Visual depiction of HCM data helps employees and managers understand the enterprise structure, personnel structure, key positions, and talent available in an enterprise. SAP Talent Visualization by Nakisa (SAP Talent Visualization) provides the tools to represent your SAP ERP HCM data graphically. The four components are HCM Dashboard, Directory, FloorPlan, and SAPExtractor. HR generalists use them to graphically represent SAP ERP HCM data, to build “what-if” scenarios, such as reorganizations or merging of organizations, to do succession planning for key positions and key people in the organization, and to develop reports that display the costs of the “what-if” scenarios.

Technical Requirements

SAP Talent Visualization is a Web-based application and is installed in a server different from where SAP ERP HCM resides. SAP Talent Visualization is developed in Microsoft .NET technology. You can access SAP Talent Visualization using Microsoft Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox (other Web browsers are not supported at this time). JavaScript must be enabled in the Web browser to be able to use SAP Talent Visualization.

• To implement SAP Talent Visualization OrgChart:
  SAP Talent Visualization requires Microsoft Internet Information Services (ISS) 5.0, 6.0, or 7.0 to be installed along with .NET Framework 2.0.
  
  If your SAP landscape is on SAP R/3 4.7 or SAP ERP Central Component (SAP ECC) 5.0, then you need to implement HR Organizational Charting Interface (HR-OCI) 4.6. This is an interface that a third-party tool uses to access the SAP database. If your SAP landscape is on SAP ECC 6.0, then you need to implement HR-OCI 6.0.
  
  SAP Talent Visualization can work with any of the popular databases, such as Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server, or IBM DB2. You can also configure it to a live SAP ERP HCM server or you can extract the SAP ERP HCM data to a staged database server. If you are using a staged database, SAP Talent Visualization OrgChart uses the extracted data in the staged database. If you are using a staged database, then you need to configure the Nakisa SAPExtractor in the Administrator Console to perform the extraction. I do not have a preference for one or the other.

• To implement SAP Talent Visualization OrgModeler:
  The same requirements apply here as they did for the OrgChart. The difference here is that in OrgModeler, you do not use the staged database.

• To implement SAP Talent Visualization Succession Planning:
  Your SAP landscape needs to be on SAP ECC 6.0 with enhancement package 4 using HR-OCI 6.0.

Access Your Enterprise HCM Data and OrgChart

The org chart is a graphical visualization of the enterprise structure. It helps employees to understand their team, their peers, the hierarchies, and the reporting structure. A well-designed org chart gives transparency to the organization and offers a great introduction to the organization for new employees. For HR generalists and managers, a well-designed org chart helps in understanding the talent available, open positions (if any) in the organization, and the reporting structure.

OrgChart allows you to create your chart under various hierarchies, such as Employee, Functional, Operational, and Succession. You can see the full list on the left side of Figure 1. What options appear and are made available to your users depend on your organization’s requirements. For example, a functional consultant can configure the required hierarchies using the Administrator option.

In Figure 1, I created my example org chart using the Employee hierarchy in a Standard view. SAP Talent Visualization allows you to display your org chart in multiple views. Each view displays the hierarchy with different information. The Views field in the upper-left part of the screen is easy to use. Simply select which view you would like (such as Standard or Detailed) from the drop-down menu. For example, you can display the org chart in a detailed view when you would like details such as the position and the communication data to be displayed. From my experience, I have seen users display the data in the Standard view and click the individual org chart boxes to display more details about the individuals displayed in those boxes.

In Figure 1, I have highlighted the navigation icons, which are present in every manager’s org box. By clicking the down arrow , the org chart organizes itself with that particular org chart box at the top. In Figure 1, the org chart display starts with the CEO Peter St. Pierre, and then goes down to his admin, his direct reports, and so on.

Figure 1

Employee hierarchy displayed in standard view

When I clicked the down arrow in Jim MacLeod’s org box, the system reorganized the org chart starting with Jim MacLeod (Figure 2). In this screen I displayed the org chart in a Detailed view, so the org boxes show position and the communication data. When you click the expand icon next to the down arrow, it displays the org units (or the direct reports) under that particular org chart box.

