Managing the employee lifecycle: HR workflows for small teams

If you’re running HR in a small team, you’ll know how messy managing the employee lifecycle can get. One minute you’re chasing references, next you’re sorting someone’s payslip. And somehow you’ve still got three policies to update. With no proper system in place, it can be easy to drop the ball.

That’s where HR workflows come in. They help you stay on top of things at every stage of the employee life cycle, from hiring to offboarding and everything in between.

In this article, we go through the employee life cycle from start to finish. We explain what each stage involves, what to automate, and how the right tools can help.

What is the employee life cycle

The employee life cycle is a simple way to describe the key stages someone goes through while working at your company. This typically includes the moment they notice your job post all the way through to their last day. And sometimes beyond that.

A strong employee life cycle model usually covers six to seven stages:

• Attracting candidates
• Recruitment
• Onboarding
• Development
• Retention
• Offboarding

Some businesses also include an Alumni stage. This is especially true if former employees might return or refer others later on.

Getting each phase right can help to improve employee satisfaction and reduce employee turnover. It can also create an overall stronger company culture. Essentially, the employee life cycle covers everything that shapes a person’s experience with your business. Ignore it and you’ll probably feel it. Usually in the form of stress, delays, and employee complaints.

Key employee life cycle stages and workflows

The stages of the employee life cycle don’t just happen by chance. They need structure, clear steps, and the right tools behind them. Below, we explain each stage with examples of the key workflows and tech that can help small teams get things right:

Stage 1: Attracting candidates

The employee life cycle starts long before someone signs an offer. It begins when you show up in the job market and start attracting potential candidates. A strong employer brand and clear job posts can attract talent. It can also encourage current employees to refer great talent.

Workflow

Job approvals ➔ posting new roles to job boards ➔ setting up internal referral programs.

Tools that help

Good recruitment software with an in-built applicant tracking system (ATS) can make it easy to post jobs, track applications, and manage internal referrals. And without drowning in spreadsheets or emails. It can give you visibility over open roles, candidate sources, and time-to-hire. This can help you sharpen how and where you attract candidates.

Stage 2: Hiring and recruitment

The second stage of the recruitment process is when candidates typically start applying. This part of the hiring process covers everything from screening CVs to making an offer. Done right, it can create a professional first impression. Done badly, and there's a high chance of good candidates quietly ghosting you.

Workflow

CV screening ➔ setting up interviews ➔ managing background checks ➔ sending offer letters.

Tools that help

Modern recruitment software can streamline the entire hiring process. It can enable you to automate interview scheduling and track candidate stages. It can even generate custom offer letters with just a few clicks. This can save hours of back-and-forth emails and admin.

Stage 3: Onboarding

The onboarding process sets the tone for everything that follows. An awkward start for new employees can create friction. On the other hand, a smooth one can build positive relationships and trust from day one. Great onboarding can connect new hires to your company values and help build a productive workforce faster.

Workflow

Sending new hire documentation ➔ policy acknowledgment ➔ setting up IT access ➔ enrolling in payroll and benefits.

Tools that help

Innovative HR software can automate onboarding checklists and run identity verification. Some of the best HR software can even set up device and app access, and link new hires straight into your payroll and benefits platforms. This means that instead of manually tracking every task, everything runs on a smart timeline that triggers actions in real-time.

Stage 4: Development and performance

Once a new hire settles in, the focus should shift to growth. The development stage of the employee life cycle is about helping your new hires build skills. It involves helping them find career advancement opportunities and progress through their journey with your company. Investing in employee development is an excellent way of boosting employee engagement and loyalty.

Workflow

Setting individual goals ➔ running regular performance management reviews ➔ tracking learning and development activities.

Tools that help

A human capital management (HCM) system with a built-in learning management system (LMS) can help you provide well-suited development opportunities and track progress. It can also enable you to run structured reviews and manage feedback. In a nutshell, it can turn vague development plans into real, measurable progress.

Stage 5: Engagement and retention

Even if people love their work, you can’t assume they’ll stay forever. You need to attempt to build and maintain employee engagement and create strong connections across all stages of the employee journey. Offering career growth opportunities and making sure people have a great employee experience is key.

Workflow

Running pulse surveys ➔ managing recognition programs ➔ building internal career paths.

