Enabling Position Management

Objectives

After completing this lesson, you will be able to:

  • Set up Position Management in SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central
  • Manage positions by enabling the appropriate role-based permissions

Implementing Position Management Considerations

In the initial decision to implement Position Management, there are considerations on if an organization is ready for position management. Some things to consider would be long-term business goals, integrations with other modules, third-party solutions, and more.

Note
For further details on Position Management considerations and whether an organization is ready to implement it, you can check the Implementation Design Principles (IDP) document SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central Position Management: Design Considerations and Recommendations, available in the Customer Community.

https://pages.community.sap.com/topics/successfactors/implementation-design-principles

Prerequisites and Enabling Position Management

The main prerequisites to implement Position Management are Employee Central and Metadata Framework (Generic Objects).

Enabling Position Management is a two-step process. First, it must be enabled from Provisioning or Admin Center → Manage Employee Central Settings. Second, you must ensure that you have the position field enabled in the Job Information jobInfo hris-element in your Succession Data Model (or Manage Business Configuration).

Note

Throughout the course, there may be some references to Provisioning, but for the most part, the set up and configuration of SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central Position Management, including the steps to enable the feature in the instance, can be completed in Admin Center. Otherwise, you will see a note like this example: To complete tasks in Provisioning, customers should ask an implementation partner. If they are no longer working with an implementation partner, they should contact Product Support..

To Enable Position Management

Steps

  1. Enable Position Management in Employee Central Settings

    1. Navigate to Admin Center → Manage Employee Central Settings
    2. In the Others section, set the Position Management slider switch to ON.
    3. Choose Save.
    Note

    This step can be done in Provisioning or in Manage Employee Central Settings.

  2. The position field is new and must be added to your Succession Data Model if it’s not already there. To add position field to Succession Data Model

    Note
    If you don't have access to Provisioning, this step can also be completed using the Manage Business Configuration tool, navigating to jobInfo and verify the position field is enabled (see the Verify Position Field image below).
    1. In Provisioning, navigate to Succession Management → Import/Export Data Model.
    2. Choose the Export File radio button to download the data model xml file. Then choose Submit.
    3. Check if the positionhris-field is present under jobInfohris-element. If not present, modify the XML file and add the following code under jobInfo
      Note

      The default visibility is "none" but if you want to use the field, you need to set the visibility to "both".

    4. Upload the modified XML file to update the succession data model.

    Result

    Login to you instance as an administrator and navigate to Manage Business Configuration. Verify that the Position field exists under Job Information (jobInfo), as shown in the figure.

Verify that SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central Position Management is enabled

After reviewing the value proposition to manage their dynamic workforce, the headcount planning and the organization structure, your customer is ready to implement and roll out Employee Central Position Management. In the following exercise, you will verify that Position Management is enabled by checking the two-step process learned previously.

ExerciseStart Exercise

Prerequisites

Note
If you cannot find the option Manage Employee Central Settings, means your role has no permissions to access the tool. You can grant permission in Manage Permission Roles → Administrator Permission → Manage System Properties and enable the permission Employee Central Feature Settings.

Steps

  1. Verify that position management is enabled in your instance.

    1. Sign in to your instance as an administrator

    2. Navigate to Manage Employee Central Settings using Action Search.

    3. Scroll down to Others section.

    4. Verify that the Position Management slider switch is already ON.

  2. Verify that the position field is added to Succession Data Model.

    1. Navigate to Manage Business Configuration using Action Search.

    2. Select the HRIS Element jobInfo.

    3. Select Take Action → Make Correction.

    4. Verify that the Position field is added and enabled.

    5. Change the label from Position ID into Position.

    6. Scroll down and choose Save to save your changes.

    7. You may display a pop up warning with some automatic changes in jobInfo upon saving. Select Confirm.

To Assign Role Based Permissions

Once SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central Position Management is enabled in the instance, you will grant the corresponding administrator and user permissions in Role-Based Permission.

Steps

  1. Assign Permissions for Position field.

    To assign permissions for the Position field, navigate to Manage Permission Roles using Action Search.

