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Process Runbook / SOP
Probation Period Management
[YourCompany.com] · HR Department · Prepared by FullSpec · [Today's Date]
This runbook is the operating reference for your HR team. It describes exactly what the automation does at each stage of a probation cycle, what your team is responsible for, how to handle situations the system cannot resolve on its own, and how to keep the process healthy over time. FullSpec builds, monitors, and maintains the automation end to end. Your team's role is limited to a single decision step, plus the exception handling and maintenance tasks described in the sections below.
01Process overview
The Probation Period Management automation covers everything from the moment a new employee record lands in BambooHR to the point where the signed outcome letter is filed and the HRIS record is closed. Three agents handle scheduling, manager chasing, letter generation, and record updates without any manual input from HR. The one step that stays with your team is reviewing the manager's feedback and recording the outcome in Notion. That decision carries employment consequences and must always be made by a person.
Process name
Probation Period Management
Trigger
A new employee record with a confirmed start date is created in BambooHR
Final output
A fully signed outcome letter filed in Google Drive and the employee record updated in BambooHR with the confirmed probation status
Agents running
Probation Schedule Agent, Feedback Chase Agent, Outcome and Documentation Agent
Tools involved
BambooHR, Notion, Google Workspace (Gmail and Google Docs), Slack, DocuSign
Weekly volume
3 to 5 active probations per month (milestone events fire throughout each cycle)
Human checkpoint
HR Manager reviews manager feedback and records the outcome (pass, extend, or exit) in the Notion tracker
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02Step-by-step: what happens and who acts
What you actually need to do: Your team has one action in this entire process. When the Feedback Chase Agent confirms that a manager has submitted their review, the HR Manager opens the Notion probation tracker, reads the feedback, and records the outcome as pass, extend, or exit. That single entry triggers everything that follows: the letter, the DocuSign envelope, and the BambooHR update. Every other step in the table below is handled by the automation.
Step
What happens
Who acts
Type
1
A new employee record is created in BambooHR with a confirmed start date. The Probation Schedule Agent detects this immediately and begins the probation cycle without any manual trigger.
Automation
Automated
2
The Probation Schedule Agent calculates the 4-week, 8-week, and end-of-probation milestone dates from the start date and writes a structured tracking entry to the Notion probation tracker, including all milestone dates and the employee's assigned manager.
Probation Schedule Agent
Automated
3
At each calculated milestone date, the Feedback Chase Agent sends a personalised feedback request email to the responsible manager via Gmail. The email includes a direct link to the feedback form and is logged against the Notion record.
Feedback Chase Agent
Automated
4
If the manager has not submitted feedback within 48 hours, the Feedback Chase Agent posts a direct Slack message to the manager with the form link. If there is still no response after a further 48 hours, the agent escalates to HR with a Slack notification.
Feedback Chase Agent
Automated
5
The HR Manager reads the submitted feedback in Notion and records the probation outcome as pass, extend, or exit directly in the tracker. This is the only step that requires a human decision. All documentation steps are triggered by this entry.
HR Manager
Human
6
The Outcome and Documentation Agent detects the logged outcome in Notion and populates the correct Google Docs template with the employee name, outcome type, and any extension conditions, producing a ready-to-sign letter.
Outcome and Documentation Agent
Automated
7
The completed letter is sent via DocuSign for sequential signing: the manager signs first, then the employee. The agent tracks signing status automatically and stores the fully signed copy in the employee's folder in Google Drive.
Outcome and Documentation Agent
Automated
8
Once DocuSign confirms all signatures are collected, the Outcome and Documentation Agent updates the employee's record in BambooHR with the final probation status and closes the corresponding row in the Notion tracker.
Outcome and Documentation Agent
Automated
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03Handling exceptions
The automation is built to handle the most common failure modes without involving HR. The table below covers the situations that do require your attention, and tells you exactly what to do in each case.
Situation
What the system does
What you do
New employee record is missing a start date or probation end date
The Probation Schedule Agent cannot calculate milestones and does not create a Notion entry. It sends an alert to the HR Administrator via Slack or email flagging the incomplete record.
Open BambooHR, locate the employee record, and add the missing start date and probation end date. The agent will detect the update and create the tracker entry automatically. No need to restart anything manually.
A duplicate probation tracker entry appears in Notion for the same employee
The system does not automatically merge records. Both entries will exist until one is removed, which risks sending double communications to the manager.
Open the Notion tracker, identify which entry was created first, and delete the duplicate. Check BambooHR to confirm only one active employee record exists for that person. Contact FullSpec support at support@gofullspec.com if duplicates recur.
Manager does not respond after two automated reminders and the escalation alert
The Feedback Chase Agent logs the escalation in Notion and notifies the HR Manager via Slack that the manager has not responded. The system does not send further automated messages after the second reminder.
