If you’re an existing SuccessFactors customer, you’ve likely stumbled upon the People Analytics, which launched in 2020. An evolution of Workforce Analytics, SAP SuccessFactors People Analytics delivers improved reporting and visualisation tools that empower a more insightful analysis of HR data.
In this article, we’ll break down the new SuccessFactors Workforce Analytics and Planning and detail what the update means for your reporting capabilities. This is People Analytics – simplified.
People Analytics and SAP Analytics Cloud: What’s the Difference?
When SuccessFactors first announced People Analytics, there was some confusion around the relationships between the software and SAP Analytics Cloud. The messaging from SuccessFactors suggested that SAP SuccessFactors People Analytics was moving to SAP Analytics Cloud – this is not the case
Reports in People Analytics and SAP Analytics Cloud are strictly not the same. Instead reports in People Analytics does utilise the SAP Analytics Cloud embedded edition.
Kim Lessley, SAP SuccessFactors Director, Solution Management, later addressed the confusion.
“We are embedding SAP Analytics Cloud technology within our SuccessFactors products,” Lessley said. “[That] means that customers will be able to leverage a lot of the SAP Analytics Cloud functionality without requiring a separate license for SAP Analytics Cloud.”
What Is SAP SuccessFactors People Analytics?
SAP SuccessFactors People Analytics is an HR analytics tool that amalgamates SuccessFactors’s reporting and analytics capabilities into three distinct solutions:
- Embedded – comes free with SAP SuccessFactors modules
- Advanced – requires licensing fees
- Planning – requires licensing fees
We’ll take a closer look at each edition below. First, here is a bite-sized overview of People Analytics’ key features and reporting updates:
(A quick note on terminology before we get started: a story is a type of report created in SAP SuccessFactors People Analytics.)
- People Analytics provides access to transaction data and workforce analysis using a single data model. This means you can create and share new fields from various modules across your SuccessFactors suite.
- Stories are better integrated with role-based permissions (RBP). This means you have more control over who sees reports and dashboards.
- The linked analysis feature enables visualisation components to be connected across stories. When viewing stories, People Analytics will automatically filter data according to the specific component values selected.
- The explorer feature allows you to modify charts by adjusting dimensions and measurements or adding and removing filters, awarding you greater control over your HR data.
People Analytics Embedded Edition
The embedded analytics functionality is included in all existing SAP SuccessFactors modules. Users are not required to pay an extra license fee, and it will not be visibly apparent that a new or extra solution has been added.
Embedded reporting and analytics enhance SuccessFactors in two ways:
- Back-end data models are unified to streamline the reporting process for end-users.
- Front-end visual tools are powered by SAP Analytics Cloud, simplifying the report creation and sharing process.
Enhanced and new visualisation capabilities give HR professionals access to more accurate predictive capabilities. What’s more, by adopting SAP Analytics Cloud, People Analytics is more closely linked to the SAP Intelligent Enterprise. Information that is typically isolated in HR is now more available and more relevant to the broader organisation.
People Analytics Advanced Edition
The advanced reporting edition represents the next iteration of Workforce Analytics and Planning functionality. Advanced is available to new and existing SuccessFactors customers via a separate license.
This edition is designed to translate pure transactional data into practical best practice measures. Advanced reporting achieves this within both the SAP HANA database – which all SuccessFactors customers already use – and SAP Analytics Cloud. SAP Analytics Cloud empowers cross-module data sharing by utilising a single data model.
The automated data integration offered by the advanced edition ensures data quality. Further, curated metrics and interactive analyses empower HR teams to define benchmarks and map future strategies.
Workforce Analytics did provide similar capabilities. The key difference lies within the updated visualisation and modelling functionalities offered exclusively by People Analytics.
People Analytics Planning Edition
Customers looking to leverage planning capabilities in People Analytics will be required to purchase both advanced and planning licenses – planning applies the metrics uncovered by the advanced solution.
In the planning edition, users will find dashboards for headcounts, diversity, and workforce supply-demand gaps. HR analytics encompasses more than people – People Analytics also provides financial modelling, business risk analysis, and strategic guidance.
Transitioning to People Analytics
Switching to People Analytics means gaining access to new reporting capabilities and connecting workforce data to your organisation’s overarching growth strategy. Preparing for that transition means taking preparatory steps to ensure a successful move without downtime; setting up role-based permissions, cleaning out outdated reports, and revisiting your HR strategy are just the beginning.
Boost your company’s capability today with SuccessFactors People Analytics, powered by SAP Analytics Cloud. Get in contact with the Discovery Consulting team today for personalised guidance.
