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automation

Daily Digest

Daily Digest is a daily email summary of workforce activity, including attendance, leave requests, and schedule changes from the previous day. Use it to keep managers informed without chasing spreadsheets or sending manual status updates.

Trusted by frontline teams 15 years of frontline software

Built for: Retail · Warehousing · Field Services · Hospitality · Manufacturing

Overview

Daily Digest is an automation template for sending a morning email summary of workforce activity from the previous day. It is designed around three record types: attendance records, leave requests, and schedule changes. The template pulls those records on a schedule, formats them into a readable HTML email, and sends the digest to managers based on an admin-controlled recipient setting.

Use this template when managers need a quick operational recap without logging into a system or reviewing multiple spreadsheets. It is especially useful for shift-based teams, multi-site operations, and back-office staff who need a single source of truth for daily workforce updates. The dashboard for sent digests gives admins a simple way to confirm delivery and review what was sent.

Do not use this template as a replacement for a full HR, payroll, or scheduling application. It does not manage employee master data, complex approvals, or timekeeping workflows. It is also not the right fit if your team needs real-time alerts for every event, since the design is intentionally a once-daily summary. The template works best when the source records are already clean and the goal is to reduce manual reporting.

How to use this template

  1. Configure the scheduled job to run every morning at 8 AM and define the previous-day time window the digest should summarize.
  2. Connect the source records for attendance, leave requests, and schedule changes through the platform read APIs so the job can pull the correct data.
  3. Set the recipient rule in admin settings to send to all managers or to a specific manager list by user account.
  4. Format the HTML email so each record type is grouped clearly with the fields managers need to scan quickly, such as date, person, status, and change details.
  5. Review the sent-digest dashboard after launch to confirm the job ran, the email was delivered, and the content matches the underlying records.

Best practices

  • Keep the digest to yesterday's activity only so managers can trust the email as a clean daily snapshot.
  • Group the email by record type and status so attendance, leave, and schedule changes are easy to scan.
  • Include the minimum useful fields in the email body, such as name, date, status, and change summary, to avoid clutter.
  • Use a clear cutoff rule for late edits and backdated entries so records do not appear in the wrong day's digest.
  • Limit recipients to the managers who actually act on the information, since broad distribution reduces attention.
  • Add links back to the source records when managers need to review details or follow up on a specific item.
  • Check the first few digests manually to confirm the HTML rendering, ordering, and totals are correct.

What this template typically catches

Issues teams running this template most often surface in practice:

Attendance, leave, and schedule updates live in separate spreadsheets with no single daily view.
Managers miss changes because nobody is notified automatically when the spreadsheet is edited.
The same workforce update gets rewritten in multiple places, creating conflicting versions of the truth.
Late schedule edits are hard to trace because there is no timestamped digest of what changed yesterday.
Email summaries are sent manually and vary by manager, which makes coverage inconsistent.
There is no dashboard history to confirm whether a digest was sent or who received it.

Common use cases

Retail district manager daily recap
A district manager receives one email each morning covering store attendance exceptions, approved leave, and schedule changes across assigned locations. The digest replaces manual calls and spreadsheet checks before store opening.
Warehouse shift supervisor handoff
A warehouse supervisor reviews yesterday's attendance and shift swaps before the next crew starts. The email helps identify coverage gaps and last-minute changes without opening multiple tabs.
Field service operations update
An operations lead gets a daily summary of technician leave approvals and route schedule changes. This makes it easier to spot staffing gaps that could affect same-day dispatch.
Multi-site hospitality manager briefing
A regional manager receives one digest for all properties or a filtered list by site manager. The summary keeps leave and schedule changes visible across locations without manual consolidation.

Frequently asked questions

What does the Daily Digest template include?

It includes a scheduled job that runs every morning at 8 AM, pulls yesterday's workforce activity, and sends a formatted HTML email. The digest covers new attendance records, leave requests submitted or approved, and schedule changes. It also includes a dashboard view of sent digests so admins can review delivery history.

Who should receive the digest?

The template supports an admin setting for recipients, so you can send to all managers or only specific users. That makes it easy to route updates by team, site, or responsibility. If your organization has different manager groups, you can customize the recipient list without changing the core digest logic.

How often does it run?

The default cadence is once per day at 8 AM, summarizing the previous day's activity. That timing works well for shift-based operations where managers need a morning recap before the day starts. If your workflow needs a different cutoff or send time, you can adjust the scheduled job.

What kind of teams is this template best for?

It fits operations teams that track attendance, leave, and schedule changes in a system or spreadsheet and need a simple daily recap. Common uses include retail stores, warehouses, field service teams, and multi-site operations. It is less useful if you need real-time alerts for every event instead of a daily summary.

Does this replace a full HR or workforce management system?

No. This is a lightweight automation template for summarizing existing workforce activity, not a full HRIS, payroll, or scheduling suite. It works best when you already have source records and want a reliable digest layer on top. If you need approvals, time tracking, or payroll processing, those belong in separate systems.

What are the common pitfalls when using a digest like this?

The biggest pitfall is sending incomplete or noisy summaries because the source records are inconsistent. Another common issue is notifying too many people, which makes the email easy to ignore. It also helps to define a clear cutoff window so late edits do not appear in the wrong day's digest.

Can I customize the digest content and format?

Yes. You can change which record types are included, how the email is grouped, and which fields appear in the HTML summary. Many teams also add links back to the source records or filter by location, department, or manager. The template is intended to be adapted to your reporting needs.

How does this integrate with other tools?

It uses platform read APIs to pull the source data and email delivery to send the digest. That makes it a good fit when your attendance, leave, or scheduling data already lives in the app and you want to notify managers automatically. You can also connect the dashboard to operational reporting or audit workflows.

How should we roll this out?

Start with a small manager group and verify that the digest matches the source records for a few days. Confirm the recipient list, cutoff time, and email formatting before expanding to all managers. Once the content is stable, use the dashboard to monitor whether digests are being sent on schedule.

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