How to create advanced reports in Onboarding? How to schedule data extracts in Onboarding?

[Suresh_Jain1]

Introduction

SAP Successfactors Onboarding 1.0 is not a source system for HRIS data, hence there are not many documentation or great reporting capabilities within Onboarding 1.0, But It is very important for the integration to be able to run some critical extracts and advance reports for meeting legal and day to day business requirements.

Through this blog, I am trying to explain how a user can create an Onboarding report and schedule data extracts from Onboarding to downstream systems. I will also try to cover common issues that you can face and how to troubleshoot them.

There are couple of KBAs that provide details about Onboarding Reports, but the information is scattered and not connecting the dots from start to end of the process.

Following the below steps in sequence will help in building a successful report/extract

• Check Report Permission


• Download Data Dictionary


• Validate Keys in Data Dictionary


• Create Tag and assign keys


• Create Advance Report


• Create Data Extract

Procedure

Step #1 – Check the authorization to make sure you are able to access Report Center in Onboarding.

Standard security guideline is to have a permission group specially created for report permission. Onboarding does not support any security based on data elements or panel. Once the user gets access to the onboarding report center, he or she can access new hire onboarding, Crossboarding or Offboarding data. How to create permission group…

1. 
   

   Create Permission Group

   
   Path: Onboarding > Security > Groups

I will suggest creating the permission group with role type as User hence it does not get any other administrative permission.

2. Assign Users to Groups

Path: Onboarding > Security > Assign Users to Groups

1. 
   
   
   
   • Select Group from the drop-down.
   
   
   • Enter employee first or last name and click search.
   
   
   • Select the employee and click the left arrow to move from Unassigned Users to Assigned Users.
   
   
   
   

If Onboarding is integrated with BizX, please use User Sync and Permission Sync report to manage the RBP via one central place.

Step #2 – Download the Data Dictionary of the Onboarding Application

The Data Dictionary contains all of the fields that are used in SuccessFactors Onboarding and for the Recruiting and Employee Central integrations.

Path to download the data dictionary
On/Offboarding > Settings > Data Dictionary > Export All



Please make sure you do not modify the standard delivered Tag and associated data fields.

For reporting create your custom tag as per customer requirements and assign the data fields to the custom tag. Tags function like folders to organize and categorize the fields. Data Fields can appear in multiple tags and can be copied to multiple tags by the Onboarding Administrator.

Step #3 – If Data Fields is missing in Data Dictionary

There are couple of incidents like federal panels, where you cannot find the associated data fields/keys. In such scenarios reach out to your implementation partner or SAP Successfactors and ask for the reference fields/Keys details.

How to find the keys of a data field?
Only certified consultant can access this following below steps in super admin
Path: Home > Accounts > Manage HRData
Search an employee record and should be able to find the Key with value.



Once you have the text of the data fields/Keys, create the field with the same naming convention in the data dictionary.
Example: Add data field ‘EmployeeLogin’. This field contains the personnel number of a new hire.

In Data Dictionary, click the new field, a popup window will come, enter the data field name, label and description.
Fields are case sensitive hence make sure you have the correct key information.



If the field is already in the data dictionary, the system will give an error message.

Step #4 – Create a Tag and assign keys

I will suggest creating a Tag in Data Dictionary with the report name and assign all data fields to the tag. This will help in the selection of right data fields and only needed keys will be listed while building the report. It will save a lot of energy and time in finding the fields and avoid the errors.

Path: Onboarding Dashboard > Settings > Data Dictionary > Export Categories > New Tag
You can create the tag in any namespaces, but I will suggest using Integration. Since this is the only one available for data extracts from onboarding.

1. Click New Tag which will open a new window and provide a new Tag name.


2. In below screen print, I have provided Tag name – NewHire_BiographicalData. You can provide the tag name per your project naming convention.
   


3. Add fields to the Tag, click on the folder name ‘Fields’. A new popup window will show up.


4. Make sure namespace and tag are correct on the new window.


5. Enter field name, select the field and click the forward arrow to move to the right section. Below screen print for reference where the field ‘FirstName’ is being searched.


6. Repeat this process for every field/key. Super admin access would be required for this process.
   

Step #5 – Create an advance report

Please make a list of all the data fields which you like to report out from Onboarding Application. Make sure you are able to find them in the Data Dictionary. If they are missing, please go back to step #3.

Import Note - As part of the system design, the Advanced Report uses the key names as a header of the generated report. The report does not display the Label or Description of the key in the report header.

Path: Onboarding Dashboard > Reports > Advance Report

1. In the Reports tab, click on the Advance Reports and click on the icon ‘Create’
   


2. Report parameters – field definitions
   
   
   
   
   1. Report Name - Enter Report Name per project naming convention
   
   
   2. Report Scope - Select the project scope. Keep in mind every user who got the access to Report Tab of the Onboarding application can access all data elements of every new hire.
      
      
      
      1. Public – This report will be visible for all user who can access Onboarding Report
      
      
      2. Private – Apart from you, only users who got Proxy access can run this report
      
      
      
      
   
   
   3. Based on Template – If you have a template with already selected keys, click this checkbox.
   
   
   4. Report Template – Select from the drop down the available Template.
   
   
   
   Template is a collection of the data fields/keys. This saves time in selecting each key for the report. Once you have the template with all keys, you can use this for additional reports


3. Select report fields – Click next and you will be asked to select the listed keys which will be part of the report output.
   If you need to add any new data fields, click the three dotted line shown below and in the select HR data key section enter and find a new field.
   
