Workflow - Configuration and Use Manual

What is Workflow?

Workflow is Buk's module that allows your company to manage and automate internal HR processes in an orderly way, with customized approvals and actions that directly impact other modules of the platform.

Instead of coordinating processes by email, chat or paper, Workflow centralizes everything in one place: who starts it, who approves it, what information is captured and what action happens at the end.

What is it for?

1. Formalize internal processes — Establish flows with steps, responsables and forms, removing operational ambiguity.
2. Automate repetitive actions — When a condition is met (for example, an employee is added), the system automatically executes actions such as generating documents, assigning courses or creating tasks.
3. Provide traceability — Every request is recorded with its full history: who approved it, on what date and with what information.

How does it work?

• A Template is created that defines the process.
• A Request is generated from that template (manually or automatically).
• The request advances through the configured Approval Stages.
• When all stages are completed, the Final Action is executed.

Required modules

To access Workflow you need Plataforma Pro. Some actions require additional contracted modules.

How to access it?

Administrative → Workflow. You will see two views: Requests and Templates.

Note:This manual is focused exclusively on workflows that are started manually. The configuration of workflows that start automatically in response to events on the platform is detailed in the manual Automatizaciones - Manual de Configuración y Uso.

General required configurations

If you have Plataforma Pro and do not see Workflow, check with the SAC or Projects team that the option"Enable Workflow"is active in your general configuration.

Fundamental Workflow Concepts

Workflow:As a module, it is a centralizer that provides an overview of configured flows and automations. It is also the place where flows that do not belong to any particular module or section are managed.

Workflow Template:Structure that contains an approval flow or execution of actions within the platform. It can include events, actions, approvals and be restricted by permissions.

Request:Execution of a particular template that triggers the defined flow. Requests can be started manually by a user or automatically from an event.

Stages:A workflow is composed of a series of consecutive stages that are executed and advance as the defined approval and/or execution conditions are met.

Requester:User who creates a request from a template. If the start is automatic, the requester will be recorded as "system".

Approver:User responsible for approving or completing part of the information initiated by another person.

Approve / Return / Reject

The three possible responses from an approver to a stage:

• Approve: The stage is completed and the request moves to the next stage.
• Return: The request goes back to a previous stage (or to the requester) to be corrected or completed. The flow does not end; it can move forward again.
• Reject: The flow ends definitively. It is not possible to resume the request; a new one must be created if necessary.

⚠️  The key difference: Return is reversible (allows correction and resubmission). Reject is definitive.

Open pay period

The payroll settlement month currently active. For Workflow to execute a movement (position change, area, salary, etc.), the corresponding period must be open. If the period is already closed, the movement cannot be scheduled. If it has not yet been opened, neither can it.

If you have doubts about which period is open, consult the payroll manager or the Remuneraciones module.

Final action

The operation that is executed automatically when all stages are completed. Options:

• Generate document — Creates a document from a preconfigured template and associates it with the employee.
• Generate pending task — Creates a task in Buk's Tareas module assigned to one or more users.
• Add participant to open survey — Enrolls the employee in an active survey in the Encuestas module.
• Request assets — Generates an asset delivery request (equipment, supplies) for the employee in the Activos module.
• Enroll in course or learning path — Registers the employee in a course or path in the Capacitaciones module.
• Assign remuneration item (earning, deduction, contribution, informational item) — Adds an item to the employee's payroll.
• Send HTTP Request — Calls an external URL (webhook/API) with request data. Useful for integrations with external systems such as ERP, IT platforms or internal services.
• Modify employee work data (Hire, Termination, Movement) — Directly applies the change in the employee's profile.

⚠️  Each action requires the corresponding contracted module and enabled permissions.

Template Types
There are six template types available on the platform, each designed to address specific management needs:

• Flexible
  Creates internal approval or notification flows that do not modify employee data, but allowautomatically generating, assigning or requesting elements within the platform, such as documents, courses, surveys, assets or pending tasks.
  Workflows of typeFlexibleare also the basis for configuringautomations, since only these can be started automatically.

  Usage examples: generate documents, assign courses, send surveys, request assets or generate pending tasks automatically.

  📌 To learn how to configure automations based on flexible workflows, review theManual de Automatizaciones - Configuración y Uso.
   

• Alta
  Registers a new employee in the platform. The flow generates the employee profile.
  Usage example:Add a new employee, automatically generating their profile and sending instructions to create their access to Buk.

