Guide new hires through their first weeks via Microsoft Teams — no coding needed. Built with Copilot Studio in about an hour.
Copilot Studio is included in Microsoft 365 E3/E5 plans. If your organisation has M365, go to copilotstudio.microsoft.com and sign in. If you see the home screen, you're good to go. If not, ask your IT admin to enable it — it takes about 5 minutes.
Most companies with M365 already have Teams. Confirm you can open Teams at teams.microsoft.com or via the desktop app.
Before building, write down the most common questions new hires ask HR. Examples: "When does benefits enrollment open?", "How do I request equipment?", "Who is my IT contact?", "What's the PTO policy?". The better this list, the more useful the bot.
If you want the agent to book intro meetings, you'll need an Outlook account with the Office 365 connector. This is included in M365 — no extra setup needed.
Go to copilotstudio.microsoft.com and sign in with your Microsoft 365 account. You'll land on the home dashboard.
Click Create in the left sidebar, then New agent. You'll see a text box asking you to describe your agent. Type something like:
You are an HR Onboarding Assistant for [Company Name]. You help new employees
during their first 30 days. You answer questions about company policies,
benefits, equipment setup, and team introductions. You're friendly,
encouraging, and always guide new hires to the right next step.Copilot Studio will suggest a name like "Onboarding Assistant". You can rename it to anything — e.g. "Alex the Onboarding Guide". Click Create. The agent skeleton is now live — you'll be taken to the agent editor.
In the agent editor, click Instructions at the top. This is where you define the agent's core behaviour. Replace the default text with a detailed version for your company. Use the template below as a starting point:
You are an HR Onboarding Assistant for [Company Name]. Your role is to guide
new employees through their first 30 days and answer any questions they have.
PERSONALITY:
- Warm, encouraging, and professional
- Always celebrate milestones ("Great job completing your I-9!")
- Never make new hires feel like they're bothering you
TOPICS YOU CAN HELP WITH:
1. First-day logistics (where to go, who to meet, what to bring)
2. IT setup (laptop, email, software, VPN, Slack/Teams access)
3. Benefits enrollment (health, dental, 401k — enrollment opens within 30 days)
4. Company policies (PTO, remote work, code of conduct, expense policy)
5. Team introductions (who does what, org chart, key contacts)
6. Payroll (direct deposit setup, first paycheck timeline, pay schedule)
7. Training and compliance (required courses, deadlines)
KEY FACTS TO KNOW:
- Benefits enrollment window: first 30 days after start date
- PTO accrual starts after 90-day probation period
- IT help desk: it-help@[company].com or Teams channel #it-support
- HR contact for urgent issues: hr@[company].com
- First paycheck: [X] days after start date
ALWAYS DO:
- If you don't know the exact answer, say "I'll flag this for HR to follow up
with you directly" and offer to create a help ticket
- End every conversation by asking if there's anything else you can help with
- Never make up policy details — only state facts listed above
NEVER DO:
- Make promises about promotions, raises, or performance
- Share confidential information about other employees
- Provide legal advice on employment mattersImportant: Replace all [bracketed placeholders] with your actual company details before testing. The more specific you make the instructions, the better the agent performs.
In the agent editor, click Topics in the top navigation. You'll see a list of system topics (Greeting, Escalate, etc.) that are created automatically. These are fine — leave them as-is for now.
Click + Add a topic → Create from blank. Name it "Day 1 Checklist". In the Trigger phrases box, add phrases that would trigger this topic:
Then in the conversation flow, add a Message node with this content:
Welcome to [Company Name]! Here's your Day 1 checklist:
✅ **Before you arrive:**
- Bring your ID and Social Security card (for I-9 verification)
- Download Microsoft Teams on your phone
- Check your email for your welcome packet
✅ **Morning (9am–12pm):**
- Meet with HR for paperwork (Room 101 or video link sent to your email)
- Get your laptop from IT (Floor 3, Desk B-12)
- Set up your email and Teams account
✅ **Afternoon (1pm–5pm):**
- Meet your manager for a team intro call (check your calendar)
- Join the #new-joiners Slack/Teams channel and introduce yourself
- Complete the 2-hour compliance training (link in your welcome email)
Is there a specific part of Day 1 you'd like more details on?Repeat the same process: Add a topic → Create from blank. Name it "Benefits". Add trigger phrases: "benefits", "health insurance", "dental", "401k", "enrollment", "when can I sign up for benefits". Then add a message node with your benefits overview. Include the enrollment deadline, how to access the benefits portal, and your HR contact for complex questions.
