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Appogee HR is highly configurable, so you can make it fit your business requirements and organizational structure. Below are our top tips for getting your Appogee HR set up. They have been split into 5 key stages and can be done in any order, however, it's a really good idea to get everything configured before you add your employees.
Step 1: Configuration
Please note, only users with the Admin role have access to the configuration settings of Appogee HR.
Categories & Fields Configuration
A Category is a section within an HR Process and Fields make up the data within the Category. Categories are grouped by the HR Processes supported in Appogee HR - Personal, Employment, Performance, Learning & Assets. Every employee has access to these categories by using the navigation bar down the left side of Appogee HR.
Go to Profiles > Admin & Config > Categories: Records & Fields.
Take a look through your current Employee Profile Categories & Fields to ensure you have the fields and security you require. It is important to do this as a first step, especially if you go on to add Employees and Field information using the CSV import as the CSV reflects your configuration. Take a look at our support articles on Categories and Field Configuration and Employee Profiles for more information. You may also find it useful to look at how to Re-organise your Profile structure.
Company Document Types
Company Documents are documents or files that are related to the company and can be shared by all employees, or at a team level. A Company Document can be a file, link or note that you wish to make available to multiple employees for acknowledgement.
Go to Company Docs > Admin & Config > Company Document Types.
Company Documents can be categorised by Company Document Types for ease of access and navigation. We've set up some default Types - Company Policies, Office Documents, HR Documents & Employee Templates. Feel free to use these if they work for you, or alternatively create your own. You can add as many as you need and access is controlled within each Company Document Type. For more information, take a look at our support article on Company Documents.
Leave & Sickness Types
You can configure which types of Leave & Sickness employees request by setting up Leave & Sickness Types.
We have a range of default Leave & Sickness Types, which you can import and use, or add your own Types. Leave & Sickness Types can be set up as deducted or non-deducted, so they can affect an employee's allowance or not. Have a look at the support article on Configuring Leave & Sickness Types.
To set these up, go to Leave > Admin & Config > Leave Types or Sickness Types.
Public Holidays
You can configure public holidays which will be marked as non-working days in the calendar.
Go to Leave > Admin & Config > Public Holidays.
Appogee HR has a number of Public Holidays set up as defaults. Select one for your country or create your own. You can find out how to do this by taking a look at Managing Public Holidays.
Step 2: Teams
Please note that only HR Managers & Admins have access to add and update Teams.
Setting up Teams
Go to Organization > Teams.
Setting up Teams is the next logical step in setting up Appogee HR. Team structure builds your Org Chart, as well as enables leave approval flows and general Team management. Every Employee must belong to a Team, however, they can manage a Team and be part of a different Team themselves.
Take a look at Creating & Editing Teams, Configuring your Org Chart and Deleting users & teams for more information.
NOTE: if you're following these steps, it's likely you haven't added any employees yet. You will not be able to set up Managers or approval flows without adding users to the system. It is however important to do this later, see step 5 for more information.
Step 3: Work Profiles
Please note that only HR Managers & Admins have access to add and update Work Profiles.
Go to Leave > Admin & Config > Work Profiles.
The Work Profile defines the working hours and allowances for a group of Employees. Every Employee must belong to a Work Profile, you may only need one for your organisation or you may need multiple to cater for all eventualities.
Have a look at our guide on Work Profiles.
Approval Flows
Approval Flows can be assigned to Teams or individuals.
Assigning Approval Flows for a Team
To assign an Approval Flow to a Team, go to Organization > Teams.
Select a Team or create a new one. (For information on how to set up Teams, take a look at the following article: Setting Up & Editing Teams).
Go to Leave, Approvals & Calendar > Approval Flows.
From the dropdown, select an Approval Flow.
Once selected from the list, this will automatically enable for Leave & Sickness (and TOIL, if enabled).
If you'd like to assign a different Approval Flow for Leave or Sickness, you can select another from the list and tick as appropriate.
You can find further information on Approval Flows: Setting Up Approvers
Step 4: Add Employees
Please note that Employees can be added by HR Managers & Admins only.
There are 4 possible ways to add Employees to Appogee HR. Manual Registration, CSV Import or by one of our integrations with Google Workspace (G Suite) or Office 365. All of these give you the option to get your Employees into Teams, assigned to Work Profiles and have optional access to Appogee HR and Appogee Leave. There is a separate CSV file which allows you to bulk update employee information - this can be done once you've set the system up.
Manual Registration
The manual registration allows you to add Employees using a simple form to add individuals to Divisions (if configured) Teams and Work Profiles. You can also set the Employees Job Title, and Start Date.
You can see more information on this here: Manual Employee Registration.
Google Workspace (G Suite) / Office 365 Import
If you are integrated with either Google Workspace or Office 365 you will have the option to import users from your domain straight into Appogee HR. The wizard will take you through selecting Employees, Assigning Teams, Setting Work Profiles and Configuring the Log in.
