Best Ways to Use Automation in Jira For HR Processes - Part 1

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The more routine work you automate, the more time you can spend on the human side of HR -supporting people, not chasing processes. Automation not only saves time but also helps you build consistency, improve transparency, and deliver a smoother employee experience. In the long run, this can have a direct impact on engagement and retention.

In this post, we’ll look at how to use Jira for HR to manage key processes more efficiently. You’ll learn how to automate repetitive tasks and use checklists to keep every step clear, trackable, and easy to follow.

What HR Tasks And Processes Can You Automate?

Jira can offer a lot of different options for automating HR operations. With the right setup, you can streamline key activities across talent acquisition, human resource management, and people operations. This makes Jira a practical choice for managing high-volume, recurring processes that often take up too much manual effort.

Here are just a few examples of what you can automate:

• Organizing recruitment tasks and tracking their progress
• Coordinating pre-onboarding and onboarding activities across departments
• Scheduling performance reviews and feedback sessions
• Launching and managing employee development plans
• Tracking vacation or leave requests, managing approvals
• Collecting feedback on HR programs and internal processes
• Running structured offboarding when an employee leaves

While not every process can be fully automated, even partial automation reduces manual follow-ups and minimizes delays. It helps you define consistent workflows, align cross-functional teams, and avoid tasks slipping through the cracks.

As a result, each phase of the employee lifecycle - from hiring to exit - is easier to manage and more predictable. This improves the overall employee experience while optimizing your HR team's resources.

How Can You Leverage Automation to Tailor Jira For HR Purposes? 

Automation in Jira for HR can take many forms. The right choice depends on your needs and the level of complexity you’re ready to implement. Whether you want to speed up onboarding, reduce manual input, or keep cross-team processes aligned, there’s a wide range of options to help you. 

Here are some examples of different solutions that are available:

Smart Checklists for common tasks

Checklists are ideal when work involves multiple steps. Take new employee onboarding as an example - it usually includes signing documents, receiving equipment, setting up accounts, and attending intro calls. With Smart Checklist for Jira, you can easily document these steps. Then, the checklist can be added automatically to any new work item that includes “onboarding” in its title.

Smart Templates for recurring processes

Processes like hiring often follow a standard pattern. They repeat the same epic structure with an identical set of tasks. Smart Templates for Jira let you save that epic structure as a template and reuse it anytime. For regular processes, like quarterly reviews or routine audits, typical epics and their work items can be created automatically on a schedule.

Automation for Jira to build custom flows

Jira’s native automation is one of the most flexible tools for handling repetitive HR tasks. It’s based on a trigger–action principle, allowing you to create custom flows. For example, you can automatically assign onboarding tasks when a new hire is added. Or, you can send reminders for pending feedback forms, or transition a work item to the next stage once a checklist is complete. 

The rule builder supports a wide range of conditions. This makes it easy to adapt automation to your team’s specific workflows. As a result, you can reduce manual effort and keep your HR processes consistent and on track.

Workflow automation to further improve efficiency

Workflows define the path a work item follows. For example, moving from “To Do” to “In Progress” to “Done.” You can use the Workflow Editor and other tools to integrate automation into your workflows. For instance, to block a vacation request from being moved to “Approved” unless it first gets a manager’s sign-off. 

Automation in Jira Service Management (JSM)

If your HR team uses JSM, you can automate many request-based tasks. For instance, purchase or leave requests can be routed automatically to the right person based on the HR request type. One more use case example is when you automatically clone a JSM ticket to a different project as a work item. This is usually needed if another team needs to get involved. Automating this processes makes your HR service management more efficient.

Integrating Jira with other apps

Jira can be connected to a variety of other tools, and it supports both native connectors and third-party integrations. For example, you can natively connect Jira to Slack and receive messages in a dedicated channel whenever a work item is created or updated.

For apps that aren’t supported out of the box, there are third-party services like Zapier or Onward. These allow you to link Jira with platforms such as BambooHR, ERP systems, or other HR software, depending on what’s available in the integration list. This setup helps you transfer data across tools without relying on manual updates.

Advanced automation via the Jira API

For more advanced needs, you can build integrations with internal systems using Jira’s REST API. This approach is best suited for teams with development support, as technical expertise is required to configure such integrations. The advantage is that it allows you to tailor automation exactly to your company’s infrastructure.

