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Hi HR experts,
In Embedded analytics provide immediate answers to key HR business questions I described SAP’s focus on HR Analytics in EHP5. In this entry I will describe what has happened in the SAP HR suite since the EHP5 delivery in the Reporting and Analytics space. I will first focus on the EHP6 delivery and after that cover HR Renewal 1.0.
Enhancement package 6
In order to have customers spend less time fumbling with databases, and more time understanding how the organization can transform human capital into value-creating activity, EHP6 delivered a completely new data modeling technology for HR Reporting and Analytics. The technology that was delivered to support this is called Operational Data Provisioning (ODP).
Operational Data Provisioning
Before talking about the HR business value, I’ll first explain the technology. In businesses there are several use cases for analytics scenarios, e.g. simple list reporting, multidimensional analysis, formatted reporting or dashboarding. In each of the different scenarios, different UIs are needed to support the analytics needs, even though they all consume the same data. ODP assures that data provisioning is unified in a such a way that the same data can be consumed by different UIs, based on the same data model.
ODP is a technology that unifies data provisioning for both Analytics and SAP Enterprise Search, and is designed in a common modeling environment for Enterprise Search and Analytics. The business logic (e.g. for transformations from a transactional to an analytical view of the data) is implemented by application development only once in the DataSource. With ODP models the following scenarios can be supported:
- Replication to BW
- Direct access from BW
- Direct access in the backend system
- Replication to BWA à If a BWA(TREX) is applied, then Enterprise Search and Analytics share the same index, which i.e. can also be consumed directly in the BusinessObjects Explorer.
- Replication to any (registered) ETL consumer (e.g. Data Integrator).
The main benefit of ODP is simplification of the way data modeling is performed,. Whereas in the past multiple data modeling methods were needed to be applied for different SAP systems, now only one ODP needs to be set up. So given this technological benefit, what about the business value?
ODP data models delivered by EHP6
In order to provide immediate business benefits, SAP delivered eighteen (18) ODP data models that can be switched on with the business function HCM_ANALYTICS_2. The following data models are delivered:
- Personnel Administration
- Actual Headcount / FTE
- Trend Analysis for Headcount / FTE
- Personnel Actions (Hiring, Terminations, etc.)
- Quality of Hire
- Reminder for Birthdays and Anniversaries
- Enterprise Performance Management
- Process Status and Progress Monitor
- Enterprise Compensation Management
- Process Status and Progress Monitor (including Budget)
- Time & Labor
- Reporting on Time Types
- Overview of Absences, Attendance & Overtime
- E-Learning
- Overview of Trainings and Training Costs
- Qualifications Compliance
- Course Appraisals
- E-Recruiting
- Posting Channel Efficiency
- Requisition Monitor
- Planned Job Interview
- Efficiency of Application Sources
- Activity Monitor
- Time to Fill
These ODP data models support the manager, HR Business partner and Talent Specialist in their daily work. The data models answer crucial business questions regarding headcount and workforce mobility, including: what is our headcount, and how is that divided over our different functional areas and locations? What is the composition of our headcount? Did we hire the best people? How is overall employee mobility within the organization? How many employees left the company, and for what reasons?
The ODP data models also address important questions on employee development, such as: How many top talents do we have in the organization? How many top talents have left the organization? What is the performance and potential of our employees? in addition the data models will address simple business questions, for example what are the upcoming birthdays and anniversaries of my employees?
There are a few other enhancements I would like to draw special attention to, because these address functional gaps. On the recruiting side not too much business content was delivered over the past years. With the five ODPs that are delivered in EHP6, a thorough analysis can be conducted in the recruiting area to answer questions: like what is the average time to fill a position and are we using the right channels to find the best new-hires? In addition, there are ODPs that enable Compliance Reporting. Answering business questions concerning whether employees have the appropriate qualifications and if they are compliant was very hard before EHP6. The new Learning ODP queries answer these business questions.
The following link provides more details into all ODP’s for HR: https://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/bpx/index?rid=/webcontent/uuid/40bdb7d7-8ea6-2e10-5c93-ebee641e5cf9
Now let´s focus on the business content that was provided on top of these ODP data models.
Analytics in HR Renewal 1.0
The overall goal for SAP HR is to make the user experience consumer grade, and so usability and the look and feel for HR Reporting have been upgraded. Special attention has been given to enhancing embedded analytics, and updating operational reporting. Significant improvements have also been made to improve the usability of the processes in Manager Self-Service (MSS), by bringing consolidated information to the manager and allowing fewer clicks to execute on a process. This means that managers will benefit from faster reporting, more facile user experience, and better access to embedded analytics, all aimed at equipping the manager to make the best decision directly from within the business transaction.
MSS reporting
Line managers have had access to reports in MSS for a while now, but the user experience for these reports had become outdated. In HR Renewal 1.0 MSS reports are now delivered with a modern look and feel, so that these are consistent with the rest of the ERP HCM user experience and MSS functionality. In addition, managers will notice a great amount of attention has been given to the navigation within these reports, and the ease of use to operate these reports.
The following MSS reports are delivered:
- Personal Data
- Organizational Data
- Duration of Organizational Assignments in Company
- Position Overview
- Attendance and Absence Quota Overview
- Overtime Overview
- Salary Overview
- Talent Management Information
- Employee Entries
- Employees Leaving the Company
- Training activities
- Expiring Qualifications
All these MSS reports run on the ODP functionality delivered in EHP6, and include variant functionality, which enables managers to create their own views of the data. This feature affords greater insight into what actually matters for this specific line manager.
The following two examples of the delivered reports illustrate the new MSS functionality. Figure 1 contains an example of one of these new reports that shows the manager’s view of employee data.
Figure 1: Personal data report
This provides the manager with all the details he needs to know about his employee in one overview. Variants can be created to display the information that the manager wants to focus on.
Figure 2 shows a mockup of a report that displays length of service for all employees within a manager’s area of responsibility.
Figure 2 Duration of Organizational Assignments in Company
This can give an indication to the manager about what employees might be ready for the next challenge in their career, and what other employees could fill that spot.
All these reports are directly accessible from the manager Launchpad in MSS.
MSS embedded analytics
SAP HR Renewal 1.0 also focuses on delivering enhanced insights for a manager performing operational processes, providing new functionality that shows the manager precisely where action is required. Figure 3 below is a screenshot of the manager start page, which visualizes such an example:
Figure3: MSS Team view
Directly from the team view the manager can click into details to get more insight. This is visualized in figure 4.
Figure 4: Detailed view approve working times
From such a detailed panel a drill down is possible directly form the bar. For example, if a manager clicks on a bar he or she will see a filtered list that displays only the incomplete timesheets. Other functionality that was added includes the ability to send mass reminders directly from this view. These embedded analytics provide a better overview for the manager, making analytics actionable.
All the analytics on the start page can be configured and personalized by the manager according to business need enabling flexibility to choose what areas to focus on.
As mentioned at the beginning of this blog, there is a big focus on HR Analytics and delivering pre-defined content. With this post I hope that I have offered more insight into the innovations SAP is providing to managers. In later posts I will further elaborate on what is cooking in the SAP HR Analytics labs
Regards,
Frans Smolders
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