Story Report for Performance Management - 360 Forms

[ishaqyousuf]

1.      Introduction

Clear visual reports are crucial for Performance teams and Admins to track 360 Performance Forms. In this blog, I'll share my experience with SuccessFactors Story Reports, using calculated columns, measures, and charts to transform raw data into actionable insights.

Stay tuned for more insights and best practices on 360 reports and other SuccessFactors modules!😊

1.1  Prerequisites

1. Access and Permissions:
   • Ensure you have the necessary permissions to create and edit Story Reports in SuccessFactors. Refer to link “Permission Requires for Using Story Report” in Useful link section
2. Understanding of SuccessFactors Modules:
   • Familiarity with the SuccessFactors Performance Management module, particularly the 360 Performance Forms, is essential.
3. Knowledge of Story Report Components:
   • Basic knowledge of Story Report components like calculated columns, calculated measures, dimensions, and different chart types, filters and formatting within Story Reports.
4. Data Source Configuration:
   • Ensure the relevant data sources are configured and accessible within the Story Report environment.
5. Reporting Requirements:
   • Clear understanding of the reporting requirements, including the key metrics and KPIs that need to be tracked

• If you're having trouble accessing or using Story reports, head to the Admin Center and use the Check Tool. Under the Validation tab, run the 'User record exists for People Analytics' check first to identify any user sync issues. Once that’s resolved, run the 'User is correctly configured for Stories in People Analytics' check to ensure proper configuration.

2.      Business Scenario of Story Report

The report tracks 360 Performance Forms' progress, showing key metrics like status, completion rates, and nominee counts. Next, I'll include charts by departments and provide detailed employee-level data through a table report.

Report Name: For reference, let's call it the '360 Review Tracking Dashboard

3.      Designing A Query

To start, we need to create a query for the Story Report using the Query Designer/Builder. The Query Builder lets you select the fields you want to include in your report, and the queries you create are only accessible within that specific story. You can create multiple queries, also known as models or data sources, for a Story Report.

For the tracking dashboards in this Story Report, I used one query along with the following tables. However, the table structure can vary depending on the requirements.

Tables

Primary	Join	Secondary	Join	Tertiary
Form	Outer	Feedback Provider	Outer	Form Feedback Provider (Basic User)
	Outer	Form Routing Information
	Inner	Form Subject

Columns
Table	Field	Dimension/Measure
Form	Form Template Name (Used as filter)	Dimension
Form	Status	Dimension
Form	Document ID	Dimension
Form	Status Code	Dimension
Feedback provider	Feedback Provider Category	Dimension
Feedback provider	Feedback provider Feedback Status	Dimension
Feedback provider	Feedback Provider Content ID	Dimension
Form Routing Information	Current Route Step Name	Dimension
Form Subject	Department	Dimension
Form Subject	Email	Dimension
Form Subject	First Name	Dimension
Form Subject	Last Name	Dimension
Form Subject	User ID	Dimension
Form Feedback provider	User ID	Dimension

Calculated Column (Optional)

This column is to convert the status code into group labels:

IF([360 Reviews#Feedback provider#Feedback provider Feedback Status]='6' or [360 Reviews#Feedback provider#Feedback provider Feedback Status]='10' ,'In Progress' ,IF([360 Reviews#Feedback provider#Feedback provider Feedback Status]='3' ,'Completed' ,IF([360 Reviews#Feedback provider#Feedback provider Feedback Status]='8','Declined' , 'Other') ) )

• For more information on calculated columns, refer to the 'Creating Calculated Columns for Stories in People Analytics' link in the Useful Links section. The document includes helpful videos that may align with your needs.

4.      Designing A Story Page

After creating the query, the next step is to choose a widget for your Story. In this blog, I'll focus on using charts; for information on tables, please refer to other available blogs.

Selecting the right page type is crucial for effective visualization. You can choose from three options: Canvas, Responsive, and Grid, each offering unique features to match your business needs.

For this report, I'll be using a Responsive page and will explain why in the following section. More details about page types can be found in the ‘Type of Pages in a Story Report’ link in the Useful Links section:

1. Lanes and Grouping: A Responsive page allows you to create lanes, which section the page content into groups.
2. Default Setup: By default, a Responsive page starts with two lanes, and you can add tiles (widgets) to either lane.
3. Tile Behavior: Tiles within a lane stay together when the page is resized.
4. Device Preview: To see how your Responsive page appears on different devices and screen sizes, select the Device Preview option under the Format section in the story toolbar.
5. Resizing and Flow: In the preview, you can switch between devices and screen sizes. Tiles will resize and flow to fit smaller screens when space becomes limited.

4.1  Widgets in Story Page

4.1.1         Status Statistics

Purpose: "Status Statistics" is a header I added to enhance visualization. You can refer to the screenshot to see its impact on the overall user experience.

Designer: To add this heading, simply insert a "Header" box and type your text. You can format the text using the style panel.

4.1.2         Current Stage of the Process

Purpose: The business requirement for this chart is to determine the percentage of forms at each step of the route map. In my scenario, there are four steps in the route map, and we want to visually represent the current status of these forms.