Each of these options offers different levels of effort and flexibility, expanding the functionality offered by Jira for HR tasks. In some cases, you’ll need help from a Jira administrator to get everything running smoothly. But you don’t have to overhaul your entire system to see results. Even automating a small part of your HR processes can reduce manual work and free up valuable time. Let me walk you through how to put some of these ideas into action.

Let’s take a closer look at a few of these solutions and see how they can be applied to real HR use cases.

Automate Recurring Tasks With Smart Checklist

HR specialists often coordinate processes that include many steps and involve input from different teams. It’s not always easy to track every detail or ensure that each person follows through on time.

Here’s how using checklists with automation can help with this:

“For all repeated processes, we prepare a checklist describing the required steps from A to Z. Then, we save it as a template and use this templatized checklist together with Automation for Jira. So, anyone who works on a typical task has the same list of steps to follow. As a result, everyone has the same expectations and a clear understanding of what to do and in what order.”

Olia Ududiak

Head of People Team at Railsware

With Smart Checklist for Jira, you can automatically add clear, step-by-step checklists to your common tasks. Here’s an example of how that looks in practice:

This example shows a checklist created for a new hire. It walks them through each step, includes links to helpful materials, and uses headers to highlight priorities.

You can also build role-specific checklists for each team involved in onboarding, such as HR, Legal, IT, Procurement, and Security. Once set up, these checklists can be added automatically to every new onboarding task. This lets you standardize the process and keep each team aligned without needing to manage things manually. This also makes it easier to scale onboarding as your company grows.

With Smart Checklist, you can add structure and clarity to your tasks using features like:

• Mentioning collaborators so they know exactly where their input is needed
• Setting deadlines for each step to keep everything on schedule
• Saving checklists as templates for future use across similar tasks
• Using item-level statuses like “To Do” or “In Progress” to track progress
• Adding headers to group related actions and making the checklist easier to follow
• Inserting links to documents, forms, or internal tools for quick access
• Marking certain steps as mandatory to complete before moving to the next item
• Using markdown formatting to style and organize checklist content
• Adding expandable details under each step to avoid clutter while keeping info available

Here’s the same checklist I showed above, but in the markdown text format. You can copy it and paste it into your work item using the instructions provided in the next section.

Company onboarding for Maria Smith | Developer

# During the 1st week

- Use your *full name* in your Slack profile

- Add your picture to _all company profiles_

> List of company profiles: Slack, Google account, Jira/Confluence, etc.

- Fill out [the form](http://rw.rw/vimeo.com) to get company merch

> Please state your current address

- Install required software

>VPN setup

>Antivirus installation

- Complete Orientation day

- Complete Product Training – Day 3

- Complete Compliance Workshop – Day 5

- Join the team introduction meeting

# During the 1st month

- Read [company-wide policies](https://vimeo.com)

- Watch [Slack usage video](https://vimeo.com)

- Learn [working with sensitive information](https://www.atlassian.com/software/confluence)

- Prepare for the first feedback session

>Purpose: Assess your training progress and role adaptation.

- Schedule Bi-weekly meetings with your coordinator

>Purpose: Review progress on tasks, ask questions

How to Add an Automated Smart Checklist to Your Jira Work Item

• Install Smart Checklist for Jira by TitanApps from the Atlassian Marketplace. Start by outlining the key steps of the process you want to document, such as onboarding. You can either create this structure from scratch or use the example shown above. Ready-made Position Opening templates and Onboarding templates from Smart Checklist are also available if you prefer a faster start.

• Once your plan is ready, open a Jira work item and paste the checklist into the Smart Checklist section. Use the markdown editor to make any final edits—add missing steps, remove anything that doesn’t apply, or reorganize the content as needed.

• When you’re done, save the checklist as a template (as shown below) so you can reuse it for future tasks.

• Assign your checklist to a specific work item type using the built-in options in Smart Checklist. Click the three-dot menu as shown earlier, but this time select Manage Templates. Find the template you want to use and expand its details. In the menu on the right, choose the work types you want the template to apply to. From now on, your Smart Checklist will be added automatically to all new work items of that type in the selected project.

  

• If you want to use Smart Checklist templates in more advanced cases, you can integrate them with Automation for Jira. Use the Smart Checklist Automation Guide and Smart Checklist Template Guide from our knowledge base to choose the right automation setup for your process. 

