Challenge 1: Manual onboarding and delayed system access
Challenge 2: Inconsistent data between HR and IT systems
Challenge 3: Compliance and security risks from human error

Before automation, employee onboarding at Refresco relied heavily on manual processes. HR teams submitted requests to IT using data re-entered from payroll and hiring systems, often introducing spelling errors, delays, and inconsistencies. New hires sometimes lacked system access on their first day, while departing employees could retain access longer than intended.

These challenges were amplified by Refresco’s global footprint and acquisition-driven growth. Without standardized processes, each region handled onboarding differently, making it difficult to maintain consistent controls, accurate IT data, and strong security governance.

The IT team needed a way to standardize onboarding globally, reduce manual effort, and ensure timely, accurate access provisioning—without increasing headcount.

Solution 1: Automated HR-to-IT onboarding orchestration
Solution 2: Standardized data and access provisioning
Solution 3: Scalable foundation for global growth

Refresco deployed Workato as its integration and automation platform to orchestrate onboarding workflows between HR systems and IT services. When HR initiates an action, such as a new hire or termination, Workato automatically triggers the appropriate IT processes, ensuring accurate account provisioning and timely deprovisioning.

By removing manual handoffs, Refresco standardized onboarding data across regions, eliminated human error, and improved visibility into joiners and leavers. The low-code nature of Workato enabled rapid deployment, allowing the IT team to design and launch integrations in days rather than months.

Workato also became a critical tool for maintaining standards across newly acquired organizations, enabling Refresco to quickly bring them onto consistent, automated processes.

With Workato in place, Refresco significantly improved efficiency, data quality, and security across its global onboarding processes, without adding IT resources.

Automation eliminated manual effort for HR and IT teams, reduced errors, and ensured employees receive access on day one. Just as importantly, timely offboarding improved compliance and reduced security risks associated with lingering access.

Refresco estimates that automation saves at least 3,000 onboarding and offboarding actions per year, with approximately 10 minutes saved per employee — five minutes each for HR and IT. Beyond time savings, standardized processes improved confidence in IT data and audit readiness.