Using BambooHR actions in action flows

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<div class="p">By connecting the <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/8855513857306" target="_blank">action builder</a> to external systems, such as BambooHR, admins
can integrate Zendesk with external systems in automated workflows, improving
collaboration and maintaining a seamless experience across multiple platforms.<div class="note note">
<span class="notetitle">Note:</span> The
steps associated with external systems in action flows are referred to collectively
as <em class="ph i">external actions</em>.</div>
</div>
<div class="p">This article contains the following topics:<ul class="ul" id="topic_f45_wzj_4hc__ul_omj_bj4_zgc">
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_wkn_2bk_4hc">Connecting BambooHR to action builder</a></li>
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_ffm_hbk_4hc">Using BambooHR actions in action flows</a></li>
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_ih2_gjr_4hc">Recipe: Automatically creating a time off request in BambooHR after it's approved in a Zendesk ticket</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title2" class="topic nested1" id="topic_wkn_2bk_4hc">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title2">Connecting BambooHR to action builder</h2>
<div class="body">
<p class="p">Before you can include external actions in your action flows, you must connect the
action builder to the external system.</p>
<div class="p">When connecting to external systems for use in action flows, the following best practices are recommended:<ul class="ul" id="topic_wkn_2bk_4hc__d8e13">
<li class="li">All external actions performed by an action flow are attributed to the user who connected the
external system. Therefore, it's a best practice to use a dedicated service
account rather than personal credentials when connecting to each external
system.</li>
<li class="li">All integrations request access to necessary scopes. However, it's important that you review and validate the scopes before authorizing the connection to the external system.</li>
<li class="li">When managing credentials for API key-based tools, such as OpenAI, it's best to store keys in a secure vault or credential manager.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="p">
<strong class="ph b">To connect action builder to BambooHR</strong><ol class="ol" id="topic_wkn_2bk_4hc__ol_psh_lk4_zgc">
<li class="li"><span class="ph">In <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4581766374554#topic_hfg_dyz_1hb" target="_blank">Admin Center</a>, click <img class="image" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/ac_apps_integrations_icon.png">
<strong class="ph b">Apps and integrations</strong> in the sidebar, then select <strong class="ph b">Actions &gt; Action
flows</strong>.</span></li>
<li class="li">
<a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/8855601898266" target="_blank">Create</a> or <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/9052312956570" target="_blank">edit</a> an action flow.</li>
<li class="li">Open the step sidebar.</li>
<li class="li">Under <strong class="ph b">External actions</strong>, click <strong class="ph b">BambooHR</strong>.</li>
<li class="li">Click <strong class="ph b">Connect</strong>.</li>
<li class="li">Follow BambooHR's prompts to authenticate and complete the connection.<p class="p">The
following scopes are required: <code class="ph codeph">Claims - read</code>,
<code class="ph codeph">Employee - read/write</code>, <code class="ph codeph">Time Off -
read/write</code>, <code class="ph codeph">Reports - read</code>,
<code class="ph codeph">Company - read</code>, <code class="ph codeph">Miscellaneous - read meta
data</code>.</p>
<div class="note note">
<span class="notetitle">Note:</span> All external actions performed by an
action flow are attributed to the user who connected the external
system. Therefore, it's a best practice to use a dedicated service
account rather than personal credentials when connecting to each
external system.</div>
</li>
</ol>
</div>
<p class="p">After you've connected to the system, you'll see an indicator that it's connected and
details about the instance you're connected to, as well as the actions available for
BambooHR.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title3" class="topic nested1" id="topic_ffm_hbk_4hc">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title3">Using BambooHR actions in action flows</h2>
<div class="body">
