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(Grid Custom Field) Mandatory Asset Return List in Employee Offboarding Workflow

(Grid Custom Field) Mandatory Asset Return List in Employee Offboarding Workflow

This document describes how to use the Grid Custom Field to manage the Asset Return List in the employee offboarding process.

Each offboarding request is represented by a Jira issue. By requiring the Asset Return List to be completed before transitioning the issue to Waiting for Approval, organizations can ensure that all company assets are properly and fully collected.

You will also learn how to use several features of the TGNG app, such as:

Introduction

This use case shows how a Grid Custom Field enforces asset recovery discipline in the employee offboarding process - directly inside Jira's workflow engine, without external tools or manual checklists.

Each offboarding request is a Jira issue. The Asset Return List grid custom field is added to the issue screen and populated with every company asset that must be collected. A workflow validator then blocks the transition from To Do to Waiting for Approval unless the grid contains at least one row. HR cannot advance the request without first documenting the assets.

What this gives you:

  • Structured, auditable record of every asset collected per offboarding

  • Workflow-enforced gate that prevents skipping the asset documentation step

  • Asset options dynamically loaded from your database, filtered by the specific employee being offboarded

  • Cascading dropdowns: selecting a Category filters the Asset Name list; selecting a Name auto-resolves the Asset ID

Prerequisites

  • User logged into their account, installed Table Grid Next Generation App

  • User had the administrator permission on Jira

  • User created a related company-managed Jira project and Employee Offboarding issue type

  • Workflow with the following custom issue statuses: To Do, Waiting for approval, Canceled, Approved, Declined

  • An external database (MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQL Server, or similar) containing an asset inventory table accessible from Jira

  • A native Jira User Picker custom field named “Employee Name” added to the Employee Offboarding issue type

Post-condition

  • User can create issues using the Asset Return List grid custom field

  • User can download/upload the Configuration for personal usage

  • User can edit list of items and their information in Asset Return List grid custom field

  • User only can move the Employee Offboarding issue to Waiting for approval status when Asset Return List is not empty

What You Will Build

By the end of this guide, each Employee Offboarding issue will contain an Asset Return List grid with these columns:

Column

Type

Source

Column

Type

Source

Order

Auto-sequence

Built-in

Asset Type

Single Select

Database - all distinct categories from database

Asset Name

Single Select

Database - filtered by selected Asset Type and Employee Name

Asset ID

Single Select

Database - filtered by Asset Type, Asset Name, and Employee Name

Return Status

Single Select

Static options: Returned / Not Returned

Collected By

User List

Jira user picker

Condition Before Return

Textarea

User input

A workflow validator on the To Do→ Waiting for approval transition checks that this grid is not empty. If it is, the transition is blocked and an error message is displayed.

Use Case Flow Diagram

https://tablegrid.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/TGCD/whiteboard/912425323

Use Case Flow

Step 1: Configure the Data Source

  1. In Jira admin settings, go to Manage apps → Table Grid Next Generation → Data Sources

  2. Click Add Data Source

    image-20260211-033935.png

  3. Fill in the required fields:

    image-20260211-034205.png

  4. Click Test Connection to verify the connection

  5. Click Save

Step 2: Create the Asset Return List Grid Custom Field

This field is created via the Table Grid app so configuration and creation happen in a single flow.

  1. In the Table Grid Next Generation app, open the Grid Custom Fields tab

  2. Click Add Grid Custom Field

image-20260304-050420.png

  1. Select Grid fields and click Confirm

image-20260304-050731.png

 

  1. Set Name to “Asset Return List” and optionally add a description (e.g. “Company assets that must be returned during offboarding”)

image-20260210-094204.png

  1. Remove any default columns you do not need by clicking their X button — keep the Order column

Step 3: Config Grid Columns

Please follow the configuration details below to configure the grid columns:

Column

Configuration

Column

Configuration

Asset Type

This column loads all distinct asset categories from the database. Selecting a category will filter what appears in the Asset Name column.

  1. Click Add new column

  2. Set Column type to Single Select List

  3. Set Identifier to jtype, Title to Asset Type

  4. Enable Cell value required

image-20260211-041101.png

  1. In Dynamic options, choose Data Source and type SQL query

    In this example, writer used:

    • “Company Assets” for Data Source

    • SQL query:

      SELECT distinct * FROM company_assets

Data in table company_assets

image-20260211-035017.png

  1. Click Get data to preview the results

  2. In Mapping, choose category for label (because this column represents for Asset Type in Database)

image-20260211-235534.png

  1. Click to save the dynamic options

  2. Click Add button

Asset Name

This column loads asset names filtered by the category selected in the previous column and the employee being offboarded. The {column:jtype} placeholder reads the value selected in the Asset Type column. The {customfield:12675} placeholder reads the Employee Name field on the issue.

  1. Click Add new column

  2. Set Column type to Single Select List

  3. Set Identifier to jname, Title to Asset Name

  4. Enable Cell value required

image-20260211-101305.png

  1. In Dynamic options, choose Data Source and type SQL query

In this example, writer used:

  • “Company Assets” for Data Source

  • SQL query:

    SELECT DISTINCT item_name FROM company_assets WHERE category = {column:jtype} and owner_user = {customfield:12675};

Employee Name is a native Jira custom field added to Employee Offboarding issue type.
Replace 12675 with the actual custom field ID of your Employee Name field. Find this on the Jira Fields page.

image-20260211-092451.png

  1. In Mapping, type “item_name” for label (because this column represents for Asset Name in Database)

image-20260211-235719.png

  1. Click to save the dynamic options

  2. Click Add button

Asset ID

This column resolves the unique asset ID based on the asset type, name, and employee - all three filter together to return a single matching record.

