Managing Attributes

Objective

After completing this lesson, you will be able to manage content and attributes in Talent Intelligence Hub.

Differences between Skills, Competencies and Behaviors

The following table summarizes each of the concepts, with descriptions, examples, and some additional notes that will be helpful to understand where they fit within SAP SuccessFactors Performance and Goals.

Additionally, how are they different from goals? Goals are specific, measurable objectives that people set for themselves or are set by others to achieve within a certain time frame. Goals describe what is to be accomplished, and typically includes metrics and targets.

Competencies describe what is expected to perform the job, such as skills and attributes. Competencies are how someone performs the job.

Differences between Skills, Competencies and Behaviors

Concept	Description	Examples	Notes
Skills	Skills are specific, learned abilities that enable a person to perform a particular task effectively.	C++ Programming HRIS Systems Payroll Management	Skills can only be mapped to Job Roles with Job Profile Builder. With Talent Intelligence Hub, skills can be rated in Performance / 360 Reviews forms just like the competencies / behaviors. SAP SuccessFactors supports AI and machine learning capabilities to recommend skills to employees based on their activities or extract skills from job descriptions.
Competencies	Competencies are the combination of knowledge, skills, behaviors, and abilities that are required to successfully perform a job or task. They are broader and more encompassing than skills alone. Competencies describe what is expected to perform the job, such as skills and attributes. Competencies are how someone performs the job.	Solving Complex Problems Team Leadership Communication	Competencies are mapped to Job Roles to be job-specific, but also Core Values of the company, which are not dependent on any role, can be evaluated in Performance / 360 Reviews forms.
Behaviors	Behaviors are the actions and responses exhibited by individuals that are observable and can be influenced by one's environment, experiences, and attitudes.	Regularly arrives on time for meetings and appointments. Works effectively with others, shares information, and supports team objectives. Acts honestly and ethically in all situations, even when no one is watching.	Behaviors can be associated to competencies. In Performance / 360 Reviews Forms, competencies can be rated at the behavior level.

Other important differences, as it relates to Skills vs Competencies:

Skills vs Competencies

Skills	Competencies
People either know or don’t know skills.	People are either effective or not effective at competencies.
Over 1000 skills are needed to describe the jobs in most large organizations.	Fewer than 100 competencies can describe the jobs in most large organizations.
Skills change significantly as new ones are created and others become outdated.	Competencies are primarily developed as a result of on-the-job-learning.
Skills are developed through a mix of formal training, education, and experience.	Most people struggle to assess their own effectiveness with regard to competencies.

Options to Manage Competencies and Skills Content

SAP SuccessFactors offers you three frameworks to manage competencies:

Job Description Manager (JDM): You manage competencies in the Manage Competencies admin tool.
Center of Capabilities (CoC): You manage competencies in the Manage Center of Capabilities admin tool.
Talent Intelligence Hub (TIH): You manage competencies in the Manage Talent Intelligence Hub admin tool.

There are two possible ways to manage skills:

Job Profile Builder (JPB): Skills can be managed in Manage Job Profile Content.
Job Profile Builder (JPB) + Talent Intelligence Hub (TIH): Skills are managed in Manage Talent Intelligence Hub.

To map competencies and skills, the following options are possible:

Job Description Manager (JDM): Only competencies can be mapped, using Manage Job Roles or Import Job Roles. Skills are not supported.
Job Profile Builder (JPB): Competencies and skills can be mapped, using Manage Job Profile Content or Manage Job Profile Content Import/Export.

Manage Job Profile Content and Attributes Permissions

360 Reviews are frequently done around the Competencies and Skills assessment of an employee, from a different list of participants. Therefore, attribute sections to include job-specific competencies and/or skills are common. Some of the permissions that should be granted to an administrator to manage this type of content will be shown below.

To view the required Permissions, navigate to Manage Permission Roles, locate your Administrator role, and choose Edit.

The first step is to select Edit on the desired role to set up permissions in RBP.