<p class="p">BambooHR action steps can be used to add and manage employee details and time off
requests in BambooHR.</p>
<div class="p">The following BambooHR actions are available:<ul class="ul" id="topic_ffm_hbk_4hc__ul_vk4_fl4_zgc">
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_p2s_jbk_4hc">Get employee
details</a></li>
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_vyx_jbk_4hc">Add employee</a></li>
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_jgy_y3r_4hc">Update employee</a></li>
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_pt4_z3r_4hc">Request time off</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title4" class="topic nested2" id="topic_p2s_jbk_4hc">
<h3 class="title topictitle3" id="ariaid-title4">Getting details about an employee from BambooHR</h3>
<div class="body">
<p class="p">Use the <em class="ph i">Get employee details</em> action to retrieve the personal and
employment data for an individual employee. </p>
<p class="p">This action has the following inputs and outputs:</p>
<div class="p">
<div class="tablenoborder">
<table border="1" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" class="table" frame="border" id="topic_p2s_jbk_4hc__table_rrw_1mz_hgc" rules="all" summary="">
<colgroup>
<col>
<col>
</colgroup>
<thead class="thead" style="text-align:left;">
<tr class="row">
<th class="entry cellrowborder" id="d52e229" style="text-align:left;vertical-align:top;"> </th>
<th class="entry cellrowborder" id="d52e231" style="text-align:left;vertical-align:top;">Variables</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody class="tbody">
<tr class="row">
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d52e229" style="text-align:left;vertical-align:top;">Inputs</td>
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d52e231" style="text-align:left;vertical-align:top;">
<code class="ph codeph">Employee ID</code> or <code class="ph codeph">Work email
address</code>
</td>
</tr>
<tr class="row">
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d52e229" style="text-align:left;vertical-align:top;">Output</td>
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d52e231" style="text-align:left;vertical-align:top;">The employee's personnel data</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title5" class="topic nested2" id="topic_vyx_jbk_4hc">
<h3 class="title topictitle3" id="ariaid-title5">Adding an employee to BambooHR</h3>
<div class="body">
<p class="p">Use the <em class="ph i">Add employee</em> action to add a new employee to BambooHR.</p>
<p class="p">This action has the following inputs and outputs:</p>
<div class="p">
<div class="tablenoborder">
<table border="1" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" class="table" frame="border" id="topic_vyx_jbk_4hc__table_u2f_nsr_4hc" rules="all" summary="">
<colgroup>
<col>
<col>
</colgroup>
<thead class="thead" style="text-align:left;">
<tr class="row">
<th class="entry cellrowborder" id="d52e296" style="text-align:left;vertical-align:top;"> </th>
<th class="entry cellrowborder" id="d52e298" style="text-align:left;vertical-align:top;">Variables</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody class="tbody">
<tr class="row">
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d52e296" style="text-align:left;vertical-align:top;">Inputs</td>
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d52e298" style="text-align:left;vertical-align:top;">
<code class="ph codeph">First name</code>, <code class="ph codeph">Last name</code>,
<code class="ph codeph">Work email address</code><p class="p">Optional:
<code class="ph codeph">Middle name</code>, <code class="ph codeph">Preferred
name</code>, <code class="ph codeph">Employee number</code>,
<code class="ph codeph">Job title</code>,
<code class="ph codeph">Department</code>,
<code class="ph codeph">Division</code>,
<code class="ph codeph">Location</code>, <code class="ph codeph">Hire date</code>,
<code class="ph codeph">Gender</code>, <code class="ph codeph">Home email
address</code>, <code class="ph codeph">Work phone
number</code>, <code class="ph codeph">Mobile phone number</code>,
<code class="ph codeph">Status</code></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr class="row">
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d52e296" style="text-align:left;vertical-align:top;">Output</td>
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d52e298" style="text-align:left;vertical-align:top;">
<code class="ph codeph">Employee ID</code> and any variables specified
in the input</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title6" class="topic nested2" id="topic_jgy_y3r_4hc">
