Tell us what you think

We want to create the best possible experience for our learners. Your feedback helps us to improve the experience for everyone.

Creating Custom Email Templates

Objectives

After completing this lesson, you will be able to:

Create email templates in Email Services
Define business rules for email templates

Manage Email Templates in SAP SuccessFactors Onboarding

Email Services in SAP SuccessFactors Onboarding provides a set of preconfigured email templates. You can use preconfigured templates or create new templates, depending on the organization’s requirements. You can also activate or deactivate email templates.

To manage the templates, carry out the following steps.

Steps

In the instance, navigate to Email Services using the Action Search bar.
On the Active Email Templates tab, choose Manage Template.

Result

The Manage Email template page displays the entire list of email templates. This list includes templates that are preconfigured, user-defined, active, and inactive.

If a template is selected, it has already been added to the active list of templates.

The following table lists different actions you can carry out in the Manage Email template section.

Action	Steps
Remove a template	Deselect that template from the active list of templates.
Add a new email template	Choose New Template (the plus icon), then select Create New Template.
Reuse a preconfigured email template	Choose New Template (the plus icon), then select Reuse Template.
Create a copy of an email template	Under Action, choose Copy next to the corresponding email template. When creating a copy of a template, you can choose to disable the source template.
Delete an email template	Under Action, choose Delete next to the corresponding email template. If you delete a copy of a preconfigured email template, you can add it to your active list of templates again by reusing the template from the list of preconfigured templates. However, any customizations made to the former template will be lost.
Apply a filter criteria to the list of email templates	Choose Filter (the funnel icon).
Apply a sort criteria to the list of email templates	Choose Sort (the two arrows icon).
Open an email template to review or edit	Under Template Title, choose the name of the email template.

Email Template Settings

Many organizations use customized email notifications during the onboarding process. This allows them to send specific messages or instructions to the relevant people to complete assigned tasks. This provides onboarding participants with more visibility, in addition to what is displayed on the Onboarding Dashboard or the home page of the SAP SuccessFactors HCM Suite.

The following table lists the template settings that you can modify when customizing an existing template or creating a new email template.

Template Settings

Name	Description
Category	Select a category from the dropdown menu. A category represents a template group and defines rules for email attributes, such as recipients and content.
Template Title	Provide a unique template name.
Template Description	Provide a template description.
Trigger	Select a value from the dropdown menu that serves as a trigger condition for the email notification.
Setup Reminder	Select this option to configure reminder messages.
Set reminder before the due date	Select this option to configure the process of sending reminder messages, before the due date. If not selected, reminders are not always sent after the due date. The configuration of Set reminder after the due date is independent of Set reminder before the due date.
Frequency of reminders in days	Enter a numeric value for the time span between reminders sent before the due date. This option is considered only if Set reminder before the due date is selected.
Number of reminders to be sent	Enter a numeric value for the maximum number of generated reminder messages. If this value is set to 0, messages are generated until the due date.
Send reminder 1 day before the due date	Select this option to send a reminder message one day before the due date.
Set reminder after due date	Select this option to configure the process of sending reminder messages after the due date.
Frequency of reminders in days	Enter a numeric value for the time span between reminder messages sent after the due date.
Until, number of times (count), reminders to be sent	Enter a numeric value for the maximum number of generated reminders. This option is considered only if Set reminder after due date is selected.
Until number of days, reminder to be sent	Enter a numeric value that is the maximum number of days, reminders will be sent after the due date. This option is only considered in relation to the Set reminder after due date configuration.
Filter Business Rule	Select a business rule to evaluate a precondition before triggering a notification. When there are multiple templates with the same trigger, the business rule acts as a filter to choose the right template. For more information about creating business rules for setting message language, see Creating a Business Rule for Filtering Email Templates \| SAP Help Portal.
Language Selection Business Rule	Select a business rule from the dropdown menu to dynamically set the language of the notification. For more information about creating business rules for setting message language, see Creating a Business Rule for Selecting Message Locale \| SAP Help Portal
Priority	Select a value that determines the priority of the email. By default, this value is set to LOW.
Email Subject	Provide an introduction that defines the intent of the email.
Body Text	Provide information that is intended to be shared with the email recipient.
Global Footer	Provide an email footer that reflects in all emails globally. Because the Global Footer is editable, it shows the last modified date value along with the ID of the user who has modified the footer.

Create a New Hire Welcome Email Notification

Business Example

The organization would like to create a different onboarding experience for their new hires in Poland, starting with the first email they receive.

In this exercise, you will create a new welcome email template that will be sent to new hires after the onboarding process is initiated.

ExerciseStart Exercise

Steps

In the instance, navigate to Email Services using the Action Search bar.
To create a new email template, choose New Template (the plus icon) and select Create New Template.
For the Category, select External User Welcome Message Category.
For the Template Title, enter New Hire Welcome Message for Poland.
To move to the next page of email template settings, select Step 2.
For the Trigger, select (ONB) External User Welcome Message Trigger.
Set the Priority to High.
To move to the last section of email settings, select Step 3. Leave the recipient settings as they are because the details of the new hire will be automatically populated. Skip to the message or email content.
For the Email Subject, enter Welcome [[FirstName]] [[LastName]]!. To add the FirstName and LastName fields individually, choose + Insert Token.
For the Body Text, enter the following message:
Welcome [[FirstName]]! We are delighted that you are joining our team in Poland!
To start your onboarding process please access our HR system using the details below:
[[LoginUrl]]
[[PasswordResetUrl]]
To save the new email template, choose Save.