Add trigger phrases: "laptop not working", "can't log in", "VPN", "software request", "IT help", "technical problem". In the conversation flow, add a Question node that asks: "What kind of IT issue are you having? (a) Login/password (b) Hardware (c) Software/app access". Then add different Message nodes based on the answer, each with the right IT contact or self-service link.
This topic lets new hires schedule intro meetings directly from the chat. Name it "Schedule Meeting". Add trigger phrases: "schedule a meeting", "book a call", "meet my team", "intro meeting". In the flow, add a Question node asking who they want to meet (their manager, IT, a teammate). Then add an Action → Office 365 Outlook → Create event action and map the fields. See Step 3 (Add Actions) for how to connect Outlook.
Tip: You don't need to create topics for every question — the AI model handles anything not matched by a topic. Topics are best for structured, multi-step conversations (like scheduling a meeting or collecting form information).
In the agent editor, click Actions in the top nav bar. Click + Add an action.
In the action search bar, type "Office 365 Outlook". You'll see a list of available actions. Select Create event (V4). This is the action that creates a calendar event.
Click Sign in when prompted. Sign in with your Microsoft 365 work account. Grant the requested permissions (calendar read/write). Once connected, the action is available to use in your topics.
Go back to your "Schedule Intro Meeting" topic. After the Question node asking who they want to meet, add an Action node. Select the Outlook "Create event" action. Map the fields:
After the Action node, add a Message node: "Done! I've sent a calendar invite to both of you. Is there anyone else you'd like to schedule an intro with?" Save the topic.
In the Copilot Studio editor, click Publish in the top-right corner. Click Publish again to confirm. This makes the latest version of your agent live. Publishing takes about 30 seconds.
After publishing, click Channels in the left sidebar. You'll see a list of deployment channels: Teams, a web page, Facebook, etc.
Click Microsoft Teams. Toggle it to On. Click Turn on Teams to confirm. You'll see a link appear — this is the deep link to your agent in Teams.
Click Open in Teams. Microsoft Teams opens and you'll see your agent in your chat list. Send it a message — "Hi, I'm a new employee, what do I do on my first day?" — and verify it responds correctly.
Copy the Teams deep link from Copilot Studio. Include it in your new hire welcome email: "Before your first day, open this link to chat with our onboarding assistant: [link]". You can also pin the agent to the Teams sidebar for easy access — go to the Apps section in Teams, find your agent, and pin it.
Admin tip: If you want to pre-install the agent for all new hires automatically (so it appears in their Teams on Day 1 without them having to find it), ask your IT admin to push it via the Teams Admin Center → Setup policies → Pinned apps.
Use the Test agent panel inside Copilot Studio to run these tests before publishing. It's the chat icon in the bottom-right of the editor.
Add an Action that sends a link to your I-9, W-4, or direct deposit form when new hires ask about paperwork. Use Power Automate to track which forms have been completed.
Use Power Automate to trigger the agent to proactively message new hires at Day 7, Day 30, and Day 60 with check-in questions and the right resources for that stage.
In Copilot Studio, add your company SharePoint site as a Knowledge source. The agent will then answer questions directly from your HR documents, policies, and FAQs — no manual updating needed.
Use Power Automate to log which onboarding tasks each new hire completes to a SharePoint list. HR can see at a glance who has finished their compliance training, benefits enrollment, etc.