Previewed in Q4 2015 (b1511) and recently released for general availability in Q1 2016 (b1602), the certificate of completion editor is a much-welcome addition into the SAP SuccessFactors’ Learning Management System (LMS).

Similar to other recent additions into the LMS, like Programs and Quizzes, the editor utilizes SAP Fiori UX. This, along with default certificates that are provided as templates, makes building custom certificates delightfully intuitive. Previously, in order to achieve custom certificates, plateau report designer (PRD) was required (along with custom reporting / SQL knowledge). Now with just a few clicks of the mouse and a small amount of typing, administrators are able to create their own custom certificates.

So just how easy to use is this new editor? Let’s take a look.

The subsequent steps have been provided to give a general understanding of the certificate editor functionality.

Navigate to System Admin > Configuration > Certificate Templates > Add New

Enter Template ID > Enter Description > Select Default Locale > Select Category Type > Click Add

Certificate of Completion Editor Screen Overview:

To insert a new syntax tag into the template you simply click where you want the tag to be (See Vertical Arrow in Below) and then click on the tag from the list on the right hand side (See Horizontal Arrow)

Syntax Tag Has Been Added:

To Add Images to Certificate:

<div style="text-align: left;"><img style="margin: 15px; height: 75px; width: 185px; " alt="Logo" src="<LOGO/>"></div>

Sample Certificate of Completion:

Depending on the certificate category (Item or Program) there is different syntax information available to be inserted into the template. Notable changes made in the latest release include the combination of instructor first and last name into a single syntax tag as well as the addition to a completion date that omits the completion time.

• Add Certificate Template
• Search Certificate Template
• View Certificate Template
• Edit Certificate Template

System Admin > Configuration > Global Variables > Select from Dropdown > Apply Changes

Navigate to Item > View All Fields > Select from Dropdown > Save

Navigate to Program > Edit Settings > Search for and Select Certificate > Save

Although much better than the previous custom reporting technique used to create custom certificates, there is still room for improvement.

To start, when comparing instructor led training (ILT) with web based training (WBT), both item types do not have the exact same information available to be pulled into the certificate. For example, a certificate that pulls in instructor and location information may make sense for an ILT but not so much for a WBT where no instructor or location information is available. Similarly, when comparing virtually led training (VLT) with ILT, although the VLT will have instructor data to populate into the template, it might not have location information.

That being said, this becomes an apparent problem when setting the default certificate of completion for items in system configuration global variables. This configuration only allows for a single template to be selected for each category (Item / Program). Assuming that multiple certificates are created (one for each item type) they will need to be manually updated on the item records.

The scenarios mentioned above can result in blank areas on a user’s certificate of completion which may cause confusion (as well as a full inbox over in the learning department). Depending on the timeframe for additional functionality to be added, my next blog may be titled: “The Ultimate Guide to Sending Automatic Replies to Emails Containing Anything Relating to Blank Fields on a Certificates of Completion”.

• Default Certificate Per Item Type (Could move configuration from Global Variables into the Item Type record in references)
• Delete Template (Appears to be a workflow for this but do no see where this is possible)
• Copy Template
• Portrait Templates (Both Item and Program)
• Domain Restricted
• Enhanced Preview (Select Sample Course / Program)
• Ability to Print from LMS Admin > User Account > Completed Items
• Ability to Send to User from LMS Admin > User Account > Completed Items
• Support for Multiple Instructors
• New Syntax Tags
  • CPD / CPE Hours
  • Credit Hours
  • Contact Hours
  • Subject Areas
  • Percentage Grade
  • Start Date
  • Start Date (No Time)
  • Start Day
  • Start Month
  • Start Year

Scenario

Your company has begun using SuccessFactors and you would like to give the users easy access to your on-premise SAP BI or SAP BO reports.

Main alternative solutions to provide a seamless integration:

• SAP HANA Cloud Connector
• SAP Web Dispatcher
• SuccessFactors extension
• Tile development

SAP HANA Cloud Connector

• The SAP HANA Cloud Connector is the approach recommended by SAP to integrate cloud solutions with on-premise solutions.
• Requires an SAP HANA Cloud Platform license.
• Single Sign-On is possible.

Use in case of an existing need of an SAP HANA Cloud Platform license.

SAP Web Dispatcher

• SAP Web Dispatcher can be set up as a reverse proxy to allow external access to your SAP BI or SAP BO platform.
• No additional license required.
• Single Sign-On is possible.

Use when a simple integration with different styling is sufficient. A tile can be created with direct links to the SAP BI/BO reports and opened in a new tab using Single Sign-On.

SuccessFactors extension

• In order to present the report in the entire content frame of the browser and not just a tile, a SuccessFactors extension needs to be developed.
• Note that the reports will then be accessible from the navigation entry in the top left hand corner.
• Requires an SAP HANA Cloud Platform license.
• Single Sign-On is possible.

Use when harmonised styling and top user experience is a priority.

There are several resources on how to get started developing an extension, incl. this one:

http://scn.sap.com/community/developer-center/cloud-platform/blog/2016/01/13/creating-cloud-extensions-for-successfactors-part-1-why-should-we-do-it

Tile development

• In order to show data residing outside SuccessFactors in a tile, custom development is required.
• The integration can either be done using an SAP Web Dispatcher (no license) or the SAP HANA Cloud Connector (license fee) depending on the requirement.
• Single Sign-On is possible.

Use when a small dashboard or chart is needed on the Home Page to present aggregated, external data, and when harmonised styling and top user experience  are needed. Note the width limitation on tiles where the largest is 612 pixels wide.

As a final option, you could also consider to integrate a dashboard using a standard "custom tile". A suitable dashboard solution to do this could be Design Studio and I will create a separate blog post on this in the near future.

When browsing and flipping through SAP SuccessFactors materials, docus and videos I came across the expression Core HR....and was surprised to find Employee Central and Payroll as the Core HR functionality!?

What is Core HR in terms of SAP SuccessFactors?

And what is ment by Core HR functions and processes by HR Managers or CHROs?

When answering these questions, one should also ask: What is considered the main purpose of HR?

Is it really keeping records of employees, payrolling or time and attendence like in old days when the role of HR was just restricted to administration?

Of course: wages have to be paid on time, and employee records have to be accurate and current. But I don't think anyone in today's business would restrict HR to that definition - and certainly not any HR professionals.

When asking HR Managers or CHROs, they would state Recruiting, Onboarding, Competence and Performance Management, Succession and Development, Learning Management, Compensation/Variable Pay as Core HR processes or functions. Because these are the processes that create value for the company.

This later definition you may also find in HR publications and HR research papers - one example is shown in the following illustration:

These models may differ in details, but they all have the following 3 process categories in common:

• Strategic HR Processes (Planning, Controlling, etc.)
• Core HR Processes (Talent Management/Hire to Retire)
• HR Support Processes (Administration, Time, Payroll, etc.)

So: Am I the only one getting confused with the SAP SuccessFactors terminology?

When talking to business people - rather than to IT - I would use their terms and expressions when discussing HR.

What do you think?

You know SAP® SuccessFactors®. So when your company brings in consultants to help you run SAP®, you’ll be set, right? Or maybe you run SAP and you are about to adopt SAP SuccessFactors. Same old same old, right? Wrong. While SAP and SAP SuccessFactors share a genre, each has a set-list of features to make music to your ears. Whether SAP SuccessFactors is your opening act or you’ve been with SAP since the heyday of Neil Young and Elton John, ASUG has the knowledge, tools, and community to harmonize your business.

Future of SAP and SAP SuccessFactors Consulting 2016 Part 1 and Part 2: Why the sudden interest in creating a symphony of SAP and SAP SuccessFactors? Jarret Pazahanick has started a terrific series consisting of interviews with the latest and greatest SAP and SAP SuccessFactors experts. Part 1 explores what to expect from SAP Human Capital Management (HCM), and Part 2 tackles SAP SuccessFactors Core HR, Payroll, Analytics, Platform, and Concur. That’s not all, though: be on the lookout for Part 3 – Talent Management!

Digital Transformation: It’s not just for IT: It wouldn’t be a week in HR without ASUG’S HR Community Advocate, Sherryanne Meyer. While we talk about how not making the leap to the cloud will leave you in the dust, it’s important to make sure your Digital Transformation goals are not just smoke and mirrors. In this piece, Sherryanne looks at how to ensure your business’s success with developing a twenty-first century skillset.

HCM Recruiting Needs You: Clinton, Sanders, Trump, Cruz – while politics in the workplace may be an HR red flag, the votes are in and the results are unanimous: the Influence Council on HCM Recruiting is theway to have your voice heard. Sherryanne Meyer dishes on the what, why, and how of ASUG influence.

More Retro-Calc Discussion: Calling all payroll experts! Taxes seem to be a hot topic in the HR community as of late, and we need your expertise in helping our community keep up with this tax-ing issue (yes, I diduse that joke last week).

To see more HR resources and content, check out the ASUG HR Community and stay on the lookout for next week’s recap.

SAPPHIRE NOW and ASUG Annual Conference attendees: don’t forget to register for our Recharge HR half-day Pre-Conference Seminar. See you there!

P.S. Don’t miss the RechargeHR Webcast Series for HR and HRIS professionals using SAP HCM and/or SAP SuccessFactors. Stay connected to the information, insights, and ideas you need to move your workplace forward in the twenty-first century.

