ADP Workforce Now Connector
This article explains how to configure and use Ashby's integration with ADP Workforce Now, which sends new-hire information from Ashby to ADP as pre-hires and reduces manual data entry.
- The Recruiting integration syncs ADP fields as custom offer fields, but People Operations often captures this information more accurately later, during Onboarding.
- The People Ops integration solves this by letting you push new-hire data to ADP directly from Ashby's Onboarding Workflows, so the right team captures the right data at the right time.
Ashby's People Ops module is currently available through restricted early access. The following documentation is provided for design partners participating in that program.
Permissions and access
Organization Admins in Ashby Recruiting can connect and configure the ADP integration in Admin > Integrations.
Ashby People Ops admins with workflow edit access can select ADP Workforce Now as the integration when configuring an Integration step.
Managing ADP-sourced custom employee fields requires the Edit employee custom fields permission.
Learn more about Ashby's People Ops permission sets: Configure Permission SetsAdminister permission sets.
Setup instructions
For more about Ashby's ADP Workforce Now Connector, see the ADP Workforce Now Connector guide.
Configure the ADP integration in Ashby Recruiting
Whether you use the ADP integration in Ashby Recruiting or People Ops, the setup process is the same. To configure the integration, see the following documentation:
Requirements
Enable the ADP integration in People Ops
Once you have completed the above steps, return to the integration in Ashby Recruiting and toggle the setting Ashby Module to Ashby People Ops.
When you update the Ashby Module setting to Ashby People Ops, Ashby archives any custom fields that were mapped from ADP to custom offer fields.
Once you activate the ADP integration in People Ops, any fields enabled in the ADP integration settings automatically appear under Custom Fields in People Ops. These custom fields can be synced as offer fields. More on this at Sync job and offer data via Sync as Offer Field.
Configuring the ADP integration in workflows
To determine when Ashby sends a new hire's data to ADP, add an Integration step to your onboarding workflow.
- Navigate to the relevant workflow and select Edit Workflow Template.
- In the workflow editor, click + Add Step and choose Integration.
- From the list of available integrations, select ADP Workforce Now.
Once added, the ADP Integration step triggers a one-time push of the new hire's data to ADP when all dependencies (such as survey completions) are met.
The ADP Integration can only be added once per workflow. This is because the new hire's data can only be pushed once. Attempting to add it again will result in an error.
Managing ADP data collection in People Ops
To ensure Ashby sends accurate and complete data to ADP, populate all required ADP custom fields before the ADP Integration step runs in your workflow.
There are four ways to collect this information in People Ops, depending on your team's process and where you prefer to gather employee details:
Through a survey step
One of the most flexible ways to collect ADP field data is through a Survey step in your onboarding workflow.
Surveys can be configured to be completed by new hires or internal team members, depending on who the survey is assigned to within the survey step configuration.
When setting up the workflow:
- Add a Survey step to your workflow and select the relevant recipient. This can be the new hire or another employee or custom role (for example, a People Ops Coordinator).
- Configure your survey and, for each question, use Ashby's Form Field Connectors to link the question directly to the corresponding ADP custom field.
- When the respondent completes the survey, their answers automatically populate the linked employee custom field.
- Create multiple surveys if data needs to come from different sources, for instance, one survey for the new hire to provide personal details and another for the People Ops team to complete company or job-specific information.
- To ensure all data is collected before the push to ADP, make survey completion a dependency for the ADP Integration Step.
This ensures the integration does not run until all required surveys have been submitted and mapped fields are complete.
Using surveys provides flexibility across teams and roles, ensures accuracy by pulling responses directly into ADP fields, and minimizes manual data entry during onboarding.
Sync job and offer data via Sync as Offer Field
For fields that already have a value in Ashby Recruiting, such as compensation or hire date, you don't need to collect that data again.
Enabling Sync as Offer Field on an ADP custom field automatically populates it from the candidate's Job or Offer record instead of requiring manual or survey entry.
To configure this:
- Navigate to Admin > Custom Fields.
- Locate the applicable ADP-sourced field.
- Enable the Sync as Offer Field? toggle for that field.
Once enabled, the ADP-sourced custom field in People Ops syncs as a custom offer field in Ashby Recruiting. From there, you can set a default value from Job data, or populate it when generating a new hire's offer.
For more on syncing employee fields as offer fields, see Sync Employee Custom Field as Offer FieldSync Employee Custom Field as Offer Field.
During workflow enrollment
Another way to capture ADP field data is during workflow enrollment.
When you manually enroll a new hire into an onboarding workflow, you have the option to review and populate custom fields as part of the enrollment process.
This method works best for fields that should be completed by internal team members, such as People Operations or Human Resources (HR) coordinators, rather than by the new hire. It allows your team to confirm or add information before the workflow begins.
To configure this:
- Enroll a new hire in a workflow.
- During the Review Custom Fields step, you see the ADP-linked employee fields.
- Enter the necessary details before launching the workflow.
If you use automations to auto-enroll new hires without review, this manual step is skipped.
On the employee profile
You can enter ADP field data directly on the employee profile at any time before the ADP Integration step runs.
This approach is ideal for quick edits or last-minute updates, such as correcting an address. If you update this field after the ADP push happens it will not be updated in ADP.
To do this:
- Navigate to the employee's profile in People Ops.
- Navigate to the Custom Fields section of the employee's profile and locate the applicable ADP-linked field.
- Enter or update the information as needed.
The ADP Integration step respects any changes you make here when it runs.
FAQ
What happens to my custom fields if I switch the integration between Recruiting and People Ops?
Switching the ADP Workforce Now connector from Recruiting to People Ops archives the mapped offer custom fields in Ashby Recruiting and activates them in Ashby People Ops.
See ADP Workforce Now ConnectorADP Workforce Now Connector for more information.
What happens if I update the ADP integration's Ashby Module settings back to Recruiting?
If you switch back to Recruiting, any ADP fields previously mapped there are automatically reactivated.
Any ADP fields that were mapped to custom fields in People Ops are automatically archived.
Can I add the ADP integration to multiple workflow steps?
You can only add the ADP Integration step once per workflow. If you try to add it again, you see an error message.
What happens if an employee has already gone through a workflow with an ADP Integration Step and is later enrolled in another workflow that also includes an ADP Integration Step?
If an employee has already been sent to ADP through a previous workflow, any subsequent ADP Integration Step results in an error.
Because the integration performs a one-time push per employee, Ashby prevents duplicate submissions to ADP.
To avoid errors, we recommend enrolling each employee in only one workflow that includes the ADP Integration Step.
If you need to make additional updates to the employee's information in ADP, those changes should be handled directly within ADP, not by re-enrolling the employee in another workflow with an integration step.