1. Employee adds feedback providers
2. Manager endorses feedback providers
3. Feedback providers complete 360 forms
4. 360 Completed

Designer: To display the status of 360 forms, both a measure and a dimension are required. Measures quantify the data, while dimensions organize it. For example, in a report on employee attrition, the "attrition rate" serves as the measure, while "employees" represent the dimension. These elements work together to answer key business questions.

Technically, we need to create a calculation to count the unique forms by aggregating the Document ID, giving us the total form count.

In summary, I use 360 forms to create a calculated field by following these steps:

General Steps for Designing a Chart:

1. Under the Insert section, click on “Chart,” then select “Donut” from the More options in the Builder screen.
2. Click on “Add Measure” (note: only one measure can be selected).

• For 360 forms, we can track the status either by employee or by form. Since each employee typically has one 360 forms, the measurement can be based on either the form or the employee.

Calculation for Measure “Forms”

Name	Type	Operation	Aggregation dimension
Forms	Aggregation	Count dimension	Document ID

1. Add “Color” or Dimension: Choose the dimension you'd like to use to differentiate colors in the chart. For example, if you want to display different colors based on categories in 360 forms (e.g., Colleagues, Direct Reports, Managers), you will select those categories. In my case, I want to show colors based on 360 route map steps, so I selected "360 form status." This is a standard field available in the Query Designer, so no calculated field is needed.
2. If you want to select your own color, then select the chart > in Builder, click on “More” for dimension selected in ‘Color’ > color sync > “Edit Assigned Color” and select colors as per preferences
3. You can adjust font colors, size, placement of legend (like inline, above or below the chart, borders and background color in Styling (paint brush) panel.
4. I have presented the data in percentage but if you want to show in numbers, toggle option “absolute value” in Styling panel.
5. More Actions: There are other interesting options that you can use based on business requirements. I will explain some of the features that are rarely used.
   • Tooltip: By default, once you hover mouse on any of the section of donut, it will show data of dimension and measure but if you want to show additional information, add tooltip.
   • Trellis: Icon of this is square of nine blocks which provides a grid of small charts for comparison

Configuration in Chart Builder:

• Chart Type: Donut
• Color: 360 Status
• Measure: Form (calculated measure)

Trellis: Trellis splits a chart by a selected dimension, like form status (e.g., "in progress," "declined," "completed"), allowing you to view multiple statuses without creating separate charts.

4.1.3         Status of Responses from All Participants excluding Self

Business Scenario: In this chart, the goal is to track the status of feedback providers, excluding self-assessments. Feedback provider statuses in 360 forms include completed, declined, draft, pending, and more. To simplify tracking, I created a calculated field that groups multiple statuses under "other."

Designer: To achieve this, some knowledge of 360 Forms is required, or a Performance consultant can assist. I use the Feedback Provider Content ID, but this can only be utilized once the forms have been sent to participants.

• Feedback provider content ID gets created once the form is with all the participants so the report will provide outcome once the forms are approved and need actions from feedback providers / participants.

Steps for Adding a Chart: Follow the instructions under the heading “General Steps for Designing a Chart” and then update the configuration as follows:

• Chart Type: Donut
• Color: 360 Status
• Measure: No. of Participants (Content ID) (calculated measure)

Calculation for Measure “No. of Participants (Content ID)”

Name	Type	Operation	Aggregation dimension
No. of Participants (Content ID)	Aggregation	Count dimension	Feedback Provider Content ID

Since we don’t want to track self-evaluation, hence we will use filter on Feedback provider category to exclude it.   

 

 

 

 

 

4.1.4 Self-Evaluation Completion Rate

Business Scenario: In this chart, the goal is to track the status of feedback providers, excluding self-assessments. Feedback provider statuses in 360 forms include completed, declined, draft, pending, and others. To simplify tracking, I created a calculated field that groups several statuses under "other."

Designer: Some knowledge of 360 Forms is required to configure this, or a Performance consultant can assist.

Chart Configuration:

• Chart Type: Donut.
• Measure: Form (calculated measure – follow the seps mentioned Calculation for Measure “Forms”)
• Color: 360 Status

4.1.5         % of Employees with 5+ Completed Feedback

Business Scenario: The 360 Form includes a standard report. The Performance team wants to know how many employees received feedback from at least 5 feedback providers.

Designer: To achieve this, "5+ completed feedback" becomes the dimension, counting the number of forms or employees with 5 or more completed feedback submissions. This requires a complex calculation involving three calculated fields.

1. “No. of Completed Responses," captures the total completed feedback.
2. "More than 5 Completed FB" filters responses with more than 5 completed feedback entries.
3. "5+ Feedback" is based on the second field.

• The reason for using multiple calculated fields is that, in my experience, the "More than 5 Completed FB" (a measure-based dimension) doesn't account for null values, leading to discrepancies when extracting data for all 360 forms.