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This week I failed my first SAP SuccessFactors certification – it must be first time a consultant admits that.

But it happened – it was my first encounter with the new way of taking the certifications in the Cloud. Instead of meeting at a test center – it is now possible to do the test from home or other location. Only requirement is a working internet connection – and an installed program which closes down all other programs than the test.

It was a so called closed book exam – no aids are available or legal to use. After the failed exam I have thought a great deal about the closed book exam form. The approach to test the consultants, forces them to memorize the course material. And the available course material is not 100 or 200 pages but a lot more. Some of material is technical and not easy to memorize.  Welcome to a world were XML still is present.

An example of a question could be:

You are at customer – where you are supposed to set up x – which of the below is the correct URL to use:

1. https://xxx1.xxx.com
2. https://xxx2.xxx.com/
3. https://xxx3.xxx.com/
4. https://xxx4.xxx.com/

Is the above reasonable to demand from a consultant to remember - what is your opinion?

My personal opinion about the closed book exam form – is that it is not a “normal” set-up – when have you ever implemented and customized a customer system without access to the internet or SAP material? Answer à It will never happen.

Is there a more normal and more recommendable way to check that tested consultants have reached a learning level within a certain SuccessFactors suite in question? Yes – but it will also be expensive for SAP and the Partner Network within SuccessFactors. Provide the consultant with access to a demo system which has to be customized to the requirements from a fictive customer. The consultant will then pass the certification if the demo system is correctly customized. The certification will be an open book certification – just like in a real implementation.

The above will certainly not happen – so next week I will start to memorize “stuff” for the next certification planned. So have not surrendered – but will start the memorizing war Monday morning.

Have memorized in the below 5 SAP Certifications – so it is possible. I will give it a new go -  but my gift from SAP next Christmas will hopefully be a new test procedure.

Reading through the release notes for Q1 2016, a few features and upgrades caught my attention and I am sure it would be an exciting read for many of my friends as well.I would say that these would be some of the “WOW” features that SuccessFactors added with Q1 2016 release.

Here is a list of features and upgrades that are personal favorites but I would highly recommend you all to go through the entire release notes and updated guides.Just like the past 2 releases, this release of Q1 2016 would amaze you with some great functionalities. With such great improvements being introduced in each release it is all the more important to be updated in order to avoid providing wrong information to our customers.

Some key features which are my personal favorite are listed below, but there are plenty more in this release. And as I always say “You may have to try it to believe it”.

Apprentice Management – New Module within Employee Central

With Q4 2015, SuccessFactors released a great feature - “Contingent Workforce”, which is of great help to many customers who contract workforce either directly or through a third party vendor. Before the introduction of Contingent Workforce, it was very tedious to maintain such contract employees and most customers end up keeping them out of system which further causes additional efforts to manage.

Once again SuccessFactors built in a great feature with Q1 2016 release, Apprentice Management. This new module supports the planning, distribution, and management of apprentices. It supports the calendar view for the apprentice supervisor including group selection and event creation, provides the calendar view for the on-site supervisor along with the home page tile for on-site supervisor and apprentice supervisor. This would be an Admin Opt in feature.

Document Management– With Q1 2016, employees can now generate the documents designated for self-service themselves. This makes it lot more easier on part of HR or Admin, who may need to generate even basic documents for employees and send them via email or print to hand them. The feature can be activated via provisioning.

Time and Attendance – Employee Central

With Payroll Time sheet released in the recent past, it was very much expected that SuccessFactors would come up with major enhancements to both Time Off and Payroll Time sheet to make it a more robust system. Enhancements with Q1 2016, would enable you to feel more confident about the product as a whole.

With Q1 2016 release:

• Organizations can now allow their employees to convert all or part of any recorded overtime hours in the Payroll Time Sheet into hours accrued in a new 'Time Off in Lieu' time account. This would be an admin Opt-in feature. This is a very beneficial to many customers as they would definitely like their employees to avail compensatory off, using their overtime hours, instead of paying overtime monetary gain. 

• Once you have defined your holiday calendar for the year, the absence counting method now includes an option enabling you to take account of public holidays when calculating an absence. This would be an admin Opt-in feature. 

• This is a very useful feature with this release for Time and Attendance, where Collision checks are now introduced for duration based time recording, which means it is no longer possible to record a new absence, attendance, or on-call time on a day for which a full-day absence has already been recorded. This would be a universal feature pushed to all customers.

• Often we face a challenge in marking the absence where an employee who is sick and for whom it is not possible to give a return date on recovery. Mostly, in such cases, we end up putting some end date and change records after employee returns. But with this release now it is possible to enter absences with no specific end date. This would be an admin Opt-in feature. 

• You can now interrupt accrual postings for an employee who is on leave, depending on the type of leave the employee is taking. For example, you might determine that an employee on unpaid leave should not get any accruals. This would be an admin Opt-in feature.

Workflows - Employee Central

• Dealing with workflows in SuccessFactors is always a challenge because so far workflow works only with reporting hierarchy. At times when you are implementing position management, it becomes very difficult to convince your customer that workflows are not dynamic to route through positions. BUT now you can enable the routing of workflows based on the position hierarchy, starting with a position, a subject employee's position or the initiator's position. It would prove to be a very helpful enhancement to workflows. This would be an admin Opt-in feature.

• EC Reporting for Workflows - The previous version of the report "Open Workflow Requests" reports four different names: (1) The employee for whom the workflow request was created, (2) the employee who created the workflow request, (3) the last modifier of the workflow request and (4) the owner/processor of the workflow step. Now, the report provides all approvers, also when the workflow configuration is more complex, i.e. the approver type is (1) Role, (2) Dynamic Role, (3) Dynamic Group, (4) Position or (5) Position Relationship.  In case of (2) Dynamic Role, it's required to consider the different resolver types as “Dynamic Group”, “Person” and “Position”. Furthermore, the last approver and the respective approval date is reported. You may need to activate it in provisioning.

Performance and Goals

With some significant additions to the functionality for Performance and Goals module, many fancy features have also been introduced to support user interface. Most of the features with this release makes the Performance and Goals information come in handy to employees by bringing it on new People Profile.

• Continuous Performance Management (CPM) enables managers and employees to conduct structured 1:1 meetings, allow employees to capture their achievements and connect to those discussions. You can activate the same via provisioning.

• Team Overview tab used to appear for non-manager roles with blank page, but with Q1 2016 release you can now hide the "Team Overview" navigational tab and functionality for Non-managerial roles using "Roles Based Permissions" for PMV12 and PMV12A. This can be activated from provisioning.

• Changes to "Ratings" now automatically reflect in the "Summary" section when the form auto-saves. This is a much awaited fix to the performance forms and a great step towards user comfort.

• The performance management data purge, which was earlier supported in PM v11, is now fully supported in PM v12 and PM v12 Acceleration as well. This will be a universal feature.

• If employees who report to you have different goal plan eligibility and you perform "Group Goal Assignment" for your entire team, the goals will be assigned only to those employees who are eligible for the goal plan. This will an Admin Opt-in feature.

Succession and Career Development

• If an employee, who is nominated as a successor to a position is terminated, a notification is sent to the responsible succession planner. The notification informs the succession planner that the employee has been removed as a successor, because he has been terminated. This would be an admin Opt-in feature.

• Cascading picklist is now enabled with Talent Search v2. It is now possible to configure parent child picklists, values in the child picklist are shown filtered based on the value of the parent picklist.

Recruitment Management

• Customers using the Outlook Integration for interview scheduling can upload a list of available rooms, which allows interview organizers to book meeting rooms, view meeting room availability, or change already booked meeting rooms. This is an admin Opt-in feature.

• Interviewer status will now be fetched at regular intervals, whereas before the status was only fetched when the Organizer clicked on the Booked Candidates number from the Interview Scheduling Dashboard. This is an admin Opt-in feature.

• Two new tiles (number of open requisitions and number of open jobs) are now available on the new SuccessFactors Home Page. This is a universal feature.

Happy Learning,

Success is simply human!

The most popular classes for on premise SAP HCM are the Time Management and Payroll ones which go into configuring these modules. Even though Employee Central is making a lot of strides in Time Management and with the partnership we have with Workforce Software that does allow for complex rules and calculations, I still know and hear about many companies in 2016 implementing and expanding their on premise SAP Time Management systems. I have gotten requests from people asking me to write on this particular topic since it is something that isn't talked about nearly as much although it is still frequently used. There are so many customers who use SAP Time Management especially with many of the complex union rules and business processes that are out there that it will be around for a while. For Payroll there is obviously still a ton of interest in the configuration of it since SuccessFactors Employee Central Payroll still requires most of the same setup as on-premise SAP Payroll.

In both Time Management and Payroll classes I always get requests to compare Time vs Payroll since they share the same framework in their setup (Schema's, Rules, Functions, Operations) and it seems like there is always of a friendly competition between Time people and Payroll people as they try to compare the two. In most cases people know either one or the other, or are clearly stronger in one although they understand how the other works. Fortunately, I have spent a lot of time with both from a consulting perspective as well as teaching the classes on both so that gives me a good perspective to compare the two and write a few blog posts around it as requested by colleagues and customers.

