Quick Start Guides

Role-specific guides to help you get started with Sparko quickly.

For Employees

Your First Week Checklist

  • Complete your profile - Add your photo and verify information
  • Set up MFA - Enable multi-factor authentication for security
  • Review your PTO balance - Check available time off in Time & Leave
  • Set your OKRs - Create or review your objectives (Performance > My OKRs)
  • Meet the AI - Try asking the AI Assistant a question

Common Tasks

Task Where to Go How
Request time off Time & Leave > Request PTO Click "Request Time Off", select dates
Update profile Profile menu > My Profile Edit and save
View my bank details / pay components My Profile > Personal / Compensation Add or edit; HR verifies bank
Give feedback Performance > Recognition Send kudos or feedback

Using AI for Help

The AI Assistant can help you with almost anything:

Try saying:

  • "How much PTO do I have left?"
  • "Help me write an OKR for this quarter"
  • "What skills should I focus on to grow as a Python developer?"
  • "Show me my performance review history"

For Managers

Your First Week Checklist

  • Review your team - Check your direct reports in People > My Team
  • Pending approvals - Handle any pending PTO or timesheet approvals
  • Team OKRs - Review and align team objectives
  • Schedule 1-on-1s - Set up recurring meetings with direct reports
  • Performance check - Review any pending performance reviews

Managing Your Team

Team Dashboard (People > My Team)

  • View all direct reports at a glance
  • See upcoming time off
  • Track team OKR progress
  • Access quick actions for each team member

Approvals

  • PTO requests appear in your dashboard
  • Timesheet submissions (if enabled)

Performance Management

  • Create OKRs and cascade to team
  • Conduct performance reviews
  • Give continuous feedback
  • Recognize achievements

Common Manager Tasks

Task Location Quick Steps
Approve PTO Dashboard or Approvals Review, approve/deny
Run 1-on-1 Performance > 1-on-1s Add agenda, take notes
Write review Performance > Reviews Select employee, complete form
Give feedback Performance > Feedback Choose type, write feedback
View team analytics People > Analytics Select your team filter

AI for Managers

Try asking:

  • "Who on my team has the most PTO remaining?"
  • "Help me prepare for my 1-on-1 with [name]"
  • "What are the key themes from my team's recent feedback?"
  • "Which team members are ready for promotion?"

For HR Professionals

Your First Week Checklist

  • Company settings - Review company configuration in Admin
  • Active recruiting - Check open job postings and pipeline
  • Compliance items - Review any pending compliance tasks
  • Analytics setup - Configure HR dashboards
  • Onboarding queue - Check pending new hires

HR Operations

Recruiting (Recruiting Module)

  • Create and manage job postings
  • Review candidates in the pipeline
  • Schedule interviews
  • Generate and send offers

People Management (People Module)

  • Employee directory and org chart
  • Onboarding workflows
  • Offboarding checklists
  • Document management

Analytics & Reporting

  • Headcount trends
  • Turnover analysis
  • Diversity metrics
  • Compensation analysis

Common HR Tasks

Task Location Notes
Post job Recruiting > Jobs > Create AI generates description
Screen candidates Recruiting > Candidates AI prioritizes automatically
Onboard new hire People > Onboarding Templates available
Run a payroll export Compensation > Payroll Run HR only; generate, review, finalize, download bank files
Generate report Module > Export Multiple formats

AI for HR

Try asking:

  • "What's our current time-to-hire for engineering roles?"
  • "Generate a job description for a Senior Product Manager"
  • "Show me employees at risk of leaving"
  • "What are the most common reasons for turnover?"

For Executives

Your Dashboard

The executive dashboard provides:

  • Company-wide headcount and trends
  • Turnover and retention metrics
  • Hiring velocity and pipeline
  • Compensation analysis
  • OKR completion rates

Strategic Views

Organization Overview

  • Full org chart with filtering
  • Department breakdown
  • Location distribution
  • Management spans

Workforce Analytics

  • Headcount trends over time
  • Turnover by department/location
  • Diversity metrics
  • Tenure distribution

Performance Insights

  • Company OKR progress
  • Review completion rates
  • High performer identification
  • Development investment

Executive Quick Actions

Need Where What You'll See
Org overview People > Org Chart Interactive hierarchy
Headcount People > Analytics Trends and breakdown
Performance Performance > Dashboard Company-wide OKRs
Compensation Compensation > Analytics Market comparisons

AI for Executives

Try asking:

  • "What's our engineering headcount trend this year?"
  • "Which departments have the highest turnover?"
  • "How are we tracking against company OKRs?"
  • "What's our gender distribution at the leadership level?"

For Administrators

Initial Setup

  1. Company Profile (Admin > Company)

    • Company name and logo
    • Fiscal year settings
    • Default timezone

  2. User Management (Admin > Users)

    • Invite users
    • Assign roles
    • Manage permissions

  3. Module Configuration

    • Enable/disable modules
    • Configure workflows
    • Set approval chains

  4. Integrations

    • SSO/SAML setup
    • Calendar sync

Admin Tasks

Task Location Purpose
Add user Admin > Users > Invite Bring new employees onto platform
Set role Admin > Roles Define permissions
Configure module Admin > Modules Customize behavior
View audit logs Admin > Audit Security and compliance
Manage integrations Admin > Integrations Connect external systems

Security Administration

  • Access Control: Role-based permissions
  • Audit Logs: Track all system changes
  • Data Export: GDPR compliance exports
  • MFA Enforcement: Require for all users

AI for Admins

Try asking:

  • "Show me recent failed login attempts"
  • "Which users haven't logged in for 30 days?"
  • "What permissions does the Manager role have?"
  • "Generate an audit report for this month"

Need More Help?

Still need help? Reach us at support@sparko.app.

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