5. Set up Staff

Where: the event site, under Staff. You need: superadmin on the Staff module for the settings and module permissions; admin is enough for departments, hiring, and onboarding flows (see Step 5 — Make sure someone can administer each module).

See also

Staff quickstart for the short tour, and Staff module in depth for onboarding, shift scheduling, and the time clock in full.

Before you start

• The Staff module is switched on.

• You have a list of your departments and who leads each one.

• No Stripe key is needed.

How hiring works

Read this first — the rest of the page sets up the pieces it uses.

#	Who	What happens
1	Department leadership	Posts an open position for their department.
2	Applicant	Signs in, finds the position under Job Openings, and clicks Apply. The application is Pending Review.
3	Department leadership	Clicks Review Applications on their department card and chooses Approve or Reject. Approved applications become Pending HR.
4	HR (Staff admins)	On the HR Dashboard, under Applications Awaiting HR Review, clicks Approve. The Confirm Placement dialog lets HR confirm — or change — the department and rank before the final approval.
5	Midsummer	Adds the person to the department roster, assigns their onboarding flows, and sends the welcome e-mail.
6	New staff member	Completes their onboarding under Onboarding & Training.

Two shortcuts:

• Follow everything in one place — Staff → People → Application Status shows every application by stage: Leadership Review, HR Review, Onboarding, Fully Approved, Declined.

• Skip the application — to bring in someone you already know, open the HR Dashboard, click Manage Staff or Manage Volunteers on the department’s row, and use Invite by Email. They join the roster when they accept.

Step 1 — Create departments

Your organization’s first event starts with one department, Staff. Add the rest:

1. Open Staff → People → HR Dashboard and click Add New Department.

2. Fill in:

   • Department Name.

   • Executive Oversight, Department Lead, Department Second, and Department Deputies — the department’s leadership.

   • Active — leave on.

   • Allow Staff to Drop Their Own Shifts — your choice.

3. Click Save. Repeat for each department.

4. For a department that runs a module — Registration runs Register, the Dealers team runs Vendors — click Module Permissions on its row and grant the module, as described in Step 5 — Make sure someone can administer each module.

Step 2 — Review the staff settings

Open Staff → Advanced → Staff Settings and go through the tabs:

Tab	What to do
Emails	Three onboarding e-mails: Onboarding Welcome, Onboarding Reminder, Onboarding Complete. Defaults are filled in; put them in your own words. Edit, Render Preview, Save.
Time Clock	Automatic clock-out and its Maximum shift length, and Minimum accrued hours targets per role. Both are off on a new event. See Time clock.
Job Openings	Public job listings — off on a new event, which means only signed-in people can see your open positions. Turn it on to let anyone browse them.
Profile Fields	Extra fields on member profiles (for example Shirt Size or Emergency Contact). These are shared by every event in your organization, and only organization admins can change them.
On-Duty Roster	Who is responsible for what during the show. Leave it until closer to the event.

Two staff settings live on the HR Dashboard instead:

• Set Staff Registration Form — if you use Register, choose the registration form staff should fill in. Staff then see a Register Now card on their dashboard. Create the form first (2. Set up Register).

• Manage Titles (on each department’s row) — the titles that department can give its members.

Step 3 — Create onboarding flows

An onboarding flow is a form every new staff member must complete — agreements to sign, details to provide, policies to read. Create them before you approve anyone, so new staff get them automatically.

1. Open Staff → People → Onboarding Flows and click Create New Flow.

2. Fill in:

   • Flow Name and Description.

   • Departments — who gets this flow. Leave empty to give it to all staff. Decide now: this cannot be changed in the form editor.

   • Restrict to Leadership Roles — optional. Limits the flow to the roles you pick (Oversight, Lead, Second, Deputy), for example a leadership-only agreement.

   • Active — leave on.

3. Click Create Flow.

4. On the flow’s card, click Edit Form, then Add Field to build it — Markdown Text for policies, Signature Pad for agreements, Profile Details, Input Field, Checkbox Field, Link Button, and so on. Open each field with Edit and save it once.

5. Click Save.

Good to know:

• Flows are given out automatically whenever someone joins a department roster — by HR approval, by accepting an invitation, or by being added by hand.

• People who were already on a roster when you created the flow do not get it automatically. Click Generate Records on the flow’s card to give it to them.

• View Responses on the card shows who has completed it.

Step 4 — Post open positions

Open positions are posted per department, by that department’s leadership (event admins can post for any department). There is no menu item for this:

1. Open Staff → Dashboard and select the Staff Dashboard tab.

2. On the department’s card, click Open Positions, then Add Position.

3. Fill in:

   • Position Name and Description.

   • Position Type — Staff, Volunteer, or Deputy. This is the rank the person is given when approved.

   • Max Applications — 0 for unlimited.

   • Closing Date — optional. Leave empty to keep it open until you close it.

   • Active (visible to applicants) — on.

4. Click Create Position.

A position is listed while it is active and its closing date has not passed. To close one early, switch it off with the eye icon on its row.

Applicants find positions on the Staff home page, under the Job Openings tab. Every applicant fills in the same application: name, pronouns, contact details, experience, availability, and why they want the position.

Step 5 — Test it

1. With a test account, apply for a position from Job Openings.

2. As department leadership, approve it from Review Applications.

3. As HR, approve it from the HR Dashboard and confirm the placement.

4. Check that the welcome e-mail arrives, the person is on the department’s roster, and the test account sees its flows under Onboarding & Training.

Ready check

• Every department exists, with its leadership filled in.

• Each department that runs a module has been granted it.

• The three onboarding e-mails read the way you want.

• Public job listings is set the way you decided.

• Your onboarding flows exist, are active, and have their forms built.

• At least one position is posted and visible under Job Openings.

Later, if you need them: shifts and the schedule planner (Shift scheduling) and time-clock kiosks (Time clock). Hotel, Wiki, and Passwords are optional staff features that Midsummer switches on for your organization on request — contact support@midsummer.cloud.