• Baja
  Manages the termination of the employment relationship. Once completed, the employee profile is deactivated. It should be clearly defined who can start this type of request.
  Usage example:Formalize an employee's exit, deactivating their profile and notifying the relevant areas.

• Movimiento
  Allows modifying an employee's work data (such as salary, position, area, etc.). At the end of the flow, the modifications are applied automatically to their profile.
  Usage example:Change an employee's position after a promotion or update their salary.

• Búsqueda
  Starts a recruitment process from a request. When completed, a recruitment process is created.
  Usage example:When an area needs to request the hiring of a new employee and approval is required before starting recruitment.
  Requires the Selección module.

• Pre-Ingreso
  Collects preliminary information from the future employee via a form before their incorporation. It is important to correctly define the fields the applicant must complete.
  Usage example:Request personal, banking data or documentation before the first working day.
  Requires the Onboarding module.
  
  Comparative Summary

Scope / Limitations

To configure templates, your profile must have the"Modification"permission in Requests. You can check it fromAdministration(⚙️) in the"Usuarios y perfiles"section.

Permission levels

Modification (Full access)

Create, edit and delete templates. View and manage all requests. Access Configuration.

Read

View all existing requests. Cannot create, edit or delete templates.

No access (None)

Can only start requests from existing templates and approve requests in which they were designated.

How to check or modify permissions?

1. Go to Administration → Usuarios y perfiles.
2. Select the corresponding profile.
3. Find the Solicitudes (or Workflow) module and adjust the level.

Permissions for specific actions

Approver options in flows

To start: Area/Position, list of users, administrators, all employees (Flexible only), user profile.

To approve: Area/Position, specific user, administrator, requester's supervisor, requester, user profile.

⚠️  In the first stage you can only configure start by Area/Position or Request Administrators.

For more detail on how workflow permissions work, we recommend reviewing the articleHow do permissions work in Workflow?

📄 For profiles that can only start or approve requests, we have the articlesHow to start requests? andHow to approve requests?that you can share with your collaborators.

Access and views of the Workflow module

You can enter Workflow fromAdministrative > Workflow.

When you do, you will see two options: theRequests viewand theTemplates view.
Note*: Previously, access was from Colaboradores > Solicitudes, so some images may reflect that. That access is still available, but pre-filtered to only show requests of Alta, Movimiento, Baja, Búsqueda and Pre-Ingreso.

Requests view

This view allows you to see the requests created on the platform. Depending on your permission level (Modification, Read or No access), you will see different tabs:

• My pending:Requests you must approve or respond to.

• My requests:Requests you initiated yourself.

• All:All platform requests (available only for profiles with Modification or Read permission) and their statistics.

📌 To start a request, click the"Create Request"button (top right corner). There you can select the template you want to use and complete the information requested by the corresponding form.

Available columns

You can customize the view by enabling, disabling or reordering columns from the configuration button (top right corner). Available columns are:

• ID

• Status (Rejected, In progress, Approved, Error)

• Title

• Template name

• Type of workflow

• Requester

• Affected employee

• Document number

• Progress

• Current stage

• Creation date

• Update date

• Due date

• Division

• Area

• Position

Actions available per request:

• View detail:Shows the full summary of the request and its stages.

• Respond:Allows the following operations:

  • Approve. This option moves to the next stage.

  • Return. This option goes back to the previous stage.

  • Reject. This option rejects the request.

• More options (⋮):Includes:

  • Download report(if enabled in the stage configuration). You can also download all requests by clicking the download button in the top right corner.

  • Delete request(only available if the user has permissions).

Bulk actions on requests:

In the top left corner, you will see the following bulk action options:

• Download button: downloads a summary of all displayed requests. It does not download the detail of each one, but each row and its respective columns in Excel format.

"Actions" button:

• Download reports in bulk (Max 25 reports at a time): Downloads the individual report (the detail, in PDF format) of each selected request.
• Delete requests: Deletes all selected requests.
• Configuration: Takes you to template configuration.

Templates view

To access, click theConfigurationbutton in the top right corner of the Requests view. This view allows you to manage all templates available on the platform.

1.

2.

Available columns

From the same configuration button, you can customize which columns are shown. Available columns are:

• ID

• Template name

• Flow type

• Start

• Status (Active, Inactive, Incomplete, Error)

• Action

• Number of operations

• Update date

• Description

• Created by

Available actions:

There are 4 actions available, located on the right side of each row in the templates view:

1. Activate or deactivate templates
   You can activate or deactivate a template directly from this view using the toggle (the check) in the corresponding status column.

