Employee Portal Configuration Guide

Learn how to get the most from this module to improve the experience for your users and automate key tasks

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   Estimated Read Time: 12 minutes 

 

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Sections in this Article

Employee Portal Introduction & Features

Basics

Enabling the Module

Getting a link to the EP Login Page

Managing "Employee Portal Administrators"

Enabling Employee Portal for your Workflow Forms

Advanced

Adding Workflow Tile Descriptions

Adding Form Descriptions

Copying Request Form links (for embedding elsewhere e.g. Confluence Pages)

Adding "FYI" emails to Employee Portal users

FYI Email Examples

Hiding Phases from Employee Portal Progress Counters

Reordering Available Employee Portal Forms

Reordering User Navigation Menus

Expert

Enabling  Just-In-Time User Account Creation ("JIT")

Upgrading users from Employee Portal to Full Internal ⏳

Adding Personalised Touchless Links

 

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Employee Portal Brief Introduction

 

The Employee Portal module makes an easier & better experience for your users who wish to initiate workflows & track the progress of their previously submitted forms

 

When enabled as a Module, Employee Portal provides access to 2 new sections of Gatekeeper:

 

The First (and most useful) feature is the Submit Requests dashboard

With Employee Portal enabled, this dashboard is presented to all your Internal Gatekeeper users:

 

Pictured: A Submit Requests dashboard with Personalised links, Intake Forms & Previous Submissions

 

 

The Second feature is this same dashboard, but made available as the only feature available to a set of your users

i.e. If you want some of your users to only be able to Submit & Track their workflow forms (without access to the repositories/files/other areas of Gatekeeper), you can add them as "Employee Portal Only" users

 

Alongside the improved submission & tracking dashboards, follow-up benefit to the employee portal is its security

Since you can decide who has access to your forms, you can rest assured that you will only receive submissions by authenticated users from within your organisation

 

As a result of this, Gatekeeper enhances 2 aspects of your Employee Portal Forms:

 

1 - Pre-filling data from your repository

When selecting existing records from your repository (Vendors or Contracts), Gatekeeper will pull their metadata into the workflow form, saving your users time (and also avoiding users having to re-enter information that may clash with what you are currently storing)

 

 

2 - Allowing the addition of new "Vendor Users"

When entering details about new or existing Vendors into workflow forms, Gatekeeper allows an option to enter a new vendor user, including their Name, Job Title & Email Address

However, if Gatekeeper cannot validate that the form submitter is a member of your organisation, if will remove this "Add New" option from any Supplier User fields

 

 

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Configuring the Basics

 

Enabling the Employee Portal ☑️

Once Employee Portal is added to your subscription, the module can be enabled/disabled by Configuration Admins here:

Step 1) Go to Modules > Employee Portal

Step 2) Switch Employee Portal to Enabled 

 

Getting a link to the Employee Login Page (optional) 🔗

If you plan on using the User Type of "Employee Portal Only" (see ⬆️ above for context ⬆️) or "Just in Time User Provisioning" (see ⬇️ below for details ⬇️), you can get the access link to Employee Portal below

Step 1) Go to Modules > Employee Portal

Step 2) Underneath the "Enabled" switch, click to copy your Employee Portal URL

 

 

Adding Employee Portal Administrators 🧑‍🔧➕

Step 1) Go to Modules > Employee Portal

Step 2) Hit ➕ Add Administrator

Step 3) Select a User from the Dropdown then hit ✅ Create

 

Removing Employee Portal Administrators 🧑‍🔧➖

Step 1) Go to Modules > Employee Portal

Step 2) Alongside the user you wish to remove, hover over the edit menu then hit Delete

 

 

 

Enabling Employee Portal for your Workflows 🧑‍💻

Now that you've configured the basics for the Module, the final step to get started is to allow your workflow forms to be selected in Employee Portal

Step 1) Open the Workflow you wish to enable in Employee Portal

Step 2) Click to edit the Start Phase & navigate to the Form Access tab

Step 3) Set the Form Access to 🔘 Employee Portal

Step 4) Enable the ☑️ Authenticated form option then hit ✅ Save

 

 

 

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Advanced Level Module Configuration

 

Adding Tile Details 💬

As seen in the above introduction, Forms Tiles can be customised so your users have extra context & guidance before selecting a form & hitting REQUEST

Step 1) Head to the Workflows & find the workflow you wish to edit

Step 2) Click the dots menu then hit Edit This Workflow

Step 3) Populate a Description

Step 4) You can also edit the Icon/Icon Colour & Label in this view

Step 5) Hit ✅ Save

 

