Human Resource Information System (HRIS) synchronization is the sync of data from Employee Central to User Data Tables and the Employee Profile. HRIS Sync is a one-way HR (unidirectional) sync of Employee Central data to populate the talent data to support the other modules of SAP SuccessFactors. Because Employee Central is the core HR system of record for SAP SuccessFactors, we want to ensure data is accurate across the entire SAP SuccessFactors Suite. Some areas of the system store data in legacy data tables, so the HRIS sync populates these tables with Employee Central data.
Because Employee Central is the core HR system of record for SAP SuccessFactors, we want to ensure that data is accurate across the entire SAP SuccessFactors Suite. Some areas of the system store data in legacy data tables, so the HRIS sync populates these tables with Employee Central data.
The synchronization process is called an HRIS Sync Job and is completed in Manage Scheduled Jobs in Provisioning. HRIS sync is a background quartz job that periodically looks for data that has been changed in Employee Central and updates the legacy user tables with data from Employee Central. The job itself should be configured to run on a schedule. For data updated using the UI, the synchronization process is triggered automatically at the end of the update for current and past-dated records.

User Tables feed data to other modules like Performance, Goals, Compensation, and Recruiting.
Warning: To avoid future data inconsistency between Employee Central tables and legacy tables, do not use basic import to update data in the legacy tables directly.
Why is HRIS sync important?

Employee Central is the core HR system and contains relevant information to manage the employee lifecycle. Employee Profile serves as the platform for talent management activities, and it requires a mini-master of core employee data for the talent processes to launch and run successfully.
Employee Central stores employees’ Personal and Employment Information. For example, Job Information includes fields such as an employee’s Department, Company, or Location. Employee Central data is robust and connected to the supporting Foundation Object record data in the system, making it more valuable and accurate than the standard element data used by the User Data Tables.
When configuring HRIS Sync fields, you connect the Employee Central data fields to Standard Elements in Succession Data Model with an HRIS Synchronization Mapping. When there is a change in Employee Central information, it flows to Employee Profile fields and is consumed by talent solutions that cannot directly leverage Employee Central data.
For customers WITHOUT Employee Central, their talent process relies solely on imported data using the User Data File (UDF), which is displayed in Employee Profile blocks in People Profile. These fields allow the standard Org Chart to populate correctly, provide filter criteria for dashboards and reports, create the route maps used for Performance Management and Compensation, and more.
For customers WITH Employee Central, some talent modules continue to refer to User Data File to run the talent processes in the system because they can't leverage person and employment information directly from Employee Central. However, with HRIS Sync, customers do not need to upload this information manually.
Some fields are critical to keeping the sync between Employee Central and the UDF. If using Employee Central, do not make user data changes by importing the User Data File (UDF) either from the UI or through a scheduled job. Doing so can overwrite data coming from Employee Central and cause data inconsistencies.
HRIS Sync Jobs
HRIS Synchronization job is created either in Provisioning or Scheduled Job Manager in the Admin Center.