In one of our Time Management classes WNA311 there is a section on displaying messages in the Time schema for Time Administrators. In this class if there is anyone who works with payroll they always tend to ask - what about messages in the Payroll schema? This is a topic that also always appears to come up in one of my favorite classes - the advanced Payroll Schema Rule Writing Workshop class WNA11 when people ask how they can accomplish this. I have configured custom messages when a scenario occurs in the Payroll schema as well as custom messages when a scenario occurred in Time Management so I decided to write this first article going into a comparison of custom message in Time vs custom message in Payroll.

Creating a custom message in the Time Schema

In Time Management SAP has a standard operation COLER that is used to display messages in the Time schema. We are going to utilize that in order to display our message.

1. First I am going to create my message text on table V_T555E.
2. Next, I am going to write the schema rule logic that determines if my message should be displayed. For the purpose of this I will make the message display for only a certain Time Management group (1) from Infotype 50 and I used COLERXXIto make it so the message is informational and not a hard error.
3. Lastly, I will call my custom rule in my schema ZMIS

Now when I run Time Evaluation, my custom message will be displayed if the criteria (Screenshot of the schema log included) is hit and I can go to PTMW/PT_ERL00/PT40/ and see this message being displayed as well as from within the schema log.

That process was relatively painless and your average Time Management functional resource should certainly be able to write this logic pretty easily.

Next, I am going to show you what needs to be done in order to do the same thing in Payroll.

Creating a custom message in the Payroll Schema

In Payroll, SAP has an operation XMES that is used to display a custom payroll message. There used to be an operation MESSG in Payroll, but it was deleted when XMES was created. SAP created a note 504704 which explains creating a message in payroll. I have pasted a screenshot of this note here for informational purposes. I will point out that this Note mentions there is a sample implementation 99TST that you could theoretically use if you only needed to create a message one time without requiring an ABAP code change.

.

So what do you have to do in order to create a message in the Payroll schema? Here is what is required:

1. Create a enhancement in standard SAP code within include RPCBU409_OPXMES or register the object with SAP to add our code. I use an enhancement implementation for this example.
2. Write logic that is called from the custom exit functionality (ZZ).There is some sample code that you can easily re-use which is commented out in this INCLUDE under subroutine xmes_natio. I decided to change it a bit so that the parameter entered in the payroll PCR (p_param) is the one that is called from my message class, but your can certainly use the SAP code or create your own code. Here is the commented out example SAP code as well as the small amount of code that I wrote.
3. Next, I need to create my message text in HRPAY99CALC (You would want to use a message class in the customer namespace and not the standard SAP one HRPAY99CALC so that your text is not overwritten by SAP during an upgrade)
4. Now I can create my message using operation XMES in a Payroll Schema rule. For the purposes of a demonstration, I will have this message display anytime my rule is called with no restricting logic, but you would probably create schema logic that dictates when this message is to occur.
5. Lastly, I can put this rule into my payroll schema ZUIS by calling function ACTIO (Since I want it to be called regardless of what is in the IT/RT table so I would not use PIT/PRT) and I would call my PCR ZIMR

Now when I run Payroll for the associate I am testing with I can see the message being displayed.

We can see the clear difference in the complexities of creating messages between Time and Payroll. In Payroll, your average functional resource will not be able to do this and would need to rely on a technical resource in order to make this change. In addition, many organizations are stricter with enhancement to SAP code.

Time Administrators can work with the custom messages via the Time Managers Worplace (PTMW) or the Time Management Pool (Transaction PT40) and it is also something that SAP delivers standard in Time Management in the standard schema's (TM00/TM04) as well as standard messages on V_T555E. So the framework of Time Management supports the creation and clearing of messages and that is likely why it is much easier.

In Payroll, the framework for writing custom messages is more restrictive which is likely because there inst a framework for clearing and dealing with those these messages. So with that being said, it does not always make sense to create a payroll message for a scenario occurring such as if an employee meets a particular limit, because then the message (depending upon the logic calling it) could come up in all future periods and it could quickly get out of control if not implemented correctly. I have come across scenarios where people want to be notified of a particular scenario occurring (Typically an exception that should be fixed) in Payroll via a message. This makes it so that these messages will also come up when you run a simulation or live payroll and then the appropriate Admin can clear the message by fixing the master data and you wont have an issue with messages getting out of control because the message triggers a reaction to fix it.

With the new functionality SAP has delivered in the Payroll Control Center and validation checks that you can build, it will make it less likely that you will need to create messages in your schema because they could be created in the form of data validations with a framework to acknowledge and clear the messages via your Admin role.

Regardless of the complexity, the beauty and power of SAP is that it is still possible for you to create messages in your payroll schema if that is something you really wish to do.

Please feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments below. I would love to hear from others on the topic comparing Time and Payroll including potential future comparisons you may be interested in!

Over the last decade, companies have had to make a big shift in how they portray themselves as employers. Before the mass-market adoption of the internet, companies had bright, shiny brands. And 95% of the time, that bright, shiny brand controlled the conversation.

These days, when we live our lives online and pretty much everything can be researched, accessed and called out by anyone (think: sites like Glassdoor, where employees—and ex-employees—give the real scoop on what it’s like to work there), brands have to be much more proactive and real.

This can be scary and overwhelming, but at the end of the day, it’s a good thing. Culture matters to top talent more than ever before, and when they understand your culture—your real, authentic culture, not some shiny image you’re trying to project—they are far more likely to stick around and recruit more high performers.

Still, some organizations think they can fool candidates into thinking they’re different than they actually are. In this day and age, that usually means trying to look hip, cool, fun, or more like Facebook.

If hip and cool is your culture, share it. But if you’re stable, consistent or driven – share that instead. You won’t look like you’re trying to be something you’re not, and more importantly, you’ll attract the candidates who are right for you.

To illustrate how portraying your authentic employer brand works (and how it really, really doesn’t) here are a few opposing executions of cultural videos to check out:

As I was researching this, I saw something that caught my eye, The Muse, which helps companies be more authentic in their approach to the candidate experience by promoting culture. So I reached out to them to talk about this challenge many companies face. First off, The Muse describes themselves as “a full-service solution to create an authentic, visually beautiful profile of your company” - Dropbox and Bai Brands are two good examples. Lindsay Moroney, Chief of Staff at The Muse, whose team is responsible for all employer content creation said, “We take great care to make sure companies on The Muse are being as real as possible when talking about what makes them special.” I think this is the key point – being real and true are what make you special and if you are honest about that, you will attract the right talent for you.

When you focus more on what you truly are as a culture, the better return you’ll have in hiring and employee engagement. If it feels forced or not quite right, check yourself, stand back and reevaluate. Would employees who have recently left the organization agree with what you’re saying? If not, rethink your approach, as they will likely call you out on it.

Recruiting can be a challenge. It requires the right bait in the right place at the right time. A job description might be perfect, but what appeal does an HRIT job have to a pool of graphic designers or marketing specialists? Looking for new graduates? Then why cast your line in September when the term is just beginning? Finally, how do you prevent your perfect catch from wriggling free? Get out your HR tackle box because this week ASUG’s HR Community explores the tools that will help you reel in the best and brightest talent.

Upcoming – Human Resources Success & Development Town Hall: “Casey, why are you starting with an upcoming webcast if this is a recap?” Because you absolutely cannot miss this content. Find out how other customers cast the net with their HR solutions and discuss talent development, planning, and tracking. Set sail with SAP SuccessFactors' Jackie Ato, your captain for this webcast and discussion.

Critical SAP SuccessFactors for Management of HR: How Does HRIS Take Shape in the Cloud?: You can’t rush recruitment, so while your line is cast, don’t miss this chance to look up at the clouds. HR Expert Luke Marson talks the nuances of strategy, configuration, and maintenance when moving to the cloud. Marson, a true ASUG Angler, co-authored “The Comprehensive Guide to SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central.” Needless to say, this guy knows what he is talking about.

Discussion – SF Reporting & Analytics Forum: Although employees are much more useful (and much less smelly) than our aquatic friends, it’s important to measure records and milestones and figure out the best time to catch and release. The HR crew talks shop about reporting and analytics, and it’s not too late to dive in. If you are a part of the ASUG community, join the conversation. If not, what are you waiting for?

Help HR Manage Workforce Change More Intuitively and Effectively with SAP’s New Intelligent Services Capabilities: What’s different between a pole with a line and hook and an industrial crabbing machine? A lot. Similarly, Intelligent Services in the SAP SuccessFactors Human Capital Management (HCM) Suite is a way to take your “tried and true” process and optimize it, yielding less risk and greater reward. SAP SuccessFactors’ Andy Yen gives the lowdown on this new technology and how it applies to you in this webcast. Keep an eye out for the recording!

I am fresh out of fishing analogies, so it’s time to reel in this week’s HR Recap. Before I go, don’t miss the second entry in the All About Leadership webcast series. Also, for all of you User Experience geeks, on March 17 ASUG is hosting User Experience (UX) Puzzle: A Process to Successfully Start or Renew an Improved User Interface, an introduction to our upcoming UX seminar series.

To see more HR resources and content, check out the ASUG HR Community and stay on the lookout for next week’s recap.

SAPPHIRE NOW and ASUG Annual Conference attendees: Don’t forget to register for our Recharge HR half-day Pre-Conference Seminar. See you there!

