Item: SAP SuccessFactors
Rating: 8
Author: Tony Deblauwe

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

SuccessFactors is being used to store core employee information (title, start date, dept, etc) in Employee Central. Performance is being used for quarterly objective input. Compensation is used for calculating quarterly bonus payments and for mass compensation changes.

Pros and Cons

Visual organization chart and directory. This helps people connect easier and faster and provide a quick snapshot of the entire organization. Any headcount discrepancies are seen immediately and it allows business owners to inform HR and adjust/discuss as appropriate. We have many remote based employees and the org chart helps drive better connectedness.
Workflows. Workflows for approving changes and goals are very helpful in monitoring and auditing key business decisions. The workflows are easily customizable and gives employees a clear path of where a decision like promotion, job change, etc is in the approval chain. This reduces the need to send emails around for approvals - now everything is captured in one place and pulling reports provides an easy audit that all updates have been made.
Customizable performance forms. For our business, we did not want a overly complex process to enter goals, provide performance feedback, etc. The PM module was flexible in the changes we could make to capture the core info we wanted and not be stuck with a forced form structure that would include elements we did not want.

Module connectivity. The first thing to understand with SF is the difference between a core platform and forms. This means each of the modules has a different look and feel. As a result there is a fair amount of time that must be spent on configuration. For instance, Employee Central looks like a standard SaaS cloud application in terms of input fields, buttons, the homepage, etc. PM module is a form which means its not a static input page - its similar to taking an MS document and saving it as a web/HTML interface with buttons and functionality. PM has always been the lifeblood of SF and as a result it has a high degree of flexibility even though its a form. Compensation was disappointing. While it serves the purpose of collecting compensation info be it comp ranges, range penetration, and other key features, the look and feel is that of an Excel sheet in web/HTML view. It is the least flexible of the modules we configured and if used with EC, you need to be very strategic about what fields it pulls from that in turns impacts the way you make changes in EC, etc.
Analytics view. Reporting especially for Ad Hoc is very confusing. You can certainly see opportunities to gather great data but the dashboard, options selection, and other steps needed to get to a report is task intensive. You have to spend some time up front understanding the logic of reporting before you can really capture all the capability it can provide.
Admin dashboard. Regardless of the module you purchase, the admin dashboard will show you everything and grays out the modules you did not purchase. Within each of the choices and admin and setting choices, there is a bit of an overload of information to take in. It is highlighly recommended that training is purchased for the team that will ultimately own this system to detail each and every feature in admin panel.

Return on Investment

Visibility to the organization was an immediate impact and socialized the value of the product immediately.
A common and aggregated performance process reduced time and energy spent on quarterly goal setting.
Consolidating performance to pay outputs reduced time in some manual audit processes.

Alternatives Considered

Current environment includes ADP WorkforceNow and it had limitations on workflows and performance. Workday was reviewed but found to be cost prohibitive at the time. SF provided a good balance of needs we were looking for with core modules we needed to develop.

Likelihood to Recommend

SuccessFactors is a platform that can grow with you. Generally speaking HR software that is targeted to under 500 people lacks a host of important features that are needed in business; workflows for approvals being the main one. SF has this as a core feature which is critical when looking at scale. SF can handle more complex organizations that include matrix, division, acquisition, etc., but keep in mind all of these foundation objects require a good amount of time and configuration to work properly. Mid-size to larger companies, as a result, are better suited for this platform. If you look at the modules as stand alones, then PM is great for implementing a flexible goals and performance product; something that is suitable for a variety of organizations regardless of their stage of development.

In terms of selection, be very clear about your strategy and what you want to achieve especially if you have an existing system you are looking to replace or one that you want to integrate with. When you construct a Statement of Work (SOW) of requirements start with the ideal state and work back into the capabilities. Easier if you have nothing in place and start with SuccessFactors but more complex when other system and process dependencies are involved.

Users and Roles

All core business functions from Engineering through Field Operations.

Support Headcount Required

2 - A strong systems and logic understanding. Configuration of the modules and forms requires a high degree of understanding what the ultimate business goal is and how those choices will impact use and integration. This platform details every step of the whole process - email notifications, workflow construction and approval chain, etc., that its not something that is intended to be maintained by a very junior HRIS administrator.

Business Processes Supported

Connection to people. The visual organization chart and directory did not exist and it was very important to get people access to each other.
Common process for performance. We need to get everyone aligned on one process to enter goals and provide performance feedback and be able to capture that easily.
Automation considerations. A key goal was to reduce paper trails and manual tasks. SF doesnt replace all of it but helps reduce key activities that are better suited to a system.

Innovative Uses

N/A - will develop over time at this stage.

Future Planned Uses

Cascading goals. This is a feature that exists and will be implemented in the future. This helps connect leadership to individual goal alignment.
360 Feedback. Another feature already in PM. Once a strategy is developed around how to use this feature to enhance the first stage of the current performance process, this will be an aid in employee development.

Change Management Lessons

Change management was a small part of the implementation and was well-handled

Scale with SuccessFactors

Modules Used

Overall Satisfaction with SAP SuccessFactors Learning