SAP SuccessFactors learning path: everything to study, topic by topic

High-level survey of the full SuccessFactors HXM suite: Employee Central, Performance & Goals, Compensation, Recruiting, Onboarding, Learning, Succession & Development, and Workforce Analytics; module interdependencies and the role of the HXM platform.

Distinction between Foundation Data (organisational structure objects) and People Data (employee-centric portlets); how the two layers interact through associations and propagation to form the complete HR data model.

Scope and access levels of Provisioning (backend system configuration) versus Admin Center (day-to-day administration); feature switches enabled in Provisioning; when each tool is the correct entry point for configuration tasks.

Admin Center tools for creating and editing Foundation Object instances (Manage Data) and for adjusting object definitions and field attributes (Manage Configuration); MDF object browsing and record search.

Two picklist frameworks in SuccessFactors: legacy Picklist Center (XML-based) and MDF Picklists (Manage Data-based); migration between frameworks; effective dating and external codes for integration.

Business Configuration UI as the Admin Center replacement for direct XML editing; configuring Country-Specific Sections, Corporate Data Models, and Succession Data Models through BCUI screens; change history and transport.

Structure and purpose of the three main XML data models: Corporate Data Model (CDM) for organisational objects, Succession Data Model (SDM) for employee portlets, and Country-Specific Data Model (CSD) for localised fields.

SAP SuccessFactors release model (two major releases per year — H1 and H2); preview vs production instance timelines; upgrade centre and universal upgrade; release notes management and impact assessment.

Configuration and maintenance of the four primary Foundation Objects that form the organisational structure in Employee Central: Legal Entity (Company), Business Unit, Department, and Location; effective dating and hierarchies.

Metadata Framework (MDF) as the extensibility platform for SuccessFactors; creating and configuring Generic Objects; field types, associations, effective dating, and UI configuration for MDF objects in Admin Center.

Position as an organisational entity separate from the employee; position-based hiring mode vs job-based hiring mode; position hierarchy; headcount and FTE; position-to-job relationship and synchronisation.

Initiating the hire action in Employee Central; personal information portlet fields; national ID and biographic information; global information and payment information portlets; direct access vs Onboarding integration.

Job Information portlet fields (company, business unit, department, location, job title, job code, pay grade, employment type, FTE); Compensation Information portlet (pay component groups, frequency); effective dating and history.

HR events (hire, transfer, promotion, termination, return-from-leave) and their event reasons; event derivation rules; how events trigger workflows and propagation; configuring event reason assignments.

Configuring associations between Foundation Objects and employee portlets; one-to-one, one-to-many, and many-to-many association types; field propagation rules that auto-populate employee portlet fields from Foundation Object data.

Time-off feature in Employee Central: time types, time-off types, absence periods, accrual rules basics, time accounts, holiday calendars, and work schedules used for absence counting.

Role-Based Permissions (RBP) architecture: permission roles defining what a user can do, permission groups defining who has those permissions; role-based vs user-based permission assignment; the Manage Permission Roles screen.

Defining who a permission group can act upon via target population settings; relationship-based target populations (direct reports, department, etc.); population filters using Foundation Object criteria; interaction with self permissions.

Assigning permission roles to permission groups via the Grant Permission step; administrator permissions (Manage Users, Manage Security, Manage Business Config); special administrator rights and their security implications.

Creating dynamic permission groups that auto-enrol members based on employee attribute criteria (job code, department, location, employment type); static vs dynamic groups; rule-based membership and synchronisation.

Granting view or edit access at field granularity within permission roles; configuring MDF object permissions (read/write/create/delete) for Generic Objects and Foundation Objects; the interaction of field permissions with BCUI visibility.

Proxy feature in SuccessFactors enabling one user to act on behalf of another; granting proxy access, proxy duration, and the actions a proxy can perform; delegate access vs full proxy and audit trail implications.