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Staying in good financial condition is almost as important as maintaining good physical health. After setting a budget, it’s important to remember the parameters are not static. Monitoring spending closing and ensuring everyone is committed to meeting financial goals can go a long way toward success.

Simply put, a budget is an itemized summary of likely income and expenses for a given period.  It helps you determine whether you can grab that bite to eat or should head home for a bowl of soup.  Planning and monitoring your budget will help you identify wasteful expenditures, adapt quickly as your financial situation changes, and achieve your financial goals. When you actually see the breakdown of your expenses, you may be surprised by what you find; this process is essential to fully grasping how things can add up.  Creating a budget will decrease your stress levels because, with a budget, there are no surprises.

With Success factors we manage customers Budget. There are many types of budget that can be set up

Success factors has different Budgeting methods –

Success factors budgeting is a very robust tool that provides various standard options to perform bottom-up budgeting for compensation planning. Apart from providing options to base budget on standard fields in the compensation form, Success factors provides great agility to allow organizations to perform calculation (allocated and used) based on custom fields.

SALARY:  Budget Based on % of Salary

In this method the budget is calculated as % of the current salary. This method is easy to configure and test, less risk involved. The drawback for this is that once forms are launched, you cannot change the percentage. Everyone gets the same percentage.   

SALARY:  Budget Based on Targets

Here the budget is calculated as % of the Merit Target, LumpsumTarget, Lumpsum2Target. It is calculated as a percentage of a field other than current salary. For example, calculate 3% budget of eligible earnings (imported using Merit Target field), rather than salary. You must enter the percentage in the Budget Value field. This method is flexible as it is not based on salary.

A drawback is that it is not dynamic – even if targets are reloaded, the budget does not recalculate.

SALARY:  Budget Based on Guideline

This helps customers determine budgets based on performance and benchmarks without the need to calculate outside of the system. When this mode is used, the based On field is ignored. This budget is flexible as it is not based on Salary.

One drawback is that the customer must display the default guideline (cannot keep default as an increase to 0%).

SALARY: Percent Loaded at Employee (User) Level

This method uses fields on the employee import file to pass in the % each employee can contribute to the manager’s budget. This is Flexible because it is not based on salary. It is Dynamic!  If budget needs change, just reload the new percent.

A drawback is that more calculations needs to be done outside of SF.

SALARY:  Budget Based on Cascading

Cascading budget is the process of starting with a top level planner and creating a budget that is then drilled down throughout the organisation. Since it is a UI based budgeting tool, planners can go to the system and move percentages or currency down to the system to the planners below them.

If direct reports have direct reports of their own (two or more levels below), the cascade Budget check box gives them permission to cascade budgets to the direct / indirect reports.

In the example below–

Maya allocates 60% and 40% to Dana & Geoffery respectively to her direct reports. Dana allocates 70% (of her 50%) to Carries and 30% to Mallory

Managing Cascading

Click on the “Add Head of Hierarchy” button and select the user to be the person at the top of the budget “chain” using the Find User capability

Put a % or an amount that person has to allocate

Click Blue Arrow to Send Budget to head of hierarchy

Click on the person’s name

Cascade Budget Check Box gives permission to allow person to cascade budget to their direct/indirect reports.  Only employees who have a 2 or more levels below will have the cascade budget checkbox available.

By Clicking on the Cascade Budget check box, and clicking on the propagate button next to that planner’s name, it will cascade the budget down to that planner where he/she can then determine the amount to be applied to his/her planners budgets.

The above steps show how the cascading can be done by someone who has admin rights to the system.  In the example above we gave Sid Mormony Cascade Budget rights, but he does not have access to cascade his budget yet, because he has not been setup with Compensation Admin Privileges.

SALARY:  Budget Based on Groups

This budgeting tool allows the managers to determine budget for group of employees. Grouping can be done by division, department or location. IT is Flexible because it is not based on same the % for everyone. It is quite dynamic!  If budgets need to be changed, just change in UI or import file based – admin can control.

This method is complex to setup for the client. Not a lot of clients are using this, but this is used a lot more than Cascading Budgets.

SALARY:  Budget Based on Custom Field

• Salary budget is based on percentage of a custom field.
• mode = 'PercentOfCustomField‘
• Applicable only to salary and basedOn = 'user|template|group’
• The custom field must be specified in baseCustomField.
• When basedOn='user', the percentage must be imported through the import key specified by attribute importKey

This functionality provides configuration capability to only show the first custom column value in the budget label and mask the rest of the custom columns used to construct the budgets. This option can be XML primarily. There is no need to build a UI for the configuration option.

This functionality can be used when there is an EC integration-

For instance- If your client wants to allocate budget based on Department, fetch Department from EC on a custom field, take another custom field and use lookup table on it to return budget % based on first field. Base your budget on this field.and use lookup table on it to return budget % based on first fieldBase your budget on this field.

Salary budget by custom fields with grouping

• You can now build budgets based on a custom field and group that information
• Enable to view budget in different grouping based on groupBy

Budget Grouping with localCurrencyCode+customField

Happy Budgeting!!

This blog is also available at http://www.ddg.biz/blog/Budgeting-in-SuccessFactors-DDG-Blog/index.php

I'd like this post to be a discussion rather than another rant or lecture from me, so here is the statement for you to tear apart:

"With cloud HCM solutions we should focus on buying capabilities, not processes any more."

And here just a little explanation what I mean without trying to defend the position too much already (I reserve the right to defend it in the discussion as it goes along):

• For buying decisions in the on-premise world, customers would usually define not only the scope the system should cover but map the processes to they want to be used to an often meticulous level of detail. If that hasn't happened before buying the software, than it would usually happen, when buying the implementation service. So, relatively little time was spent on what the system should do now (and maybe more importantly in future) and a lot of time was spent on how it should be done.
• I believe that this doesn't give you the best results in the fast-paced world of cloud HCM. Rather than spending up to a year on defining processes, I believe customers should focus much more on the current capabilities the solution would bring them as well as on its capability to innovate and then be open about the process to bring these capabilities alive. If this sounds a little bit vague, it's because it actually is a little bit vague (the clue is in the name: cloud ). So, focus much more on what and much less on how. And therefore also getting much faster to actually doing something about it.

This is probably a bit provocative and it doesn't mean I'm 100% signed up to it yet, but for the purpose of the argument, let's assume I am, so feel free to attack

I have been working with SAP SuccessFactors for 11 years and counting. During the years the one thing that has not changes is the Provisioning access method. It seems like this process has been resistant to process improvements over the years. I acknowledge that backend access is a very secure process and has to be audited and managed strictly. But it is also a very cumbersome process to establish access to 40 colleagues each supporting 3-9 clients over a 12 month period.

• First, it is cumbersome to get the access.
• Second, very few consultants actually get their access revoked.
• Third, clients have no overview of who has backend access to their system
• Fourth, the "provisioning audit framework" (announced back in 2014) has never been materialised
• Fifth, as a partner company we cannot monitor or manage what accesses a colleague has

I could come up with 5 more just as valid topics, but really would like SAP to improve in this area. And I havent even talked about usability of Provisioning.

What improvement ideas do you see?  To whom in SAP would you suggest this topic is raised with?

All the best,

Erik Ebert

Most implementations of SAP SuccessFactors focus primarily on the modules being implemented. This approach overlooks the importance of the platform components and how they can impact the use of key features in the system. If platform components are not set up correctly, they can have a negative impact on the roll out of additional modules in future phases. In this next series of blog posts, we will look at the different components that comprise the SAP SuccessFactors platform and how these components can impact your overall ability to maximize the benefits from your SAP SuccessFactors implementation.

Let’s start with the definition of a platform component. A platform component is essentially any configurable feature set that is used by multiple modules. Below is a representation of the SAP SuccessFactors platform components that we use with our clients.

Architecture

The visual below, on the other hand represents how the platform components, support the SAP SuccessFactors modules.All the modules are dependent on the Employee Profile for employee demographic data. If Employee Central is implemented, then most of the employee demographic data in the profile is synchronized and updated from Employee Central.  All the modules are then impacted to some extent by the configuration of the platform components. For example, with Role Based Permissions, you can define permission access for all the modules, including Employee Profile and Employee Central. Similarly, if Single Sign On (SSO) is used, all the modules in the HCM suite can be accessed once a user is authenticated.

Platform Components

Some platform components are required for all clients, while others are optional. For example, features such as Role Based Permission, Data Model, Rating Scales, and the Admin Tool set must be used by all clients regardless of whether they are implementing one or multiple modules. On the other hand, features such as SSO and Mobile are dependent on the client’s internal capability and whether they have policies that support the use of these features.

Additional platform items such as Meta Data Framework (MDF), Family and Roles, Competencies, Job Profile Builder, and Employee Central Position Management are dependent on the modules being implemented and the client’s ability to define and maintain the data within these components. For example, if a client does not have a defined competency model, they will not enjoy the full benefits from the implementation of Family and Roles. The same applies to Job Profile builder and Employee Central Position management. If there are no formal job definitions, then little value can be derived from the implementation of Job Profile Builder.

Conclusion

The design and set up of the SAP SuccessFactors platform components is a critical part of the overall HCM Suite implementation. It is better to spend the time up front to discuss the implications of how these components will impact the use and benefits of the SAP SuccessFactors implementation versus trying to do a retrofit in later phases of the project.

In my next blog in this series, I will discuss specific platform components and key considerations when setting them up. Stay tuned!