<h3 class="title topictitle3" id="ariaid-title6">Updating an employee in BambooHR</h3>
<div class="body">
<p class="p">Use the <em class="ph i">Update employee</em> action to update details for an existing employee
in BambooHR.</p>
<p class="p">This action has the following inputs and outputs:</p>
<div class="p">
<div class="tablenoborder">
<table border="1" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" class="table" frame="border" id="topic_jgy_y3r_4hc__table_sj4_zsr_4hc" rules="all" summary="">
<colgroup>
<col>
<col>
</colgroup>
<thead class="thead" style="text-align:left;">
<tr class="row">
<th class="entry cellrowborder" id="d52e410" style="text-align:left;vertical-align:top;"> </th>
<th class="entry cellrowborder" id="d52e412" style="text-align:left;vertical-align:top;">Variables</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody class="tbody">
<tr class="row">
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d52e410" style="text-align:left;vertical-align:top;">Inputs</td>
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d52e412" style="text-align:left;vertical-align:top;">
<code class="ph codeph">Employee ID</code><p class="p">Optional: <code class="ph codeph">First
name</code>, <code class="ph codeph">Middle name</code>,
<code class="ph codeph">Last name</code>, <code class="ph codeph">Preferred
name</code>, <code class="ph codeph">Employee number</code>,
<code class="ph codeph">Job title</code>,
<code class="ph codeph">Department</code>,
<code class="ph codeph">Division</code>,
<code class="ph codeph">Location</code>, <code class="ph codeph">Hire date</code>,
<code class="ph codeph">Gender</code>, <code class="ph codeph">Home email
address</code>, <code class="ph codeph">Work phone
number</code>, <code class="ph codeph">Mobile phone number</code>,
<code class="ph codeph">Status</code></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr class="row">
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d52e410" style="text-align:left;vertical-align:top;">Output</td>
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d52e412" style="text-align:left;vertical-align:top;">The employee's updated personnel data</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title7" class="topic nested2" id="topic_pt4_z3r_4hc">
<h3 class="title topictitle3" id="ariaid-title7">Requesting time off in BambooHR</h3>
<div class="body">
<p class="p">Use the <em class="ph i">Request time off</em> action to submit a time off request for an
employee in BambooHR.</p>
<p class="p">This action has the following inputs and outputs:</p>
<div class="p">
<div class="tablenoborder">
<table border="1" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" class="table" frame="border" id="topic_pt4_z3r_4hc__table_b1m_2tr_4hc" rules="all" summary="">
<colgroup>
<col>
<col>
</colgroup>
<thead class="thead" style="text-align:left;">
<tr class="row">
<th class="entry cellrowborder" id="d52e523" style="text-align:left;vertical-align:top;"> </th>
<th class="entry cellrowborder" id="d52e525" style="text-align:left;vertical-align:top;">Variables</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody class="tbody">
<tr class="row">
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d52e523" style="text-align:left;vertical-align:top;">Inputs</td>
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d52e525" style="text-align:left;vertical-align:top;">
<code class="ph codeph">Employee ID</code>, <code class="ph codeph">Start
date</code>, <code class="ph codeph">End date</code>,
<code class="ph codeph">Type</code><div class="note note">
<span class="notetitle">Note:</span> Dates must be formatted as
YYYY-MM-DD and in the BambooHR account's
timezone.</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr class="row">
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d52e523" style="text-align:left;vertical-align:top;">Output</td>
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d52e525" style="text-align:left;vertical-align:top;">Confirmation of submitted request</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title8" class="topic nested1" id="topic_ih2_gjr_4hc">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title8">Recipe: Automatically creating a time off request in BambooHR after it's approved in a Zendesk ticket</h2>
<div class="body">
<p class="p">The following example action flow automatically submits a time off request in
BambooHR when a Zendesk ticket related to the request is approved. </p>
<div class="p">Such an action flow would consist of the following steps:<ol class="ol" id="topic_ih2_gjr_4hc__ol_hhj_pwf_dhc">
