Importing Successors

To receive an overview of Data and Nomination History, watch this video:

The Import Successor feature allows you to add, update, delete, and transfer successors using a csv file. The csv file could contain successors from your external HRIS, or you can use Import Successors to maintain succession data after changing your nomination method.

Importing Successors is a 3-step process:

1. Download the Import Successors Template.
2. Fill in the data that you wish to import, and the ACTION the import will be performing.
   • Based on the Action Type, enter the minimum required fields for a successful import.
3. Import the Successors.

The import template is dynamically generated based on the succession nomination method being used in the application. This happens because you need different fields to update nomination data, depending on your nomination method. All template examples shown, unless noted differently, are for the MDF Nomination Method.

To download the successor import template:

1. To navigate to Import Successors, use Action Search.
2. Choose Export Template. The template can then be opened from the downloaded location.

There are four actions available using Import Successors:

• ADD: Adds the successor nominee to a position.
• TRANSFER: Transfers the successor from one position to another.
• UPDATE: Updates the data for the successor nominee. For example, you can mass update/change readiness levels.
• DELETE: Removes a nominee from a position.

Which fields will be filled out in the template depends on the ACTION you’ll be performing. The fields within the MDF nomination import template are as follows:

• GENERIC_POSITION_CODE: Define the position code of the position that is being affected with the import. This field is required for all Position additions, updates, deletions, and transfers. It is not necessary for changes to Talent pools.
• OLD_GENERIC_POSITION_CODE: If a nominee is being transferred from one position to another, enter the OLD position code from which the nominee is transferring.
• POOL_CODE: Define the Talent Pool code if editing nominees in a Talent Pool.
• OLD_POOL_CODE: If a nominee is being transferred from one Talent Pool to another, enter the OLD Talent Pool code from which the nominee is transferring.
• EMERGENCY_COVER: Designate a successor as an Emergency Cover. You can see it in the template if you've enabled the emergency cover feature in the Nominations Setup admin tool.
• READINESS: Define the readiness level for the nominee being imported, using the Readiness Score number (from the Rating Scale) and not the label. This field is required for successor nominations, and for Talent Pool nominations if the Talent Pool is set up with readiness enabled.
• SUCCESSOR_USERID: Define the ID of the successor. This field is required for the ADD or UPDATE actions. For TRANSFER or DELETE actions, if you leave this field empty, the action affects all existing successors and pending successors.
• NOTE: Enter a note to be included in the nomination.
• RANKING: Define the rank of the nominee. This field is optional. You can see it in the template if you've enabled successor ranking in the Nominations Setup admin tool.
• ACTION: Define the ACTION that the import is performing.

Once your data is entered into the template, you import the CSV file to make the changes to the succession plans. To import successors:

1. To navigate to Import Successors, use Action Search.
2. Select Choose File and browse to the location of your succession import template.
3. Choose Import Successors.

There are two key aspects of the Import Successors feature:

1. Identifying which incumbent/position you are trying to add successors to or modify existing nominations. For Import Successors to work properly, you must provide information to allow the system to identify to which incumbent/position you are trying to add successors or modify nominations.
2. Identifying what you want to do to the nominations (action) and the nomination information (who is the successor and what is the associated readiness/ranking values).

The behavior of the succession import is going to differ depending on the ACTION that is being performed.

When the import is completed, you receive an e-mail informing you of the status of the import job. If there are entries that haven't been imported successfully, the e-mail notification includes details about each failed line item, including recommendations for how to resolve the issue.

The notification speeds up all successor import processing and self-service troubleshooting for admin users. Typical errors often include invalid position codes, invalid talent pool codes, invalid user IDs, and others.

You can fix any issues and import the same file again. Any actions that have already been performed will be ignored on subsequent imports.

When using the Role-Person nomination method, the nominations (successors) are lost when the employee changes their Job Code. How can you keep this information?

When using the Role-Person nomination method, the nominations (successors) are stored in the database with a combination of UserID+Job Code. Therefore, when the employee changes their Job Code, the nominations (successors) associated with the old Job Code are no longer available.

When you identify there has been a Job Code change and you would like to maintain the succession plans for the employee, BEFORE the Job Code change you can use the Import Successors feature to transfer the nominations from the old Job Code to the new Job Code.

To transfer the nominations:

1. To navigate to Import Successors, use Action Search.
2. Choose Export Template and then open the exported CSV file.
3. Enter data into the following columns:
   • JOBCODE: New (current) Job Code
   • INCUMBENT_USERID: Employee’s UserID
   • OLD_JOBCODE: Old (previous) Job Code
   • OLD_INCUMBENT_USERID: Employee’s UserID
   • ACTION: TRANSFER
4. Save the CSV file.
5. From the Import Successors page, select Choose File and browse to the location of the CSV file.
6. Choose Import Successors.

You receive an e-mail with the import status, and then you should see the nominations associated with the employee’s new Job Code.