Figure 2

Employee hierarchy displayed in detailed view

In SAP Talent Visualization, the level of details that you can display depends on the configuration. I suggest that you gather as much detail as possible during the blueprinting phase. If you want to see more details about a particular employee, click the org chart box and then click the Details button. Figure 3 shows the details about Peter St Pierre, the CEO. Click the More Details link to view additional details including the skills, qualifications, training, and objectives that are set for the calendar year.

Figure 3

The More Details link provides a snapshot of a particular employee’s data

Figure 4 displays the employee listing. You can access the screen by clicking the employee (users) listing in the menu. If you want to display an employee’s details, select the employee and double-click the selection to display the details. If you look at the Details screen, you can see details such as the employee’s manager, peers, and direct reports. This level of detail is helpful for taking inventory of the talent available and workforce planning. Also, greater collaboration can result when employees know who their peers are. OrgChart can and should be made available to all employees. There are no security issues, as OrgChart is a graphical visualization of your HCM data and displays only components.

Figure 4

Employee listing

Build a “What-If” Enterprise OrgChart

SAP Talent Visualization OrgModeler helps you build “what-if” scenarios in the org structure, allowing HR generalists to estimate how changes will affect the enterprise organization structure. You can build “what-if” scenarios for situations such as enterprise reorganization, merger and acquisition activities, and reductions in workforce. These scenarios are built using SAP ERP HCM live data and the changes made in the org structure, most importantly, do not affect SAP ERP HCM data.

Figure 5 depicts the org unit for the manager of computer engineering, George Addona. Presently, George has two managers reporting into him. He would like to elevate Linda Maltby (currently reporting to Ron Langille) to manager and create an independent org structure for the three managers — Linda Maltby, Timothy Murray, and Ron Langille — by moving some of the direct reports from Ron Langille to Linda Maltby and Timothy Murray.

Figure 5

Employee listing, prior to creating a scenario

To model this scenario, start by clicking the Create New Scenario link (Figure 6). This brings up a dialog box where you can enter your scenario name. Create the scenario based on the Employee org chart (the other options are Staff Assignment and Position Management). Select Import data to import the information from George Addona. Select Import multiple levels so the entire org structure is imported and created. Select the option Load Scenario after creation, and then click the Create Scenario button to create your new “what-if” scenario.

Figure 6

Create a new “what-if” scenario

After completing the scenario details, I began my new “what-if” scenario by elevating Linda Maltby as a manager with her own team. Now, George has three managers reporting to him, each with their own team. Moving people around is very easy in SAP Talent Visualization because you can simply drag and drop the org chart boxes to where you would like them to be, as shown in Figure 7. You can create additional scenario actions for any of the employees by selecting the org chart box and clicking the Details button.

Figure 7

Create a new “what-if” scenario

To see how this scenario might affect the enterprise org structure, click the Management option on the left side of the screen. In the Management “what-if” scenario, you can create additional views, add fields, and even perform HCM analytics (such as examining headcount and the salary count) on the new scenario. You can also publish the scenario for others to view by clicking the Publish Scenario option.

If you would like to view analytics, select the Add Analytic option, which displays the dialog box (Figure 8). Then, select Head Count and Salary Count. You can view the results of the analytics by selecting the OrgChart option from the menu (Figure 9). Select the George Addona chart box and click the Details button. Both the counts are displayed in the Counts tab. This gives you a good idea of the cost involved in the reorganization. In my example, no new employees were added so the counts did not change. If a salary change occurs, the system takes that into account and makes the changes for you.

Figure 8

Add analytics to the scenario

Figure 9

Analytics results

Plan Your Succession Management

If you want to update a position as a key position, click the Positions listing option, (displayed on the left side) to display the list of all positions in the organization (Figure 10). Next, select the position you want to update. You can see the details of that position by clicking the Details button. Finally, click the Modify Position Info link, which displays the Set Key Position dialog box. In the dialog box, you can update the indicator type by selecting the value from the drop-down menu. In my example, I selected the Senior Executive value.

