SAP SuccessFactors Classic Reporting

The SAP SuccessFactors suite has a classic framework for creating reports and analytics to fulfill various reporting needs across the suite. Most of these tools straight out of the box, enabling users—with minimal technical expertise—to quickly and easily create reports based on data from the system's standard fields. Let’s go through the options and when they are relevant.

Tiles and Dashboards

Tiles and Dashboards allow you to create simple visualizations based on performance, goals, succession, and employee profile data. These visualizations can be combined in dashboards that can be accessed from Report Center. These are simple-to-use dashboards aimed at ensuring that your talent processes can be monitored, and issues identified in real-time. Examples include the Performance & Goal Management Dashboard, Competency Dashboard, and Recruiting Dashboard.

The target users are line managers and HR users in your organization. This feature is available out of the box in SuccessFactors, although it must be enabled and granted permissions through Role-Based Permissions.

It's also possible to build custom visualizations of employee and talent data in Dashboards. The Admin Center tile builder allows you to create visual representations of simple pivot tables such as pie charts, bar charts, or line charts. Possibilities include headcount split by gender, performance rating average per business unit, and many more. In general, you cannot customize colors or other settings such as fonts or aggregations.

It is also possible to create custom tiles through a third-party tool called YouCalc Builder, but most of the features available in Tiles and Dashboards are supported by Report Story, which is the recommended tool for visualizations today.

In summary, the important considerations are:

• Target users: Line Managers and HR Users.

• Effort: Low (YouCalc Builder requires partner support).

• Modules: SuccessFactors Talent Modules.

• Use case: Simple visualization of one metric on one dimension, e.g., Number of Performance Forms by Route Map Step Name.

• Limitations: Employee Profile and talent modules only. No export or print capabilities of dashboard. Limited branding capabilities; YouCalc Builder is only available for partner consultants and not customer-reporting specialists.

Table Report

Table Report is a list-view reporting tool that allows the creation of basic reports based on data from the system's standard fields. Target includes HR and IT users who need to create simple list views of talent and employee data. While the tool doesn’t allow for features such as calculated columns, pivot tables, or visualizations, it’s commonly used to create comprehensive lists of data—for example, lists of employees, goals, performance forms, or logins to the system.

Table Report is available out of the box in SuccessFactors, although it must be enabled and granted permissions through Role-Based Permissions.

The data in Table Report respect SuccessFactors Role-Based Permissions (note that there are provisioning settings relevant for ensuring cell-level permissions are applied) because the data does not leave the secure data center. Reports are shared through SuccessFactors Report Centre, and you can do it with individual users or groups, depending on what best suits your needs. It is also possible to schedule Table Reports to have them run at certain intervals, and then you can pick up the content from Report Centre.

In summary, the important considerations are:

• Target users: HR Administrators; Data Admins.

• Effort: Low.

• Modules: SuccessFactors Employee Profile and Talent Modules.

• Use case: Simple listings of data objects.

Limitations: Employee Profile and Talent Modules only. No aggregations, pivot tables, or visualizations.

Canvas Report

Report Canvas is a more advanced ad-hoc reporting and visual reporting feature. Target users include HR and IT users who need more complex list views of talent and employee data along with supporting multipage reports with pivots and simple visualizations. This feature is available out of the box in SuccessFactors. Canvas is designed as a self-service, nontechnical reporting tool with wide adoption for Employee Central. There are a number of standard Employee Central reports available for Canvas Report. These standard reports typically need some level of adjustment before they are workable in a given customer instance, because of differences in labels and data models.

Canvas Report is available out of the box in SuccessFactors, although it must be enabled and granted permissions through Role-Based Permissions.

Canvas Report is also suitable for what is called Change Reporting. This feature allows you to report on data fields where a value has changed. This is useful for compliance, auditing, as well as some payroll-related use cases.

The data in Canvas Report respects SuccessFactors Role-Based Permissions because the data does not leave the secure data center. Reports are shared through SuccessFactors Report Center, and you can do it with individual users or groups, depending on what best suits your needs. It is also possible to schedule Table Reports to have them run at certain intervals, and then you can pick up the content from Report Centre.

In summary, the important considerations are:

• Target users: HR Administrators; Data Admins.

• Effort: Medium.

• Modules: SuccessFactors Employee Central, Recruiting and Talent Modules.

• Use case: Simple listings of data objects; multipage reports; Workforce Analytics Landing Page; Workforce Analytics Custom Reports.

Limitations: Limited availability for custom metadata framework (MDF) objects; linking between some data objects requires a good understanding of the system data model.

LMS Standard Reports - Plateau Report Designer (PRD)

SuccessFactors Learning Management System (LMS) comes with more than 120 standard reports in what used to be called Plateau Report Designer (PRD).

From certificate overviews, learning completion status, enrollment reports, and curricula-based reports, you can find it all. Output can be lists or visualizations, exportable as Excel CSV or HTML/PDF format. All standard reports can be customized to meet specific needs.

In summary, the important considerations are:

• Target users: Learning Administrators; Line Managers.

• Effort: Medium to High.

• Modules: SuccessFactors Learning Management System.

• Use case: Training Overview; Completion Status; Curricula Overview.

• Limitations: Only available for SuccessFactors Learning Management System data. Customization of reports requires SQL knowledge as well as a solid understanding of the system data model.

Pixel Perfect Talent Cards (PPTC)

Pixel Perfect Talent Cards is a custom report based on data shown in Employee Profile. The Talent Card is used in succession planning to gain a simple one-page overview of a person. The Talent Card can be shown onscreen or generated as a PDF file. Talent Cards are used to highlight key metrics of an individual employee in a customized format and can be executed through a tab in the People Profile or through the Quick Action Card.

From a technology perspective, the Talent Card utilizes an output from the Employee Profile and is built in the free third-party tool BIRT. There is not a lot of documentation about Pixel Perfect Talent Card, and it has not been enhanced from SAP’s side for several years. Effective People has developed an alternative solution based on SAP Business Technology Platform, and it is also possible to utilize Report Story to some extent.

In summary, the important considerations are:

• Target users: Succession Planners; Talent Review; Line Managers.

• Effort: Medium to High.

• Modules: SuccessFactors Employee Profile, Performance Management.

• Use case: One-pager; CV; Talent Overview.

• Limitations: Can access data shown in SuccessFactors Employee Profile, including performance ratings, competency ratings, and goal ratings as well as talent flags. No access to Employee Central data, LMS data. Creation of PPTC requires BIRT knowledge as well as a solid understanding of the system data model.

There are several reporting and analytic tools and systems to support your reporting and analytics needs. Depending on your business needs and general analytics maturity, one or more of the tools mentioned above may be relevant, as well as others such as Report Story or Workforce Analytics. Effective People has solid experience in all of the above. We can also help you establish your HR Metrics Library and ensure continuous user adoption of your people-analytics investments.