    Under Employee Central Effective Dated Entities category, scroll down to the Job Information section, and select all the permissions under Position: View Current, View History,Edit/Insert, Correct, and Delete.

    Note
    Position is only shown in this list if you have entered the position field in the Succession Data Model (or enabled from Manage Business Configuration) as you verified in the previous exercise.

  2. Set Up Permissions for the Position Object: The Position MDF object is secured, which will require to grant permission access in RBP.

    • Navigate to the permission setting Miscellaneous Permissions under User Permissions.

    • Scroll to find the Position object. You can grant visibility and action permissions such as View Current, View History, Create, Insert, Correct, Delete, and Import/Export.

    Additionally, it’s possible to restrict the Position object’s fields to further control the level of access. You can set any of the fields on the Position Object to No Access or Read Only by selecting Field Level Overrides. In the image below, the Target FTE field in position is set to read-only, and Job Level and Pay Grade fields in position will not be visible to the permission role.

    Note
    Mandatory fields should not be selected for Field Level Overrides since this could lead to application issues and is not recommended

  3. Set Up Permissions for the Metadata Framework (MDF):

    Since Position Management is built on the Metadata Framework, some permissions will be found under this permission category in RBP:

    1. To assign or verify permissions for users to use generic objects and to configure rules, navigate to the permission category Metadata Framework under Administrator Permissions.
    2. Some of the most relevant permissions and how they relate to position management, are:
      • Configure Object Definitions. This permission will allow to access the tool to set up the Position Object.
      • Manage Data. This is the broader tool to create records for any generic object.
      • Configure Business Rules. To create business rules for data propagation, position changes, default attributes, etc.
      • Import Permission on Metadata Framework. To import and export generic object records, including positions, job classifications or business rules.
      • Manage Configuration UI. To create a UI screen for generic objects, with a different layout.
      • Manage Positions. The main tool to create, edit and manage position records as an administrator.
      • Manage Mass Changes for Metadata Objects. To create mass change configurations to support changes in multiple positions.
      • Manage Sequence. To create sequences to auto-generate position codes.

  4. Set Up the required permissions for Position Management, such as accessing the Position Org Chart, Mass Copy Positions, or access Position Management Settings. Select one or more of the following permissions as needed:

    • Access Position Organization Chart: To grant users access to the position organization chart.
    • Change Display Date of Position Organization Chart: To grant users permission to display the position organization chart for a specific date, select . The date you specify can be today’s date, or it can be in the past or future.
    • Mass Copy of Position in Position Organization Chart: To grant users permission to create up to 100 new positions at a time by copying an existing position.
    • Create Requisition in Position Organization Chart or View requisition in Position Organization Chart or both: To grant users permission to create and/or view position requisitions from the position organization chart.
    • Select Job requisitions Template in Position Organization Chart: To grant users permission to select a job requisition template when a job requisition or job requisition request is created in the position organization chart.
    • Option to Move Position to New Supervisor on Job Info Change: To enable the option to move an employee’s position when they get a new supervisor.
    • Create Fieldglass Job Requisition in Position Organization Chart: To create Fieldglass job requisitions from the Position Org Chart
    • Create Position from Position Organization Chart: To grant users permission to create new positions from the Position Organization Chart.
    • Access Position Management Settings in Admin Center: To grant permission to make position management settings. Only roles with this setting can see Permission Management Settings entry in the Admin Center.
      Note

      The Manage Employee Files permission must also be set for users who have the Access Position Management Settings in Admin Center permission. To set the Manage Employee Files permission, locate Manage System Properties under Administrator Permissions, then set the Manage Employee Files permission.

Target Audience Restriction

You can also restrict the target population of a position on a role-based on position attributes, position relationships, and the position hierarchy.

The following step will be to access Manage Permission Roles and select the role of your choice. In Permission Role Detail, scroll down to 3. Grant this role to... and Edit Granting.

