How to Create a General Form

What is a General form?

A General form is used to collect non-personal information from your employees. This information may be helpful for compliance purposes, but will not update any profile data.

💡 Not sure which form type you need? Take a look at our overview article Creating a form in HR Automation which explains all four form types and when to use each one.

Answer types available

When adding questions to a General form, you can choose from the following answer styles:

Answer Style	Best used for
Short answer	Brief text responses like name or a single word
Paragraph answer	Longer, open-ended responses
Choice	Multiple choice questions where the employee selects one or more options
Time	Asking for a specific time
Date	Asking for a specific date
Yes/No	Simple yes or no repsonses
File upload	Asking the employee to attach a document or image like a passport or photo ID.

How to build a General form

Once you are on the form-building page:

The form will open with a default section already in place. Click on the section title to rename it, for example, "Uniform Requirements" or "Locker Allocation". You can also add a short description beneath the title to give the employee some context.
To add your first question, click on the text marked "Default Question" and type your question.
Use the dropdown menu next to the question to select the answer style, for example, Short Answer, Yes/No, or File Upload.
Decide whether this question should be mandatory or optional:
- Tick on Mark as required if the employee must answer this question before they can submit the form. ⚠️ They will not be able to bypass it or submit without completing it.
- Unticked will leave the question is optional, the employee can skip it and still submit the form.

💡 Think carefully before marking a question as required. Only do so if the answer is genuinely necessary. If too many questions are required, employees may find the form difficult to complete, particularly if they do not have the information to hand.

To add more questions to this section, click Add Question and repeat steps 2 to 4.
To add a new section to the form, click Add Section at the bottom of the page. All sections will appear along the right-hand side of the screen so you can navigate between them easily.
When you are happy with your form, click Save in the top right corner.

💡 Tip: The system will flag any unsaved changes on the right-hand side of the screen. Make sure you save before leaving the page.

Tips for building effective General forms

Only mark questions as required if they truly are. Requiring too many fields can feel overwhelming and may discourage employees from completing the form.
Use sections to break up longer forms. For example, an onboarding pack form might have one section for uniform details and another for locker or equipment allocation.
Use the preview option to check how the form will appear to the employee before sending it.

What happens next?

Once your General form is saved, it is ready to be added to a Pack or sent directly to an employee. When editing the form, you will also have the option to see which packs it is currently used in and preview it as the recipient will see it.