Automations are the engine behind the Employee Learning Cloud (ELC), allowing Admins to automate enrollment, notifications, and administrative tasks. By setting up "If-Then" logic, you can ensure that the right training reaches the right learner at the exact moment they need it without manual intervention.
Each Workflow consists of:
Trigger: The specific event that enters a user into the Workflow, such as joining a Group or completing a Guide.
Filters: Criteria used to limit which users are eligible for the Workflow based on User or Custom Attributes.
Step(s): The actions that occur once a user enters the Workflow, such as assigning training or waiting for a specified duration
Note: Filters can also be set within the Trigger event as a way to limit which users are eligible for the Workflow. Filtering options are available for both User Attributes and Custom Attributes.
Automations run every 20-30 minutes.
An example of a user driven step is ‘Completes a Guide’ which occurs when the user completes a specific Guide.
An example of a system action step is ‘Assign a training’, this step is taken by the system itself.
How to Setup Automated Assignments
Navigate to Settings > Automations and click + New Automation.
Name your Automation in the upper left-hand corner.
Select a Trigger:
New user created: Automatically enters any new user into the workflow upon account provisioning.
Joins a group: Triggers when a user is added to a specific Group.
Completes content: Triggers after a user completes a specific Guide, Path, or SCORM object.
Matches custom filters: Uses specific user attributes to identify eligible learners. to use as filters. Note: Filters are checked every 30 minutes.
Define Filter Behaviour:
New Matches (Default): The workflow only applies to users who meet the criteria after the workflow is activated.
New and Existing Matches: Includes users who already meet the criteria today, as well as those who meet them in the future.
Note: If the trigger is based off a new user is created plus additional attributes, you'll want to ensure the attributes are created and synced at the same time
For each Trigger Event, you can choose to filter the audience the trigger applies to. By default all users will be selected.
Step Options
Assign content: Automatically assigns a Guide, Path, or SCORM module. You can also set a due date or a custom message.
Wait a specified amount of time: Introduces a delay before the next action occurs.
Wait until content is complete: Pauses the workflow until the learner finishes a specific training object
It is possible to add multiple steps on top of a single Trigger. Here is an example of a an Automated Assignment Workflow that starts with the user being added to a Group and triggers a second assignment after completion of the first training assignment:
Once everything is set up, make sure to hit the Activate button on the top right to make the automated assignment flow live.
Manual Overrides and Retroactive Actions
Sometimes you need to trigger a Automation immediately for a specific group of people without waiting for the next system sync or you need to retrospectively add users to a Automation.
"Run Now" Functionality
If you have an Active Automation, you can manually trigger it to re-evaluate all active users against the trigger conditions.
How: Click the three-dot Action Menu on the Automation row and select Run Now.
Impact: This processes everyone who currently matches the criteria, including those who may have been missed by "New Matches" logic or those who met the criteria before the Automation was created.
Safety: A safeguard is in place to prevent duplicate concurrent runs if the button is clicked multiple times.
Info: Please be aware running the Automation retrospectively might add a large number of users. We suggest you review your filters and criteria before you execute.
Reporting & Troubleshooting
Common Automation Issues and Solutions
Automations form an essential part of WorkRamp for managing workflows efficiently. Below are troubleshooting scenarios to resolve specific issues:
Automation Did Not Trigger for an Existing User
Cause: If the Filter Behaviour is set to "New Matches," it excludes users who met the criteria before the automation setup. Solution: Change the Filter Behaviour to "New and Existing Matches" to include all relevant users.
Automation Failed Due to Manual Assignment Conflict
Cause: Conflicts occur when users are manually assigned the same training as those in active automations. Solution: Avoid manual assignments for automation-designated paths and allow sufficient processing time before introducing new manual updates.
To monitor which users are in an Automation and which step they are on Admin can reference the Automation Overview page. To access the page:
Admin can click on the Automations name
This will take them to the Automation Overview page where they will see all users currently in the Automation & which step they are on
FAQ
Can I assign all learning types?
You can assign Guides, Challenges, SCORM and Paths through these automations.
Is there a way to add existing users into an Automation?
Yes! After making the Trigger Event selection, users can select the Filter Behaviour of ‘New and Existing Matches’ to include Learners who met the criteria prior to the initial Automation activation.
What if a user’s role or Group changes once they have been entered into a Workflow?
Automations are entered when a Trigger Event occurs, with no additional filter checks throughout the Workflow.
What about Automations for Academies (external platform)?
Automations are available in both, but this article is for the internal instance. Navigate here for information on Automations in Academies
Do Events work within Automations?
Events can be included within Automations as part of a larger Path, they cannot be assigned as an individual training.
If I have Step: 'Wait a specified amount of time' followed by Step: 'Assign content,' when will the content be assigned after the delay?
The content will be assigned within the same hour that the user was placed into the Automation flow. Example: User was placed into Automation flow at 9am. The content will be assigned after the specified amount of time has passed, roughly around 9-10am.
Are date filters based on a specific time zone?
Yes, they are based on Pacific Standard Time (US-PST).
If you have a filter of Start Date and set it to equal today, it will trigger around 12am PST.
Why isn't the Automation triggering for my Learners?
There are a few possibilities as to why the Learners aren't being placed into the Automation workflow:
The Learner doesn't meet the Trigger settings (make sure to double check if there are any Trigger filters that may exclude some Learners)
You need to allow more time for the Automation to run. The Automation logic runs every 30 minutes. If your Trigger is "Joins a Group" and the Learner was added to the Group 5 minutes ago, we ask that you wait 25 minutes before checking to see if the Automation was triggered and the Learner placed into the workflow.
The Automation was activated after the user met the Trigger requirements. - in this case click the "Run Now" option to pull all users into the automation
Why aren't Learners moving from Step X to Step Y?
There are a few reasons why Learners aren't progressing through the Automation workflow:
The Automation is paused and not active
The Learner has already been assigned a training that is a part of the Automaton workflow. Our Automations logic checks to see if the Learner has been assigned the training before. If they have, the Automation will not assign the training to the Learner again and they won't be able to proceed in the Automation workflow.
Will the automation trigger if my user is created through Rippling?
If the trigger is based off a new user created, they can enter the automation. However, if the trigger is using other attributes, you'll want to add the user attributes before the user data syncs so that the user and their attributes are added at the same time.
Why did the automation fail to trigger for some existing users?
If the Filter Behaviour is set to "New Matches," it will only include users who met conditions post-setup. Change the setting to "New and Existing Matches" for comprehensive user processing.
What should I do if manual assignments conflict with automated workflows?
Avoid manually assigning paths designated to active automations and allow 20–30 minutes for automations to fully process before introducing manual changes.