Maintaining the Qualification Catalog

The personnel development function can help you plan and implement specific personnel and training measures to promote the professional development of your employees. You can also increase your employees' motivation and job satisfaction by considering their preferences and suitability for positions. One of the goals of personnel development is to ensure that your organization has the qualifications and skills it needs in all fields. This is achieved by maintaining a qualification catalog and preparing qualification evaluations for positions and employees.

A translation function enables you to use the qualification catalog in different languages.

Personnel development needs can be determined by comparing current and future position requirements with existing employee qualifications and considering the development preferences of the employees.

Development measures can be geared towards scenarios such as:

• Retaining existing employees
• Enhancing skills and abilities of existing employees
• Filling the gap between position requirements and employee abilities as identified in a performance assessment
• Ensuring employees keep pace with technological developments

Positions have specific requirements that must be met, and employees possess certain qualifications. These requirements and qualifications are stored in the qualification catalog.

All of a company's qualifications are stored in the so-called qualification catalog. When HCM is delivered, it is initially empty so that each customer can implement their own company-specific qualification structure. The structure of the catalog is defined at the following levels:

1st level: The catalog

2nd level: The qualification groups, which can contain further qualification groups. They structure the catalog so that qualifications can be found and compared more easily.

3rd level: The qualifications

Qualifications are related to persons, jobs, and positions. You can create your own quality scales to rate the proficiency of qualifications. The user defines the number of entries in a scale and the proficiency texts to be used.

You must assign a proficiency scale to each qualification group. This scale is inherited by the qualifications in the group. The proficiency of the scales can be given individual descriptions for every qualification/qualification group in the qualifications catalog. These proficiency descriptions are then available when you edit qualifications and requirements descriptions.

You can access the qualifications catalog in the SAP system as follows:

Human Resources→Personnel Management→Personnel Development→Settings→Current Settings→Edit Qualifications Catalog

In the qualifications catalog, qualifications that are similar are grouped into qualification groups which structure the qualification catalog. Qualification groups (object type QK) can contain qualifications and additional qualification groups. Qualifications (object type Q) can also contain additional qualifications. Qualifications are assigned to objects such as persons.

Here is an example of a qualifications catalog:

Example:

The languages ​​qualification group includes, among others, the Italian and Spanish skills qualification groups. The Spanish skills qualification group is assigned to the business Spanish and technical Spanish qualifications. To create qualification groups, at least one level of proficiency must be defined. A usage list can be displayed for qualification groups and qualifications. Such a usage list lists all objects with which the original object is linked.

Qualifications are rated with proficiency scales (quality scales). To rate the proficiency of a qualification, you create a quality scale. You determine to you how many ratings are included on this scale and what they are called. To view the scales in the catalog, you can select the View entry and the Additional data on option (1) in the application toolbar.

An example of a scale to measure a proficiency is as follows:

2a. Yes / No Scale

A scale to indicate whether or not the individual has a drivers licence could have the proficiencies of (3a):

• Yes
• No

2b. Language Scale (HR Training)

Languages can include the proficiencies of (3b):

• 0001 Basic Knowledge
• 0002 Average
• 0003 Fluent
• 0004 Very good
• 0005 Native Speaker

Quality scales are assigned to qualification groups (not qualifications). A quality scale must be assigned to each qualification group. This scale is then assigned automatically to all the qualifications belonging to this group. If qualification groups with different quality scales are arranged hierarchically, the qualifications of the various groups are always assigned the scale of the directly superior qualification group.

The qualification screen has three tab pages:

1. Qualifications
2. Proficiencies
3. Addit. Data

   Qualifications can have a depreciation meter, alternative qualifications, and a validity period to allow you to provide further definition to your objects.

   Additional Qualification Data

   1. Validity = knowledge expiry

      Qualifications can also have a validity period. At the end of this period, the qualification expires. For example, a first aid certificate can be valid for two years after which it must be renewed. If the certificate is not renewed, the qualification is removed from the employee's profile. You can track qualifications with validity periods and ensure follow up training is delivered.

   2. Depreciation Meter = deterioration of knowledge

      A depreciation meter enables you to simulate in the system the fact that, over time, employees forget certain skills. For example, if the position an employee holds does not require any of the employee's skills, such as a Japanese language, the employee's ability to speak that language decreases over time. You indicate how the reduction of employee skills is handled by the depreciation meter.

   3. Alternative Qualification = comparability of qualification

      Alternative qualifications must have the same proficiency scale and are considered to be equivalent to others in the suitability percentage specified. You can assign one or more alternative qualifications to a qualification and the relationship is automatically two-way. You can define a percentage value specifying the extent to which one qualification can replace another.

You can assign qualifications to employees and positions. Employees possess qualifications and positions have requirements. All qualifications (and requirements) are stored centrally in a catalog. Both refer to the same object but from a different perspective.

Requirements and qualifications are stored in profiles, which are compared with one another. This comparison is used to determine if the individual is well suited for the particular position or if training or development can resolve any deficiencies between the position requirements and the individual's qualifications.

Personnel development is integrated with the following:

Organizational Management:

Integration with organizational management enables you to access objects within the organizational structure, for example, positions. If you want to use personnel development effectively, also implement organizational management.

Personnel Administration:

Integration with personnel administration enables you to use employee information (HR master data) for personnel development planning. This enables you to manage qualifications and appraisals in personnel development.

Possible further integrations are:

• Learning
• Recruiting
• Compensation Management
• Shift Planning

HCM integrations with the cloud solution SAP Success Factors are also possible.