Navigate to Administrator Permissions→Manage Job Profile Builder, and make sure the following permissions are granted:

Manage Job Profile Content Import/Export
Manage Job Profile Content
- Can View Content
- Can Edit Content

With these permissions, administrators can set up Families and Roles, as well as map competencies and skills to the Job Roles that would be then populated in a 360 Reviews form if using Job-Specific Attribute sections.

Scroll down to the Administrator Permissions→Manage Talent Intelligence Hub Settings section, and Select All permissions.

Permissions to view and manage TIH settings, including Competencies and skills, are set in this category.

Talent Intelligence Hub

Talent Intelligence Hub (TIH) enables organizations to maintain people attributes critical for their success. These attributes are stored and maintained in a centralized library known as the Attributes Library. People in the organization can access these attributes and add them to their unique repository of attributes known as the Growth Portfolio.

In this course, we will focus on Competencies and Skills only, which are the two types supported in Performance and 360 Reviews attribute sections, and can be rated in these forms. From the Manage Talent Intelligence Hub administrator tool, we can review the attributes and other relevant content.

Hint

To fully explore the Talent Intelligence Hub, as well as the migration of content from other frameworks, general setup and capabilities, and the options to import and export content, you can review the SAP SuccessFactors Platform Administration (HR800) course.

Note

Starting with the 2H 2025 release, Talent Intelligence Hub and Job Profile Builder are available on all new tenants. Growth Portfolio is not enabled by default.

Sections in Talent Intelligence Hub

Attributes: All attributes are listed in this tab, and there is a filter capability for searching. The Attributes Library is a repository that allows organizations to define attributes they expect. Organizations can develop talent by enabling people in the organization to access these attributes.
Attribute Types: The attributes in the library are grouped into individual categories based on the attribute type. For example, all attributes that belong to the category of skills can be grouped under the attribute type Skill , whereas the competencies will be grouped under the type Competency.
Behaviors: Displays the available behaviors from associated attributes, like competencies. There are also searching options available, and new behaviors can be created or edits made to the existing ones.
Tags: The Tags, which are used to categorize all the attributes. Talent Intelligence Hub includes three standard tags:
- Core: Tags that are important and uphold the business value of the organization are labeled as Core tags.
  The Core tag will be used to indicate Core Competencies or Core Skills within the organization, which could be used to pull these attributes into Performance or 360 Reviews forms as general attribute sections, not dependent on the job role mapping but applicable to any employee being evaluated.
- Critical: Tags that are critical to the success of the organization are labeled as Critical tags. These tags are associated to attributes that are unique and critical for the organization.
- Trending: Tags that are important and preferred by many people in the organization are labeled as Trending tags.

Note

If your organization is using Talent Intelligence Hub, the competency content that was organized into libraries in the other frameworks (Job Description Manager or Center of Capabilities), might have been migrated into TIH, and all the library names, categories, and groups are reorganized into tags.

The following example shows a list of attributes of type Competency, organized with the tags SuccessFactors 2.1 Competency Library and SuccessFactors Premium Library. These tags refer to the 2.1 Library name and default category that was migrated from Job Description Manager or Center of Capabilities into TIH.

Example shows a list of competencies with the Tags SuccessFactors 2.1 Competency Library and SuccessFactors Premium Library.

Note

Center of Capabilities (CoC) is another framework that was utilized by organizations on Job Profile Builder to manage competency content. The replacement is Talent Intelligence Hub, although CoC is not deprecated yet. More information can be found here:

Using Center of Capabilities

Other sections in Manage Talent Intelligence Hub

Proficiency Settings: This section is organized into two sub-options:
1. Rating Scale: From this menu, rating scales (referred to as Proficiency Level Scales) can be created and edited, as well as being associated to one or more attribute types. When creating a new Proficiency Level Scale, you can define the number of levels (like a 5-point scale will have 5 levels) and determine if the lowest level value will be 0 or 1, if a Too New to Rate value should be included and provide each level names and descriptions.
2. Rating History: From this menu, you can select one or more forms to assign the appropriate rating history type. There are three types of rating history types:
  1. Performance: If the attribute is associated with a Performance or 360 Reviews form template, the attribute is marked as Unrated
  2. Proficiency: If the attribute is associated with a Proficiency form template, the proficiency ratings for the attribute are normalized based on the proficiency level scale you configured. The attribute along with its normalized ratings is displayed in the Growth Portfolio. If an attribute is associated with forms of both Proficiency and Performance template types, the ratings in the Performance and/or 360 Reviews form templates aren't considered. Instead, the latest assessed ratings from the Proficiency template are normalized and displayed in the Growth Portfolio.
  3. None: If the rating history type is set to None, the proficiency ratings provided in the Performance and 360 Reviews forms are not considered.
Portfolio Settings: From this section, administrators can enable/disable Growth Portfolio for the organization.

Manage Attribute Content in Talent Intelligence Hub

In the following exercise, you will be completing several actions as an administrator to become familiar with the usage of Talent Intelligence Hub.

Steps

Create a custom attribute type to store SAP SuccessFactors SFX Accreditations.
1. Navigate to Manage Talent Intelligence Hub using Action Search.
2. Select the Attribute Types tab.
3. Select Create and add the following details (do not assign a Proficiency Level Scale since this attribute type will not be rated):
  - Name (Singular): SAP SuccessFactors SFX Accreditation
  - Name (Plural): SAP SuccessFactors SFX Accreditations
  - Description: Displays the list of SFX Accreditations that the employee has earned.
  - Status: Active.
  - Proficiency Level Scale: N/A.
4. Choose Create to save the details.
Check the new custom attribute type details:
1. On the Attribute Types tab, select the new custom attribute you have created.
2. Verify that, on the details, there are some system generated parameters: External Code and ID.
  - The External Code is a customer-maintained ID which uniquely identifies this attribute type.
  - The ID is an internal identifier which is used for integration with other modules in SAP SuccessFactors.
3. Close the details to navigate back to the Attribute Types.
Create new attributes.
1. Navigate to the Attributes tab.
2. Select Create to add a new attribute.
3. Add the following details:
  - Attribute Type: SAP SuccessFactors SFX Accreditation.
  - Name: SAP SuccessFactors 360 Reviews Expert (SFX).
  - Description: The SAP SuccessFactors Expert (SFX) Knowledge Badge is for SAP SuccessFactors Administrators who have proven they have the knowledge to successfully administer the product for which they are accredited.
  - Status: Active
  - Tags: Trending
4. Select Create.
Create new Behaviors and map them to a Competency.
1. Select the Behaviors tab.
2. Select Create.
3. Add the following details for the 1st behavior:
  - Name: Accurately recording and managing financial transactions
  - Description: Some of the transactions include processing invoices, tracking expenses and income, and reconciling bank statements.
  - Status: Active
4. Select Create.
5. Add a 2nd behavior, choosing Create again from the Behaviors tab, and fill in these details:
  - Name: Analyzing and interpreting financial data
  - Description: Analysis of financial data to create reports, identify trends, and make informed business decisions.
  - Status: Active
6. Select Create to save these details.
7. Back to the Behaviors tab, change it to the Attributes tab, to search for a competency.
8. On the Search by Name filter, type working.
9. On the Attribute Types filter, select Competency. Choose Go to start searching.
10. From the available results, select the competency Working with Financial Information.
11. Select Edit.
12. Notice that the Behaviors area is empty. Select Add Behavior to continue.
13. Select both Behaviors that display in the search dialog.
14. To confirm, select Add.
15. Choose Save to save all the changes.

Summary

Skills are specific, learned abilities that enable a person to perform a particular task effectively.
Competencies are the combination of knowledge, skills, behaviors, and abilities that are required to successfully perform a job or task. They are broader and more encompassing than skills alone.
Competencies and Skills are the two types supported in Performance and 360 Reviews attribute sections and can be rated in these forms. Behaviors can be associated to Competencies and forms allow for rating at the behavior level. We can review the attributes and other relevant content from the Manage Talent Intelligence Hub administrator tool.

Next lesson