Creating a Compensation Plan and Worksheets

Integrating a Compensation template with SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central.

Objective

After completing this lesson, you will be able to integrate a Compensation template with SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central.

Integration of the Compensation Template with SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central

Implementing an integration project is more than a toggle of a switch. The following configurations are required to complete the integration:

  • Mapping of compensation field to EC field (compensation template XML or Design Worksheet).
  • Define salary range mapping to pull salary ranges from EC (compensation template XML or user interface).
  • Define mapping to publish data from EC back to Compensation.
  • Cascading budget is available in Employee Central integrated plans, but budget assignment job refresh should be run first to calculate for basis.

Sometimes additional configuration would also be required in Employee Central, such as:

  • Adding custom fields in standard Employee Central entities (such as jobInfo, compInfo, and so on) if they are required in Compensation but not currently stored in Employee Central.
  • Creating new pay components.
  • Creating event reasons.
  • Creating business rules.
  • Creating a generic object to hold additional compensation data for users.

Testing and Validation

Extensive testing of the configuration is needed to validate and ensure that:

  • Data accurately pulls from Employee Central to Compensation.
  • Salary ranges pull correctly from Employee Central.
  • Eligibility rules include the correct employees.
  • Compensation final results are published correctly in Employee Central.

In an Employee Central integration, the Compensation worksheets use Employee Central data as the source to show employee personal data, job data, and salary data.

Data mapping and publishing flowchart displaying personal, job, and compensation information integration into and from compensation worksheets via arrows.

High-level configuration steps include the following:

  1. Define Field Mapping: Define mapping for each column on the compensation worksheet (COMP).
  2. Create Eligibility Rules: Define eligibility criteria using the MDF Business Rule Engine.
  3. Map to Salary Ranges: Pull the employee’s salary range from Employee Central using the employee’s pay grade and other relevant attributes.
  4. Publish to Employee Central: Publish new salary changes and promotions from completed compensation forms to employee’s record in Employee Central.

Integration with Employee Central allows for a more direct transition of data by connecting the solutions, versus relying on external file feeds or APIs. However, there are limitations on what data can be integrated, either pulled from Employee Central or published back to Employee Central.

Additionally, the Compensation integration assumes the solutions used as designed versus re-purposed data. Integration can highlight these situations. Being mindful of restrictions and design components during the initial Employee Central setup can greatly reduce pain points or require re-working of Employee Central configuration.

Remember: The data must exist in Employee Central to be pulled into compensation planning.

In Employee Central, an employee's pay is comprised of more than one component, such as Basic Salary, Target Bonus, Company Car allowance, and so on, and this may affect the design strategy for integrating Compensation with Employee Central. These pay components have multiple attributes. One of the attributes, Used for Comp Planning, is used specifically for integrating with the Compensation solution. The supported values are:

  • Comp is used if the component is to be used for compensation planning.
  • Varpay is used if the component is to be used for variable pay (short-term incentive planning).
  • Both is used if the component is to be used for both compensation and variable pay planning.

An employee can only have one pay component flagged as COMP or BOTH.

Pay Component interface for Base Salary setup, showing fields for description, type, tax treatment, and Used for Comp Planning option.

Path: Go to Admin Center→Manage Organization, Pay and Job Structures.

Compensation planning can be done in annualized amounts or in a user's pay rate amount (hourly, bi-weekly, and so on). In Employee Central-integrated plans, this decision would greatly affect the configuration setup. When using User Rate type, the following Compensation fields do not need to be mapped:

  • Current Salary
  • Units Per Year
  • Salary Type
  • Local Currency

The pay component which is marked Comp or Both is used to retrieve these information from Employee Central to Compensation and only one pay component can be retrieved for an employee. This planning method does not accommodate using the sum of all pay components.

If compensation planning is to be made in an annualized manner, you can use aPay Component Group. In Employee Central, it is possible to group pay components. The amount of a Pay Component Group is equal to the sum of all pay components it includes. To retrieve this information from Employee Central, it is required to map Current Salary, Units Per Year, Salary Type and Local Currency to the same Pay Component Group in the compensation plan. One thing to consider for this method of planning is that, currently, Compensation can only publish back to individual pay components and not pay component groups, which means it would require substantial configuration to create a work-around and publish compensation results to individual pay components.

Pay Component Group setup interface for Annualized Salary, showing grouped components, settings for publishing comp data, and configuration fields.

The Pay Component Group is created for publishing the data of non-hourly paid employees.

