Integrating SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central Position Management with SAP SuccessFactors Succession Management

Objective

After completing this lesson, you will be able to use the integration between Position Management and Succession Management to streamline succession planning.

Introduction to Succession Management

Succession shares multiple purposes for talent management strategies. A typical short-term strategy is to identify emergency replacements for critical positions. A longer-term strategy is to build nominations or successors by flagging your high potential/ high performers. Successors within Succession are typically current employees. However, with the integration to Recruiting, SAP Fieldglass and Employee Central (EC) Position Management, external candidates or contingent workers may be highlighted as well. Succession uses many tools to assist in the nomination process.

Benefits of EC Position Management in Succession Management

When combining Employee Central with Position Management, Succession benefits in the following ways:

  • Utilizing MDF Position Nomination Method which is the leading practice
  • Inheriting the position setup and data field options inside of the Succession tools
  • Sharing the Position Object with Position Management and the Position Org Chart
  • Allowing for multiple incumbent assignments or selection within the Succession tools
  • Streamlining accuracy of position details with integrations to Succession, Recruiting, Job Profile Builder or SAP Fieldglass
  • Managing MDF Positions directly within Employee Central Position Management

Caution

If you're using Employee Central to manage your positions, then you should only use MDF position-based nominations. In this situation, the same position object is shared between Employee Central and Succession Planning.

Succession Management tools related to Positions

Within Succession Management, there are many tools referencing or pulling data stored within Employee Central (EC) or the People Profile areas. Based on the configuration of Employee Central Position Management, the fields and information like foundation objects, generic objects, position job code, and multiple incumbent listings may vary. However, the overall usage and capabilities of the tools are similar to other Succession configuration options and the determination / setup of such tools are the responsibility of the Succession Implementation Team.

Note

The following learning journey includes all the relevant information about the Succession Management tools Configuring SAP SuccessFactors Succession Management.

Additionally, you can check the guide available in the SAP Help Portal: Implementing and Managing Succession

Position Tile

The Position Tile displays incumbents and successors by position versus organizational hierarchy. This allows the succession planner to focus on nomination or successor gaps based on the position data like multiple incumbents, successors, critical positions and top talent. This tool is only available with the recommended MDF Position Nomination method.

Screenshot of SAP SuccessFactors Position Tile view under Position Management displaying multiple Production Director tiles with top talent details.

Lineage Chart

The main purpose of the lineage chart is to identify the impact when a successor becomes an incumbent.  When that happens a vacancy is created in the successor's former position that also must be filled.  This domino effect can be seen clearly in the lineage chart.

Screenshot of the SAP SuccessFactors Lineage Chart displaying hierarchical succession planning with nominees, roles, and tenure information.

Talent Pools

Since Recruiting Management is discussed in this course as well, it is critical to distinguish between the Talent Pools of Succession and the Talent Pools of Recruiting. At this time, these two tools share the same name but do not share any connectivity or mutual functionality. Talent Pools within Succession create the opportunity of grouping talent by categories, departments, certifications, education or related sets for the purposes of succession planning.

Within a particular talent pool, information like the readiness level and approval status are captured for quick reference. For Positions that are associated with talent pools, successors can be added directly from the position cards in the Succession Org Chart or the Position Tile view.

Screenshot of SAP SuccessFactors Talent Pools displaying Executive Management nominees, their job titles, readiness status as Ready Now, and approval status.
Screenshot of succession planning for the Generative AI Engineer role, showing named successors, readiness statuses, and nomination details.

Talent Search

The talent search is a very powerful way to evaluate the Employee Central or Profile information of employees. When Employee Central Position Management is engaged, the basic and advanced information options expand based on the field configuration of the system.

Screenshot of SAP SuccessFactors Talent Search interface displaying filters like department, job classification, position, and advanced search options.

Configuration Strategies within Succession Management

There are two types of implementation scenarios that can occur when implementing EC Position Management with Success Management:

  1. Customer goes live with EC Position Management prior to Succession. For the purpose of this course, we will focus on this scenario
  2. Customer is live with Succession prior to the Implementation of EC Position Management.

    In this scenario, additional steps may be needed based on the configuration decisions made during the Succession implementation.  For example, customers not using the MDF Position Nomination Method will have to consider the impact of moving to this nomination method.

Position Object in Succession and Position Org Chart

Succession View

The position object setup and configuration information can be seen from many succession tools. With the proper permissions, one may access the position record via the succession org chart by clicking on the three line icon in the position card.

