How do I run a workflow on a recurring schedule?

Scheduled workflows fire without anyone pressing a button. They run at an interval your admins configure—daily, weekly, monthly, or on a custom schedule.

When to use a scheduled workflow

• Regular reports: compile a weekly list of overdue leave requests or a monthly new starter summary.
• Proactive reminders: alert managers to complete probation reviews before a deadline, or remind employees to submit timesheets by Friday.
• Compliance checks: find employees who have not completed mandatory training by a set date and create follow-up tickets automatically.
• Recurring data sync: pull a list from a connected HRIS, compare it with records in another system, and flag discrepancies for the team.

What happens on each run

• The workflow triggers as if someone started it manually, but with no initiating message from a user.
• Unless the workflow creates a ticket, there is no visible thread—the agent simply runs and logs to the workflow run history.
• If the agent finds something that needs action (such as an overdue item), it can create a ticket and assign it to the right inbox so your team sees it immediately.

Example

Weekly probation review reminder (every Monday at 08:00):

1. Workflow agent looks up all employees whose probation end dates fall within the next 14 days (via HRIS skill).
2. For each employee, creates a ticket in the HR Inbox with the manager's name, employee name, and end date.
3. Tickets are ready and waiting for HR on Monday morning, without anyone having to run a report manually.

Guardrails

• Scheduled workflows should have clear error handling: if the HRIS is unavailable, the agent should create an alert ticket rather than silently failing.
• Avoid schedules that run so frequently they create noise (for example, every five minutes for a process that only changes daily).
• Only users with manage workflows permission can create or edit scheduled triggers.
• If your schedule references dates or deadlines, confirm that the workflow's timezone setting matches your team's expectation—off-by-one errors are common here.
• Review scheduled workflows after major process changes; a stale schedule can generate misleading or redundant tickets.