Figure 10

Assign a key position indicator

Figure 11

Key People listing

Clicking the Details button gives all the details about the key person. You can modify the details about the key person, such as adding the key person to a new job family, competency, or education, or as a successor to a position.

For example, I identified George Addona as a key person. In Figure 12 when I click on the Successor For… tab, it shows that George is identified as a successor for some positions. It also displays details such as the performance rating and George’s readiness for each position. The status column displays details such as if he will be successful in transitioning to the new position (meets the qualification criteria), if he is a potential candidate (does not fully meet the qualification criteria, if he would require additional training and experience), or if he is being interviewed for a position (has the potential for the position, at least three to five years from being fully qualified).

Figure 12

Details about key people

As shown in Figure 13, the Compare option in the menu allows the talent management specialist and the manager to compare two employees to determine who is better suited for a position. The Details tab shows all the information related to the employee (Figure 13). You can click on any of the tabs to gather more information. From these details, you can understand career plans, development needs, and performance ratings from the past year.

Figure 13

Compare two talents

If you would like to determine if a particular employee is suitable for a position, you can retain the details of the talent in the window and compare them against the position. You can compare between a position and a job family and determine if a position needs to be added to the job family. Another SuccessionPlanning feature is the grid feature, which allows you to compare your employees against two different values. Clicking the option Perf vs Risk of Loss displays the talent pool in a grid format with performance in one axis and the risk of loss in another axis (Figure 14).

Figure 14

Performance vs. risk of loss grid display

Move the mouse over any talent and click it to display the details. Managers and the talent management specialist have found this feature to be useful during talent management meetings. It helps them to understand the performance rating of the available talent and the risk to the organization of losing such talent.

By clicking the Succession option in the menu, the talent management specialist can display the org chart he is responsible for as a succession hierarchy with the org chart and the bench strength for each position (Figure 15). If you click the up arrow icon, you see the list of identified and available successors for that position. You can click each of the names to display further details. Identification of sufficient bench strength for key positions is essential to plan your recruiting budget (if no talent is available internally, you might have to hire someone from outside) and the training budget (allocate sufficient budget for the training needs or identify a mentor for the potential successors).

Figure 15

Successor pool and bench strength

Common Themes between OrgChart and OrgModeler

Figure 16 displays the different styles in which you can display the org chart in SAP Talent Visualization:

• Vertical
• Compressed horizontal/vertical
• Horizontal
• Compressed last level condensed
• Horizontal last level condensed
• Vertical condensed

Figure 16

Display options in OrgChart and OrgModeler

You can save the displayed org chart to a local file, export it as an image file, convert it to an Adobe PDF file, or export it to a Microsoft Visio or PowerPoint file. Exporting Visio is one of the options offered in SAP TVN. Sometimes Visio diagrams are used in the blueprinting documents. An SAP consultant might create a sample org chart and export it to Visio to be used in a blueprinting document. In the Print option, you can add headers or footers or insert notes.

Figure 16 also shows the search and setting options. The search options allow you to search by name (last name, first name), contact details, employee type, org unit, or cost center.

Venki Krishnamoorthy

Venki Krishnamoorthy is an author, speaker, and SAP ERP HCM talent management solutions subject-matter expert. He is currently an independent SAP ERP HCM functional consultant. Venki has over 10 years of experience as a functional lead, project manager, and program manager in the HCM space. Besides implementing SAP HCM solutions, he has implemented and acted as a trusted advisor on SAP ERP HCM talent management implementations, including E-Recruiting, HCM Performance Management, Succession Planning, SAP Talent Visualization by Nakisa, Learning Solutions, and Employee Self-Service and Manager Self-Services. He is the coauthor of three books: E-Recruiting with SAP ERP HCM, SAP ERP HCM Infotypes: Your Quick Reference to HR Infotypes, and SAP Transaction Codes: Your Quick Reference to T-Codes in SAP ERP.

You may contact the author at krish.venki1@gmail.com.

If you have comments about this article or publication, or would like to submit an article idea, please contact the editor.