Explaining Different Hierarchy Methods

Planner Hierarchy refers to the reporting structure which has been defined for the organization and the compensation form is generated based on this hierarchy. Typically, it is configured during the implementation stage by the consultant and remains constant during planning.

The compensation planner has responsibility for recommending compensation changes for employees. SAP SuccessFactors Compensation supports the following methods of designating who the planner is:

• Standard Hierarchy
• Rollup Hierarchy
• Compensation Manager Hierarchy

For changes in hierarchy, admins can navigate to Plan Details→ Manage Users. You cannot change the hierarchy if there are forms already launched by using the compensation template.

This is the hierarchy used by SAP SuccessFactors suite which is structured to follow the Manager column of the user data file. This structure is the standard reporting structure you see on your organization chart. It simply means every person with a direct report is considered a planner and will be responsible for recommending salary changes for their direct reports.

The following figure shows an example of a user data file if the standard hierarchy is used. The MANAGER column contains the user ID of the compensation planner.

• Simplest method of planning
• No additional configuration
• Most dynamic
• Full empowerment does not limit who is planning

• Creates too many forms
• Since the planner is also the people manager, this hierarchy is susceptible to organizational changes.
• Compensation planning is impacted in case of reorganizations.

The Rollup Hierarchy identifies a specific manager as a compensation planner. In this scenario, the individuals that are designated as compensation planners are also employees with direct reports; however, not every manager is necessarily a planner.

In the most common business scenario, the compensation planning is not performed by the direct supervisor, but by a higher level of management such as a director or a store manager. The director or store manager is therefore designated as the compensation planner and the employees below them rolls up into their compensation worksheet. Planners are responsible down the line of their hierarchy.

Compensation planners are identified either in the admin interface or the user data file.

In Compensation Home, navigate to Plan Setup→Manage Users. Search for the head of hierarchy, and by inserting a check mark in the boxes, you can identify who among the managers will be considered as planners.

In the preceding example, instead of five planners, only Carla Grant and Richard Maxx will have compensation forms as they have been identified as planners. The planning responsibility of Thomas Clark and Sid Morton has been rolled up to Carla Grant same with Dorris Douglass whose responsibility was rolled up to Richard Maxx.

To identify roll-up planners in user data file, a planner column is added:

• COMPENSATION_PLANNER_XX, where XX is replaced with the plan template number.

• Confirm the appropriate template number with your professional services consultant or customer associate.

• Managers identified as planners will have a value of TRUE on this column.

• Rollup hierarchy can be applied by using Update all worksheets.

The rollup hierarchy option of including the rolling up of managers in the worksheets is enabled for the following selections:

• Add newly eligible employees to compensation worksheet.
• Move employee's compensation data from old manager to current manager.
• Remove inactive employees from compensation worksheets.
• Remove inactive planner's compensation worksheets.

• Allow easy assignment of planners
• Can reduce complexity/number of forms in use

• Rollup reports will not function properly

The alternate hierarchy, Compensation Manager, is used by companies that want to have their compensation planning be independent from the organization changes or the managerial movement that typically happens during the year.

This hierarchy uses SECOND_MANAGER, a compensation-specific UDF column, which defines who would be considered compensation planners.

Each compensation planner is assigned direct reports for whom they plan compensation.

• Compensation Planners are different from people managers, hence not generally impacted by organizational changes.

• Requires administrative work to maintain and it is easier to break than the other two methods.
• Additional configuration is required such as routemap roles (EA, EAA, and so on).
• To identify head of the alternate reporting structure, the second manager column must be blank.

This is the hierarchy used by SAP SuccessFactors suite which is structured to follow the Manager colum

The Rollup Hierarchy identifies a specific manager as a compensation planner. In this scenario, the individuals that are designated as compensation planners are also employees with direct reports; however, not every manager is necessarily a planner.

In the most common business scenario, the compensation planning is not performed by the direct supervisor, but by a higher level of management such as a director or a store manager. The director or store manager is therefore designated as the compensation planner and the employees below them rolls up into their compensation worksheet. Planners are responsible down the line of their hiera

Select the planner hierarchy to be used for the compensation plan by choosing it in the Manage Users→Define Planners→Method of Planner drop-down menu.

Once selected, it is possible to navigate the chosen hierarchy. Search for a head of the hierarchy or a specific planner to drill down the planning hierarchy. Use the triangle next to each planner to expand or collapse a hierarchy.

Breaks in hierarchy can cause forms not to be created or launched. To check for breaks in hierarchy, proceed in one of the following methods:

1. Export troubleshooting information from the Compensation Home admin interface.

   Go to Compensation Home→Select the template→Plan Setup→Define Planners→search for the planner, export users without managers and ineligible users.