SAP SuccessFactors interface showing details for HR Administrator role, including position code, title, start date, company, and department.

Additionally, from the Position Tile view it is possible to create and edit positions.

SAP SuccessFactors interface displaying Account Manager position details, including title, code, start date, company, department, and location.

Recruiting to Succession Integration when using EC Position Management

Steps to Integrate Recruiting to Succession

When Recruiting is implemented, the system administrator may activate the integration to Succession. If desired, do the following:

  1. Navigate to Nominations Setup using Action Search.
  2. Find the option Allow succession planners with recruiting candidate search permissions to nominate external candidates".
  3. Enable the checkbox and click Save.

When the procedure is completed, the area should look as shown. Also, be sure to grant the permission referenced in step 2 to the necessary role in role-based permissions within Manage Permission Roles to complete the steps. Once completed, this user will have the ability to nominate external candidates within the Succession Org Chart and other tools.

Changes with Succession after integration with Recruiting

Once the integration between Succession and Recruiting is activated, succession planners can nominate an external candidate to a position within the Succession Org Chart.

  1. Navigate to Succession Org Chart from Home → Succession, or type View succession org chart in Action Search.
  2. Search by Positions and locate the position of your choice.
  3. Click on the position to see the Add Successor button
  4. Select External Candidates and type in name of candidate
  5. Choose the candidate to nominate and click Save.

If the succession planner has the approval permissions, all nominees will become successors. Below are the options you can select when using the procedure.

SAP SuccessFactors succession planning for HR Business Office Director showing internal and external candidate details, including names, emails, and ratings.

Creating a Candidate

SAP SuccessFactors interface showing Add Candidate form for the HR Business Office Director position, capturing name, email, and location.

Create a Job Requisition

One additional option with the Succession Org Chart is available when you click the three-line icon on the position card. This presents the possibility to create a new requisition. However, the leading practice is to create a requisition from the position org chart for consistency and maintenance of data. The View Role Details option appears in the Position Card when using Job Profile Builder.

Additionally when EC Position Management is integrated with Recruiting Management and Succession Management, more data can be made available in the Talent Card. The recruiting management sm-mapping option makes more data available to People Profile.

SAP SuccessFactors menu options for HR Business Office Director, including creating job requisitions, viewing lineage charts, and editing position details.

CPT Code

In order to achieve this sync functionality between the Candidate Profile and the People Profile, the Candidate Profile Template (CPT) and the Succession Data Model must first have matching background elements within the code. Typically, we grab the existing code from the Succession Data Model, copy it and paste it into the CPT. Then, we use the sm-mapping code to connect the two elements as shown.

After the code is loaded into Provisioning or modified from Manage Templates, the end user may begin using this element in the Candidate Profile if given the correct permissions.

Note

This step can be done as well from Manage Templates if you don't have Provisioning access.

XML code snippet showing field mappings for languages, outsideWorkExperience, education, and certificates within a data integration configuration.

Information Block

Also, an information block can be added to People Profile using Configure People Profile.

SAP SuccessFactors interface for Formal Education details, capturing From Date, End Date, and School with the option to add more.

SAP SuccessFactors Formal Education section under Talent Profile, displaying fields for From Date, End Date, School, and Major.

Once the data is placed into People Profile, companies may also wish to use it in the Succession Talent Card. To achieve this, use the following procedure:

  1. Navigate to Manage Talent Card using Action Search.
  2. Click Succession Talent Card to configure the layout.
  3. Scroll down and click on Add Section.
  4. Select the background element to add and click Next
  5. Select which fields from the background element you want to display and click Save when finished.
Succession Talent Card displaying Carla Wu's details, including Formal Education with degrees, schools, and graduation years, plus an option to add sections.

This synchronization allows changes made in Recruiting to reflect in the Succession Talent Card.

Aanya Singh's profile card in SAP SuccessFactors showing sections for skills, performance, potential, and Formal Education with no records.

And lastly, if the information is modified within Succession, it will be relayed over in People Profile as well as the Candidate Profile.

Summary

Some of the key takeaways of this lesson are:

  • When using Succession Management with EC Position Management, the MDF-Based Position nomination method is the leading practice.
  • The position setup and data field options are inherited in the Succession tools. Succession planners can display details about the position from the same Succession Org Chart and create and edit positions from the Position Tile view directly.
  • External candidates from Recruiting can be nominated to be successors for a position, with the integration point between Succession and Recruiting.

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