The main purpose of a checklist is to aid the employee, manager, or HR professional in the completion of a process — whether it is related to work, family, or a company event. The checklist is monitored and all involved parties can track it until completion based on their business requirements. For example, a checklist for a life event such as a child's birth or adoption is typically tracked only by the employee due to its personal nature. Conversely, a transfer or promotion checklist may be monitored by the employee, manager, and HR to ensure a smooth transition during the event. You can make any process or series of tasks into a checklist, as there are no set rules on what comprises a checklist or guided procedure. Typically, you build checklists to assist with the completion of a common life or career- related event. Table 1 lists examples of popularly implemented checklists made available in Employee Self-Service (ESS) and Manager Self-Service (MSS). For each checklist, you can see a list of possible users. In many cases, an employee, manager, and HR professional may share a checklist (e.g., leave of absence), but the tasks or activities within that checklist could differ depending on the role of the user.

Checklist Users Birth or adoption of a child Employee, Manager, HR Voluntary or involuntary separation Employee, Manager, HR Retirement Employee, Manager, HR Relocation Employee, Manager, HR Pre-hire Employee, Manager, HR Hire or re-hire Employee, Manager, HR Change in position or pay Employee, Manager, HR Moving or change of address Employee Expatriation or inpatriation Employee, Manager, HR Marriage or domestic partner union Employee Loss of family member Employee, HR Leave or return from leave Employee, Manager, HR Legal separation or divorce Employee Disability Employee, Manager, HR Employment verification Employee Beneficiary change Employee Death of employee Manager, HR

Table 1

List of common checklists for employees, managers, and HR professionals

Checklists provide a more holistic approach to HR service delivery. Events experienced by the employee and manager can have profound effects on the employees' psyche, morale, and productivity. Providing a mechanism to capture and track progress during an important event is a concrete way for HR to assist its employees.

Checklists as Guided Procedures

Guided Procedures are part of SAP Composite Application Framework (SAP CAF), a framework that extends beyond SAP ERP HCM checklists. Guided Procedures enable a platform on which you can render and track personalized checklists. Tasks on these checklists can involve multiple systems (SAP and non-SAP), multiple technologies (e.g., WebDynpro for Java, WebDynpro for ABAP, Business Server Page [BSP], Adobe), and multiple services types (e.g., transactional, non- transactional, internal and external Web site content). Three main roles exist within the Guided Procedures framework: runtime, design time, and administration. The runtime role is designed for process contributors. Within a self-service context, a process contributor is an employee, manager, or HR professional. The iViews and pages within the runtime role are placed within a self-service role, which is then available on the portal for that user. The design time role provides functions to create actions, process templates, and SAP Interactive Forms by Adobe. The administration role allows for the monitoring and housekeeping activities needed by process administrators, such as the general monitoring and reassignment of processes. Figure 1 shows the homepage for the Guided Procedure runtime. Within the runtime environment, the user can do one of several tasks, including start a new process, view a process that he or she owns or oversees, or take action on a task that is already in process. There is also an Alerts & Warnings section that summarizes those processes and tasks that are either overdue or processed incorrectly.   The start page for a process instance of the standard My First Days checklist is shown in the example in Figure 2. A list of process activities is organized by blocks. These blocks contain links to various actions. Most standard actions are either transactional in nature (e.g., maintain bank information) or content-based (e.g., benefit information on an internal or external Web site). As users complete each action, they click on the Read or Complete button. A green box next to the action indicates its completion. The user can work through all remaining checklist items until completion. After completion, the checklist appears in the Completed Process subsection of the Process section in the Guided Procedures Runtime Work Center shown in Figure 1.   Figure 3 shows a checklist activity — specifically, a WebDynpro for Java transaction — for updating an employee's Bank Information within process block Payroll Information. All the functionality of the standalone application is available within the process checklist as well. After completing the transaction, the employee clicks on the Complete button and moves to the next action or block.  

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