Describing the Concept of Roles

In SAP SuccessFactors, the concept of Roles can be understood in different manners depending on where they are used in the application:

1. Standard Roles exist to define the relationship between users: This is coming from the employee data.
2. Roles are used to manage security with Role-Based Permissions: Role-Based Permissions (RBP) is a system used to maintain one of the security layers in the system. This dynamic method of assigning permissions uses Permission Groups and Permission Roles. For example, when an employee is promoted to a manager, the change is made in the user data (either imported or manually). The employee would automatically be assigned all the special permissions a manager should have. There is a complete audit history of all changes made to a group or role. Role-Based Permissions are designed so that users will match more than one role.

   As a best practice, we recommend configuring roles by starting with the most generic role, as in All Employees Role, and casting the net as wide as possible to include all the permissions given to everyone.

3. Job Roles in Job Families are used for competency mapping: In SAP SuccessFactors, competencies can be mapped to specific job roles and grouped into job families. Job roles describe the different job types included in a job family.

Roles are used in the SAP SuccessFactors Suite to define permissions and to designate workflow. These roles can be used in Performance Management (PM), Goal Management (GM), 360 Reviews, Career Development Planning and Mentoring (CDP), Compensation, etc.

The employee is central, and roles are defined in relation to the employee. Some examples:

• Employee (E) – all employees that work for an organization
• Manager (EM) – an employee that has direct reports
• Matrix Manager (EX) – Matrix manager is used to define a dotted-line manager relationship. This role can be displayed in the organization chart.
• HR Manager (EH) – a human resources representative
• Other roles can be used in specific processes, such as the Second Manager (EA), the Custom Manager (EC), etc.

The Role in RBP defines access to data and functionality. This is where you define what you want your role to do in SAP SuccessFactors.

A Permission Role represents a set of permissions and grants these to Permission Groups or standard roles, such as an employee or manager.

Employees can have several different sets of permissions within a single role.

In Manage Permission Roles, you can review and edit existing roles or create new roles. You can review and edit the list of permissions granted by clicking the role name. The Permissions tab displays a role's different permission sections.

RBP is an important and challenging topic. Customers should look over available documentation carefully.

More details are available on the SAP Help Portal in the following guides:

Implementing Role-Based Permissions

Using Role-Based Permissions

Job Roles defined in Job Families are used for competency mapping.

Job Families can be created in any way the customer requires. For example, customer 1 wants job families created for major organizational functions, such as Human Resources and Information Technology. However, customer 2 wants job families created for the major employment levels of the company, such as Executives or Exempt Employees.

Job Roles organize the different types of jobs included in a job family. For example, with the Information Technology job family, the following job roles may exist: IT Manager, Database Administrator, System Administrator, etc. Associating job roles with the job family allows competencies to be associated with each specific job role. A job family can have many job roles.