There are 4 options to restrict the target population of the Position object:

  • By field criteria ("Include access to Position with the following criteria" option). As an example, you could restrict the target population of the Position object to positions that belong to a specific Company and Departments. You can use different operators
    • Equals to (=). As an example, include access to Positions within the company Ace_USA
    • Is not Equal to (!=). The opposite case to include access to Positions from all companies except Ace_USA
    • Is null (if a value of a field is empty).
    • Is not null (if a value of a field is not empty)
    • In (in). This option allows a multiple selection (as an example, we could select several Departments to include access)
  • To positions in the hierarchy below the granted user's position ("Include access to Position in the hierarchy below the Granted User's Position" option.) Example : Restrict the target population of the Position object to positions 2 levels below the Granted User’s Position. For this particular option, access is given based on the Parent Position.
    • Parent Position = 1,2,3 or all level(s) down

      Which means that, if you select Parent Position = 2 level(s) down, role will have access to all the positions 1 level below their own position.

  • To positions with Matrix Relationship to the granted user’s position ("Include access to positions that have the specified type of association with the granted user's position" option). This option works similarly to granting permissions to a user’s matrix reports, but it is based on the Matrix Relationship from the Position object ("positionMatrixRelationship" association).
  • To positions in the hierarchy below a given position ("Include access to Position in the hierarchy below Position with the following criteria " option). This option will restrict target population based on a specific Position Code + Parent Position hierarchy. In this example, users that have this permission role granted would have access to all positions 1 level down from the specific position with Code Pos_ID7
    • Code = Pos_ID7
    • Parent Position=2 level(s) down.
  • Exclude access to Granted User's Position. Whenever any of the above options to restrict target population for Position object are into effect, this checkbox would also exclude the access to granted user's own position.

Special Handling of the Create Position

By default, granting the Create permission allows the user granted permission to create any position in the system. So, the target criteria are not respected for the Create permission.

If you want to respect the defined target criteria for the Create Permission also, you need to set the Create Respects Target Criteria flag to Yes for the Position object. You do this in the Admin Center by choosing Configure Object Definitions.

With this setting, it’s possible to achieve, for example, the following requirement: Managers need to be able to view all positions in the system but are allowed only to create new positions that are below their own position.

Here’s how you set this up:

  1. Change the Position Object definition and set flag Create Respects Target Criteria to Yes.

  2. Create a new Permission role with Position Permissions View Current and View History and grant this role to all Positions as target criteria.

  3. Create a new permission Role with Position permission Create and grant this role with position restriction Include access to Position in the hierarchy below the Granted User's Position with Parent Position = All level(s).

    Note

    The Create permission is only validated when the position is saved. If you have restricted permissions on creating positions, they’re only validated when you save the position or submit the workflow. If you don’t have permission to create the position, the system doesn’t allow you to save or submit.

Roles and responsibilities

There are different roles in the organization that should have access to Position Management for different purposes.

Manager

Manager is primarily responsible for ensuring that their employees are in the correct position at the correct time, whether that be a new position or an existing position. It is generally the manager’s responsibility to ensure that the organizational, contractual, and non-personal data recorded against the employee is complete and correct.

The Direct Manager should have access to the following data / actions :

  • View a restricted set of data for all employees in the general employee/manager org chart.
  • Initiate self-service transactions (MSS) on employees within their direct hierarchy for a subset of data.
  • Access only to the filled positions and vacancies within their direct organization in the position org chart. They should not be able to access positions outside their direct hierarchy.
  • Create request for a new position.
  • Approve the Job Requisition for a new position (if Recruiting Management is enabled and integrated with Position Management).

Manager's Manager

The Manager's Manager is the incumbent of the position to whom the line manager initiating the request reports to. Their role is to approve new positions created by their direct lower-level managers.

Central HR Administrator / Org Design Expert

The HR Administrator / Org Design Expert is a central resource responsible for maintaining organization design. Responsibilities are position creation, mass changes, deactivation, complex transfers, processing hires, and ongoing maintenance.

Regional Administrator

It is common in large Organizations to have a tiered admin structure (Global Admin vs Regional Admin, etc.) who would take on the maintenance on positions and mass changes from a regional perspective. As you learned previously, the high level of granularity for target restrictions in Role-Based Permissions for Position object will allow to control access to more regional / local administrators to manage those positions within their area of responsibility.

