Position Management is a method or process designed to update, edit, or maintain the position structure utilized in succession. Within our guide, this term should not be confused with the module or feature called Position Management which is coupled with the use of Employee Central. The position model is designed to satisfy one fundamental requirement: nominating successors to positions, regardless of which employees occupy those positions. This can include TBH (to be hired) positions, not occupied by any employee. The following features help to achieve this:
- An entity, called a position, which includes a unique position code
- A position hierarchy, similar to (but separate from) the employee hierarchy
- Support for displaying that hierarchy with the new org chart
- Permission controls for managing positions via the org chart
- A third nomination method for attaching succession plans to positions (rather than roles or incumbents)
In the position-based nomination methods (Legacy Positions and MDF Positions), a new entity, called the position, is introduced to store succession plans. When choosing a position-based method, you must create and maintain positions, which can be thought of as an instance of a job role. For example, you have a job role definition of ''Sales Representative'', with its associated attributes and duties. A position would be a specific instance of this job role, such as "Sales Representative North", that must be occupied by an employee to deliver the work that must be done.
In the position-based methods, the successors are associated directly to the position (position code), which means that the succession plans stay in place even if the incumbent (user) of the position changes. You can also have vacant "To Be Hired" (TBH) positions, which are positions that are not occupied by anyone at the moment, and you can do succession planning for them as well.
There are two ways to manage positions with SAP SuccessFactors:
- Employee Central module
- Succession module
When Employee Central is enabled, all position management is handled through EC, and the same position object is shared between Employee Central and succession. Therefore, you manage positions in Employee Central, and the Succession Org Chart leverages this data for succession planning.
Because the position object is shared between EC and succession, you should only use MDF position-based nominations when EC is enabled. Employee Central position management makes it easy for you to do several things, including:
- Create, view, and maintain the position hierarchy easily using the Position Org Chart. Job requisitions can be created, and you can start an employee hiring process using the Position Org Chart (Recruiting module required).
- Store and track position category (regular, part-time, intern, and others), current incumbents, and previous employees in that position.
- Use position control to track the headcount to suit your needs.
- For TBH positions, you can open requisitions in Recruitment, with the required position information.
- Integrate Succession Management with Employee Central positions so that the successors are planned based on the hierarchy and criticality of existing positions.
- Integrate with SAP Fieldglass to create job postings for contingent workers.
When you have EC Position Management, the incumbents are no longer associated to the Position object through the "incumbent" field of the Position object. Instead, the users are associated to positions through their Job Information record from Employee Central (the association is Employee→Job Information→Position).
For additional details about EC Position Management, refer to the Position Management guide from help.sap.com.
If you’re not using Employee Central, positions can be managed directly through the succession module, which makes the incumbent field editable for succession planning only. Legacy positions offer some basic position management through the SOC and Position Tile View, and you can manage your position data in different ways when you use MDF position-based nominations:
- Succession Org Chart and Position Tile View: Depending on your permissions, when you open a position card from either the SOC or the Position Tile View, you have menu options to show, edit, and delete the position.
- Manage Data in the Admin Center: This is the same tool that you use to manage all MDF objects. Use it to create, find, and update position records, optionally including effective-dated changes.
- Synchronize your employee data with your HRIS system to create and update your position data. Even if you don’t have positions in your HRIS, the position sync takes your employee information and create positions and a position hierarchy that you can use for succession planning.
Depending on the specific needs of the company, you may be able to start managing positions with succession and upgrade to the full EC Position Management later.
