Discovering Foundation Objects in SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central

Objective

After completing this lesson, you will be able to describe the purpose of different types of Foundation Objects in SAP SuccessFactors.

SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central Structure Overview

Company data can be categorized into two main types:

Employee Data (HR Data) – This includes information specific to employees, such as their name, date of birth, and nationality. It also covers employment details like job title, salary, and other compensation-related aspects.
Organization Data – This refers to the company’s structure data, including departments, divisions, and legal entities. It also encompasses job classifications and pay structures. In SAP SuccessFactors, organization-related data is referred to as Foundation Objects, which forms the basis for structuring workforce-related information.

Foundation Objects

Foundation Objects allow the company to define and store organization, pay, and job-related information. They play a key role in organizing employee information.

SAP SuccessFactors provides standard Foundation Objects that could easily be customized to help you configure your unique requirements. The table lists several pre-delivered foundation objects in SAP SuccessFactors.

Object	Definition/Function
Legal Entity	This is the company or legal entity where the employee is hired and has their employment contract. A Legal Entity represents a company as registered against country laws. It cannot span across more than one country. The country assigned to the legal entity controls the country-specific data available on the employee's Job Information, Employment Details, and Compensation Information. The legal entity in SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central is the highest object that can be used in the organization hierarchy.
Business Unit	Business Unit is the company's business area, representing one operating unit, business function, or line of business within the company (not geographical).
Division	Division is a level of organizational hierarchy lower than the Business Unit. It is a sub-division of the business function.
Department	A Department has properties similar to those of a division. A Department stores information for all departments within a company.
Cost Center	The Cost Center is where the employee's costs get assigned in payroll and finance. Cost centers are budget units in the ERP financial systems.
Location	The Location object stores the address information of all physical offices for a company where the employee works.
Location Group	Geographical grouping of multiple locations (e.g., Location Group West Coast contains several locations, including the San Mateo Office, San Diego Office, etc.). Location groups are primarily used for EEO reporting in the USA. This is optional.
Geo Zone	You can group multiple locations into one Geo Zone. For example, Geo Zone North America, Western Region contains business locations in San Mateo, San Diego, etc. Geo Zone includes an Adjustment Percentage field, which adjusts the pay range based on the cost of living (e.g., a company can adjust the pay for employees on the West Coast by 15%).
Job Classifications	Job Classifications stores all job codes and associated information for a company. It helps to identify and classify the employee's work.
Job Function	Several jobs can be sorted based on functional work performed (e.g., the Job Classifications Developer and Developer Manager belong to the Job Function: Engineering (ENG)).
Pay Group	You can group employees who share the same payroll into one Pay Group. In the figure, Pay Group, the instance is set up to be grouped by region, North America. Pay Group is primarily used for payroll-related activities.
Pay Range	Pay Range is primarily used to calculate Compa-Ratio and Range Penetration. You can define as many pay ranges as needed.
Pay Grade	The Pay Grade object defines the pay grade available on the Job Classification Foundation Object. It can identify when a transaction is a lateral move, a promotion, or a demotion.
Pay Component	The Pay Component Foundation Object stores all information about how the company pays an employee (e.g., Base Salary, Bonus Target, Car Allowance, etc.)
Pay Component Group	You can group multiple pay components into one Pay Component Group. The amount of a Pay Component Group is equal to the sum of its pay components.
Frequency	Frequency defines how often a payout occurs for a Pay Component. It includes an annualization factor that is used in calculations.

Summary

Company data can be organized into Employee Data (HR Data) and Organization Data. Employee Data includes information specific to employees (e.g., name, date of birth), and Organization Data includes information related to a company's structure (e.g., departments, divisions, legal entities).
Foundation Objects allow the company to define and store organization, pay, and job-related information. SAP SuccessFactors provides standard Foundation Objects that could easily be customized to help you configure your unique requirements.

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