HR Business Partner (HRBP)

The HR Business Partner (HRBP), it is proposed, should not have an active role in the following process other than being informed that a new position has been created. It is also anticipated that there will be offline discussions supporting the subsequent system-enabled processes.

Recruiter

The Recruiter is informed that a position has been created. They are responsible to decide when the recruitment activity should start, as well as initiating the Job Requisition process.

The following example includes the recommended settings for these roles in the Position Management processes.

Position Object Permissions

 ManagersHR ManagerRecruiterAdministrators
Miscellaneous Permissions > PositionView Current / Create / View HistoryView Current / Create / Insert / View History / CorrectView Current / View HistoryAll permissions
Target CriteriaOnly Position below their roleWithin their target groupBased on the area they have permissionEveryone / Based on their region (Regional Admins)

Manage Position Permissions

 ManagersHR ManagerRecruiterAdministrators
Access Position Organization ChartYesYesYesYes
Change Display Date of Position Organization ChartYesYesYesYes
Mass Copy of Position in Position Organization Chart   Yes
Option to move Position to New Supervisor on Job Info Change Yes Yes
View Job Requisition in Position Organization ChartYesYesYesYes
Create Requisition from Position Organization Chart YesYesYes
Select Job Requisition Template in Position Organization Chart YesYesYes
Create Position from Position Organization ChartYesYes Yes
Manage Position Management Settings   Yes
Manage Requisition in Position Organization Chart (Only need with recruitment)Yes Yes 
Target PopulationSee all positions below higher-level position Based on the area they have permissionEveryone / Based on their region (Regional Admins)

Set up Role-Based Permissions for Position Management

You must grant role-based permissions for administrators to be able to access the necessary tools. Additionally, you will verify and grant permissions for managers and employees, and give them restricted access to the Position Org Chart.

Note
In the Task 2 of this exercise to verify and grant permissions to Managers and Employees, the expected result is that they cannot see other positions regardless of their target population, but no restrictions would apply yet if the manager (with permission to create positions) would want to create a new position at this stage. In a later exercise you will set CREATE Respects Target Criteria to Yes in the Position Object Definition, which would ensure the target population restrictions are also applied when creating positions.
ExerciseStart Exercise
ExerciseStart Exercise

Task 1: Verify and grant permissions to Administrators

Steps

  1. Verify the permissions for Position field are granted to the administrator role.

    1. Navigate to Manage Permission Roles using Action Search.

    2. Select the System Admin permission role

    3. Select the Permission button.

    4. Under User Permissions, locate and select Employee Central Effective Dated Entities.

    5. On the right-hand navigation panel, scroll down to Job Information and locate the Position field. Ensure that the check boxes for all permissions are selected.

    6. Do not click Done yet and continue to step 2 to check more permissions.

  2. Verify that the administrator has all the permissions granted for Position object.

    1. Under User Permissions, locate and select Miscellaneous Permissions.

    2. On the right-hand navigation panel, locate the Position object. Ensure that the check boxes for all permissions are selected. Do not select Field Level Overrides.

    3. Do not click Done yet and continue to step 3 to check more permissions.

  3. Set up permissions for Position Management for the administrator role

    1. Scroll down to Administrator Permissions, locate and select Manage Position.

    2. On the right-hand navigation panel, choose Select All to switch on all the key permissions in Manage Position.

    3. Do not click Done yet and continue to step 4 to check more permissions.

  4. Set up the required permissions for Position Management related to the Metadata Framework (MDF):

    1. Under Administrator Permissions, locate and select Metadata Framework.

    2. On the right-hand navigation panel, choose Select All to grant access to MDF tools.

    3. Click Done.

    4. Click Save Changes.

Task 2: Verify and grant permissions to Managers and Employees.

Steps

  1. Verify the manager role has the appropriate permissions and grant them access to the Position Org Chart to see and create positions below their hierarchy.

    1. Navigate to Manage Permission Roles using Action Search.

    2. Select the Manager Role permission role

    3. Select the Permission button.

    4. Under User Permissions, locate and select Employee Central Effective Dated Entities.

    5. On the right-hand navigation panel, scroll down to Job Information and ensure the following permissions are according to this table.

