01. Set up and run automations

Set up and run automations

This is for admins who are tired of enrolling the same people into the same courses by hand. By the end you'll be able to build a rule that enrols the right people automatically, and trigger that rule yourself when you need it to run now.

Everything so far has been you doing the enrolling. Automations flip that around: you describe who should get which courses, and 5Mins keeps enrolling matching people for you, without manual assignment. It is the difference between enrolling this week's new starters and never having to think about new-starter enrolment again.

Before you start

  • Be comfortable enrolling people into a course by hand first. Automations do the same job on a rule, so it helps to know what a good enrolment looks like.
  • Have at least one course ready to enrol people into.
  • Know who the rule is for: everyone, or a group you can describe by role, cohort, region or join date.
help-video-5134382

🎬 Watch this as a short narrated video

Steps shown in this video

  1. Automations live under Content and Courses, and they save you enrolling people by hand
  2. New Employee Automation assigns onboarding the moment someone joins
  3. Existing Employee Automation assigns training to people already here
  4. Open one and you get a simple rule builder
  5. Set the trigger - who the rule applies to
  6. Add filters to fine-tune exactly who matches
  7. Create the automation, and the right people are enrolled on their own - no chasing

Where automations live

Automations sit under Content & Courses, on the Automations tab of your Courses page. They enrol people in courses automatically, based on rules you set, so nobody has to be assigned by hand.

You'll see two kinds to start from:

  • New Employee Automation assigns onboarding courses the moment a new hire joins. It draws new starters from your HRIS integration, so a person enrolled the day they appear in your HR system.
  • Existing Employee Automation assigns training to people already on 5Mins. This is the one for company-wide or recurring compliance programmes.

Build the rule

Opening an automation reveals the rule builder. It has two halves: a Trigger that decides who is enrolled, and an Action that picks the courses.

  1. Open Content & Courses, then the Automations tab, and choose the automation type that fits.
  2. Give the automation a clear name, for example Annual Compliance Refresher. You'll thank yourself later when you have several.
  3. Set the Trigger. Apply it to all users, or narrow by role, cohort, region and join date, so only the people you mean will match.
  4. Add filters to fine-tune exactly who matches the rule. This is how you keep the rule tight rather than catching people you didn't intend.
  5. Choose the courses to enrol matching people in. Each course carries its own start and due date, and an optional repeat schedule for recurring training.
  6. Click Create Automation. This activates the rule and enrols every matching learner automatically from here on.

Run one manually

An automation normally runs on its own as people match it. Sometimes you want it to run right now, for example after you've added the last of a group and don't want to wait.

  1. Find your automation in the Automations tab.
  2. Open its three-dots (⋯) menu.
  3. Choose the option to run it now. This triggers the rule immediately against everyone who currently matches, rather than waiting for the next automatic run.

What you should see now

  • Your automation appears in the Automations tab with the name you gave it.
  • People who match its trigger are enrolled in the courses you chose, with the start and due dates you set.
  • The three-dots (⋯) menu on the automation gives you a way to run it on demand.

Common questions

What is the difference between the two automation types?New Employee Automation reacts to people arriving from your HRIS integration and is built for onboarding. Existing Employee Automation targets people already on 5Mins and is built for company-wide or recurring compliance.

Do I have to trigger it every time?No. The rule enrols matching people automatically once it is active. The manual trigger in the three-dots (⋯) menu is there for when you want it to run now rather than wait.

Can one automation cover recurring training?Yes. When you pick the courses, each one can carry a repeat schedule, which is what makes an automation suit annual or recurring programmes.

Next up

Your enrolment is now running itself. Next: Go deeper on Learning Records, where you'll master the statuses and filters, add training that happened outside 5Mins, and pull the exports an audit needs.