If you use Google Workspace or Office 365 and are not yet integrated, there is information on setting this up at the bottom of this page.
You can find further information on this here: Importing Employees from Google Workspace / Office 365.
CSV Import
To add your employees in bulk via CSV, go to Add Employee > CSV Import. There is further information on the CSV import in this guide: CSV Upload Guide
Step 5: Assign Managers
After you have added your employees, you can then set up the managers within each of your teams.
To do this, go to Organisation > Teams.
Open each team and go to the Managers tab - you can then add the relevant users by typing their name and clicking the add button on the right hand side.
Remember to Save Changes.
Step 6: Advanced Settings
Advanced Performance
Advanced Performance is split into Performance Reviews & Goals.
Performance Reviews
Employee Performance Reviews which allow you to gather information and feedback about an employee and review specific elements of their performance across a set time period. Management of Performance Reviews is done through Review Type Templates. The Performance Review will allow you to gather 360 Feedback from across the organisation and once complete, can be saved to an employee's Performance Profile.
Configure your Performance Reviews settings by going to Reviews > Admin & Config > Review Templates.
Review Type Templates allow you to configure specific elements which can make up a template, so that you can run different types of Reviews.
We've added some defaults for you, but feel free to edit these or create your own.
Within each template, you can configure different elements, such as which Profile Data to include, whether you include Leave data, and what the Manager & Employee Assessment comments are.
For more information on how to use and configure Performance Reviews, take a look at the following articles: Performance Reviews & 360 Feedback, Performance Review Config, 360 Feedback.
Goals
Goals enable you to track your Company, Team and Personal objectives within Appogee HR. You can configure the sharing permissions to enable cross-company collaboration or monitor personal development goals.
Configure your Goals settings by going to Goals > Admin & Config.
From here, you can set up different settings for Goal Creation & Approval, Goal Visibility and Tasks. You can choose whether the creator of a Goal has the ability to override the default sharing permissions.
It's also possible to select when Goals automatically lock & expire.
For more information on how to set up and use Goals, take a look at the following articles: Using Goals, Goals User Roles & Permissions & Goals Configuration.
Onboarding
The Onboarding Portal helps you get new starters to feel at home in your organization quickly as well as getting them productive quickly by dealing with routine induction tasks before their first day. It’s possible to add new starters to Appogee HR prior to their start date, to assist with their Onboarding into your company. They will be given access to the Onboarding Portal, which you can configure, and is a place for them to give you their personal information as well as a chance to review company documents or upload their personal records.
To configure the various settings within the Onboarding Portal, head to Onboarding > Config.
From here you can select the default settings for the portal, such as a welcome message, default fields & company documents.
For more information regarding the set-up of the Onboarding Portal, take a look at the following articles: Configure the Onboarding Portal for your Company, How to Create a Top Notch Onboarding Process & Using the Onboarding Tab.
Time
Assign Roles in Time by going to Roles & Access > Project Management.
The Project Admin role will be assigned to the user who set up the account. Additional Project Admins and Project Managers can be added on the Roles & Access page. For a detailed overview of the Roles and what they mean, take a look at the following article: Time: Roles & Access.
Users with the Project Admin role will be able to create Customers, Projects & Tasks.
Go to Time > Config to set these up.
For more information about Projects, Customers & Tasks, take a look at the following article: Customers, Projects & Tasks.
If you'd like to track the Costings/Billings & Actuals of a Project, you may wish to set up Project Roles. This will determine how much your employees are billed for, how much they cost, and gives you an understanding of the total Project Actuals.
For more information and how to set up Project Roles, take a look at the following article: Project Roles
Additional Set Up Options
Integrations
Set up integrations with Google Workspace, Microsoft Office 365 & Xero Payroll using the below links.
Checklists
Appogee HR has a Checklist functionality to enable you to set up clear actions to take to complete key processes across your business. You can also use these to set up workflow automation for Joiners and Leavers Checklists.
If you would like to see more information on how Checklists work and how to configure these, please take a look at our Checklist Guide.
Reporting
Appogee HR has reporting for both Employee Profile information and Leave reporting. The HR Reports match your Employee Profile configuration, allowing you to report on exactly what you choose to keep in Appogee HR. The Leave Reports will enable you to look into all types of absence across the Company, by Team or Individual. You can view these in a series of tables, charts or exports.
We have a guide for HR Reporting and an additional guide on Leave Reports.
Notifications
Appogee HR Notifications allow you to stay in control of all dates your store within Employee Profiles, Employee Records or Company Documents. Set Notifications so you always know when the next Performance Review is, when a Record needs reviewing or when an Employee is reaching their employment anniversary.
This Notifications Guide will take you through how to configure date Notifications across Appogee HR.