For instance, you can create a rule that adds a specific checklist to every new subtask that matches certain conditions. One simple example: every time a subtask called “Install the required software” is created as part of an onboarding task, a checklist with the list of tools to install can be added automatically.

If automation isn’t needed, you can also manually insert a saved Smart Checklist template into any work item. All this allows you to use Jira for HR purposes more effectively, aligning the instance setup with your needs and unique flows. 

Integrate Automated Smart Templates Into Your HR Processes

Many HR processes are layered and involve multiple teams. They often stretch over time and include tasks with different assignees and their own checklists. With Smart Templates, you can bring structure to these processes. The app allows you to turn any process organized as a Jira epic into a reusable template with a clearly defined layout.

For example, you can create a template for the recruitment process. When a new role opens, use the template to generate a Jira epic with a pre-defined set of tasks. Each task will already contain a pre-set checklist. Thanks to variables like {{position}} or {{project}}, the same template can be used for different hiring needs without rebuilding it each time. This helps standardize your processes while still keeping them flexible.

In addition to storing task hierarchies, a smart template can include prefilled fields like Components, Epic Name, Priority, Labels, and Assignee. You can also create a reusable structure for the task description.

The images below show how this works. The first is a template with a standardized description. The second is a generated task where variables, such as the title and description, have been replaced with task-specific information.

You can schedule recurring work items to be created automatically based on your preferred timing. This is done using the built-in Scheduler feature available in Smart Templates:

To sum up, with Smart Templates, you can:

• Create templates from any existing epic or another work item
• Organize complex processes as a structured task hierarchy
• Generate new work items using Automation for Jira
• Schedule recurring task creation with the built-in Scheduler
• Assign tasks and mention team members automatically
• Use variables to handle dynamic values like position or project
• Calculate due dates without manual input
• Prefill both standard and custom fields
• Define a reusable description layout for your tasks
• Use Jira for HR purposes with more flexibility

Together, these features let you launch HR processes in seconds. You can create complete epics with subtasks, assignees, deadlines, and other key details—automatically and without extra effort.

How to Add Smart Templates to Your HR Tasks

1. Install Smart Templates for Jira and grant the requested permissions. 
2. Open the work item you want to reuse. This can be an epic or any other task you’d like to turn into a template. Alternatively, you can create a template from scratch. Edit the structure before saving (optional). Add or remove tasks and subtasks, assign them to team members, insert checklists, and apply variables.
3. In the Smart Templates section of your work item, click Save structure as template, name your template, and save it.
4. If needed, use the built-in Scheduler feature to automatically create new work items from your template.
5. For more flexibility, follow the Smart Templates Automation Guide to integrate with Automation for Jira and trigger template-based actions based on custom events.

8 Reasons Why Using Smart Tools in Jira For HR is a Great Power-Up

Smart Checklist and Smart Templates can be used on their own, but combining them unlocks even more value. They integrate smoothly with each other and work well alongside Jira’s native automation. Here’s how they help streamline HR processes in Jira:

• Clear, repeatable processes. HR tasks are structured, documented, and carried out the same way every time. Using Jira for HR process codification greatly improves consistency and helps you keep everyone aligned.
• All details in one place. Instead of juggling documents and scattered notes, each recurring task comes with a checklist that holds all the necessary details. 
• Support for complex task structures. Multi-step HR processes can be codified as epics with multiple tasks and launched automatically on a schedule.
• Faster HR onboarding process for new employees. With templates in place, new recruiters and HR specialists can follow established processes right away—no need to learn everything from scratch. You can also view the full history of work items created from each template, which promotes transparency.
• Best practices are easier to follow. Instead of being stuck in internal docs, your company’s process guidelines take a practical, usable form. 
• Better coordination across teams. Onboarding and other cross-functional activities run more smoothly when each team knows exactly what to do and when.
• Less manual work. Automated checklists and templates reduce repetitive tasks and save time across the board.
• Maintaining a high standard of data protection. Smart Tools have a GDPR compliance certification and can be used to work with sensitive information, such as employee personal details. 

Smart Tools for Jira by TitanApps are designed to be user-friendly, even for those with no technical background. You can set them up with minimal effort and start seeing results almost immediately. 

In Part 2 of this tutorial, discover more tools and automation options in Jira for HR teams. I will post it shortly here in the Atlassian Community. There, I cover options such as using Automation for Jira, integrating Jira with external HR tools, automating workflows, and more.

Check it out to have a complete picture!