It has been another very eventful year in HR Technology and last year at this time, a group of friends and I collaborated to writeThe Future of SAP HCM and SuccessFactors Consulting - 2015. This year we split the report into a three-part series with theFuture of SAP HCM On Premise Consulting – 2016 (Part 1)and theFuture of SuccessFactors Consulting – Employee Central, Payroll, Analytics, Concur (Part 2) released over the past this. This is the final installment and hopefully everyone has found them valuable.

I have no doubt we are we are still in the early innings of the multi year shift from client server OnPremise software (i.e. SAP HCM, Oracle EBS, PeopleSoft) to the next generation cloud based offerings (i.e. SuccessFactors, Workday, Oracle HCM Cloud). Some of called this a “Once in a Generation Land Grab” which is spot on andBill Kutik has done a great job of comparing the major HR cloud vendors in this article. SAP has been very aggressive over the past 5 years spending over 17 billion on acquiring cloud companies such as SuccessFactors, Ariba, Fieldglass and Concur and is nowpredictingthat cloud and support revenue will overtake software by 2018.

Given that, it should come as no surprise that SAP is leading with SuccessFactors HCM Suite for all new customers, in most regions worldwide. There has always been a delicate balance within the SAP HCM Consulting market and this major shift over the last few years of HR customers moving to the cloud (with SuccessFactors and to competitors) has had a huge impact on the traditional SAP HCM consulting market. In the SAP HCM market, I am seeing a very little opportunity, billable rate compression, layoffs and it is not a place you want to be longer term.

On the flip side virtually every consulting company is looking to add experienced SuccessFactors resources as well as re-train andcertify their existing consultants on new technology. This was one of the reasons I recorded“Becoming and HCM SaaS Consultant”and followed it up with“Becoming a SuccessFactors Consultant” with fellow SAP Mentor AlumniJon ReedandLuke Marsonto help people with the transition.For any customers or consultants reading this, the SuccessFactors consulting world is VERY different than the SAP consulting world and would high recommending watching the video below.

While there will continue to be some very small pockets of strength in the SAP HCM market in various regions and modules, the combination of the product roadmap being squarely focused on SuccessFactors, SAP sales teams leading with the Cloud (for HR), continued off-shoring, faster implementations, the buzz for cloud based HR technology and serious competitive threats from Workday, Oracle Fusion and others guarantee the OnPremise SAP HCM consulting market will continue its downward spiral.

I decided to reach out to a diverse group of individuals that I personally know and trust would give an honest opinion of what they are seeing on the ground in their respective areas. They include SAP HCM and SuccessFactors Industry Experts, SAP Mentors, SAP Press Authors, HR Expert authors, well-known conference speakers and some of the most knowledgeable individuals I know in the industry.  Here are their thoughts.

SuccessFactors Performance and Goals.

I spoke withChris McNarneywho is the owner of McNarney Consulting and who I profiled several years ago inHow to Transition from a SAP HCM to SuccessFactors, and he told me:

I read what I wrote in this blog last year about PM/GM and thought to myself, “yeah that pretty much seems like good advice for this year too.”  Just like last year, a big part of the consulting world for PM/GM is understanding what the differences are between all the different flavors of PM/GM (v11, v12, v12 Acceleration, 360s).  On top of that you just have to keep up with the product releases.  Any lack of effort to keep up with enhancements each quarter will likely result in you giving your customer some amount invalid advice.  The last thing you want is your client alerting you of a new feature you told them didn’t exist.

Speaking of quarterly releases, I have always been interested at how the PM & GM modules are so heavily insulated from platform level enhancements.  While so much of SuccessFactors is being reborn on RBP, MDF or Intelligent Services; the world of PM/GM was somewhat independent with things like form specific permissions instead of RBP allowing consultants of this module to not have to follow enhancements at the platform level as closely as say an EC consultant might.  In recent releases though SuccessFactors has started exposing PM/GM to other platform level features so I believe 2016 will mean consultants need to start using those to provide added value.

Let’s look at an example.  Let’s say your client has a requirement to send completed PM form data to another system, or maybe even a PDF of an employee’s permanent record.  Previously you might handle that with scheduled ad hoc reports or manually run Archive & Print jobs.  In 2016 you could send an event via Intelligent Services to Boomi or some other endpoint when a form was completed that will then gather form data via the OData API and then construct that into data interfaced directly to the 3rd party system.

Another example would be the Continuous Performance functionality being released in early 2016.  This is a larger foray of PM into the mobile arena (but it also has a web component) to facilitate touch points and 1:1 discussions. This is my opinion alone as I am obviously not part of the product management team nor do I have my finger on the pulse of every customer but I don’t believe consultants will see a ton of traffic on this feature in 2016.

One final note – keep an eye on the ever growing list of provisioning features moving to Admin Center as PM/GM is definitely a benefactor.  This is an effort of SuccessFactors being more client friendly, but it stands to benefit consultants as well (especially those of us who are independent) and certainly any consultant who has waited 2 weeks to get a provisioning request completed.

SuccessFactors Compensation

I reached out to Atif Siddiqui, a Certified Professional in SuccessFactors Compensation, with over 25+ Compensation Projects under his belt. He is currently leading the SuccessFactors Practice at GroupeX Solutions and he told me:

For 2015, customers benefitted from key enhancements such as the Enhanced UI Worksheets and Field Based Permissions delivered in the Compensation & Variable Pay modules. Going forward, the increasing adoption of Employee Central by both new and existing Talent customers is increasing demand for the EC & Comp/VarPay implementations to be tightly integrated. While SuccessFactors product management team have done an excellent job of moving majority of the integration away from XML to the Compensation Admin UI, implementation consultants definitely need to have a solid knowledge of key EC functionality and how data setup/changes impact the Compensation cycle. Having a firm grasp on how data should flow between these two modules will definitely make the implementation process much easier.

Another area consultants need to keep an eye on is the increasing trend of breaking the link between Performance Management and Total Rewards. While not the norm today, I expect this trend to impact business processes as there is still a need to collect quantitative business measures and individual performance results (be it continuous or annual) before one’s salary increase or bonus amounts are determined. Compensation consultants will be tasked in coming up with creative solutions leveraging the existing toolsets available in the product. SuccessFactors has also started to deliver on this trend by introducing functionality such as Spot Awards. Expect more innovation to come in this area in 2016.

Compensation consultants are also being asked to deliver additional reports and analytics using the SuccessFactors Platform/Foundation toolsets such as Online Report Designer and YouCalc/Dashboards 2.0. While not a skill legacy consultants needed, proficiency in delivery a solution to a customer’s requirement by leveraging these foundational products can make a key difference in an implementation. SuccessFactors has also delivered key enhancements in the area by enhancing modelling capabilities in the Compensation/Variable Pay modules.

Lastly, I would advise consultants to be on top of the Product Roadmap and the quarterly IRRs. There is tremendous amount of information available to make informed decisions impacting customer’s implementation projects. From what I can gather, there is a lot more planned innovation coming in 2016 that should keep us on our toes. This year, I foresee an increasing demand for Compensation & Variable Pay Consultants with hands-on integration experience with Employee Central across the globe as some large EC implementations started in 2015 move to the Talent phase of their implementations.

SuccessFactors Talent

I spoke to Amy Grubb is the CEO of Cloud Consulting Partners who has been in the HR consulting space since 1997 and holds three SuccessFactors certifications: Talent Management, Talent Sourcing and Align and Perform. She has been implementing SuccessFactors solutions since 2007 and has implemented hundreds of modules for clients. She is also co-author of SuccessFactors with SAP ERP HCM, both the first and second editions, and she teaches several SuccessFactors Mastery courses for SAP Education who told me:

Talent management has long been an area of stable maturity in terms of process and systems. SuccessFactors’ Succession and Development modules have long reflected best practice for managing key talent, identifying HiPo’s and managing development opportunities for those with successor nominations. With the addition of the Meta Data Framework (MDF) now regularly used on the Succession Org Chart, customers have much greater ability to define information on their key positions than ever before.

A few newer features over the last 2 years are enabling customers to better manage their talent review process by taking the data and making it even more accessible and user-friendly. A favorite feature is Presentations, which allows you to present the data in a Power Point view. Since many customers managed their talent data in spreadsheets and Power Point prior to having a “system,” this feature provides the best of both worlds. You can quickly and easily design a Presentation template that includes all of the key data stored in SuccessFactors.

Another lesser-used feature is utilizing Calibration to calibrate succession data across the organization. This offers the opportunity to not only view talent on a performance-potential matrix, but to actually move their position in one view rather than updating each individual’s performance/potential ratings on the Scorecard. Finally, Career Worksheet in Development continues to be a very powerful tool for companies to truly engage employees in their own development. The data required to support this feature often keeps companies from taking advantage of it. But for those with a robust library of roles/profiles, it can be a differentiator with key talent. 

SuccessFactors Recruiting

I spoke withMark Ingramand Kim Lessleywho are co-owners ofIngram Talentand in a past life both had product management roles at SAP and they told me:

2015 saw a continued trend of maturing functionality, increased integration to other modules and solid customer adoption. From an implementation perspective we have seen a lot more projects that involve parallel implementation of some combination of Recruiting Management, Recruiting Marketing, Onboarding and Employee Central. This adds additional effort in terms of integration mapping and project coordination, but enables customers to leverage the synergies of implementing on an integrated platform.