Configure Email Triggers

SAP SuccessFactors Onboarding has a set of preconfigured email triggers that you can use while configuring email notifications.

While predefined email triggers are not customizable, you can create new email triggers.

To configure email triggers, carry out the following steps.

Steps

In the instance, navigate to Email Services using the Action Search bar.
On the Configure Triggers tab, you can choose from the list of available triggers:
- To view the details of an email trigger, choose Details (paper icon) under Action.
- To create an email trigger, choose Add New Trigger (the plus icon).
- To apply a filter criteria, choose Filter (funnel icon).
- To apply a sort criteria, choose Sort (two arrows icon).

Result

You have created an email trigger.

Configure Email Categories

Each email template in Email Services belongs to a particular email category. These categories allow you to identify which process, step, feature, or function an email will be used for. They are also what trigger emails, with or without the use of business rules. Categories are preconfigured and partially customizable. Multiple email templates can be configured for one email category.

To configure email categories, carry out the following steps.

Steps

In the instance, navigate to Email Services using the Action Search bar.
On the Email Categories tab, you can choose from the list of available email categories:
- To edit an existing email category, under the Action column, choose Edit.
- To create an email category, choose New Category (the plus icon).
- To apply a filter criteria, choose Filter.
- To apply a sort criteria, choose Sort.

Result

You have configured email categories.

Business Rules in Email Services

In some situations, you may need to trigger multiple notifications. In other situations, you might need to determine the locale of the recipient before sending out notifications. For these and other types of situations, you can create business rules with specific conditions and apply these rules to your email templates. Notifications will trigger if they satisfy the conditions specified in the business rules.

Available Business Rules in Email Services

For Email Services for SAP SuccessFactors Onboarding, the following business rules scenarios are available:

Add Dynamic Documents as Email Attachments
Add Static Documents as Email Attachments
Filter Email Template
Select Email Message Locale

The Email Services section is highlighted on the Configure Business Rules page.

To add more flexibility to business rule conditions when triggering email templates, you can also use the Trigger Email Notification for Onboarding Processes rule function. With this rule function, you can use the steps in the onboarding processes to trigger emails. For example, you can trigger an email when the Personal Data Collection step is completed by a new hire.

For more details, you can read more about Creating a Business Rule to Trigger an Email Notification When the Personal Data Collection Step is Completed on SAP Help Portal.

Document Attachments on Email Notifications

You can add dynamic or static documents as attachments to email notification templates. To do this, use the following business rules:

Add Dynamic Documents as Email Attachments — This is used to attach a document that contains data customized for the new hire based on the data captured from the onboarding process.
Add Static Documents as Email Attachments — This is used to attach a document that contains data unchanged regardless of the new hire.

Configure Business Rule for Selecting Message Locale

Steps

In the instance, navigate to Configure Business Rules.
Choose + (Add new rule).
Under the Email Services category, select the Select Email Message Locale rule scenario.
Enter a value for Rule Name and Rule ID, and select a Start Date.
The Rule ID automatically adds the value entered in the Rule Name. However, it can be changed.
From the drop-down menu, select the Email Category.
The business rule will apply to the selected Email Category.
To create a business rule, choose Continue.
The business rule base object is automatically selected as per the base object of the target email category.
Define the If condition.
When defining the business rule, all the objects and properties associated with the base object are available.
Based on the outcome of the If condition, define the Then condition by setting the EmailMessage.locale attribute to a value that will be the language of the notification.
Choose Save.

Result

You have created a business rule for selecting message locale.

Next Steps

After creating the business rule, you can assign the business rule to an email template’s settings.

Note

To configure business rules for attaching documents to email templates, follow the same steps used for selecting message locale except for the following steps:

In step 3, select the Add Dynamic Documents as Email Attachments or Add Static Documents as Email Attachments rule scenario.
In step 8, define the Then condition by setting or identifying the document you want to attach to the email.

After creating this business rule, to define when to trigger the email, assign the business rule to an email template.

Add static documents as email attachments on the Docs for New Hire page.

Define a Business Rule to Set the Condition for Your New Email Template

Business Example

In this exercise, you will create and define a business rule that sets the condition for triggering the new email template you created specifically for new hires in Poland. This business rule must also be assigned to the email template.

ExerciseStart Exercise

Steps

In the instance, navigate to Business Rules using Action Search bar.
From the search results, select Business Rules and the Business Rules page should open.
To create a new business rule, choose Create New Rule (the plus icon) .
Select the Email Services scenario category.
Select the Filter Email Template scenario.
For the initial settings of the business rule, carry out the following steps:
1. In the Rule Name field, enter New Hire Welcome Email for Poland.
2. In the Email Category drop-down menu, select (ONB) External User Welcome Message Category.
All other fields will populate automatically (such as the Rule ID field) or do not need to be changed (such as the Start Date field).
For the If condition, select Process.User.JobInformation.Country/Region → is equal to → Poland.
To save the new business rule, choose Save.
In the Action Search bar, enter Email Services.
From the search results, select Email Services.
The Email Services page opens.
Search for and open your New Hire Welcome Message for Poland email template.
Go to Step 2.
Under Filter Business Rules, select New Hire Welcome for Poland.
Go to Step 3.
To save the changes to your email template, choose Save.

Result

The New hire Welcome for Poland email will be triggered for all new hires in Poland.

Next lesson