Chart Configuration:

• Chart Type: Donut
• Measure: Form (calculated measure)
• Color: 5+ Feedback

Calculation for Measures:

1. No. of Completed Responses:

Name	Type	Measure	Dimension
No. of Completed Responses	Restricted Measure	No Of Participants (content ID)	Feedback Provider Feedback status = completed

 2. No. of Completed Responses:

Name	Type	Measure	Use measure values as dimension members	Member Name	Dimension context	Filter Context
More than 5 completed FB.	Measure-Based Dimension	Number of Feedback completed*	Unchecked	Not Selected >= and <5 Selected >=5 and <	Document ID	Feedback Provider Feedback status = completed

3. +5 Feedback

In Calculation editor, select type = Calculated Dimension and name can be “+5 Feedback”

IF(ISNULL([d/"More than 5 completed FB"]),"Not enough responses for the report", IF( [d/"More than 5 completed FB"]='Selected' ,'Will receive report ', 'Not enough responses for the report') )

In chart, this will show “Not enough responses for the employees when completed feedback is null or less than 5.

Outcome

4.1.6         Feedback Provider Statistics

Business Scenario: In this chart, the business wants to see how many employees have selected 2 or more feedback providers from specific feedback provider categories.

Designer: We'll use "Total Employees" as the measure, as we need to determine how many employees selected a certain number of feedback providers within a category.

Chart Configuration:

• Chart Type: Stacked Bar column
• Chart Orientation: Horizontal
• Measure: Total Employees (calculated measure)
• Color: Nominated more than 2 participants (colleague) – (calculated field)

• I used a calculated column and added it to the color field instead of the dimension field. Using it as a dimension would create two separate bars but adding it to color displays two colors within a single bar. One part of the bar represents employees who selected more than 2 feedback providers, while the other part shows those who selected fewer than 2.

Calculation for Measure “Total Employees”:

Click on Add Measure > create calculations and use these values.

Name	Type	Operation	Aggregation dimension
Total Employees	Aggregation	Count dimension	User ID

Calculation for Color “Nominated More than 2 participants (colleague)”:

Name	Type	Measure	Use measure values as dimension members	Member Name:	Dimension context	Filter Context
Nominated More than 2 colleagues	Measure-Based Dimension	Number of feedback (colleague) – calculated field	Unchecked	Not Selected 2 and more >= (blank) and <2 Selected 2 and more >=2 and < (blank)	User ID	Status code = 6 and 3

Number of feedback (colleague) is used in calculation because we would like to see number of participants based on each category. In case if you don’t want category-wide distribution then you can remove filter in the below calculation.

Calculation for Number of Feedback (colleagues)

Name	Type	Measure	Enable Constant selection	Member Name:	Dimension	Values / input control
Number of Feedback (colleagues)	Restricted Measure	Number of feedback (colleague) – calculated field	Unchecked	No of Participants (Content ID)	Feedback Provider category	Colleague (if you don’t want category specific, select all in filter)

Outcome

I am sharing here the outcome that can come up with using Nominated More than 2 participants in Dimension vs in Color.

To calculate participants by category, follow the steps for the 'Number of Feedback (colleagues)' measure and replace the category with your specific system category. Then, nest this new measure within a separate measure, similar to the 'Nominated More than 2 participants' example.

4.1.7         % Of Employees Nominated At least One Direct Report

Business Scenario: This chart will determine the percentage of employees who have nominated or selected 1 direct report.

Design: The setup is similar to the "Feedback Provider Statistics" chart, with the main difference being the focus on a single colleague.

1. This chart is in percentage.
2. It includes employees who select even one direct report
3. Chart type is donut

We'll use 'Total Employees' as the measure to determine how many employees have selected at least one participant in the ‘direct report' category.

Chart Configuration:

• Chart Type: Donut
• Measure: Total Employees (calculated measure)
• Color: Nominated at least one DR

Calculation for Nominated at least one DR:

This will be based on the same concept that I have mentioned for chart “% of Employees with 5+ Completed Feedback” so I will just share the calculations.

1. Total DR Nomination: this captures the total completed feedback.
2. Count of Total DR: This is the measure based dimension and it counts number of responses with less than 1 and great than 1 value. Measure will be “Total DR Nomination” that is calculated is step 1.
3. DR Nomination: This is calculated dimension and formula can be:

IF(ISNULL([d/"Count of Total DR"] ),'Did not nominate Direct Reports', IF([d/"Count of Total DR "]='Has', 'Nominated Direct Report','No DR nominated' ))

5.      Conclusion

In summary, SuccessFactors Story Reports provide powerful tools to transform raw data into meaningful visuals that can enhance decision-making for Performance teams and Admins. By effectively utilizing calculated columns, measures, and chart types, you can create comprehensive, user-friendly reports that offer clear insights into 360 Performance Forms.

I hope this blog has offered valuable guidance, and I look forward to sharing more tips and best practices in upcoming posts on 360 reports and other SuccessFactors modules. Stay tuned for more insights!

6.      Useful links

Designing Story Reports (sap.com)

Permission Requires for Using Story Report

Type of Pages in a Story Report

Creating Calculated Columns for Stories in People Analytics

Form Status in 360 form Evaluation Summary

How to determine the current status of the 360 form

If you have any suggestions or questions, feel free to visit my profile and send me a message! 🙂