Manager Response Agent

Helps HR Business Partners respond to manager questions faster. From a short description of the situation, this Copilot agent drafts guidance and practical talking points based on your approved HR policies. It flags sensitive or unsupported questions for further review, while your people apply their judgment and finalize the response.
~2 hrs

Saved per week

85%

Task AI Potential

10 mins

Build time

0:00 0:00

What you'll need

Microsoft Copilot Studio
Sharepoint
Teams or Intranet
Reejig Work OS

Reejig WorkOS is optional. Book a call with our team to ground your agents in live work data.

What this workflow solves

Managers regularly ask HRBPs for guidance on performance, conduct, remote work, promotions and disciplinary processes. Drafting each answer from scratch is repetitive, slows responses, and makes it harder to keep guidance consistent with policy.

The Manager Response Agent gives HRBPs a fast, policy-aligned first draft. It checks each scenario against approved policies and frameworks, drafts guidance and talking points the HRBP can review and share, and flags when a question is confidential, high-risk or outside documented policy so the HRBP can handle it directly.

The reinvented workflow: People + agents

You are not automating manager query resolution. You are automating the first draft of policy-aligned guidance, while review, judgment and the final response stay with your people.
1
Provide the manager’s question and relevant context.
Stays a person
2
Draft policy-aligned guidance with conversation talking points and when to involve HR.
Agent
3
Review and finalize the response, resolve anything needing HR judgment, and share with the manager.
Stays a person

How to build this agent

0

See the work

Before you automate, see the work an HRBP does. Reejig Work OS shows how work actually gets done, identifies the highest-potential tasks for Al, then gives you the instructions to build against them.

  • In the Work Map, select the role group

  • Open the HRBP role

  • Select the task you want to reinvent (the task with the highest AlPI)

  • Use Reejig's out-of-the-box instructions to build an agent for the task

  • Edit the steps as you need to, they're a starting point, not a script

See how Reejig maps your work
Step 0 - People Science Weekly Agent (1)
1

Prepare the knowledge

The agent is only as accurate as the folder behind it - get the source clean and confirmed live in SharePoint before you build anything.

  • Create or confirm one SharePoint folder holding the policy set
  • Confirm each document is the current approved version and live in the tenant
  • Attendance Policy
  • Remote Work Policy
  • Performance Policy
  • Improvement Plan Policy
  • Respectful Workplace Policy
  • Promotion Policy
  • Termination and Disciplinary Process Policy
  • Enterprise Frameworks for Difficult Conversations
Step 1 - Manager Response Agent
2

Build the agent

The harness choice is permanent and made once at creation, so get it right before anything else.

  • In Copilot Studio, select Agents → + Create new agent

  • This creates a GitHub Copilot Harness agent by default, not Standard Harness, the choice is permanent

  • Name the agent: HR Policy-Aligned Manager Responses

  • Add a short description

Step 2 - Manager Response Agent
3

Write the system instructions

This one field is the complete behaviour definition for the subtask, so it has to be exact, a single changed word changes what the agent will and will not say.

Agent Instructions — paste exactly as written 

# Purpose
This agent supports HR Business Partners by drafting responses to manager questions. From a short scenario, it produces policy-aligned guidance, rules for what the manager can and cannot say, suggested talking points, and escalation paths.

# General Guidelines
- Tone: Maintain a formal, professional, and supportive tone.
- Always align with policy; do NOT infer, assume, or hallucinate beyond documented guidance.
- Do NOT provide personal or confidential information.
- End every response with: "Please review and confirm before sharing with the manager."

# Step-by-Step Logic
1. Identify the Scenario Type
   - Performance or behavior feedback: use the SBI Model (Situation, Behavior, Impact).
   - Boundaries or recurring issues: use the DESC Framework (Describe, Express, Specify, Consequences).
   - Coaching or development: use the GROW Model (Goal, Reality, Options, Way Forward).
2. Structure the Response
   Output using these headers: Policy-Aligned Guidance, Framework-Based Talking Points, What the Manager Can and Cannot Say, When to Escalate.

# Error Handling and Limitations
- If the scenario cannot be answered from the provided policy or frameworks, respond strictly with: "I can't provide guidance on this scenario. Please contact HR directly."
4

Attach the knowledge

The agent is only as accurate as the folder behind it - get the source clean before you build anything.

  • Open the agent's Knowledge section

  • Add the Enterprise Frameworks for Difficult Conversations document

  • Add the approved HR Policy documents from the SharePoint site.

  • Confirm all eight sources show as connected

Step 3 - Manager Response Agent-1
5

Lock to knowledge-only

This agent has to stay policy-grounded, an open web search would undercut the whole policy-aligned promise.

  • In the Build tab, confirm no web search is enabled

  • Confirm no external tool is enabled beyond the attached knowledge

  • Save

Step 5 - Manager Response Agent
6

Test in Preview

Ten scripted scenarios catch framework-mismatch and policy drift before a bad draft ever reaches an HRBP.

  • How to address repeated lateness  →  DESC

  • Telling an employee they can't work remotely anymore  →  DESC

  • Helping an employee improve performance without demotivating them  →  GROW

  • Addressing inappropriate comments made during a meeting  →  DESC

  • Guiding a career development conversation for an employee seeking promotion  →  GROW

  • Asking for an employee's current salary before giving feedback  →  "I can't provide that information. Please contact HR directly."

  • Asking if they can terminate an employee immediately without following process → Flags for HRBP judgment; When to Escalate section recommends HR/ER involvement.

  • Asking for personal details about an employee's medical condition. -> "I can't provide that information. Please contact HR directly."

  • Asking if you can approve a promotion → "I can't approve promotions. Please contact HR for assistance."

  • Asking how to bypass the performance improvement process → Flags for HRBP judgment; When to Escalate section recommends HR/ER involvement.

Step 6 - Manager Response Agent
7

Evaluate, publish and monitor

Catching a regression here is free; publishing isn't done until you've seen the agent live where real usage will show up.

  • Check the Evaluate tab for regressions

  • Publish the agent

  • Publish to Teams or the intranet where your HRBPs will use it

  • Confirm it is running in Monitor

Step 7 - Manager Response Agent

Give your HR team more time for people

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