Tools that help

A strong HCM platform with an in-built survey tool and smart org charts can help you monitor engagement and track sentiment. It can also help you map out realistic career moves for your team. That way, you can spot disengagement early. And you can do something about it before good people walk out the door.

Stage 6: Offboarding and exit

Offboarding and exit is, in most cases, the final stage of the employee life cycle. And the end of the journey matters too. A messy exit process can leave bad feelings. But a smooth, respectful approach can strengthen employee feedback and prove that you take your company's offboarding process seriously.

Workflow

Tracking resignation notices ➔ running exit interviews ➔ collecting equipment ➔ finalising payroll and documents.

Tools that help

A great human resources information system (HRIS) can help manage the full employee life cycle all the way to the offboarding process and beyond. Automated exit workflows can guide managers through every step. They can also securely archive records when someone leaves. This makes sure no important part of this stage of the process slips through the net.

6 reasons workflow automation matters for small teams

Managing the employee life cycle manually might work when you’ve only got a handful of employees. But as your team grows, manual HR processes can start to crack under the pressure. That’s where automation can become crucial. 

Automating your HR workflows can help small teams keep up with every stage of the employee life cycle. And without dropping the ball or burning out. Here are six reasons why automation matters for small teams:

1. Saves time on repetitive admin

When you're handling all the stages of the employee life cycle manually, the admin can start stacking up fast. You're likely to end up spending hours chasing paperwork, sending reminders, and double-checking spreadsheets. And this is certainly time that could be better spent on real ‘people work’.

Workflow automation takes care of the boring, repetitive stuff. It can streamline everything from approvals during the recruitment stage to onboarding tasks, and more. For example, tasks like sending offer letters and reminding managers about probation check-ins.

Example: Instead of running after hiring managers for CV reviews or trying to juggle them yourself, a good system can send automatic reminders when new applications come in. This can keep the recruitment process moving without requiring constant follow-ups or adding more to your plate.

2. Reduces the risk of human error

When small teams are bouncing between onboarding, payroll changes, and right-to-work checks manually, mistakes are inevitable. And in HR, even tiny mistakes can turn into massive problems.

Automating key steps in the employee lifecycle, especially around compliance and onboarding, is extremely beneficial. It can reduce the risk of missing critical documents, miscalculating leave, or forgetting important deadlines.

Example: When you onboard new team members, an automated workflow can make sure every step, from ID checks to payroll setup, happens in the right order. And without having to rely on your memory or sticky notes!

3. Improves compliance and audit readiness

Employment law doesn't give much leeway for 'I forgot' or 'I thought someone else was doing it.' Automated workflows make sure the right documents are signed, stored, and tracked without relying on manual reminders. When audit season comes around, you’ve got a clean, organised paper trail ready to go, minus the last-minute panic.

Example: An HRIS can flag upcoming visa expirations automatically. This means you’re not caught out by an employee’s right-to-work unexpectedly lapsing. You can get onto it early, stay compliant, and avoid fines or last-minute shambles.

4. Supports smooth onboarding and offboarding

Smooth transitions are a big part of creating a positive employee experience. A clear, structured onboarding and offboarding process can help new hires settle in faster. And it can also help departing employees leave on good terms.

When the start and end of a team member’s journey feel organised and respectful, it can build trust. It can also strengthen the employee experience and help lift overall job satisfaction and feedback.

Example: Great HR software can automatically send welcome packs to new hires. It can trigger exit surveys when someone resigns. Beyond creating a better employee experience, this can really show that your company values people at every stage of the employee life cycle.

5. Boosts employee retention and engagement

Generally, people want to work for companies that are organised, responsive, and care about their career growth. Automating regular feedback cycles, recognition programs, and career development check-ins can make it easier to increase employee engagement and deliver a better employee experience. 

It also highlights your company culture and ongoing support. Thus, it strengthens your employer brand in the process.

Example: An automated survey tool can trigger a quick pulse survey after an employee’s first 90 days. This can give you early insights into engagement levels before small niggles turn into resignation letters.

6. Helps you scale without hiring more HR staff

When your team doubles, you shouldn’t have to double your HR resource allocation just to keep up. A smart employee life cycle model backed by automation lets small HR teams manage growing headcounts without drowning in admin. It enables you to stay lean, efficient, and ready for whatever growth throws at you.