There has been a bit of a shift in Recruiting Marketing and Recruiting Management--from the focus on adding new standalone features to smartly enhancing and leveraging integration between the BizX Platform, Recruiting Management, Recruiting Marketing, Onboarding and Employee Central. Examples include, but are far from limited to, the replacement of Job Code Entity as a means of defaulting data on the job requisition with the Metadata Framework Job Classification Foundation Object and the ability to create requisitions directly from the position org chart. Additional cross-module enhancements include standardizing candidate data retention rules across Recruiting modules, introducing RCM to RMK redirects for Invite to Apply and Employee Referral notifications, the use of Intelligent Services to replace recruiting users on leave of absence with their managers, and many more. Now that RCM has achieved functional parity with a lot of competitors, leveraging a homogeneous platform and suite of modules is where it will shine.

Integration solves headaches, improves processes and creates a unified user experience. That doesn’t mean we don’t still crave the fun stuff. Long awaited features include Outlook integration for interview scheduling and Mobile Apply. Last year SAP acquired a company called Multiposting that enables cross-posting of jobs to hundreds of sites with the click of a button. Initially this service was restricted to Recruiting Marketing customers, but as of Q1 2016, the publishing of jobs through Multiposting is now also available to Recruiting Management customers without Recruiting Marketing.

SuccessFactors is shifting towards more administrative self service for clients, enabling greater self reliance. A great example of this, and a very welcome addition, is the Career Site Builder. This WYSIWYG tool allows consultants and clients to implement and maintain a client's Recruiting Marketing site, something previously restricted to a SuccessFactors shared services team. Career Site Builder will enable customer to easily maintain a site with fresh content since SuccessFactors will no longer need to be engaged for changes. Career Site Builder is currently in limited rollout with partners but expect widespread use by the end of 2016.

From a certification perspective, SAP Certified Application Associate will be made available for Recruiting Management and Recruiting Marketing in 2016.

SuccessFactors Onboarding

I reached out to Venki Krishnamoorthy, who has 5 SuccessFactors Certifications (wow) and is the co-author of multiple SAP Press Books who told me:

SuccessFactors Onboarding is gaining traction in the marketplace. More and more customers are becoming aware of the importance of Onboarding and the need for an Onboarding solution.   They are purchasing the ONB solution, along with other SuccessFactors talent modules, and do making plans for local and global rollouts. SuccessFactors onboarding is a relatively mature product, but has tremendous opportunity to improve.

In 2016, I expect more customers to implement Onboarding. Many of these implementations might have complex requirements, which may not be fully fulfilled at the current maturity level of SFSF ONB. For example, many customers do background verification / drug tests before an offer is made to the candidate. Some customers prefer to do this as part of the ONB process. Currently SFSF ONB does not provide the functionality to support background verification /drug tests as part of the ONB functionality. This is an important requirement for many customers, and depending on the experience of the implementation teams, this is either implemented or told, this is not supported.

In 2016, I expect customers to get more creative with their ONB requirements. Social Onboarding will go mainstream, and integrating JAM with ONB will be more common. Last year, I completed a SFSF RCM rollout, where Salesforce Chatter was used as social onboarding tool.  Moving forward, such inter-cloud integrations will become commonplace.

SAP has done a tremendous job in easing the integration between SFSF Recruiting and SFSF ONB, SFSF EC and SFSF EC. But, integration between ONB and SAP HCM or other third party systems is still a pain point. Customers are baffled, when they are told we can integrate SFSF ONB – SAP HCM or other third party HRIS by flat-files or using a middleware bus. Any integration strategy that does not involve flat-files is an investment and need to be budgeted. It will be helpful if SAP can invest more on the integrations.

Last year, SuccessFactors started a RIG (Regional Interest Group) to support EC implementations. This is a small team of 15 people, spread across the globe, supporting EC implementation in their designated geographies. This year, SAP will be expanding RIG to include (support) SFSF RCM and SFSF ONB implementations. This will be a great boon to implementation teams, and customers (especially customers), since they can turn to this team for any support (ticket escalations, inputs from the product teams, PMO support or in exception scenarios to jump in and complete the configurations).

Any customer, who is on an ONB journey, should encourage their implementation teams to attend the bi-weekly ONB PEPS calls. The PEPS lead and the solutions owner lead these calls to respond to the questions faced by the implementation teams. These calls are very helpful, and the implementation teams can learn from one another.

In 2016, consulting demand for experienced ONB implementation teams will grow exponentially. ONB can be implemented between 3 weeks – 6 months. An experienced consultant who specializes in ONB can bring value to the customer, as well to the product.

SuccessFactors Learning

I spoke withSharon Newton, who was a co-author ofSAP Enterprise Learning, a fellow SAP Mentor, and the CEO at hyperCisionand she told me:

In 2016, for SAP Consultants, the future of learning is SuccessFactors Learning. And there is plenty of opportunity to leverage your skills across four different types of customers, all who will appreciate a qualified consultant’s support. 

1. The legacy SAP Learning Solution (LSO) customer– There are approximately 400 LSO customers globally (there are a lot of caveats around this number but assume at least half of them actively use the solution) and the majority of them are starting to plan their migration to/implementation of SuccessFactors learning.  My best guess is that there are at least a hundred customers who will need support to migrate and this support will be both in the areas of process re-engineering and data migration as well as implementation. For some customers, who leveraged minimal LSO functionality or who implemented for a small stakeholder group, the migration and implementation will be fairly clear cut and simple but for every simple implementation, there will be a complex legacy LSO implementation that requires change management, process optimization, governance guidance, data migration and data mapping, and solution configuration.   Consultants who focus here should understand both solutions to optimally support their customers and be able to discuss SAP and partner accelerators. 

2. Customers migrating from other Learning Management Systems– Customers who are moving off other legacy LMS’s will require similar support to that required by LSO customers. Because other LMS’s are outside the SAP family, in terms of migrating, there will be fewer expectations for accelerators, although a similar quality of care will be expected.  

3. The legacy (Plateau) on-premise customer (I will not address legacy hosted customers as these migrations are managed by SuccessFactors) – There are still many customers who are on-premise but, with support for this solution scheduled to end soon, there is some urgency to their need to migrate.  For these customers, the migration may be mainly data migration, which is typically handled by SuccessFactors or by specialized consulting organizations with legacy expertise in migrating the Plateau database.  These customers may also need support with custom extensions and mapping these to current functionality or leveraging web services to implement similar solutions in the Cloud.  Another key point to consider is that many legacy Plateau customers are Life Sciences organizations, so consultants who focus on legacy-Plateau migrations should understand both SuccessFactors Learning and vSaaS (Validated SaaS) Learning. 

4. New LMS customers– A customer with no legacy LMS typically has fewer complex scenarios and will go with a best-practices implementation scaled for growth.  These implementations are often rapid as data migration and process realignment are not required; however, these customers still require change management support and may require more discussion on learning process best practices.

While the number of legacy LSO and on-premise SuccessFactors customers migrating will become fewer and fewer in the next few years, the other two categories of customer will continue to have strong growth and provide great opportunities for skilled consultants. 

Wrap Up

There is an excellent quote fromNaomi Bloomwho is a HR Technology thought leader that I like to share every year as I find it very relevant.

"Consultants, at least in my world view, are individuals who are able to study a business problem and, regardless of any particular technology choices, guide the client to the best possible approach to achieving the desired business results."

At the end of the day, if you are a consultant that is able to provide that type of value for your customers then it won't matter the HR technology, you will be have the head start at being successful. That said, it is very important whether you are a customer or consultant, that you are aware of where the technology is headed and in HR the future is the cloud. If you trying to break into HR Technology I don’t see any scenario where learning SAP HCM as a “fresher” in 2016 and beyond is going to serve you well in the long run.

I am a big believer that being a lifelong learner is a key competitive advantage given the rapid pace of change in HR Technology, and in order to stay current on all the major news and developments I would recommend joining the 26,000+ people in myGlobal SAP and SuccessFactorsand Global SAP HCM and SuccessFactorsgroups.

Would love to get your comments, questions to the authors, and your individual point of view.

SAP SuccessFactors is hosting a special “All In” VIP event for customers who have all four solutions of Employee Central, Learning, Recruiting, and Talent Management.  The focus is on cross module integration.   If your company has licensed all four of these SAP SuccessFactors solutions, I hope you or one of your colleagues will attend this rare and unique event.   There is no charge for qualified customers.  All you have to do is contact your SuccessFactors Customer Engagement Executive (CEE). 

The line-up of technical subject matter experts for this event is amazing.  I spent a few minutes reviewing their profiles and never before has this breadth and depth of technical knowledge been together at one time.   The skill sets cross product management, configuration, and ongoing adoption.  Here is some of the intellectual firepower that will be at the event:   

• Tara McDonough.   10 years of SAP Cloud HCM module implementation delivery experience; over 150 implementation projects including Performance Management, Goal Management, 360 Degree Feedback, Succession, Career Development Planning, Recruiting, and solution architecture mapping for enterprise-wide Cloud HCM deployments

• Mikhail Koulikov.   9 years of experience configuring and guiding use of SuccessFactors technology.  May be the only person who has implemented every module of talent management as well as recruiting, workforce planning & analytics.