   
   You can also search the field/key using tag filter shown below.
   Select the Filter by Tag.
   If you have created the Tag in step 4.1, select from the drop down and select the key.
   Note - There is no option to select multiple keys at once. User will have to select one field at a time and make sure to click the icon ‘Add Field’.
   The report output will be based on the sequence of the fields as they are selected. The sequence can be changed with the help of icon ‘Move Up and Move down’.


4. Set Report Filter – There are number of options to filter the report output as needed.
   
   
   
   
   1. Process – Select the process example- onboarding, offboarding etc.
   
   
   2. Date Type – Select the time period based on the date type (start date vs Activity creation date)
   
   
   3. Select Field – Select the key to filter the data and use the operator as per need
   
   
   
   Example: Onboarding hire date should be more than 01/01/2019 or employee login (number range) is more than 10000000.


5. Save Report as Template - You can now save the current report as a template. This helps to use the existing Template for future report building.
   


6. Now you are able to execute the Report.
   It will take a few seconds/minutes to finish the execution of the report based on the data fields selection and volume of the data.Once finished ‘double click the report name’ and download the report output in excel.
   

Step #6 – Schedule the extract from Onboarding

Advanced Reports cannot be scheduled and will not run automatically. This is a limitation of the advance reports of the Onboarding Tool.

There is an option to extract the data from Onboarding via schedule job. This option is used for integration with SAP ECC or any other HR system of record. The Custom New Hire Data Export Feature is a job at the back end of Onboarding (Super Admin) which enables the application to send a file with a master data record in a CSV or XML format.

This is a good option to send only the delta file at the place sending the data dump.

Only one file can be sent per hour from the Onboarding system. This is system limitation hence a total of 24 files in a day can be generated.

Onboarding system can send the file to SFTP or FTP location. Based on your requirements after the process step is completed, the hourly job collects all transaction data and send the CSV or XML format file to a directory defined in the system configuration. The receiving end can process the file through middleware or manually download from SFTP location.

Note: Please reach out to SAP SuccessFactors support team via ticket for SFTP credentials and to schedule a job in Super Admin of Onboarding Tool.

Prerequisites - Make sure you have the following information and system settings.

1. You are able to access Data Dictionary of the Onboarding
   Path: Onboarding Dashboard > Settings > Data Dictionary


2. List of Custom Tag and Mapped Keys


3. Implementation Partner should check to make sure ‘CustomNewHireExportFeature’ is enabled in Super Admin.

Here are the steps to schedule the job:

1. Create a Tag in the integration of namespace in the data dictionary. Give the tag name per your project naming standards. As you see I have created one below in the screenshot as “Biographical_Data”
   
   


2. Once the tag is created, assign keys to tag by moving the fields to the right section using a forward arrow. You can rearrange the fields by icon Up and Down if needed.
   
   


3. Create custom status
   Note: This step can only be processed by SAP Successfactors Support team or Implementation Partner.
   
   
   
   1. Login to Super Admin and select the account name.
   
   
   2. Select the process and step
   
   
   3. Select Assign Actions and click Add Action
   
   
   4. Define the action properties per below screen print.
      
      
      
      1. Parameters should be based on customer naming standards.
      
      
      
      
   
   
   
   


4. Activate CustomNewHireExportFeature in Super AdminNote: This step can only be processed by SAP Successfactors Support team or Implementation Partner.
   
   
   
   1. Select Features and click CustomNewHireDataExportFeature under Integrations
   
   
   
   


5. Create new custom export and schedule
   Note: This step can only be processed by SAP Successfactors Support team or Implementation Partner.
   
   
   
   1. Select the hours in the schedule
   
   
   2. Enter the email address to receive notification in case job with any issue
   
   
   3. Enter the parameters (refer to the screen print)
      
      
      
      1. Provide Custom Status Name
      
      
      2. Provide Custom Status Value
      
      
      3. Select the Tag in the dropdown in the field set
      
      
      4. Method – Select SFTP or FTP
      
      
      5. In the case of SFTP - Provide SFTP login information and folder structure
      
      
      6. File Format – CSV or XML document
      
      
      7. If you want custom headers for each key, select the checkbox and provide the name for the custom header separated by a comma
      
      
      8. Provide the name of the file
      
      
      9. At the end click Save and Activate.
      
      
      
      
   
   
   
   
   
   I hope this blog helps to understand the principal of Onboarding Tool and how to write the Onboarding, Crossboarding or Offboarding reports.
   
   Please provide your feedback and I will try to improve and incorporate your suggestions.
   
   I will be glad to help you in resolving any issues with Successfactors solution. I can be reached at skype id ‘talk2jain’.
   
   Have a nice day.
   

   Related Knowledge Base Articles for reference

   
   
   
   
   • KBA #2698674 - How to delete an Onboarding Advanced Reports in Onboarding?
   
   
   • KBA #2082711 - Want to know more information about available reports that administrators can generate?
   
   
   • KBA #2423857 - Understand why exported report shows data keys as header and not their field name
   
   
   
   
   
   
   • KBA #2161955 - How to create the advance report.
   
   
   • KBA #2349970 - Custom New Hire Data Export Feature - Onboarding 1.0
   
   
   • KBA #2278872 - The User Sync between Employee Central/BizX and Onboarding Application.
   
   
   • KBA #2278836 - The User Permission Sync between Employee Central/BizX and Onboarding Application.
   
   
   • KBA #2441649 - How to Run A Onboarding Reports That Captures The Time Spent In Each Step – Onboarding
   
   
   • KBA #2442968 - How to enable the Onboarding domain in reporting