Diagnosing RBP issues using the Check User Permissions tool, Role Audit Report, and Security Audit; common RBP mistakes (missing target population, overlapping roles, missing MDF permissions); testing permissions with test users.

Overview of the MDF-based Business Rules engine: rule structure (base object, if-then conditions, then-set actions), rule editor in Admin Center, rule types (validation, default, custom), and the rule execution lifecycle.

Rule scenarios that determine when a rule fires: onChange triggers when a field value changes, onSave triggers on record save, onInit populates defaults on page load; mapping rules to the correct scenario for the intended behaviour.

Configuring approval workflows in Employee Central: workflow steps, step types (approver, CC, acknowledgement), approver types (role-based, position-based, HR manager), notification email templates, and workflow completion actions.

Dynamic routing of workflows to different approval chains based on employee or transaction attributes via workflow derivation rules; escalation configuration for unresponded workflow steps; delegation during absence.

Business rules used for field defaulting (auto-populating values based on other field selections) and validation rules (enforcing data integrity constraints with error or warning messages at save time).

Managing rule execution order when multiple rules apply to the same object and scenario; rule priority and sequencing; identifying and resolving rule conflicts and performance issues caused by excessive rule chaining.

Differences in rule authoring when the base object is a Foundation Object (organisational entity) versus an Employee Central portlet (people data); available field references, association traversal, and context limitations.

Admin Center Import/Export tool for Employee Central data: supported file formats (CSV, HRIS sync), import modes (full purge vs incremental), export filters, and the role of the import scheduler.

Downloading and using the correct EC import templates for each data entity (Personal Information, Job Information, Compensation Info, Foundation Objects); required and optional columns; effective dating columns; error file interpretation.

Integration Center in Admin Center for building simple outbound integrations from SuccessFactors to external systems; integration types (SFTP, REST, SOAP); entity selection, field mapping, filter conditions, and scheduling.

SAP Cloud Platform Integration (CPI) on SAP BTP as the middleware for complex SuccessFactors integrations; pre-packaged SuccessFactors integration content; iFlows, message mapping, error handling, and monitoring in CPI.

Employee Central to SAP ERP/S4HANA replication: infotype mapping (PA30/HCM), replication monitor, position replication, cost centre replication; EC-PA replication configuration and reconciliation.

SuccessFactors OData API for querying and modifying EC entities; API Explorer and Metadata documentation; authentication (Basic Auth vs OAuth 2.0); key SuccessFactors APIs (EC Data, Workforce Analytics, Foundation Objects).

Mass Change tool in Employee Central for updating a field across multiple employee records simultaneously; supported portlets, filter criteria, change preview, approval routing for mass changes, and audit trail.

Reviewing import job status in the Import and Export UI; parsing and resolving error files from failed imports; common import errors (missing required field, invalid effective date, referential integrity violation); data reconciliation techniques.

Overview of the Performance & Goals module: goal plan templates, performance form templates, continuous performance management (CPM), rating scales, and integration with Employee Central for employee data.

Compensation module fundamentals: compensation plan templates, salary ranges and grades, merit increase guidelines, pay component mapping from EC; Variable Pay overview and bonus plan structure.

Succession Planning module: succession org chart, talent pools, nomination processes, readiness ratings; Development module: development plans and learning activities; integration with EC position management.

Recruiting Management and Recruiting Marketing overview: job requisition lifecycle, candidate pipeline, offer management; Onboarding 2.0 integration with EC hire process, new-hire data collection, and orientation activities.

People Analytics reporting platform: ad-hoc reporting, online report designer, spotlight and story modes; data domains (Employee Central, Workforce Planning); scheduled report delivery and access control.

Building Story reports in People Analytics: data source selection, page design, chart and table widgets, filters, and dynamic variables; Canvas reports for structured layouts; embedding tiles on the Home Page dashboard.

Configuring the SuccessFactors Home Page and Latest Home Page: adding and ordering tiles, creating custom tiles, assigning tile visibility by permission group, and managing the tile catalogue and background images.