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AI for HR Generalist

Zapier Automation: Automate New Hire Onboarding Emails

Tools:Zapier + Gmail (or Outlook)
Time to build:1.5 hours
Difficulty:Intermediate
Prerequisites:Comfortable with Gmail or Outlook, basic understanding of how Zapier connects apps

What This Builds

An automated email sequence that fires off a series of timed, personalized onboarding messages whenever a new employee is added to BambooHR (or your HRIS). Instead of manually sending a pre-start email, a Day 1 welcome, a Week 1 check-in, and a 30-day message — Zapier does it automatically, triggered by the new hire's start date.

Every new employee gets the same complete, professional onboarding experience, even when you're swamped.

Prerequisites

  • A Zapier account (free tier works for this; Starter plan at $19.99/mo required for multi-step Zaps)
  • BambooHR (or another HRIS) connected to Zapier — many HRIS platforms have Zapier integrations
  • Gmail or Outlook for sending the emails
  • ChatGPT or Claude to help you draft the email templates (use Level 1 prompts for this)
  • Approximately 1.5 hours for initial setup

The Concept

Zapier is the "if this, then that" tool for your apps. You set up a rule: "When a new employee is created in BambooHR, wait until 5 days before their start date, then send this email from Gmail." The automation runs in the background, and you never have to remember to send the emails manually again.

Build It Step by Step

Part 1: Draft your onboarding email templates

Before building the automation, you need the email content. Use ChatGPT or Claude to generate these 4 emails (use the Level 1 prompt "Write a New Hire Welcome Email" as your starting point):

Email 1 — Pre-Start (send 3–5 days before start date):

  • What to bring/prepare
  • First day logistics (arrival time, location, who to ask for, parking)
  • Any pre-start tasks (complete direct deposit, sign documents in HRIS)

Email 2 — Day 1 Welcome (send on start date morning):

  • Warm welcome, express excitement
  • First day agenda overview
  • Who to contact if they have questions

Email 3 — Week 1 Check-In (send 7 days after start):

  • How's it going check-in
  • Key resources reminder (handbook, IT contacts, benefits)
  • Encourage questions

Email 4 — 30-Day Check-In (send 30 days after start):

  • How are you settling in?
  • Schedule a 30-minute chat with HR
  • Benefits enrollment reminder if applicable

For each email, customize with your company's tone and add placeholders like {{employee_name}} and {{manager_name}}.

Part 2: Connect BambooHR to Zapier

  1. Go to zapier.com → sign in or create an account
  2. Click Create Zap → Trigger
  3. Search for BambooHR and select it
  4. Choose trigger event: New Employee (fires when a new employee record is created)
  5. Click Connect BambooHR → enter your BambooHR subdomain and generate an API key in BambooHR (Settings → API Keys → Generate New Key)
  6. Test the trigger by pulling a recent employee record

What you should see: A sample employee record pulled from BambooHR with fields like name, start_date, email, manager_name, department

Part 3: Add a delay step for Pre-Start email

  1. Click the "+" between trigger and action → Action
  2. Search for Delay by Zapier → select Delay Until
  3. Configure: "Delay until [employee.start_date] minus 4 days"
  4. This makes the first email fire 4 days before the start date

What you should see: A delay step that will pause the Zap until the right time

Part 4: Add the email send step

  1. Click "+" after the delay → Action
  2. Search for Gmail (or Outlook) → select Send Email
  3. Connect your email account
  4. Configure:
    • To: {{employee_email}} (mapped from BambooHR trigger)
    • Subject: "Welcome to [Company]! Here's what to know before you start"
    • Body: Paste your pre-start email template; use {{employee_first_name}} where the name should appear
  5. Click Test to send a test email to yourself

What you should see: A test email in your inbox with the employee's name properly filled in

Part 5: Add the remaining 3 emails

After the pre-start email step, add:

  • Another Delay step (delay until start_date) → Send Day 1 email
  • Another Delay step (delay until start_date + 7 days) → Send Week 1 email
  • Another Delay step (delay until start_date + 30 days) → Send 30-day email

What you should see: A multi-step Zap: Trigger → Delay → Email 1 → Delay → Email 2 → Delay → Email 3 → Delay → Email 4

Part 6: Turn on your Zap

  1. Click Publish to make the Zap live
  2. Add the next new hire to BambooHR and confirm the Zap fires within the expected window
  3. Check your Zapier history to see each step completing

Real Example: The Automation in Action

Setup: Your Zap is live and connected to BambooHR and Gmail.

Input: On Monday, you add Alex Torres as a new employee in BambooHR with a start date of next Monday.

What happens automatically:

  • Wednesday (4 days before start): Alex receives a pre-start logistics email
  • Monday start date: Alex receives a Day 1 welcome email at 8am
  • Next Monday: Alex receives a Week 1 check-in
  • 30 days later: Alex receives a 30-day check-in with a note to schedule time with HR

Your work: None — after the initial setup, you do nothing.

Time saved: 60–90 minutes of manual emailing per new hire. For a company hiring 20 people/year, that's 20–30 hours annually.

What to Do When It Breaks

  • Emails not firing → Check Zapier's task history to see where the Zap stopped. Common cause: API connection expired. Reconnect BambooHR under Zapier settings.
  • Employee name not filling in correctly → Check the field mapping in your email step. Use {{First Name}} not {{employee_full_name}} — the field names vary by HRIS.
  • Emails going to spam → Send from an email alias like hr@yourcompany.com rather than your personal work email. Add SPF/DKIM records if needed (ask IT).
  • Wrong employees getting emails → Add a filter step after the trigger: only continue if "Employment Status = Active" to avoid triggering on test records.

Variations

  • Simpler version: Use Zapier's pre-built templates ("New Employee Onboarding" template in Zapier's template library) as a starting point instead of building from scratch
  • Extended version: Add a Zap that creates a task in Asana or Notion for the hiring manager (with due dates) whenever a new employee is added — so the manager's onboarding checklist is automatically created

What to Do Next

  • This week: Build the Zap using your next upcoming hire as the test case
  • This month: Refine the email templates based on new hire feedback
  • Advanced: Add a branch in the Zap for remote vs. in-office hires (different Day 1 logistics emails)

Advanced guide for HR Generalist professionals. Requires Zapier Starter plan ($19.99/month) and BambooHR (or compatible HRIS) with Zapier integration.