• Trina Page.   6 years of consulting experience at SAP SuccessFactors for Employee Central, Goal Management, Performance Management, Calibration, 360 Degree Feedback, Career Development, Succession Management, and Employee Profile.

• Murali Mazhavanchery.  6 years of experience guiding product management specifically for Employee Central, and over 15 years of experience developing HCM technology.

• Joe Herman.  5 years of experience guiding product management for the SuccessFactors Learning solution, on top of 8 years of experience developing the solution prior to joining SuccessFactors.

• Abhijit Salvi.  4 years of experience guiding product management for several SuccessFactors solutions including Employee Central, Recruiting, Talent Management, Smart Suite, Metadata Framework, Permission & Security Framework, and Extensions Center.

This is just a sample of the brainpower that will be in attendance.   The total list includes over 15 technical subject matter experts with more than 80 years of collective experience designing, configuring and using SuccessFactors products.   We’ll also be joined by several senior executives including Mike Ettling and Mary Poppen.   Oh yeah, I’ll be there too.

Access to this sort of skilled talent doesn’t happen very often!    If you are a SAP SuccessFactors customer that has licensed all four of our solutions (employee central, talent management, recruiting, and learning), I hope you will attend this very rare and valuable day of education and knowledge sharing about cross module integration.  To learn if you are eligible and how to sign up please contact your Customer Engagement Executive (CEE).

     You built the perfect process. It is a thing of beauty. Efficient. Well-designed. It could not be better. All is good......until it is not!!! What happens when your workflow is set to save data and something goes wrong? Maybe an employee is locked? Maybe there is authorization missing? Maybe there is a "collision" of processes (ex. trying to give leave to someone is in the middle of being terminated)? You absolutely do not want your beautiful process to go "off the rails" and into "never never land". Thankfully, SAP has a nice way to handle these "unforeseen" errors and set your process back on track! Years ago, I had to trace this through for myself and recently, it came up again as a client's employee stumbled upon it. I had to explain it to him and thought "hey...that would make a good blog!"....so here we are. (haha)

     When saving data in background (using something like the standard task (TS33700034) and/or workflow template (WS33700044 - Save Form with Error Handling WD), you might be wondering “what happens when an error occurs?....I mean it cannot save the data so it goes somewhere, right?”. The answer Is in good ol’ consultant speak “it depends”. It all hinges on “how” you configure your processes to handle errors and what kinds to handle. Our possible options for "error categories" that we can "catch" are:

These cover about everything we might encounter. So how do we set it all up?

CONFIGURATION

     First, how do we define what errors we respond to and where they should be passed along to? This is in the IMG along the path….

Here is an example of the configuration…

As you see, we select an "error category", set it's "priority" (more on that later) and then "who" it should route to in the event of that error.

From the configuration documentation, it tells us:

     “You use the error category to define which expert is forwarded a workflow step for error processing. If errors from different error categories occurred when processing user input, then the error category with the highest priority determines which expert is forwarded the current workflow step to handle the errors.”

And in the IMG node documentation:

     “Assign values between 1 and 99 where 1 represents the highest priority.  The error category with the highest priority determines which expert is forwarded the current workflow step to handle the errors first. If several error categories are prioritized equally, only one error category with this priority is included. Which of the error categories this will be, depends on the database system. If you want to provide the same agent(s) for several error categories, you do not need to enter the data for each error category individually; instead, you enter the information for the OTHERS error category.”

Keep this in mind for how this table is read as we will discuss later.

And if we look at the actual table used, it is T5ASRERRORAGENTS (aka "error agents")…

So now it is all configured, but where and how is this configuration used?

LOGIC

     Second, “where” and “how” are the errors caught and handled? The magic begins in standard SAP class CL_HRASR00_WF_COMPONENTS (makes sense because this happens in workflow). You will notice the “save data” workflow task calls this class and method SAVE_FORM_DATA_TO_DB_WD. If you look in method SAVE_FORM_DATA_TO_DB_WD , you see it just passed on to method.

If we look at method MAINTAIN_FORM_DATA_WD, you can see what it does if an error occurs…

As you can see on line 349, this passes us to method SERVICE_FOR_ERROR_HANDLING_WD.

Method SERVICE_FOR_ERROR_HANDLING_WD first loops through all of our messages which are errors, aborts or warnings with a preference to errors/aborts and collects the details in its own “Error Infos”  and “Warning Infos” internal tables.  Now if this table has any entries, this is where it checks our configuration for “Error Agents” mentioned earlier. It does this by calling a standard function HR_ASR_HIGHEST_PRIO_AGENT.

A nice additional feature is that regardless of what the function says (ie. “who to send to or not”), it still will write any errors to the application log.

So what does that function HR_ASR_HIGHEST_PRIO_AGENT really tell us?

First it pulls/reads in all of our entries in configuration for “Error Agents” (T5ASRERRORAGENTS).  If you have missed this configuration or do not have entries in this table for some reason, it will fall through to an exception…

But let us assume, you do have “error agents” defined.

Second, for any listed as “all other categories” (ie. key "OTHERS"), it will replace the “other” with all other categories set to the priority the "others" was set too. This allows us to easily set ONE "agent" to handle all errors. For example, if we have our configuration set as....

Error Cat.                    Priority               Agent Type          Agent Object          Name                                        

All Other Categories     3                        Rule                    17900016               Personnel Administrator of Person

When this logic section runs, it will "explode" this out to then be....

Error Cat.                              Priority              Agent Type          Agent Object       Name                                        

Exception When...Database    3                        Rule                    17900016               Personnel Administrator of Person

Data Collision                         3                        Rule                    17900016               Personnel Administrator of Person

Exception When...Expert        3                        Rule                    17900016               Personnel Administrator of Person

Inconsistent Data                    3                        Rule                    17900016               Personnel Administrator of Person

No Authorization                     3                        Rule                    17900016               Personnel Administrator of Person

Object Is Locked                    3                        Rule                    17900016               Personnel Administrator of Person

Exception When... Object       3                        Rule                    17900016               Personnel Administrator of Person

Error Workflow Runtime          3                        Rule                    17900016               Personnel Administrator of Person

Incorrect Customizing             3                        Rule                    17900016               Personnel Administrator of Person

Now the fun begins…

It then sets a variable for “highest priority” as 100. Remember, our configuration has priority settings too…

This is likely very confusing (thanks SAP!). The priority in our configuration is limited to 2 characters....meaning 1 through 99. It sets it's own "initial" variable of "highest priority" as 100 since 100 is greater than our maximum of 99 in configuration. The confusing part is that "1" would actually be "highest" priority and "100" would be lowest possible. Just keep that in mind....lowest number is highest priority.

Now it will look to see if our actual “error category” is configured for any of the errors that occurred. If so, that entry’s “priority” setting will become the new “highest priority” if it is less than our "highest priority" variable value (see line 54...again, lowest number is highest priority).

Now it will look to see if our actual “error category” is configured for any of the errors that occurred. If so, that entry’s “priority” setting will become the new “highest priority”.

So if highest priority is still 100, we must be missing some configuration or have a problem. In that case, the condition results in…

However, let us say that we did find one and highest priority is 99 or lower. This next little bit of logic is kind of “weird” in my opinion. So now that we found our matching “error category” in our “error agents” and have that “priority” value as “highest priority”, it then goes back again and loops through all the “error agents”.

As you can see, for any of our “error agents” that have the same priority as our “highest priority”, we store those in a new internal table called “highest priority agents”. Basically, we found the matching error agent entry for our very specific error category previously, but now, we are saying “hey just give me all the error agents with that same priority regardless of type of error”. Huh? But there is more…

So now we filtered out our “error agents” configuration table entries to just the ones who’s “priority” matches the “error category” entry from our “error agents” found before.  Now, we go back through our actual errors (errors or aborts) and compare our “error category” against the “highest priority agents” table we just created. Now, we set “highest error category” to the “match” it finds in “highest priority agents” with the same “error category”. Confused yet? (haha)

Basically, I think the developer is simply trying to save the customer from themselves…..from being able to have more than one entry in the table with the same error category and/or priorities.

Finally, it merges in the “warnings info” table (built from just “warnings” previously) into the “error infos” table (which could be errors or aborts). Then it loops through this “combined” table and deletes any entries where the “error category” does not match what we determined the “highest error category” to be in all that convoluted logic earlier.

So in the end of this, it will pass back:

• ERROR_MESSAGE (aka “error infos”) – basically the error details like a typical “message” table
• ERROR_CATEGORY : the category of error that should match what are “error agent” table would be looking for
• EXPERT_WITHDRAW_BUTTON_VISIBLE: just as it says…whether the “withdraw process” button should be visible or not

Ok....so we now how it reads our configuration to determine which "error category" is picked based on priority and other factors, but as we can see, it does not pass back anything about "who" to send the error too. How does that happen?!?! Glad you asked...

AGENT DETERMINATION

     Third? We know “how” we configure the errors we catch and we now know “where” those get picked up/read/caught, but now, how does it know “who” to route this too?….especially since all we used our T5ASRERRORAGENTS table for before was checking “error category” and “priority”. If you notice when you include the “save with error handling” standard workflow template, you will see this rule on the "Error When Saving Automatically" task…

With the binding to the agent determination set as:

If we go to transaction PFAC to view this rule…

...it has this nice and very informative description...