Contact the manager directly to obtain their feedback verbally or by any available channel. Once you have the outcome, record it yourself in the Notion tracker as you would in the normal flow. The documentation steps will trigger as usual.
The outcome type entered in Notion does not match an available letter template (for example, a conditional extension with non-standard terms)
The Outcome and Documentation Agent cannot find a matching template and pauses at the letter generation step. It sends an alert to the HR Administrator noting that manual letter preparation is required.
Draft the letter manually using Google Docs, following your standard format. Upload the completed document to the employee's Google Drive folder and send a DocuSign envelope manually. Update BambooHR and close the Notion tracker row once signing is complete. Notify FullSpec at support@gofullspec.com so the new outcome type can be added as a template for future cases.
DocuSign is unavailable or the envelope fails to send
The Outcome and Documentation Agent retries the DocuSign send up to three times over a 30-minute window. If all retries fail, it sends an alert to the HR Administrator with the generated letter attached and marks the DocuSign step as failed in the Notion tracker.
Check the DocuSign status page for any service disruption. If DocuSign is down, hold the letter until service is restored and resend using the attached draft. If the issue persists after 2 hours, contact FullSpec support at support@gofullspec.com and use an alternative signing method as a short-term fallback.
An employee's manager changes mid-probation after the tracker entry has been created
The system continues sending feedback requests to the original manager on record unless the Notion tracker is updated. It has no way to detect an organisational change automatically.
Update the manager field in the Notion probation tracker row as soon as the change is confirmed. Also update the employee record in BambooHR. The next scheduled milestone email will go to the newly assigned manager. For any milestones that already fired to the old manager, follow up manually to ensure feedback is reassigned correctly.
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04Who to contact and when
Fill in once your team is confirmed. Add the name and preferred contact method for each internal role below so that any member of the HR team knows exactly who to reach and how. The FullSpec rows are fixed and do not need to be updated.
Role
Name
How to reach them
Process owner (HR Manager)
[Your name]
[Rep email]
HR Administrator (day-to-day runner)
[Your name]
[Rep email]
BambooHR system admin
[Your name]
[Rep email]
DocuSign account admin
[Your name]
[Rep email]
FullSpec builder (automation questions, build changes)
FullSpec team
support@gofullspec.com
FullSpec support (errors, alerts, unexpected behaviour)
FullSpec support
support@gofullspec.com
For any live automation error or unexpected system behaviour, always contact FullSpec at support@gofullspec.com before attempting to fix a step manually. Manually intervening in an active workflow run can cause duplicate actions or missed record updates downstream.
05Ongoing maintenance
The automation runs without day-to-day maintenance once it is live. The tasks below are the only actions your team needs to take on a recurring basis to keep the process accurate and reliable.
Whenever a new outcome letter template is needed or an existing template changes
Update the relevant Google Docs template in the shared templates folder. Notify FullSpec at support@gofullspec.com so the agent's template reference can be confirmed before the next run. Do not rename or move the template file without telling FullSpec first, as the agent references files by name and location.
HR Administrator + FullSpec
Monthly spot-check (first working day of each month)
Open the Notion probation tracker and confirm that all active probation rows have upcoming milestone dates populated and no row is overdue without a logged outcome. Cross-reference with BambooHR to confirm start dates match. Flag any discrepancy to FullSpec.
HR Administrator
Monthly error-log review
Check the automation platform's error log or any alert emails received during the month. Note any steps that failed or retried more than once. Share a brief summary with FullSpec if any pattern is emerging. One or two isolated errors per month are normal; repeated failures on the same step are not.
HR Administrator + FullSpec
Whenever a team member joins, leaves, or changes role
Update the contact table in Section 04 of this runbook. If the person held BambooHR or DocuSign admin access, update credentials and notify FullSpec so API tokens can be reissued if necessary. Remove access for leavers promptly.
Process owner (HR Manager)
If BambooHR field names or custom field configurations change
Notify FullSpec immediately at support@gofullspec.com. The Probation Schedule Agent reads specific BambooHR field names to detect start dates and probation end dates. A field rename or restructure will break the trigger silently if not updated in the automation.
HR Administrator + FullSpec
Quarterly volume review (every 3 months)
Compare the number of probation cycles completed in the past quarter against the previous period. If hire volume has grown significantly, review whether the current automation plan covers the load and whether DocuSign envelope limits or Notion workspace limits need to be reviewed. Raise with FullSpec if volume has increased by more than 50%.
Process owner (HR Manager) + FullSpec
The most common maintenance issue for this process is a Google Docs template being edited or renamed without notifying FullSpec. Because the Outcome and Documentation Agent references templates by file name and folder path, any change to the file breaks letter generation silently, meaning the agent sends an alert rather than a letter. Always confirm with FullSpec before making any structural change to the templates folder.
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