reporting.

An ordered set of workflow steps that run one after another or according to configured timing. Sequences are useful when the order of work matters.

One unit of work in a workflow. A step can represent an action, task, data collection activity, communication, approval, or other configured piece of the process.

A container for organizing related workflow steps. Groups make complex workflows easier to read and maintain and can help represent a phase or category of work.

The person or role responsible for completing, reviewing, or advancing a step. Ownership makes accountability visible and supports handoffs.

A piece of work assigned to a participant as part of a workflow. Tasks may have an owner, instructions, a due date, and a completion state.

The event or condition that starts a workflow, step, or automation. A trigger may be tied to an onboarding milestone, a form event, a date, or another configured condition.

A recorded action, task, event, or status change associated with a workflow instance. Activities provide an operational history of what has happened and what needs attention.

One person’s active, completed, or cancelled run of a workflow. The workflow configuration is the reusable design; the workflow instance is the experience of that design for a specific person.

A role used to identify who should perform or receive a workflow step. A role can make assignments reusable across people and teams instead of naming one individual in every workflow.

The current state of a workflow enrollment or step, such as not started, in progress, completed, skipped, blocked, or cancelled. Exact status labels may vary by workflow area.