...and is defined as...

You can see that it calls function module HR_ASR_ERROR_AGENTS. You can also see that the “container” simply passed over the “error category”. Can you guess what happens in the function HR_ASR_ERROR_AGENTS? (Haha)

     As you should guess, it simply looks up what the object type and object id defined for the “error agents” (table T5ASRERRORAGENTS) that match the “error category”. If you refer to the IMG documentation when configuring this, you will notice that it is pretty much open to any typical option for an “agent” (role, org unit, job, position, user id, work center and even using another rule!). This is how it knows who the item should go to in the event of an error. Magic!

PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER (Workflow)

     Now to put it all together…..it really comes down to two simple tasks you need to make sure are in your workflow (if not using the standard error handling one).

You see the “Save Form Data WD”? Notice what we get back from it when it attempts to “save”….

So there in the second part of the flow at the "condition check" step, you see we check the container value PROCSTATE for errors.

If an error did occur, it then will pass to the “Error When Saving Automatically” step and pass it the previous “error category” container  value in the bindings.

As we previously described, THIS is how we know not only “what” error occurred and “how” to handle it based on our configuration of “error agents”, but also “who” it needs to then route too in order to be handled further.

     Now you know more than you likely ever wanted to know about the way SAP keeps the process moving along when it goes slightly "off the rails". I know for me at least, the set up of this seemed a bit overly complicated and/or not very well documented. I had to take matters in my own hands and just figure it all out to the "nTH" detail for myself one day long ago.....and now I shared it with you! I hope it helps, and as always, I will keep blogging if you keep reading them! Till next time....

"Success is simply human" - this is the foundation of SAP SuccessFactors. Results are achieved through people - and SAP SuccessFactors solutions revolve exactly that: to digitize HR processes to make them more effective and efficient and to optimize employee engagement. The availability in the cloud also means effective operation, rapid implementation and regular innovations.

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Everyone working with Employee Central at companies above 500 EE's encounter the topic of Position Management. With the advent of Intelligent Services and an tighter process integration, it is a hot topic. I just ran a solution architecture & scoping workshop with a client, and relevant stakeholders were invited. For Recruiting, there were 5 participants, Succession 4, Learning Management 8. Position Management pulled a total of 12 participants ( ! ) - several of whom had crossed the Atlantic for just the purpose of understanding the implications of using Position Management.  Anyway, I have always heard the question "is position management relevant for us?" question. Some companies are certain & confident it is mandatory or required for them, others are more reluctant. SAP does not offer a lot of guidance so recommendations comes down to the individual consultants ability to analyse the clients processes and characteristics and provide guidance based on that. This should always be done, although it can be difficult in a sales phase before the work order / SOW is signed to do it. I have compiled this list of pros and cons and would like to check the community what topics you consider when advising clients to use Position Management or not.

PROS:

• Data maintained by HR on positions propagates to employees Job Information
• Higher data quality + stronger HR control
• Ability to use positions for RBP and approval flows
• Recruiting Management uses position object, e.g. ability to create job req for a To Be Hired position and new hire is linked to position
• Succession Management uses position object for Succession Org Chart

CONS:

• Cannot add new employee without having a position to link employee to
• More maintenance work for central HR function (strong governance needed)
• Changes to position data propagate to employees via business rule (adds overhead)
• Client needs to perform more data conversion
• Once turned ON, it is troublesome to turn OFF

What do you think?

     There have been numerous forum posts clogging up and generally adding to the "noise" of the HCM spaces (yes, people will cross-post or "carpet bomb" posts in places that have nothing to do with HCM P&F....*gasp*) about "I can't see my FPM process in my process list to start!" or "I can launch FPM processes but I can't see our old Adobe ones!" and the like. Sooooo I thought I would throw together this quick, short (I promise!) blog about what is going on and where to find what you need.

AIF-based processes ONLY

    For simply launching Adobe Interactive Form (AIF) processes, we have the very old "ASR_PROCESS_EXECUTE" application. It is LONG since replaced. The newer version of this is the confusingly named "ASR_PROCESS_EXECUTE_FPM". It has nothing to do with launching/starting FPM-based processes. It is just called that because the application itself is Floorplan Manager based. Dangit, SAP....why do you do this crazy naming thing all the time?!?!?! Anyways....THAT is the one to launch Adobe based proceses ONLY.

FPM-based processes ONLY

    At some point later when SAP released the FPM-based form option for HCM P&F, they gave us the application "ASR_PROCESS_EXECUTE_OVP" which in their documentation clearly states "This application is used to start HR processes and load their corresponding forms of type FPM Form". For some crazy reason though, it seems no one on that product team had the foresight to think "hey, maybe people already have AIF-based processes in place and they would really like to have those processes listed and launched along with these.". Nope. SAP dropped the ball. If you had existing AIF processes and new FPM processes, guess what? You had to use TWO iViews to "launch" them. Crazy, right?

BOTH (all) kinds together

     Thankfully, SAP rectified their oversight rather quickly. With the release of "HR Renewal 1.0 feature pack 5", you can see two of the BIG features listed as:

• New start application, which enables you to search for different object types (employee, position, organizational unit, or job) from a single search screen. You can also start both FPM-based and Adobe-based processes for the selected object.
• New process browser application to track both FPM and Adobe-based processes

( HCM, Administrative Services 05 - Human Capital Management - SAP Library )

You can find the new "Start Application" discussed more here => Start Application - HR Administrative Services (PA-AS) - SAP Library

It is actually just "ASR_PROCESS_EXECUTE_OVP" enhanced to handle both (all) kinds of forms. In a nutshell though, if you want this *new* functionality, you must be at least on HR Renewal 10 feature pack 5.

Still having problems?

     If you have checked all the above and are using what you think is the right application but still not seeing your process listed, then you have other issues. This is most assuredly either....

1. Process is not in the correct client (you built your configuration of your process in one client but can not see it in another). This is typical in development and you simply must SCC1 your transport to the correct client to test.
2. Initiator Role is incorrect. You have either incorrectly configured the "initiator role" for your process or on the iView parameters, you are passing/using the wrong "initiator role".
3. Grouping is incorrect. Another possible configuration error....you set up your process groupings wrong or object grouping/filter. This can happen easily when setting up country specific groupings. I wrote another blog on this one....it is not fun!   ( HCM Processes & Forms: Bug Hunt - Incorrect/Wrong processes in the Process List )
4. Other "process start" configuration.....check other possible issue.....validity dates...collisions...etc.
5. Authorizations. Yep...this is usually what you should check first anyways just to get it out of the way...and be a pain to the security folks. (haha)

There you go. Short and sweet....as promised! Just hope it helps and cuts down on the repetitive questions in the forums.Trying to help as always. Till next time....

Listening is essential in the HR world. For a team that touches almost every part of the business, there is a lot to know and a lot of expectations. Employees want to feel like HR will listen if there is a concern or issue. Potential new talent expects HR to listen to their questions and make sure the job is a right fit. When listening to everyone and everything, you may ask yourself, When is my chance to be heard? With ASUG, the answer is now! This week, the ASUG HR Community was all about you, because it’s time for someone to listen to the listeners.

HR Town Hall - Focus on Services and Support in the Cloud: Who better to chat with than the people behind the solutions you use every day? Jamie Bridwell from SAP® SuccessFactors® took on your questions and comments in this open and honest Town Hall webcast. Watch the recording of this webcast and see if your concerns were addressed. If you still have more to say, keep your eye on the ASUG HR Community for upcoming Town Halls.

HR Compensation Special Interest Group (SIG) Town Hall: Yes, another Town Hall! This time, the HR Compensation SIG takes the stage to chat with the HR Community. How are compensation processes enabled with SAP SuccessFactors? What are your options? What about new users? Listen in on this webcast recording to find out – it’ll be posted soon.

Future of SAP and SAP SuccessFactors Consulting 2016 –  SAP SuccessFactors Talent Management (Part 3): Jarret Pazahanick is back again with the third and final chapter in his series on what’s next with SAP and SAP SuccessFactors. In this part, the focus is on talent management. See the HR landscape through the eyes of SAP and SAP SuccessFactors experts as Jarret brings us full circle on the past, present, and future of HR. Here you can find Part 1 and Part 2.

Help HR Manage Workforce Changes More Intuitively and Effectively with SAP’s New Intelligent Services Capabilities: While that title is very self-explanatory, I cannot stress how important this webcast is. Intelligent Services (IS) is the biggest innovation in the SAP SuccessFactors HCM Suite. Andy Yen from SAP SuccessFactors is here to tell you why and how you can make the most of this new development. Find out why IS will have you cheering with joy and drawing the attention of your coworkers.

Upcoming - It's All About Leadership: Developing the Leaders Around You: I would almost rather not post this because it reminds me that this is the last part of Joan Choate and Diana Wood’s leadership webcast series. We talked about Management Versus Leadership and Developing the Leader Within You, but now it is time to look at how we can help each other be better leaders. In the spirit of encouraging leadership, I implore you to register for this webcast and bring along someone who you think would make a great leader.

To see more HR resources and content, check out the ASUG HR Community and stay on the lookout for next week’s recap.

SAPPHIRE NOW and ASUG Annual Conference attendees: Don’t forget to register for our Recharge HR half-day Pre-Conference Seminar. See you there!

Photo courtesy of Afrinational