The Compensation-Employee Central Integration Process

This section focuses on configuration when integrating Compensation with Employee Central, illustrating the flow of data.

Employee Central Integrated Compensation Plans

Similar to plans that are not integrated in Employee Central, you can start by uploading a baseline compensation template or use the preconfigured plans from SuccessStore. When uploading your own baseline templates, take note of the following:

  • Ensure that the XML template does not have any references to "importKey".
  • Since the Employee Central-enabled template does not accept data from the user data file, "importKey" must be removed from the fields if it is used.
  • Stock factor tables are not supported.
  • Add the appropriate comp-ect-output element for publishing.

To use Employee Central integrated plans from SuccessStore, take note of the following as these may need to be created/ enabled in Employee Central beforehand:

  • Event reason ANSALREV is referenced as the event reason for publishing. This event reason will have to be created prior to downloading the preconfigured plan from SuccessStore. The event reason can be changed later.
  • Component Code LUMPSUM is referenced as the non-recurring pay component for publishing.
  • Job function is referenced for mapping promotion related fields (that is, job codes).

Employee Central Settings

Employee Central Settings interface under Plan Setup, displaying worksheet settings with an effective date field set to 12/31/2099.

Many of the records in Employee Central are effective-dated, meaning each time a transaction is entered, the system prompts to provide an effective start date, which creates the historical, present, and future records in Employee Central.

The worksheet effective date will control which records are pulled to the Compensation worksheet. In the figure, Worksheet Effective Date, any transaction with an effective date AFTER December 31, 2099 is NOT pulled to compensation planning.

Example: A transaction to update M. Hoff's pay grade was entered via Manager Self Service (MSS) on December 1, 2099 with an effective date of January 15, 2100. For planning purposes, M. Hoff's pay grade as of December 31, 2099 will be used in the compensation worksheet because the transaction effective date is AFTER the worksheet effective date.

The current employee records for Employee Central are end-dated far in the future, so choosing a worksheet effective-date that is in the future will ensure the most current record is pulled. With a future effective date, the customer should run the "Update Compensation Worksheets" job regularly to ensure the latest data is displayed on the compensation forms.

There is a single effective date per template. The effective date can be set in the Admin Center by navigating to Plan Setup→Settings→Employee Central Settings or directly in the XML plan template. Entering an effective date initiates the integration between Compensation and Employee Central. This date cannot be changed when forms are already launched.

Different Effective Date Scenarios

Different worksheet effective dates based on common customer requirements are as follows:

  • Customer wants to pull Employee Central data (salary, department, and so on) as of a cutoff date

    Worksheet effective date: End of plan period, end of fiscal year, and so on

  • Customer wants to pull data as of form launch date

    Worksheet effective date: Form launch date

  • Customer wants to pull the most current data from Employee Central including any future changes already scheduled to take place

    Worksheet effective date: 12/31/2099

Hybrid Templates

A special scenario exists for some companies when a portion of employee population is stored in Employee Central and the other half in another HRIS solution, such as in cases of mergers or consolidations. SAP SuccessFactors Compensation supports dual data source of employee information, by using hybrid templates.

  • A hybrid template is where some users are stored in Employee Central, and others outside, though both are planned within the CMP.
  • Hybrid templates use both import keys (user data file mapping) as well as Employee Central data mapping.

Hybrid does NOT mean you can have mixed data sources for a single employee. It is NOT possible to select some field-level data from Employee Central and the remaining field-level data from the user import for the same user.

Employees MUST still exist in SAP SuccessFactors (that is, they must have user id records and People Profile records).

Caution

A hybrid scenario can increase complexity and is not preferred.A recommended alternative is to have a template for each separate population: an Employee Central-integrated plan for employees stored in Employee Central and another plan for employees stored in an external HRIS.

Publish Settings

Publish settings reflect how recurring and non-recurring pay components are mapped and configured in XML. The effective dates and event reason are editable so company administrators can easily update payout dates within the UI.

User Publish Filter: Controls which reportable custom field can be used as a filter when publishing selected employees. Only one custom field can be used per plan.

Effective Date: Specifies the default start-date for recurring pay components and the pay date for non-recurring pay components. Dates specified at the employee-level will take precedence over the default.

Event Reason: Specifies the reason for the payout. This is OPTIONAL for non-recurring pay components. If an event reason is configured at the employee-level in the Compensation template, (for example, by use of a lookup table), the event reason specified here is used only as a default value in case an employee-level value does not exist.

Employee Central Settings for publishing, displaying component types, codes, effective dates, and event reasons like Salary Increase (PAYMER).