  1. Click Add new column

  2. Set Column type to Single Select List

  3. Set Identifier to id, Title to Asset ID

  4. Enable Cell value required

image-20260211-101336.png

  1. In Dynamic options, choose Data Source and type SQL query

    In this example, writer used:

    • “Company Assets” for Data Source

    • SQL query:

      Select asset_id from company_assets where category = {column:jtype} and item_name={column:jname} and owner_user = {customfield:12675};

  2. In Mapping, type “asset_id” for label (because this column represents for Asset ID in Database)

image-20260212-000016.png

  1. Click to save the dynamic options

  2. Click Add button

Return Status

This column uses static options — no database query needed.

  1. Click Add new column

  2. Set Column type to Single Select List

  3. Set Identifier to jstatus, Title to Return Status

  4. Enable Cell value required

image-20260211-101420.png

  1. In Static options, click + and add two options: “Returned” and “Not Returned”

  2. Click Add button

image-20260211-100206.png

Collected By

Click Add new column

  1. Set Column type to Userlist

  2. Set Identifier to juser, Title to Collected By

  3. Enable Cell value required

  4. Click Add button

image-20260212-000844.png

Condition Before Return

  1. Click Add new column

  2. Set Column type to Textarea

  3. Set Identifier to jcondition, Title to Condition Before Return

  4. Click Add button

image-20260211-102548.png

Step 4: Save the Grid Configuration

Click Save button

image-20260211-102716.png

Step 5: Add the Field to Field Configuration Schemes

  1. In Jira admin settings, go to Work items → Fields

  2. Search for Asset Return List field

  3. Click Actions → View field configuration schemes

image-20260225-071413.png

  1. Click Add field configuration scheme

image-20260225-071457.png

  1. Select the scheme used by your Employee Offboarding project

  2. Click Add to {n} field configuration scheme(s)

image-20260225-072056.png

Step 6: Add the Field to Issue Screens

  1. On the Fields page, locate Asset Return List

  2. Click Actions → Add field to screen

image-20260212-002330.png

  1. Select the Screens used for your Employee Offboarding project

  2. Click Update button

image-20260212-002811.png

Step 7: Configure the Workflow Validator

This is the step that enforces the process. The validator blocks the To Do → Waiting for approval transition if the Asset Return List grid is empty.

  1. In Jira admin settings, go to Work items → Workflows

  2. Open the workflow used by the Employee Offboarding issue type

  3. Select the To Do → Waiting for Approval transition

  4. In the right sidebar under Validate details, click Add validate details rule

image-20260211-225113.png

  1. Select Validate a field and click Select

image-20260211-225244.png

  1. Set Validate that field to “Isn’t Empty”

image-20260211-225314.png

  1. In For field(s), search for and select “Asset Return List”

image-20260211-225419.png

  1. Enter an error message, e.g. “The Asset Return List must be filled before submitting for approval”.

  2. Click Add button

  3. Click Update Workflow to save

image-20260211-225504.png

Step 8: Using the Field on Issues

Creating an Offboarding Issue

  1. Click Create, select your project, and set work type to Employee Offboarding

  2. Fill in the Summary and click Create

image-20260211-110023.png

  1. On the issue, set the Employee Name field to the departing employee — this drives the asset lookup

image-20260211-110121.png

Filling in the Asset Return List

  1. Click the edit button on the Asset Return List grid

image-20260211-110700.png

  1. Click + to add a new row - the cursor lands on the Asset Type column

  2. Select an Asset Type from the dropdown (e.g. IT Hardware) — the dropdown is populated from the database

image-20260211-111104.png

  1. Move to the Asset Name cell and select from the filtered dropdown — only assets of the selected type assigned to this employee appear

image-20260211-111321.png

  1. The Asset ID cell auto-resolves once Asset Type and Asset Name are both selected

  2. Select a Return Status

  3. In Collected By, type a name to search for the collecting user and select from the dropdown

  4. In Condition Before Return, enter any notes about the asset's physical condition

  5. Click ✓ button to save the row

image-20260211-111706.png

  1. Repeat for each additional asset

image-20260211-111952.png

Moving the Issue to Waiting for Approval

With at least one row in the grid, the transition succeeds:

image-20260211-112026.png

If the grid is empty and the user attempts the transition, the validator blocks it:

image-20260211-110520.png

Error Conditions

Situation

Result

Situation

Result

Database connection fails at Test Connection

Error message displayed — data source not saved

SQL query contains a syntax error

Error displayed when saving the column

User clicks Cancel while saving grid config

Returns to Grids page — no changes saved

User attempts To Do → Waiting for Approval with empty grid

Transition blocked - custom error message displayed

Conclusion

The Mandatory Asset Return List in the Employee Offboarding Workflow use case helps streamline the employee offboarding process by embedding a conveniently configured Grid Custom Field directly into the Jira issue. By applying validation before the request is moved to the waiting for approval stage, the system ensures that the person responsible for the offboarding process does not overlook recording and collecting company assets.

This approach improves accuracy, enhances accountability and process control, thereby reducing asset loss and maintaining a clear and well-managed workflow.