SAP SuccessFactors has completely revamped its Onboarding module, so much so that it is being referred to as Onboarding 2.0. This is coming soon, in Q4 2019, and we’d like to prepare you for the move, which will not be mandatory initially, but will offer some significant benefits and upgrades over the current SuccessFactors Onboarding solution.

Here are five important things to know about Onboarding 2.0

1. Improved Day One Functionality

Onboarding 2.0 aims to enhance the process that gets employees to be productive first thing on day one of their employment. The functionality will generate the employee ID upon initiation of the Onboarding process. This is huge. Clients will no longer have to wait until the hire goes through the Manage Pending Hires step to generate the employee ID, which is often required to kick off down-stream integrations to other systems. An event will also be published at the start of the onboarding process to support integration scenarios.  For example, you could integrate a provisioning system that subscribes to that event and then pulls the employee ID to order equipment and have it assigned to the employee right away.

2. Format for documents

Onboarding documents in Onboarding 2.0 will allow both PDF and XDP file format. XDP file formats offer benefits for machine learning with compression, columnar storage and more efficient read/write capabilities. PDF file format will also continue to be supported. If you want the latest technology with the best capabilities for future analysis, SAP recommends using Adobe Live Cycle for XDP Files. If you currently use PDF files, get ahead of the game and make sure you have a way to create or converting PDF files to XDP format.

3. Tightly integrated with Employee Central

Employee Central (EC) will be required for the General Release of Onboarding 2.0 in Q4 2019.  This is because Onboarding 2.0 is built in Employee Central and uses platform technology and EC’s data structure that now automatically handle API’s, document management, business rules and foundation objects in addition to localization to the 98 countries included in Employee Central. Integration support for Non-EC clients is planned for Q1 2020. This is important to note—if you are an SAP ERP HCM on-premise client, or use another system for your core HR system of record, you will not be able to use Onboarding 2.0 until Q1 2020 at the earliest.

4. Mobile capabilities get a boost

This Q4 2019 (general availability) release includes a mobile-friendly SAP Native eSignature to electronically sign documents. For digital natives this is vital functionality. Onboarding 2.0 supports both DocuSign and SAP eSignature. DocuSign is a remote signature method in which users receive an email with a URL that enables them to navigate to DocuSign. SAP’s eSignature allows users to sign documents from the Onboarding instance itself.

5. Migration tools are on the roadmap

Migration assistance from Onboarding 1.0 to 2.0 is part of SAP SuccessFactors’ roadmap plan and is on the radar for within the next 24 months. For a feature to feature comparison of Onboarding 1.0 to Onboarding 2.0, read SAP Knowledge Base Article 2823025.   

There is no sunset date for Onboarding 1.0. And SAP is currently clarifying when the provisioning process for new customers will change to Onboarding 2.0.

2019 Timeline for Onboarding 2.0

When Onboarding 2.0 is launched in Q4 2019, it will offer a hybrid approach for those customers that want to still run Onboarding 1.0 while getting to know Onboarding 2.0.

The initial 2.0 release will not have compliance for all countries, but SAP does say specific compliance forms are not required for Belgium, Italy, Singapore, Egypt, Greater China, Hungary, Indonesia, Malaysia, Netherlands, Oman, Philippines, United Arab Emirates, and Vietnam.

As mentioned above, EC will be required for those that want to utilize Onboarding 2.0 immediately. There will be no third-party or SAP ERP HCM integrations supported initially.

Some important features that will have an immediate benefit from 2.0 will be

  • Best practices for Applicant Tracking Systems
  • Offboarding triggered from SF Employee Central using a predefined process
  • Ability to cancel Onboarding, Crossboarding and Offboarding
  • Notifications via email
  • Bizx homepage tiles
  • Screens in responsive Fiori design – works on smartphones & hybrid devices
  • Additional configuration options using the process variant manager tool
  • Support for 98 countries, invaluable when it comes to data validation like national ID validation
  • Rehire on new employment
  • Hybrid setup – where compliance forms are not available yet – users will be able to run in parallel with Onboarding 1.0
  • DocuSign integration for remote signing

What’s Coming in 2020 and Beyond

By Q1 2020, SAP expects to have compliance for the UK and Australia, as well as integration support for non-EC clients—both external HRIS systems and SAP ERP HCM. Those two updates should open Onboarding 2.0 to a much larger set of new clients.

Additionally, in Q1 2020, SAP will deliver functionality to handle “no shows”, embedded DocuSign signing, and the ability to create offboarding processes. We can also expect further improvements based on initial client feedback of the module.

Embedded people analytics will be rolled out in staged releases.

Looking farther out to the next 12 months, U.S. compliance and E-Verify capabilities within the U.S. will arrive. Canada compliance should also come before the end of 2020. Other countries will be added at each release.

Within 24 months, SAP will be offering Onboarding 1.0 to Onboarding 2.0 migration assistance. There will also be capabilities around automatic and mass hires, contingent workforce support, and building new hire communities for social onboarding.

More Than Your Standard SuccessFactors Update

As you can see by many of the changes, Onboarding 2.0 is not your typical SAP SuccessFactors release update. It is essentially a new product altogether, which will require migration and implementation. The ability to run both 1.0 and 2.0 should help customers make the transition, and within a year it should possible for many more companies to upgrade to 2.0 once local compliance forms are included.

Onboarding 2.0 will only get better, and we should see innovation come rapidly. You can find a feature comparison of 1.0 and 2.0 here. For now, this is an important first step to building a vastly improved Onboarding system for SAP SuccessFactors users.