Configure an Okta Workflows helper flow to send department-based emails during employee onboarding, using a table to store and retrieve department contact information. This solution ensures that specific groups receive notifications when a new employee joins their department. For example, if a new user joins the Engineering department, an email goes to that user and copies <eng1@company.com> and <eng2@company.com>.

• Okta Identity Engine (OIE)
• Okta Classic Engine
• Okta Workflows

How is a helper flow configured to send department-based emails?

Create an Okta Workflows helper flow that retrieves department emails from a table, extracts the necessary addresses, and sends a targeted email to the onboarded employee and the associated department groups.

The flow uses a table to hold department emails and looks like this:

1. Configure the first card, On Demand – Helper Flow, to establish the helper flow with two inputs: Department and Primary email. Okta Workflows allows reusing a helper flow with other flows.
2. Use the second card, Tables – Search Rows, to retrieve all emails associated with the specific department.
3. Process the JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) object result from the Tables – Search Rows card, which contains five key/value pairs, by using the List – Pluck card to remove all key/value pairs except the one specified in the Email key input. This step produces a list of emails to copy.
4. Configure the final card, Gmail – Send Email, to send an email to the onboarded person using the Primary email input and copy one or more department groups using the CC field.

Related References

• Okta Workflows How-To: Sending Automatic Emails to Groups Based on Employee Department