Automate Employee Onboarding: Generate Appointment Letters using Pabbly Connect, Google Sheets & Google Docs

Learn how to automate employee onboarding by generating appointment letters using Pabbly Connect, Google Sheets, and Google Docs in this detailed tutorial. Explore systematic approaches to creating efficient automation solutions that convert technical concepts into practical, implementable instructions.

Watch Step By Step Video Tutorial Below

1. Setting Up Pabbly Connect for Automation

To automate employee onboarding, you first need to set up Pabbly Connect. This integration platform allows you to connect Google Sheets with Google Docs and Google Drive seamlessly. Start by visiting the Pabbly Connect website, where you can either sign in or sign up for a free account.

Once logged in, navigate to the dashboard and click on the ‘Create Workflow’ button. Name your workflow something descriptive, like ‘Generate Appointment Letters using Google Sheets and Google Docs’. This naming helps in identifying your workflow later. After naming, select a folder to save the workflow for better organization.

2. Configuring Google Sheets as a Trigger in Pabbly Connect

In this step, you will configure Google Sheets as the trigger application in Pabbly Connect. Select Google Sheets from the trigger application options and choose the event as ‘New or Updated Spreadsheet Row’. This event will trigger the workflow whenever new candidate details are added or updated in your specified Google Sheet.

• Select Google Sheets as the trigger application.
• Choose the trigger event: New or Updated Spreadsheet Row.
• Connect your Google Sheets account to Pabbly Connect.

After connecting, you will need to specify the spreadsheet and the worksheet where your candidate data is stored. Ensure that your Google Sheet has all necessary columns, such as candidate name, email, designation, and department, filled correctly to facilitate the document generation.

3. Creating Appointment Letters in Google Docs

Next, you will set up Google Docs as the action application in Pabbly Connect. Select Google Docs and choose the action event as ‘Create Document from Template’. This allows you to generate appointment letters based on a predefined template you have set up in Google Docs.

To do this, you need to select the template document that contains placeholders for candidate details. For instance, fields like {{Candidate_Name}}, {{Designation}}, and {{CTC}} should be present in your template. This setup ensures that when a new candidate is added in Google Sheets, their details automatically populate into the appointment letter template.

• Select the template document from your Google Docs.
• Map the candidate details from Google Sheets to the corresponding placeholders in the document.
• Specify the new document name, typically including the candidate’s name and the title ‘Appointment Letter’.

After mapping all necessary fields, save the action to ensure that the appointment letter is created successfully whenever triggered by new data in Google Sheets.

4. Sharing and Saving PDF in Google Drive

Once the appointment letter is created, the next step is to share it and generate a PDF link using Google Drive through Pabbly Connect. Select Google Drive as the next action application and choose the action event ‘Share a File with Anyone’ to make the appointment letter accessible.

In this step, you will need to map the Document ID received from the previous action (the document created in Google Docs). This mapping ensures that the correct file is shared. After sharing the file, you will receive a shareable link that can be used to access the document.

Map the Document ID to share the correct appointment letter. Enable sharing settings to allow anyone with the link to access the document. Generate the PDF link for the appointment letter.

Finally, save this action to ensure that the appointment letter is shared and the PDF link is generated successfully. This link will be crucial for sending the appointment letter to the candidate securely.

5. Finalizing the PDF Upload in Google Drive

The last step in this automation process is to upload the generated PDF to a designated folder in Google Drive using Pabbly Connect. Again, select Google Drive as the action application, but this time choose the action event ‘Upload a File’ to save the PDF.

You will need to specify the folder ID where you want to save the PDF file. Make sure this folder is pre-created in your Google Drive. Map the PDF link generated in the previous step to ensure the correct file is uploaded.

Select the folder in Google Drive for PDF storage. Map the PDF link to upload the correct appointment letter. Save and test this action to verify successful upload.

After completing this step, your workflow is set up to automatically generate appointment letters, share them, and save them as PDFs in Google Drive. This integration significantly streamlines the employee onboarding process.

Conclusion

In this tutorial, we demonstrated how to automate employee onboarding by generating appointment letters using Pabbly Connect, Google Sheets, and Google Docs. By following these steps, you can save time and ensure accuracy in your onboarding process. Automating these tasks allows HR professionals to focus on more strategic activities while maintaining efficiency.