2. Check Tool is a feature available for all modules to check configuration inconsistencies. In Compensation and Variable Pay, the tool can be used to validate the following:
   • Check plan hierarchy for cyclic dependency

     Use this check to determine if there are any cyclic dependencies for a planner in their compensation plan hierarchy. A cyclic dependency is when Employee A is the planner for Employee B and Employee B is the planner for Employee A. When that happens, the system is not able to continue generating forms.

   • Check plan hierarchy for inactive planners

     Use this check to determine inactive planners in the compensation plan hierarchy. When the hierarchy is not correctly defined, it can happen that inactive managers have direct reports still depending on them. As forms are not created for inactive managers, these employees are not reviewed.

   • Check plan hierarchy for users without planners

     Use this check to determine users who don't have an assigned planner in the system. When using the Compensation Manager Hierarchy, the field may contain the value NO_MANAGER. When that happens and the Head of Hierarchy has that value defined, it is not possible to launch forms for the whole company (it is possible to launch single forms).

   • Check plan template for invalid configuration

     Use this check to determine invalid configuration in the plan template, such as when customers are defining custom formulas in fields and these formulas use values coming from lookup tables. These checks require the function to Number or to String so the values are correctly displayed. In other cases, the formula syntax is incorrectly defined as there are missing parenthesis.

   • Check plan template for reloadable custom fields

     Use this check to determine all the configured reloadable custom fields in the plan template. One of the most recurring incidents is when customer had launched forms already and, for certain custom fields, they import new values while worksheets are in-progress. The customer expects the changes to be dynamic on the form, but as these fields were not defined as Reloadable = "true", the form still reflects the old value. This issue has no workaround and it is necessary to delete all in-progress forms and relaunch to update custom fields with new values. Defining a check that could tell how many custom fields are reloadable would help customers identify which fields have been defined as reloadable and see what they’ve missed and can modify them before launching forms.

   • Check plan template for reportable custom fields

     One of the most recurring incidents is when customer has completed their compensation forms and want to see certain custom fields in Ad Hoc Reporting, but as these fields were not defined as Reportable = "true" they are not available for selection in reporting. This issue has no workaround and will necessitate deleting and relaunching forms. Defining a check that could tell us how many custom fields are reportable would help customers identify which fields have been defined as reportable and see what they’ve missed and can modify them before launching forms.

   • Check plan template for statement setup

     Use this check to determine configuration issues with the statement setup that occurred while the compensation plan template was being set up, such as when you’ll need to configure the statement-specific XML attributes to "true" in the plan template. Note that includeSalaryStatement, includeBonusStatement, and includeStockStatement attributes need to be configured as "true" in the template to view the compensation statements under the Salary, Bonus, and Stock tabs in the worksheets respectively.

   • Additional checks for calculation

     Use this check to determine if a lookup table exists, to validate data type matches for custom fields and standard fields, and to check case-sensitive duplicated field IDs.

   • The head of hierarchy is set properly for the set hierarchy type

     Reviews the Manager ID of each head of hierarchy in the compensation plan.

   • All date fields within UDF records are formatted correctly

     Ensures date fields have been formatted correctly for the compensation template.

Check Tool requires Role-Based Permissions and Metadata Framework. Grant the following administrative permissions to use the feature:

• Access Check Tool authorizes users to access the tool.
• Allow Configuration Export authorizes users to export system configuration data from within the check tool.

Both permissions require target population.

1. Launch the Check Tool from the Manage Worksheets tab or by using Action Search.
2. Choose Compensation from the Application drop down.
3. From the list of validation object checks, select the appropriate objects to run.
4. View the results, which can be either of the following:
   • Success - No message is shown.
   • X inconsistencies found, where X is the number of inconsistencies found.

In cases where inconsistencies are found, you will see either a yellow warning icon or a red alarm icon. The yellow icon is a warning that the issue is not too serious and a solution is proposed. The red icon means that the problem is serious. You must take action, which might include creating a ticket.

• Hierarchy Selection and Navigation: Choose the planner hierarchy for the compensation plan to ensure seamless navigation and prevent forms from failing due to hierarchy breaks.

• Validation Tools: Utilize the Check Tool to identify configuration inconsistencies in Compensation and Variable Pay, including cyclic dependencies, inactive planners, users without planners, and invalid plan template configurations.

• Template Checks: Perform checks on the plan template for reloadable/reportable custom fields, statement setup issues, and calculation table existence, ensuring all configurations align with reporting needs and compensation processes.

• Head of Hierarchy and Date Formats: Confirm the correct setting of the head of hierarchy and ensure date fields in UDF records are appropriately formatted to maintain system integrity and functionality, addressing any detected inconsistencies with warning or alarm icons.