Mapping the publishing information in the XML will be discussed in the succeeding steps.

Field Mapping

Relevant employee information must be pulled to Compensation for effective planning decisions, with an Employee Central-integrated compensation template, these data must exist in Employee Central. To pass information from Employee Central to the compensation form, the fields must be mapped.

Compensation can retrieve data from the following Employee Central entities:

  • Job Information
  • Compensation Information
  • Pay Component Recurring
  • Pay Component NonRecurring
  • Personal Information
  • Employment Information
  • Job Relationships
  • Pay Component Group

Compensation can also retrieve data from custom MDF objects and Employee Profile (standard elements in Succession Data Model, for example, riskOfLoss, talentPool, and so on).

Guidelines for using Employee Central-field mapping in Design Worksheet:

  • The Employee Central Category specifies the type of Employee Central component that data will be retrieved from.
  • When planning in the User's Pay Rate type, the fields Current Salary, Units Per Year, Pay Rate and Local Currency Code can be left blank.
  • The Employee Central Component name is only valid for component types: Pay Component Recurring, Pay Component Non-Recurring, Pay Component Group and Job Relationships. It will be ignored for all other component types.
  • When mapping to the Pay Component Group, the fields Current Salary, Units Per Year, Pay Rate Type and Local Currency Code MUST be mapped to the same Pay Component group.
  • Fields should be mapped to the correct element type. A "string" field should not be mapped to a "number" field or vice-versa. While the system will attempt to make that conversion, it can fail. Strings with commas or dollar signs will not properly convert, as an example.
  • Custom fields can display translated values in the form. To achieve this, you need to configure the custom fields as translatable in the Design Worksheet page and then map to an Employee Central translatable field. Only read-only custom fields with the column type String are currently supported to be translated.
  • In cases where customers use generic objects (for example, stock portlet, rating history, leave stats, and so on) to hold additional employee information, field mapping has been extended to pull data directly from generic objects. Previously, customers had to replicate data from generic objects to Job Information or Compensation Info to use it for compensation planning. For generic objects to be used for the compensation process, externalCode must be of the type User. Generic objects are available for mapping under the Employment Details Employee Central category.

The same mapping functionality is available for rating source and budgets. In the absence of Performance Management (PM) form, ratings can be pulled from Employee Central. BasedOn="user" budget settings will require fields to be mapped from Employee Central.

Pay Matrix

The pay matrix defines the minimum, midpoint, and maximum pay levels for each pay grade and is required for compa-ratio and position in range calculations.

If Employee Central integration is enabled, you can choose to use either the Employee Central salary pay matrix or the salary pay matrix table defined within the Compensation solution itself. Though not required, it is always best to use the Employee Central salary pay matrix table if Employee Central integration is enabled.

To use the Employee Central pay range in Compensation:

  1. Identify the pay range associations from the Corporate Data Model.HRIS element configuration for Pay Range, showing associations with IDs, requirements, multiplicity settings, and destination elements like payGrade.

    Normally, pay range in Employee Central is associated to Geozone, Legal Entity, and Pay Grade. For integration purposes, Pay Grade needs to be the first association in the corporate data model, as payGrade is always the first factor in compensation pay range mapping. Any other associations configured in the corporate data model must be added to the compensation plan and mapped to Employee Central.

  2. Make sure each of these required fields are also added to the compensation plan and mapped correctly to Employee Central:

    • Pay Grade

    • Currency Code

    • Salary Type (Annual, Monthly, Hourly)

    • Client-specific attributes (for example, Geozone, Legal Entity, and so on)

  3. Select Use Employee Central salary pay matrix.

    The effective date should be the date that the pay range information is effective in Employee Central. Typically, this is the start date of the beginning of the compensation cycle.

    The attributes are the associations found in the pay range foundation object in Employee Central. Pay Grade and Currency do not need to be added as attributes as they are by default used as a matching criteria.

    Salary Pay Matrix settings configuration with attributes geozone and legal entity, effective date, and options for adjustments and pay guide usage.

    To know the pay ranges that are currently in the system, you can generate an Ad Hoc Report. As pay ranges are foundation objects, select Foundation Objects as the report definition type and select the columns for Pay Range.

Create a Compensation Plan with a Leading Practice Template from SuccessStore

ExerciseStart Exercise

Business Example

You need to create a new compensation plan that is integrated in Employee Central based on the leading practice template from SuccessStore. To pull data from Employee Central, use Employee Central field mapping and Employee Central pay matrix.

