Writing Ad Hoc Emails and the Message Center

Objectives

After completing this lesson, you will be able to:

Manage ad hoc emails.
Describe the improvements in the Message Center.

Ad Hoc Email Management

Ad hoc emails provide "on-the-fly" sending capability for members of the recruiting team. The subject and body of the email can be based on a pre-configured template built in Admin Center→Manage Recruiting Email Templates. Text can be designed upon creation.

As mentioned, ad hoc notifications can be initiated from a few different parts of the system as follows:

Candidate Summary (consolidated view)
Candidate Summary (individual user view)

Emails can be tracked or audited through the Correspondence portlet in Candidate Workbench.

Navigate to the Candidate Summary and click an applicant’s name.
Locate the Correspondence portlet.
Click the subject link to view the contents of the email.

This portlet lists all the email and print events performed on this applicant for the selected job requisition.

A screenshot of the Job Requisition page shows the Correspondence portlet.

Email Management Improvements with the Message Center

The improvements to email correspondence enable recruiters to access the complete history of manual email communication with candidates. Recruiters initiate the email and capture the reply from the candidate. The information is logged in SAP SuccessFactors Recruiting, and previews or replies are available in the Message Center or their email. With this functionality, Recruiters have an efficient way to track email with the candidate while remaining in SAP SuccessFactors Recruiting. Sorting and filtering capabilities for faster reference are included. In addition, the Correspondence Portlet has been enhanced to display items on both the Candidate and Application Profile.

Email Correspondence found in the Upgrade Center

This Email Correspondence feature does require the use of the Metadata Framework and can be found in the Upgrade Center. The Upgrade Center is located within Admin Center.

A screenshot of the Email Correspondence section in the Upgrade Center

Email Correspondence: Admin Configuration Options

If not using the Upgrade Center, there are several switches and permissions which control this feature.

Switch Email Correspondence: Enabling this option allows you to track manual email conversations between the recruiter and the candidate. You can also access Message Center which lists all the user initiated email correspondences.
Switch Add a note in the emails to candidates telling them not to include sensitive information in their replies: Enabling this option will add a note in the emails to candidates telling them not to include sensitive information in their replies.
Recruiting Permissions→Permission→OData API Candidate Export: to display the candidate name in the Message Center view.

OPTIONAL:

Manage Integration Tools→OData API Attachment Export: to download attachments from Message Center.
Manage MDF Recruiting Objects→Email Brand Template: to fetch brand template related info when replying with branded email.

Email Correspondence: Thread Tracking

The number of emails within a conversation thread may be tracked and noted within the correspondence portlets.

A screenshot of the tracking of an email thread, including data about the number of messages from specific sender in specific threads

E-mail Correspondence: Message Center

Recruiters are able to click on an email originally sent and open the Message Center.

The screenshot show that selecting the email from the tracking list in the Correspondence section triggers the full email content to open.

E-mail Correspondence: Direct Reply

Recruiters may reply directly from the Message Center using rich text editor and brand options.

E-mail Correspondence: Preview and Send

Within the Message Center, recruiters can preview the reply, send the email, and capture the history. After sending the email to the candidate, the email is added to the email thread. The email count will increase on the Correspondence portlet

A screenshot of the Message Center webpage showing a successfully sent message, an ongoing conversation with a candidate

Email Correspondence: Candidate Email and Reply

When the recruiter sends the email, the candidate may reply to the email following the typical process. The response is stored within the Recruiting system and an email is sent on to the Recruiter’s email using Outlook, Gmail, Yahoo, or a pre-determined email system.

Recruiting users can directly access Message Center by going to Recruiting→Message Center.

You can see all of your email threads with different candidates.
Unread emails will be in bold.
Top filter allows you to toggle between All Messages and Unread Only.

Email Correspondence: Message Center Audience

The Message Center is for recruiters, hiring managers, or those with proper access to the SAP SuccessFactors Recruiting system. It is not intended for candidates or candidate access.

A screenshot of the Message Center showing email conversations

Email Correspondence: Additional Notes

Below are some clarifications and expectations of the intended functionality:

Emails are initiated from either Candidate Profile or from Applicant Profile. Message Center can be used to reply to candidate emails but not to initiate a brand new email.
Message Center is for manual emails to candidates. Replies to automatically generated emails, email campaigns, or offer letter emails will not be captured in Recruiting Message Center.
CC and BCC is available on the first initial email but not for replies from Message Center.
Attachments are available on the first initial email but not for replies from Message Center.
- It is possible to view and download the initial attachment from Message Center.
When candidate is purged, the email thread is also deleted.
- There is no message archiving or deletion yet.

For customers having a high number of email templates, it becomes difficult for the user to be able to select the right email templates. Now, templates can be permissioned allowing the end user to only be presented with those email templates relevant for the use case.

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