      Tip : Remove all Edit/Insert permissions in Job Information first, and enable Edit/Insert permission only for Edit Link and Position rows.

      RowPermission
      Job Information ActionsView Current / View History
      Edit LinkView Current / View History / Edit/Insert
      PositionEdit/Insert
      All other fieldsView Current / View History

    6. Under User Permissions, locate and select Miscellaneous Permissions.

    7. On the right-hand navigation panel, locate the Position object. Select the check boxes for View Current , View History and Create .

    8. Under Administrator Permissions, locate and select Manage Position.

    9. On the right-hand navigation panel, select the Access Position Organization Chart, Change Display Date of Position Organization Chart and Create Position from Position Organization Chart options.

    10. On the Permission Settings pop-up window, choose Done.

    11. On the Permission Role Detail page, scroll down to 3. Grant this role to... and select Edit Granting.

    12. In the Grant this role to... pop up window, locate the section Specify the target population for the other objects and locate Position

    13. Select the Restrict target population to: radio button.

    14. Select the Include access to Position in the hierarchy below the Granted User's Position checkbox. Make sure the options are Parent Position = All level(s) down.

    15. Click Done

    16. Click Save Changes.

  2. Verify the Employee Self Service role has the appropriate permissions and grant them access to the Position Org Chart to see their own position only.

    1. If not already there, navigate to Manage Permission Roles using Action Search.

    2. Select the Employee Self Service permission role

    3. Select the Permission button.

    4. Under User Permissions, locate and select Employee Central Effective Dated Entities.

    5. On the right-hand navigation panel, scroll down to Job Information and ensure the following permission are according to this table. Ignore the other permissions not specified in the table.

      RowPermission
      Job Information ActionsView Current / View History
      Edit LinkNo permissions
      PositionView Current / View History

    6. Under User Permissions, locate and select Miscellaneous Permissions.

    7. On the right-hand navigation panel, locate the Position object. Ensure that only the check boxes for View Current and View History are selected.

    8. Under Administrator Permissions, locate and select Manage Position.

    9. On the right-hand navigation panel, select the Access Position Organization Chart option.

    10. On the Permission Settings pop-up window, choose Done.

    11. On the Permission Role Detail page, scroll down to 3. Grant this role to... and select Edit Granting.

    12. In the Grant this role to... pop up window, locate the section Specify the target population for the other objects and locate Position

    13. Select the Restrict target population to: radio button.

    14. Select the Include access to Position in the hierarchy below the Granted User's Position checkbox. Make sure the options are Parent Position = 1 level(s) down.

    15. Click Done

    16. Click Save Changes.

    17. A warning pop up dialog will remind that you are granting permissions to everyone in the company. You will see a message: The access population is too large. Are you sure you want to proceed?. Click Yes to confirm changes.

    18. Log out and log back into the instance.

  3. Verify your permission changes are effective by testing some users. You can use Marcus Hoff to test your changes in the Manager role, and Harry Wilson to test your changes in the Employee Self Service role.

    1. In the instance as an administrator, go to your name menu and select Proxy Now to proxy as Marcus Hoff.

    2. Navigate to Home → Company Info to access the Position Org Chart and verify that Marcus Hoff can only see positions below their position hierarchy.

    3. Try selecting a date in the past to display the Position Org Chart, you can use 01/01/2012 as an example. Verify there are no positions found, because the positions were created in 07/30/2012.

    4. Select again today's date from the calendar to switch back to the current view and see all the positions again.

    5. Navigate to name menu and select Proxy Now to proxy as Harry Wilson.

    6. Navigate to Home → Company Info to access the Position Org Chart and verify that Harry Wilson can only see their position, and the option to navigate to a different date is not available for this employee.

    7. Navigate to name menu and select Become Self to go back as an administrator.

    8. Navigate to Position Management Settings using Action Search.

    9. Select the Hierarchy Adaption tab and verify that Position Hierarchy is the leading hierarchy as per recommended practice.

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