 

Adding Form Details 📋

Similar to above, once your users have clicked REQUEST to start a new form, you can embed introductory guidance & context about the form/process to follow

Step 1) On your workflow, click to edit the Start phase

Step 2) Populate the Description text box

Step 3) Select where you want this text to appear (either 🔘 Above the form or alongside it in the 🔘 Sidebar)

Step 4) Hit ✅ Save

 

 

Copying Request Form links 🔗

If you want these forms to be accessed from other tools (e.g. Confluence Pages, Application hubs) or indeed from guidance you embed in other areas of Gatekeeper (such as Invitation Emails & Workflow Notifications) you can easily get a direct clickable url

 

Step 1) Head to the Submit Requests dashboard

Step 2) Right-click the REQUEST button for your desired form

Step 3) Click Copy Link Address

 

 

Adding FYI emails to Card Creators 📩

CC Card Creator emails are a useful tool to keep your requestors informed & engaged in processes they have initiated

With these enabled, Gatekeeper will automatically send updates to your users at the point that a card arrives on a particular phase. Therefore, these make a great opportunity to let them know that their new request has reached a key milestone in the workflow

 

Step 1) On your Workflow, click to edit a phase where you wish to enable a CC email

Step 2) Navigate to the Notifications tab

Step 3) Enable Card Creator email

Step 4) Click to edit the Email Template

Step 5) Here you can populate an email Subject Line, Content & Button Text

Step 6) Hit ✅ Update then ✅ Save to store your new notification settings

 

CC Email Examples

Example 1 - Submission Confirmation 📥

The first cc email a user may want to receive would be to let them know that the form they submitted was done so successfully and will now be reviewed.

To achieve this, enable a cc email on the first phase cards arrive at once forms are submitted:

 

Example Content:

Email Subject: Form Received 👍 | {{ card.name}}

Email Content: 

Thanks for submitting a new Contract Request!

This will now be reviewed by the Contract/Vendor Management team before we begin contract discussions

This initial approval will be completed by <strong>{{ enter_phase.sla_due_date }}</strong>📅

You may track your submission (and all of your other submissions) via your <strong><a href="https://eu.gatekeeperhq.com/3294/employee_dashboard">Submit Requests Dashboard</a></strong>

<hr><i>If you have any other queries, you may reach out to any member of the Contract Management Team by @-tagging them in a Message thread via the form

<i>...just follow the below <strong>View Form 📋</strong> button & hit <strong>✉️ New Message</strong></i>

Email Button Text: View Form 📋

 

Example Email Appearance:

 

 

Example 2 - Delay at Key stage ⏳

Rather than just sending an email once a card has reached a certain workflow phase, you can configure emails to send if a card has been at a certain phase for too long

To achieve this you can leverage the automated Email Reminders  (without enabling the initial cc email):

 

 

Example Content:

Email Subject:  ⏰ FYI | Contract Draft Delay - {{ card.name}} ⏰

Email Content: 

As an FYI, your Contract request has been awaiting a Vendor response for 5 days with no input received via Gatekeeper

It may be worth reaching out to your contact to ensure that they have received the "draft review" email and prompting them to (a) submit their reviewed version or (b) accept the current terms
<hr><strong>If they do not submit a new draft by {{ enter_phase.sla_due_date }, Gatekeeper will assume the terms have been accepted and will proceed to eSignatures!</strong>

 

Example 3 - "Done" Confirmation ✅

Probably the most obvious update to provide to form requestors is when their forms have completed all necessary steps and the process is complete.

To achieve this, enable a cc email on the "Done" phase of your workflow

 

Example Content:

Email Subject:  ✅ Contract Setup Completed | {{ card.name}} ✅

Email Content: 

Your contract has now completed its setup process and can be viewed as a<strong>Live</strong> and <strong>Approved</strong> record in the Gatekeeper database

All the necessary steps have been completed for the PO to be raised & for you to begin working with the Vendor on this new project!

Thank you for your patience & cooperation!