<li class="li">
<a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/8855601898266#topic_zg5_sx3_t2c" target="_blank">Add an action flow trigger</a> with
the following details:<ol class="ol" id="topic_ih2_gjr_4hc__ol_l2n_nwq_chc" type="a">
<li class="li">Click <strong class="ph b">Add trigger</strong>.</li>
<li class="li">In the step sidebar, under <strong class="ph b">Zendesk</strong>, click
<strong class="ph b">Tickets</strong>.</li>
<li class="li">Click <strong class="ph b">Properties</strong> and select <strong class="ph b">Ticket tags changed</strong>.</li>
<li class="li">Click <strong class="ph b">Add condition</strong>.</li>
<li class="li">Under <strong class="ph b">Variable</strong>, click <strong class="ph b">Ticket tags changed</strong> and select
<strong class="ph b">Tags (added)</strong>.</li>
<li class="li">Set the <strong class="ph b">Operator</strong> to <strong class="ph b">Contains at least 1 of</strong>.</li>
<li class="li">Under <strong class="ph b">Value</strong>, enter <strong class="ph b">approved</strong>.</li>
</ol>
</li>
<li class="li">Add a step to <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/8855601898266#topic_fpp_cnk_t2c" target="_blank">look up ticket details</a>:<ol class="ol" id="topic_ih2_gjr_4hc__ol_u1q_wcx_chc" type="a">
<li class="li">In the action builder, beneath the action flow trigger, click the
<strong class="ph b">Add step</strong> icon (<img class="image" id="topic_ih2_gjr_4hc__image_ls5_1xr_1hc" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/icon_action_flows_add.png" width="16">).</li>
<li class="li">In the step sidebar, under <strong class="ph b">Zendesk actions</strong>, click <strong class="ph b">Look up
ticket</strong>.</li>
<li class="li">Under <strong class="ph b">Ticket ID</strong>, click into the field and then click
<strong class="ph b">Select a variable instead</strong>.</li>
<li class="li">Within the variable menu, select <strong class="ph b">Ticket tags changed</strong> as the
step that outputs the variable you want to use, and then select
<strong class="ph b">Ticket ID</strong>.</li>
</ol>
</li>
<li class="li">Add a step to <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/8855601898266#topic_fpp_cnk_t2c" target="_blank">look up user details</a> about the
ticket assignee:<ol class="ol" id="topic_ih2_gjr_4hc__ol_zjp_qdx_chc" type="a">
<li class="li">In the action builder, click the <strong class="ph b">Add step</strong> icon (<img class="image" id="topic_ih2_gjr_4hc__image_ox3_rdx_chc" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/icon_action_flows_add.png" width="16">).</li>
<li class="li">In the step sidebar, under <strong class="ph b">Zendesk actions</strong>, click <strong class="ph b">Look up
user</strong>.</li>
<li class="li">Under <strong class="ph b">User ID type</strong>, select <strong class="ph b">Zendesk user ID</strong>.</li>
<li class="li">For <strong class="ph b">User ID</strong>, click <strong class="ph b">Add variable</strong>.</li>
<li class="li">Within the variable menu, select <strong class="ph b">Ticket tags changed</strong> as the
step that outputs the variable you want to use, and then select
<strong class="ph b">Requester ID</strong>.</li>
</ol>
</li>
<li class="li">Add a step to retrieve the employee's data in BambooHR:<ol class="ol" id="topic_ih2_gjr_4hc__ol_dds_qwr_4hc" type="a">
<li class="li">In the action builder, click the <strong class="ph b">Add step</strong> icon (<img class="image" id="topic_ih2_gjr_4hc__image_vdd_rwr_4hc" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/icon_action_flows_add.png" width="16">).</li>
<li class="li">In the step sidebar, under <strong class="ph b">External actions</strong>, click
<strong class="ph b">BambooHR</strong> and then select <strong class="ph b">Get employee
details</strong>.</li>
<li class="li">Under <strong class="ph b">Employee email</strong>, click <strong class="ph b">Add variable </strong>.</li>
<li class="li">Within the variable menu, select <strong class="ph b">Look up user</strong> as the step
that outputs the variable you want to use, and then select <strong class="ph b">Work
email</strong>.</li>
</ol>
</li>
<li class="li">Add a step to submit the time off request in BambooHR:<ol class="ol" id="topic_ih2_gjr_4hc__ol_jt3_3xr_4hc" type="a">
<li class="li">In the action builder, click the <strong class="ph b">Add step</strong> icon (<img class="image" id="topic_ih2_gjr_4hc__image_kt3_3xr_4hc" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/icon_action_flows_add.png" width="16">).</li>