Steps

  1. Enable the Compensation-Employee Central promotion integration setting and permissions.

    1. Select the setting in Actions for All Plans→Company Settings→Enable Compensation-EC promotion integration.

    2. Set the permissions for EC-Comp Integration. Manage Permission Role→System Admin→Permission→User Permissions→Employee Central-Compensation Integration→Select All..

    3. Set the permissions for all Event Reasons. Manage Permission Role→System Admin→Permission→User Permissions→Employee Data→Event Reasons→Select All.

    4. Set the permissions for all Pay Components. Manage Permission Role→System Admin→Permission→User Permissions→Employee Data→Pay Components→Select All.

    5. In Admin Center go to Compensation Home→Add New Compensation Plan→Add a SuccessStore plan template.

    6. Enter 20xx Comp Planning or any other preferred name.

    7. Select Salary Planning (EC-Integrated) from the SuccessStore templates.

    8. Select EC_CONV_TABLE as the Currency Conversion Table.

    9. Select Add Template.

    10. On the left-hand side, open the new plan and navigate to Plan Setup→Settings→Plan Information→Fiscal Year End Date.

    11. Enter 12/31 of the current year.

    12. Update the Approval Process by selecting the Comp route map.

    13. Enable Use EC salary pay matrix.

    14. Enter 01/01 of the current year as Salary pay matrix effective date.

    15. Click Save.

    16. Navigate to Plan Setup→Plan Details→Rating Sources.

    17. Select Take Action→Edit.

    18. Select Performance Evaluation as the Form.

    19. Save.

  2. Set up the Employee Central settings.

    1. Go to Plan Setup→Settings→Employee Central Settings.

    2. Enter 12/31 of current year for Effective Date, under Worksheet Settings.

    3. In Publish Settings enter 03/31 of next year for all Component Types (for example, Compensation, Spot Bonus, Job Information).

    4. Save changes.

  3. Set Employee Central field mappings.

    1. Navigate to Plan Setup→Design Worksheet→Design Worksheet.

    2. Select each of the compensation fields listed in the table. In the field properties, set the mapping by choosing the appropriate EC category, component and field. For example, select Job Title field, then choose Job Information from EC Category dropdown. Select Job Title as EC Field.

      Comp FieldEC CategoryEC Component NameEC Field
      Job TitleJob Informationn/aJob Title
      Geo ZoneJob Informationn/aLocation→Geo Zone
      Pay TypePay Component GroupAnnualized Salaryn/a
      Units Per YearPay Component GroupAnnualized Salaryn/a
      Current SalaryPay Component GroupAnnualized SalarySum
      Local Currency CodePay Component GroupAnnualized SalaryCurrency

    3. Click Save.

  4. Rearrange the Pay Range associations in the Corporate Data Model.

    1. Use action search to go to Import/Export Corporate Data Model

    2. Select export as the action to perform. Click export button.

    3. Open the Corporate Data Model. Go to payRange→hris-associations

    4. Rearrange the associations to set payGrade as the first association.

      Code Snippet
      12345
      <hris-associations>
<association id="id" multiplicity="ONE_TO_ONE" destination-entity="payGrade" required="false"/>
<association id="id" multiplicity="ONE_TO_ONE" destination-entity="geozone" required="false"/>
<association id="id" multiplicity="ONE_TO_ONE" destination-entity="LegalEntity" required="false"/>
</hris-associations>

    5. Save the XML and import back to your instance.

Summary

  • Mapping and Integration Setup: Successful integration between SAP SuccessFactors Compensation and Employee Central requires detailed mapping configurations for compensation fields, salary ranges, and data publishing pathways, alongside additional configurations in Employee Central such as custom fields and business rules to ensure accurate data flow.

  • Testing and Data Validation: Extensive testing is critical to ensure data accuracy, eligibility criteria, and salary range pulls from Employee Central, with the integration offering seamless data transitions between the systems, albeit with limitations on certain data elements requiring careful design considerations to avoid future configuration adjustments.

  • Employee Central Integration Setup: Integrating SAP SuccessFactors Compensation with Employee Central involves careful configuration, including removing non-compatible elements from XML templates, mapping compensation fields and pay components, setting effective dates, and ensuring proper setup of event reasons and component codes for seamless data transition.

  • Field Mapping and Pay Matrix Configuration: Key steps include mapping relevant fields from Employee Central entities to compensation plans, using custom MDF objects if necessary, and defining pay matrices for accurate calculations, with considerations for using Employee Central salary matrices to enhance integration efficiency and accuracy.

Learning

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