• :It will be visible and available for employees to use when creating requests.

  :It will be hidden from the list of options available to employees, but will remain visible to administrators from configuration.
  
  or: By selecting the icon, you will be able to see the detail of the template error.

📌Important:Deactivating a template does not affect requests already created with it. Those will continue their course normally.

2. Duplicate a template
   Allows creating an alternative version without modifying the original.

3. Delete a template
   Only possible if the template has no associated processes.

Navigation and bulk actions

You can perform the actions described above in bulk by selecting multiple templates simultaneously using the selectors to the left of each template and then clicking "Actions". To help you find them, you can navigate the top tabs to find your active, inactive, error, incomplete or all templates.

Creating and editing a template

Once in the Templates view, you cancreate a new templateoredit an existing one.

• To create a new one, click the"Create Template"button. You will see the template catalog, where you can choose from a series of preconfigured templates to help with setup:
  
  

• To edit an existing template, select the three dots and click "Edit".

If you chose "Start from scratch", you must enter a name and select theflow typeyou want to configure.
📌 For more details on the available types, consult the sectionFundamental Workflow Conceptsat the beginning of this article.

Template configuration

Once the process template is created, its configuration will open. On the left you will see the different stages that come by default according to the flow type, and you can add as many stages as you need so the process fits your internal policies. On the right you will find the configuration tabs for each stage: permissions, form, dependencies and notifications.

Keep in mind that in theinitial stage(stage 1) and in thefinal stage, configuration options may vary depending on the selected flow type.

Also consider that if a template already has ongoing or completed requests associated with it, making changes to it can modify or interfere with those existing processes. To avoid unwanted impacts, we recommend duplicating the template, making the changes in the copy, and then deactivating the original.

Below is a detailed explanation of the functionality of each possible configuration of a template's stages:

Permissions

In this section you can define which people will have permission to start, approve, return or reject the stage you are configuring.

Who can start requests?

Depending on the Workflow type, the following options can be enabled to start a request:

• Area/Position

• List of users

• Request administrator

• All employees(only available in Flexible templates)

• New employee via personal email(only in Pre-Ingreso)

• Onboarding manager(only in Pre-Ingreso)

• User profile

Who can approve requests?

The following options are available to assign approval in stages:

• Area/Position

• Specific user (not available for Pre-Ingreso templates)

• Request administrator

• Requester's supervisor (not available for Pre-Ingreso templates)

• Requester

• User profile

For more detail, you can review the article:How do permissions work in Workflow?

Considerations:

- If you are using approvers defined byArea and Position, when a stage of the flow is returned, itwill only be visible to the person who approved it previously, instead of being shown to everyone who meets that criterion. This allows the requestto return directly to the person who must continue the management, avoiding confusion and keeping the flow order.

- Keep in mind that when you are configuring the permissions of the first stage of a workflow, you will only be able to filter the start permissions between area/position or request administrators.

- When filtering by user, you will have the option to limit the approval of the stage to specific platform users.

Other Configurations:

In addition, you can enable additional options:

• Allow request report downloadto those who respond to this stage.
• Define specific area/position approver, so that the managerial approval for this stage corresponds to the requester's supervisor.

Approval management in case of absence/backup:

In stages where there is a single approver and their assignment is direct (that is, by “backup” or “list of users”), the configured backup will be able to automatically assume approval of requests if the original person is absent (for example, due to vacation or leave).

This logic does not apply if the stage assigns approvers by area or position, even if in practice there is only one user available. In those cases, the backup will not assume approval.

The backup can only manage requests assigned to the original approver, without access to other requests or histories.

When a backup is activated, if you have the Workflow module enabled, the backup will receive a notification like the following:

This functionality allows continuity in workflows, avoiding blockages in critical processes and ensuring efficient request management.
 

Finally, you will find in the top left a checkbox called"Allow viewing and operating requests started by other users":

When enabled, all employees will be able to see requests started by others. However, they will only be able to complete the first operation if their area and position match the permissions defined for that stage. This feature is useful when you want to grant general visibility without compromising the established permission logic.

You will also see the description field, where you can include a description for the template. Make sure to enable the "description" column in the templates view to see it.

Form

In this section you must define the fields that must be completed at each stage of the flow. You can mark fields as: Read-only, Optionally editable or Required editable.

Some fields are mandatory depending on the workflow type. You can use the"Add Required Fields"option to ensure you include all minimum fields.