 

 

Hiding Workflow Phases 🫣

In the Employee Portal dashboard, Gatekeeper displays Progress in the form of counters and in the "View More" timeline

However, for some of your workflows, there may be some phases you wish to hide from these 2 areas to simplify the view for your requestors

 

Step 1) Navigate to Modules > Employee Portal

Step 2) Alongside the workflow you wish to hide phases, click the dots menu then Edit

Step 3) Tick Hide ☑️ next to the phases you wish to hide

Step 4) Hit ✅ Submit to save

 

 

Re-order the Employee Portal Forms

If you have many workflow forms in your Employee Portal, you may want to choose a specific order they appear to your users

Step 1) Navigate to Modules > Employee Portal

Step 2) Alongside Employee Portal Workflows, hit Reorder Workflows

Step 3) Click the menu icon to drag & drop your forms into the order they should appear in Employee Portal

Step 4) Hit ✅ Update to save your new order

 

 

Reordering User Navigation Menus

The left hand menu in Gatekeeper is where the majority of navigation takes place

If you wish to prioritise the Submit Requests dashboard for your users, you can move it up to a higher position in their left-hand menus!

 

Step 1) Navigate to Settings > Configuration> Navigations, Charts & Email

Step 2) Enable Dynamic Navigation

Step 3) Hit refresh and you should see that your Left Hand menu has a new padlock button

Step 4) Click the padlock to enter the Edit-Menu mode

Step 5) Use the arrow icon to drag & drop the menu items where you wish to place them

Step 6) When finished, hit the ✅ tick icon to store this as your new menu layout

Step 7) Back in Settings > Configuration> Navigations, Charts & Email, alongside SET DEFAULT NAVIGATION, hit the View button

Step 8) Choose whether to apply the view you have just configured to all existing users or set it as the default for any new users added to Gatekeeper

...or both!

 

 

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Expert Level Module Configuration

 

Enabling Just-In-Time User Creation 🛠️💨

If you regularly have new starters (or new employees who want to log in to Gatekeeper) you do not need to add them as users yourself

You can essentially configure a "pre-approved" list of email domains and - after locking your employee portal to SSO - can entrust Gatekeeper with creating new user accounts when someone with a valid email tries to login for the first time!

 

Step 1) Navigate to Settings > Configuration > Just-in-Time (JIT) Provisioning

Step 2) Set Just-in-Time (JIT) Provisioning to Enabled

Step 3) Restrict the login ("auth") methods to either Google SSO or Microsoft SSO based on your email address type 

Step 4) Populate a "Default Department" any new users should be added to when signing up

Step 5) Enter the Domain/s for which user accounts should be allow to register

Step 6) Hit ✅ Save

 

 

 

Configuring Personalised Touchless Links

If you have a Touchless Contract workflow, you can configure links for each of your Gatekeeper users which will appear for them in their Forms dashboard

By sending out these links, Gatekeeper will be able to capture an Internal "Card Creator", even though the user populating & submitting the form will be the Vendor

By having an Internal Card Creator, you then use Gatekeeper AutoActions to assign the key internal stakeholder for the new agreement/relationship generated via the workflow

 

Step 1) Head to your Touchless Contract Workflow

Step 2) Click to edit the Start phase & open the Form Access tab

Step 3) Hit Manage Personal Links, then ➕ Add Personal Links

Step 4) Here you can begin typing to select the users who should have these

or simply hit Select All to generate a link for all your users!

Step 5) After selecting all appropriate users, hit ✅ Save to generate the links

 

Using Personalised Links

Once created, your users will be able to access their personalised Touchless forms within their Submit Requests dashboard and send these out in one of 2 ways

1) Hitting Send To where they will be able to enter a Vendor Email Address to send a form to

 

2) By hitting Copy Link where they can copy their link to the clipboard and share it via the messaging tool of their choice

 

 

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Additional Reading 📚

 

📖 Configuring Workflow Forms

Learn how to build a form for your Employee Portal users, including all the fields, guidance & dynamic layout settings necessary to get all the right information at the start of your workflow

 

Suggested Employee Portal Workflows

🛠️ Touchless NDA

This workflow can used in combination with Personalised Links to provide a quick way to get your new Vendors to sign-up to Gatekeeper while executing a new NDA (or similar introductory agreement)

🛠️ Vendor Onboarding Requests

This workflow can be used to onboarding & risk assess new vendors to ensure all necessary data & documentation is in place to maintain a safe & beneficial relationship

🛠️ New Contract Requests

This workflow can facilitate the setup, negotiation, approvals & execution of new agreements you wish to get in place & store in Gatekeeper

🛠️ Contract Variation Requests

This workflow can be used to allow your users to request updates to existing agreements (such as early renewals, terminations, amendments to the terms & pricing, etc)

Presenting this in a workflow form (rather than allowing these changes to be made directly to a record in your repository) allows you to maintain control over the data your store as your "Central source of truth" as well as ensure all updates go through the proper channels before being brought into effect