<li class="li">In the step sidebar, under <strong class="ph b">External actions</strong>, click
<strong class="ph b">BambooHR</strong> and then select <strong class="ph b">Request time off</strong>.</li>
<li class="li">Under <strong class="ph b">Employee ID</strong>, click <strong class="ph b">Add variable</strong>.</li>
<li class="li">Within the variable menu, select <strong class="ph b">Look up user</strong> as the step
that outputs the variable you want to use, and then select <strong class="ph b">Work
ID</strong>.</li>
<li class="li">Under <strong class="ph b">Start date</strong>, click <strong class="ph b">Add variable</strong>.</li>
<li class="li">Within the variable menu, select <strong class="ph b">Look up ticket</strong> as the step
that outputs the variable you want to use, and then select the
<strong class="ph b">Start date</strong>.</li>
<li class="li">Under <strong class="ph b">End date</strong>, click <strong class="ph b">Add variable</strong>.</li>
<li class="li">Within the variable menu, select <strong class="ph b">Look up ticket</strong> as the step
that outputs the variable you want to use, and then select the
<strong class="ph b">End date</strong>.</li>
</ol>
<div class="note note">
<span class="notetitle">Note:</span> To make the start date and end date information available for use
as variables in the action flow, these must be configured as ticket
fields.</div>
</li>
<li class="li">Add a step that <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/9849650344730" target="_blank">sends a direct message in Slack</a> to
the ticket requester's supervisor that contains the information you
collected for the time off request:<ol class="ol" id="topic_ih2_gjr_4hc__ol_wfl_lxf_dhc" type="a">
<li class="li">In the action builder, click the <strong class="ph b">Add step</strong> icon (<img class="image" id="topic_ih2_gjr_4hc__image_ixj_mxf_dhc" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/icon_action_flows_add.png" width="16">).</li>
<li class="li">In the step sidebar, under <strong class="ph b">External actions</strong>, click
<strong class="ph b">Slack</strong> and then select <strong class="ph b">Post direct message</strong>.</li>
<li class="li">Under <strong class="ph b">Email</strong>, click <strong class="ph b">Add variable</strong>.</li>
<li class="li">Within the variable menu, select <strong class="ph b">Get employee details</strong> as the
step that outputs the variable, and then select <strong class="ph b">Supervisor's
email</strong>.</li>
<li class="li">Under <strong class="ph b">Message</strong>, enter the message you want to send to the
employee's supervisor. Include relevant information as variables
from the Look up ticket and Look up user steps, respectively, to
streamline their ability to solve the ticket. In the following
example, all variables are
italicized:<pre class="pre codeblock"><code>Hi <em class="ph i">Employee details &gt; Supervisor Name</em>,

A time off request has been submitted in BambooHR for <em class="ph i">Requester &gt; Name</em> and requires your attention. Please respond as soon as possible.

Time off request summary:
- Start date: <em class="ph i">Ticket &gt; Start date</em>
- End date: <em class="ph i">Ticket &gt; End date</em>
- Notes: <em class="ph i">Requester &gt; Notes</em></code></pre>
</li>
</ol>
</li>
<li class="li">Click <strong class="ph b">Save</strong>.</li>
<li class="li">Click <strong class="ph b">Test</strong> to <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/9052312956570#topic_uyj_qsw_3fc" target="_blank">test the action flow</a>.</li>
<li class="li">Click the options menu (<img class="image" id="topic_ih2_gjr_4hc__image_uls_2xf_dhc" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/options-menu-icon-small.png">) and select <strong class="ph b">Activate</strong> to begin using the
action flow to automatically submit a time off request in BambooHR when a
Zendesk ticket related to the request is approved.</li>
</ol>
</div>
</div>
</div>
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"@type": "TechArticle",
"@id": "https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/10042011737370",
"url": "https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/10042011737370-Using-BambooHR-actions-in-action-flows",
"headline": "Using BambooHR actions in action flows",
"description": "You can connect the action builder to BambooHR to automate employee data management and time off requests within action flows, including creating time off requests after ticket approval.",
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