Hi SuccessFactors colleagues, as we all know H1 2022 Release is a hot topic at the moment, and as for every release, it comes with new exciting features.
In this blog, I will talk you through a new functionality made available in H1 2022 that I particularly care about: the possibility of anonymising specific Job Applications outside the Data Retention setup.
If you have already come across one of my previous blogs, you would know that I am personally a big fan of Data Retention Time Management tools within SuccessFactors, not only within Recruiting Management but over the entire Suite.
Data Retention Time Management purge rules allow handling any outdated data by purging them and, in some cases anonymising it in the background. This is exactly what happens with Job Applications within Recruiting, where these objects could contain personal and sensitive data belonging to applicants.
In order to be GDPR compliant, companies are allowed to store this data for "no longer than necessary" and this is where DRTM for Inactive Applications comes into play, purging and anonymising any data belonging to Job Applications that have been inactive for more than the Retention Time configured.
Note: each field within the Application can be individually set to be anonymised in the backend - Please check my previous blog about
DPCS 2.0 and DRTM within SuccessFactors for further information on this topic.
You may think - Well, nothing new so far, as this was already feasible before this new release.
What has been added, is the possibility of purging selected Job Applications anonymising the sensitive data that might have been missed during the initial anonymisation for whichever reason.
This list of Applications can be easily provided in a CSV file, making the process pretty straightforward as we will see later in this blog.
As you can imagine, this is a huge improvement of this functionality, as previously, in order to purge/anonymise specific Applications, you had to play around with the configuration of country-specific retention time periods so that the Application's inactivity characteristics could fall within the time frame considered by the purge rule. This meant additional work, more time to process the request, and could also lead to other Applications getting incorrectly purged.
Alternatively, you had to raise a request with Product Support to manually anonymise the sensitive Job Application data whenever there were configuration changes (for example the “anonymise” attribute against the fields or a change in the Deletion of Correspondence).
Configuration
This is the best part: No configuration is needed and the option comes already as part of H1 2022.
Adoption
Navigate to "Data Retention Management" and create a new request of type "DRTM Inactive Application Purge".
In the Purge Criteria, you will notice that a new option called "Selected Job Applications" is available.
Use this option to upload a list of Job Applications (by Job Application ID) and trigger the purge/anonymisation straightaway.
Note: the template to be used for the import can be exported by clicking on "Download Example".
Note: this request can only be launched immediately and you can't save or schedule the purge request to trigger at a later time.
Instead, select the "Job Applications Based on the Retention Period" option to create a purge request for the initial anonymisation of Job Applications based on the configured retention period. This option corresponds to the existing purge criteria for inactive Job Applications.
In both cases, you will be able to monitor the request under the tool "Purge Request Monitor".
Note: it is always advised to simulate a request before triggering it, in order to avoid the purge of incorrect Applications by mistake.
Please check my previous blog about
DPCS 2.0 and DRTM within SuccessFactors for further information on this topic.
When is this useful?
Overall, this feature will be really handy in the following scenarios:
1. An Application needs to be urgently purged and anonymised. This could be due to internal processes or coming directly from the Candidates who don't want their information to be exposed anymore.
2. New fields have been marked as anonymise=true after the last DRTM Purge Rule run.
Maybe as a business, you felt the need of anonymising an additional field and this needs to happen asap on a specific list of Applications.
3. Some settings have been amended under "Deletion of Correspondence" after the last DRTM Purge Rule run and you want to reflect this on specific Applications.
Note: Deletion of Correspondence is a subsection in the tool "Manage Recruiting Settings" that enables you to define what kind of correspondence is included in the purge of inactive Candidate/Application.
More information
Note: This feature is applicable for both
Data Retention Time Management (DRTM) and
Data Retention Management (Legacy DRM) purge request types for inactive Job Applications.
Please refer to the following Articles and Blogs to learn more on this topic and on DRTM Purge Rules within SuccessFactors in general: