Zendesk Onboarding: A step-by-step guide for creating client and employee onboarding
October 24, 2025
Manual onboarding management is chaotic. Tasks get missed, handoffs are unclear, and new customers or employees end up confused. Here's how to build a structured, automated onboarding flow using Zendesk and SweetHawk.
Step 1: Design the Flow
Before touching any tools, create a comprehensive task list for your onboarding process. Identify who owns each step — HR, IT, the hiring manager, and so on. This map becomes the blueprint for everything that follows.
Step 2: Create the Task List
Using the Tasks & Subtickets app, build your onboarding task list. Select "Add Task List", name it, and add tasks such as sending a welcome email, scheduling an onboarding call, creating user accounts, and sharing training materials.
Step 3: Create Ticket Templates
For tasks assigned to different team members or departments, automatically generate sub-tickets using predefined templates. Access "Add ticket template" and configure each ticket — including copying fields from the parent ticket — so each team receives exactly the context they need.
Step 4: Assign Templates to Tasks
Link each ticket template to the appropriate task in your task list. When that task is triggered, the sub-ticket is created and assigned automatically.
Step 5: Automate
Enable automatic task application using Zendesk triggers. Set the task list to "automatic" mode, create a trigger with the right conditions (e.g., when a specific form is selected), and the entire flow kicks off without anyone having to remember to apply it.
Step 6: Test Your Flow
Create a test ticket to verify everything works correctly — either by applying the task list manually or by triggering the conditions you set up.