Managing Attribute Content

Objective

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

Management of Competencies and Skills

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.

Talent Intelligence Hub

Talent Intelligence Hub enables organizations to maintain people attributes that are 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 learning journey, we will focus on Competencies and Skills only, which are the two primary types supported in Career Development Planning. Accessing Manage Talent Intelligence Hub we can review the attributes and other relevant content.

Hint

To explore the Talent Intelligence Hub in full detail, 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 Advanced Academy course (THR98).

Sections in Talent Intelligence Hub

Attributes: All attributes are listed in this tab and there is a filter option for searching the attributes. 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: Tags 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.
- Critical: Tags which 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 which are important and preferred by many people in the organization are labeled as Trending tags.

Note

If your customer 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.

List of attributes with tags in Manage Talent Intelligence Hub

Note

Center of Capabilities (CoC) is another framework that was utilized by customers 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 names and descriptions for each level.
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 form template (including Role Readiness forms), 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 form template 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 Management forms are not considered.
Portfolio Settings: From this section, administrators can enable/disable Growth Portfolio for the organization.

Available Actions to Edit Attribute Details

In Manage Talent Intelligence Hub, the following actions are available to edit attribute details for Competencies and Skills.

Name and Description. Both can be edited and translations can be added within the Edit Attribute Details menu.
External Code: This is user defined. Once the attribute has been created, it should not be modified.
ID: This is an internal ID which is used for integration with other modules in SAP SuccessFactors. It is also referred as wsmId.
Get Competency ID: This is only available for Competencies and indicates the ID that was assigned in legacy Job Description Manager.
Status: Can be only set to Active or Inactive. Attributes cannot be deleted.
Tags: To categorize attributes, multiple tags are possible.
Translate Attribute Details
Add Behavior: Only available for Competencies. If behaviors are already linked to an attribute, they will not be available to add to new attributes in the Add Behavior button. See 3380592 - Attribute Error When Trying to Add a Behavior: No results found Please try again using a different keyword.

Caution

Attribute Type cannot be modified.

Edit Attributes

Type	Change Status	Get Competency ID	Name and Description	External Code	Tags	Add Behavior
Competency	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Skill	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No

Measurement of Competencies and Skills

To understand how competencies and skills are measured, it is important to differentiate between Performance ratings and Proficiency ratings.

Performance vs Proficiency

Performance	Proficiency
Performance rating is the step in the work measurement in which the analyst observes the worker's performance and records a value representing that performance relative to the analyst's concept of standard performance.	Proficiency rating is an instrument used to measure one’s ability to demonstrate a competency on the job. The scale captures a wide range of ability levels and organizes them into five steps; from "Fundamental Awareness" to "Expert".
Performance ratings are used in Performance Reviews, 360 Reviews, Goals or Compensation processes.	Proficiency levels are used for Role Readiness, Skill Assessments, Growth Portfolio, Career Worksheet or Learning Items.
Performance rating scales are defined in Rating Scale Designer and Matrix Grid Rating Scales .	Proficiency rating scales are defined in the Growth Portfolio (TIH) and Capabilities Portfolio (CoC), typically organized on ability levels: Fundamental awareness, Novice, Intermediate, Advanced and Expert.
Example: In a performance form, a rating given on a specific competency or skill will be based on whether the expectations were met, exceeded, or needs improvement, according to the performance evaluation standards.	Example: In Growth Portfolio, the proficiency level on a specific competency or skill will measure the employee's ability, which can be intermediate, advanced, etc.

The image shows an example on a rating given in a Performance form, with a Met Target rating (Performance) vs a rating given on Growth Portfolio with an Intermediate rating (Proficiency)

Some of the benefits of using proficiency ratings are:

Focus on skills and capabilities: Proficiency ratings focus on an individual's skills and capabilities rather than just their performance in a specific role or task. This framework allows for a more comprehensive assessment of an employee's overall proficiency in their role, which can lead to more targeted development opportunities.
Continuous learning and improvement: Proficiency ratings emphasize ongoing learning and development rather than just achieving a certain level of performance. By focusing on proficiency, organizations can encourage employees to continuously improve their skills and knowledge, leading to a more dynamic and agile workforce.
Reduced bias and subjectivity: Performance ratings can be subjective and influenced by biases, leading to inaccurate assessments of an employee's abilities. Proficiency ratings aim to minimize bias and subjectivity by focusing on specific skills and capabilities, allowing for a more objective evaluation.
Alignment with organizational goals: Proficiency ratings can be more closely aligned with an organization's strategic goals and objectives, as they assess an individual's ability to contribute to the overall success of the organization. This can lead to more targeted development plans that support the organization's long-term objectives.
Better feedback and coaching opportunities: Proficiency ratings can provide more actionable feedback and coaching opportunities for employees, as they focus on specific skills and capabilities that can be developed and improved. This can lead to more meaningful conversations between managers and employees about their performance and development.

Summary

There are three frameworks to manage competencies: Job Description Manager, Center of Capabilities, or Talent Intelligence Hub.
There are two possible ways to manage skills: Job Profile Builder, or Job Profile Builder (JPB) + Talent Intelligence Hub (TIH)
To map competencies and skills, the following options are possible: Job Description Manager or Job Profile Builder.

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