You can select fields from the list associated with the flow type oradd custom free fields(of type text, numeric, file, list, date or multiple choice).

Note:

- In Alta workflows, the "Document type" field allows selecting the "Other" option for documents from countries not predefined.

- Once fields are configured, you must indicate their status in each stage. Some will already be marked as required by default.

- Comments added in a form when completing/approving a request can be seen from the "view detail" button in the requests menu, within the same form.

Dependencies

Here you configure the condition that must be met for the stage to start.

By default, a stage starts when the previous one is approved, but you can modify this logic so that the start depends on other states:approved, rejected, error or returned.

To add a dependency, choose the condition and click "Add Dependency". If a stage has multiple dependencies, it will only start whenall of them are met.

Duplicate stages

To facilitate the construction of repetitive flows, you canduplicate a stagealready configured within the template. This replicates all its configuration: name, form, permissions, dependencies and notifications.

How to do it?

1. Go to Administrative > Colaboradores > Solicitudes > Configuration.
2. Select the template.
3. Click the stage you want to duplicate.
4. Press "Duplicate Stage".

What happens when duplicating?

• If you duplicatestage 1, the new stage will become stage 2 and will depend on the first.
• If you duplicate thefinal stage, the new one will be placed at the end and will depend on the previous one.

Important considerations

• Dependencies are automatically adjustedafter duplicating or deleting stages.When

• deleting a stage, dependencies are reorganized to maintain flow coherence.Notifications

   

  ---

The notifications tab in Workflow allows you to inform users involved about the status of requests, improving control and efficiency of your processes. There are two types of notifications:

Automatic Notifications

• : Configured generally for the entire template, sending automatic communications to the requester and to responsible users according to the flow progress.Custom Manual Notifications

• : Allow configuring specific messages per stage, controlling the content, recipients and timing of sending.How to configure Automatic Notifications?

Go to template configuration

1. Go to Administrative > Colaboradores > Solicitudes and click the
   Configurationbutton. Your profile must have "Modification" permission in Solicitudes.Select or create a template

2. Within the configurations, select the template (existing or new) you want to configure.
   Enable or disable the "Automatic Notifications" option

3. Within the template you will find a
   Automatic Notificationscheckbox, which may be enabled by default. You can enable or disable it according to your needs.What happens when automatic notifications are enabled?

User who starts the request

• : will receive notifications automatically when their request is accepted or rejected.Users responsible for stages

• : will receive notifications when a request requires their action (approve, reject or return).Types of notifications sent:

Push Notifications

• on mobile devices.Email notifications

• .🔔

Important:If you enable automatic notifications, notifications will be sent to
all usersassigned in the "Permissions" tab of each stage.If you want only certain users to receive notifications, you must disable this option and configure manual notifications.
How to configure Custom Manual Notifications?

 

Go to process configuration

1. Go to Administrative > Colaboradores > Solicitudes > Configuration.
   Select the template and the stage

2. Within the template, select the stage to which you want to add a notification.
   Add a notification

3. In the
   Notificationstab, click theAdd Notificationbutton.Complete the notification configuration
   

4. :Title
   
   

   • : Name to identify the notification internally.This notification will be sent when the stage is

   • : State that will trigger the notification (Requested, Waiting, Rejected, Returned, Error).Subject

   • : Subject of the email.Recipient

   • :Email address

     • : Manually indicated email(s).Stage owner

     • : User assigned as owner.Process requester

     • : User who started the request.Supervisor of the affected employee

     • : Supervisor of the employee.Message body

   • : Email text, with the ability to customize and use available variables.Trigger or Final stage

IMPORTANTE: 

- Recuerda ir guardando cada etapa que vayas configurando en el workflow para no perder el trabajo realizado.


- Considera que la etapa final de cada flujo dependerá del tipo de workflow que estes configurando.

Every template has a final stage, also called

trigger, because it activates the corresponding action according to the request type on the platform.In the case of an

• Alta template, you can create a user by selecting the checkbox:In the case of a
  

• flexible template, when clickingAdd Action, you can choose between:Generate document

  • Generate a pending task

  • Then, complete the required fields for each option.

Note:

In the case of apending task, although some fields are required, the person who completes this stage will be able to modify them later.Keywords:

workflows, requests, workflow template, stages, permissions, approvals, form, dependencies, notifications, duplicate stages, duplicate templates, automations, approver, requester, events, actions, Colaboradores module, Plataforma Pro, process configuration, backups, workflow 

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🤖 This article was translated using artificial intelligence. View original article.