Example: Instead of manually tracking every employee’s training requirements, an automated system can assign, remind, and track course completions. A good automated system can even do this across multiple locations or teams, and with zero extra HR staff needed.

Automate the entire employee life cycle with Rippling

Managing the employee life cycle gets overwhelming fast without the right systems in place. That’s why more small teams are turning to Rippling.

Rippling offers an all-in-one workforce management platform that lets you hire, pay, and manage employees in the UK and around the world compliantly. It’s not just a patchwork of apps stuck together. Rippling connects HR, Payroll, IT, and Spend in a single system, and all built on a single source of truth. This means every time you update employee data, it automatically flows through to every part of the platform.

Rippling’s HCM and HRIS automate the entire employee journey, from onboarding to offboarding and everything in between. You can:

• Onboard new hires in minutes, complete with paperwork, app access, devices, and payroll set-up. And all triggered automatically from a single workflow.
• Run performance reviews and set goals without building manual processes from scratch.
• Manage time off, promotions, and policy updates with workflows that actually talk to each other, instead of isolated systems.
• Offboard employees securely with built-in deprovisioning tools. You can track notice periods, collect equipment, and shut down access, all without missing steps.
• Stay compliant with local employment law across multiple regions. This includes automatic RTI submissions, annual leave accruals, and pension management.

The best part? Rippling’s modular setup means you can start with what you need, like HR and Payroll. Then you can add more modules later, such as IT or Spend. No need to rip everything out and start again when you grow.

Whether your team’s based in London, Manchester, or spread across countries, Rippling gives you one place to manage your people. It keeps your employee life cycle running smoothly without the chaos.

Employee life cycle FAQs

What’s the onboarding life cycle?

The onboarding life cycle is the part of the employee life cycle that covers everything from a candidate accepting an offer to settling into their role. It’s where you start shaping the employee experience. For HR professionals, it’s a very important stage. This is because first impressions can make or break someone’s long-term commitment to a company.

A good onboarding life cycle connects new hires to your company values and sets clear expectations. It makes sure they’ve got everything they need to succeed, from equipment to policies and accurate payroll set-up.

What are the 7 HR processes?

The seven core HR processes usually include:

• Recruitment: Finding, attracting, and selecting the right candidates to join your team.
• Onboarding: Bringing new hires into the company, setting them up with the right tools, and helping them settle into their role.
• Training and development: Building employees’ skills and knowledge to help them grow in their current role and prepare for future opportunities.
• Performance management: Setting goals, giving feedback, and running regular reviews to track and improve employee performance.
• Compensation and benefits: Managing wages, bonuses, pensions, and perks to keep your team fairly rewarded and motivated.
• Employee relations: Dealing with workplace issues, promoting good communication and work life balance, and keeping a healthy, positive company culture.
• Offboarding: Managing resignations or retirements smoothly, including exit interviews, equipment return, and final payroll.

Together, these processes support employees through every stage of the employee life cycle. Strong HR systems connect them all. This makes it easier to manage your people from the day they apply to the day they leave.

What’s the best employee life cycle management software for small businesses?

The best employee life cycle management software really depends on what your business needs.

Looking for a platform that can do it all? From hiring and onboarding to performance management and payroll, Rippling is a strong option. It’s built on a single system that connects everything you need to manage your workforce. You can automate important workflows, stay compliant across regions, and manage the entire employee journey without fighting with separate systems. And because it’s modular, you can start small and add more as you grow.

What’s the difference between the employee life cycle and employee journey?

The employee life cycle is the formal model that outlines the key stages of employment, from attraction to offboarding. The employee journey is more personal. It's the real, lived experience someone has at each of those stages. Managing the life cycle well can help you create a better employee journey.

Why is managing the employee life cycle important?

Managing the employee life cycle properly can help improve engagement, reduce turnover, and strengthen your employer brand. It can create a clear structure for supporting employees at every stage, making it easier to grow a strong, loyal, and productive team.

This blog is based on information available to Rippling as of May 13, 2025.

Disclaimer: Rippling and its affiliates do not provide tax, accounting, or legal advice. This material has been prepared for informational purposes only, and is not intended to provide or be relied on for tax, accounting, or legal advice. You should consult your own tax, accounting, and legal advisors before engaging in any related activities or transactions.