Configuring Picklists in SAP SuccessFactors Suite

As an administrator, you have been asked to create a new pronoun picklist to comply with the company’s diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.

A picklist is a configurable set of options that a user can select, typically in a dropdown menu. As an administrator, you can define the picklists used in the SAP SuccessFactors system to limit the values that a user can enter in a form. In this way, you simplify the users' task and also prevent them from entering an invalid value.

SAP SuccessFactors systems have many common picklists configured by default or created during implementation. As an SAP SuccessFactors administrator, you can create or update any picklist.

This figure shows a pronouns picklist in SAP SuccessFactors showing the user view and the administrator view (frame on the right-hand side).

Picklists can also have a "parent-child" relationship, in which options in the child picklist are associated with options in the parent picklist. These are commonly called "cascading picklists."

For example, when users choose a company car, they might need to select a model from a specific make. Rather than have one exceptionally lengthy list of all the available car models, you want the options in the model picklist to depend on the car make's selection.

If a user chooses Audi as the car maker, they get to choose from models specific to Audi; if they choose Ford, the models will be limited to Ford models, and so on.

In this figure, the user chooses first the car make and then the car model.

In this way, users can only choose a model within their selected car make, which significantly helps data entry.

You would set up the Car Make picklist as the "parent" and each corresponding model picklist as its "children".

The figure shows an Administrator view of a cascading picklist.

As an administrator, you can manage picklists using one of the following tools:

• Picklist Center - Use this tool for managing picklists one at a time.
• Import and Export Data - Use this tool for managing picklists in bulk.

Before doing any administrative work that includes managing picklists, make sure that you have the proper permissions.

In this case, you should have the permissions to:

• Configure Object Definitions

  and

• Import Permission on Metadata Framework

You will configure the picklists in two steps: the first is to create the picklist, and the second is to assign the picklist to a field.

Follow the procedure below for a detailed description of each step.

In addition, you can watch a demonstration of the whole process in a simulation of the system.

1. Log in to SAP SuccessFactors. Using the Action Search, go to the Picklist Center.
2. Select + Create a New Picklist. Fill out the fields as follows:

   Field	Value
   Code	PersonPronouns
   Name	PersonPronouns
   Status	Active
   Effective Start Date	January 1, 1990

3. Save your changes.
4. Select + Add New Value. Fill out the fields as follows:

   Field	Value
   External Code	She/Her
   Label	She/Her

5. Choose Create.
6. Select + Add New Value. Fill out the fields as follows:

   Field	Value
   External Code	He/Him
   Label	He/Him

7. Choose Create.
8. Select + Add New Value. Fill out the fields as follows:

   Field	Value
   External Code	They/Them
   Label	They/Them

9. Choose Create.

1. Assign the picklist to a field in the data model.
2. Using Action Search, go to Manage Business Configuration.
3. Go to Employee Profile → Standard → Pronouns.
4. Select Take Action → Make Correction.
5. Type Pronouns in both the Label and Default Label attributes.
6. In the Enabled attribute, choose Yes.
7. In the Picklist attribute, choose Person Pronouns.
8. Save your changes.

You can see the above procedure in a demonstration using a system simulation:

You now have gained a clear understanding of the actions that an administrator takes to configure picklists in a SAP SuccessFactors system.

Picklists in SAP SuccessFactors