← Back to Case Studies Professional Services

Legal Services Firm Streamlines Employee Onboarding

How a leading legal services company automated employee onboarding across multiple offices, reducing administrative burden and accelerating time-to-productivity.

StreamlinedMulti-Office Process
AutomatedDocument Processing
FasterTime-to-Productivity
ReducedHR Burden

The Challenge

A leading legal services company with offices across multiple locations faced a common but costly challenge: employee onboarding was a paper-heavy, manual process that consumed significant HR time and delayed new hire productivity.

The existing onboarding process had multiple pain points:

  • Paper forms requiring manual data entry into multiple HR systems
  • Inconsistent onboarding experiences across different office locations
  • Delayed system access and equipment provisioning
  • HR staff spending excessive time on administrative tasks
  • New hires waiting days for basic access and setup
  • Compliance documentation scattered and difficult to track

The company needed to modernize onboarding to improve the new hire experience, ensure compliance, and free HR staff for strategic work.

The Solution

The company implemented an automated onboarding solution using Power Automate, Dataverse, and AI Builder. The solution digitizes the entire onboarding workflow from offer acceptance through first-day readiness.

Power Automate Dataverse AI Builder Power Apps Microsoft 365

Key capabilities:

  • Digital Forms: New hires complete onboarding paperwork electronically before day one
  • Document Processing: AI Builder extracts data from submitted documents automatically
  • Automated Workflows: System access, equipment requests, and IT tickets triggered automatically
  • Task Orchestration: HR, IT, facilities, and managers receive automated task assignments
  • Progress Tracking: Dashboard visibility into onboarding status for every new hire
  • Compliance Audit Trail: Complete documentation of all onboarding activities

"Our new hires now have system access and equipment ready on day one. HR spends less time chasing paperwork and more time on strategic initiatives. The consistency across offices has improved dramatically."

— Director of Human Resources

The Results

Streamlined Multi-Office Process

Standardized onboarding workflow ensures consistent experience regardless of which office a new hire joins.

Automated Document Processing

AI Builder extracts data from onboarding documents, eliminating manual data entry and reducing errors.

Faster Time-to-Productivity

New hires have access, equipment, and orientation materials ready on day one, accelerating their ramp-up.

Reduced HR Administrative Burden

HR staff spend significantly less time on manual onboarding tasks, freeing capacity for strategic work.

Onboarding Workflow

The automated onboarding process orchestrates activities across multiple departments:

  • Pre-Day 1: New hire receives welcome email with digital forms and document upload portal
  • Document Processing: AI Builder extracts data from submitted documents (ID, tax forms, etc.)
  • System Provisioning: IT receives automated tickets for account creation and equipment
  • Facilities Coordination: Workspace assignment and badge provisioning triggered automatically
  • Manager Notification: Managers receive onboarding checklist and training schedule
  • Day 1 Ready: All systems, access, and equipment verified before start date

Key Takeaways

  • Start Before Day 1: Digital onboarding should begin at offer acceptance, not start date
  • Orchestrate Across Departments: Effective onboarding requires coordination beyond just HR
  • Standardize for Consistency: Automated workflows ensure every new hire gets the same experience
  • Use AI for Documents: AI Builder reduces manual data entry from onboarding paperwork
  • Track and Measure: Dashboards provide visibility and identify bottlenecks

Technology Stack

  • Power Automate: Cloud flows for workflow orchestration and notifications
  • Power Apps: HR dashboard for onboarding status tracking
  • Dataverse: Centralized storage for new hire data and compliance records
  • AI Builder: Document processing for automatic data extraction
  • Microsoft 365: Email, Teams, and SharePoint for collaboration

References

This case study is based on HR automation patterns documented by Microsoft:

Ready to Transform Your Employee Onboarding?

Learn how Power Platform can streamline HR processes across your organization.

Get In Touch