2105083 - Importing Successors in SuccessFactors Succession and Development

This KB article provides information on how to import successors using the Import Successors feature

Image/data in this KBA is from SAP internal systems, sample data, or demo systems. Any resemblance to real data is purely coincidental.

SAP SuccessFactors Succession and Development

The "Import Successors" feature allows you to add, update, delete and transfer successors using a CSV file.

Using the "Import Successors" Feature

1. Go to Admin Center > Succession > Import Successors.
2. Export the template using the "Export Template" button.
3. Fill the template with the required data and save it as a CSV file.
4. Go to the Import Successors page again > browse for the CSV File > click "Import Successors". 
5. The process will be submitted and you'll receive the results via e-mail. 

Understanding the Template

The template is dynamically generated based on the nomination method being used in the environment. This happens because you need different fields to update nomination data, depending on your nomination method.

• When you have Role-Person Nomination Method, you will need the fields INCUMBENT_USERID and JOBCODE.
• When you have Legacy Positions, you will need the field POSITION_CODE.
• When you have MDF Positions, you will need the field GENERIC_POSITION_CODE.
• When you have Talent Pools, you will need the field POOL_CODE. 

Example:

For an environment using Role Person Nomination and without Talent Pool Nomination, the template header will be:

JOBCODE, INCUMBENT_USERID, OLD_JOBCODE, OLD_INCUMBENT_USERID, OLD_TBH_ID, TBH_ID, TBH_MANAGER_USERID, READINESS, SUCCESSOR_USERID, ACTION

For an environment using Position Nomination and with Talent Pool Nomination, the template header will be:

POSITION_CODE, OLD_POSITION_CODE, POOL_CODE, OLD_POOL_CODE, READINESS, SUCCESSOR_USERID, ACTION 

Completing the Template

There are two key aspects of the Import Successors feature: (1) Identifying which incumbent/position you are trying to add successors to or modify existing nominations and (2) identifying what you want to do to the nominations (action) and the nomination information (who is the successor and what is the associated readiness/ranking values).

Identifying the incumbent/position

For the Import Successors to work properly, you'll need to provide information to allow the system to identify to which incumbent/position you are trying to add successors or modify nominations. Which fields you need to fill will depend on your nomination method and on the action you are taking. See below the required fields for each nomination method and action: 
 
For Add / Update / Delete:

Nomination method	Fields that need to be completed
Position	POSITION_CODE
MDF Positions	GENERIC_POSITION_CODE
Role-person	JOBCODE and INCUMBENT_USERID
Talent Pools	POOL_CODE

For Transfer:

Nomination method	Original successors come from	Successors will be transferred to
Position	OLD_POSITION_CODE	POSITION_CODE
MDF Positions	OLD_GENERIC_POSITION_CODE	GENERIC_POSITION_CODE
Role-person	OLD_JOBCODE + OLD_INCUMBENT_USERID OR OLD_JOBCODE + OLD_TBH_ID	JOBCODE + INCUMBENT_USERID OR JOBCODE + TBH_ID + TBH_MANAGER_USERID
Pool	OLD_POOL_CODE	POOL_CODE

* Role Person nomination transferring is a special case, please see more information in KBA 2362701

Action and Nomination Information

1. ACTION: We support 4 types: ADD, TRANSFER, UPDATE, and DELETE.
   NOTE: Currently leaving it as empty/ADD/UPDATE has no difference - system will try to update exist record first, if no record found, will create a new one.
2. SUCCESSOR_USERID: Required for ADD / UPDATE. For TRANSFER & DELETE, you can leave it blank and it will affect all existing successor/pending successors of a position/incumbent.
3. READINESS: Here, you need to use the Readiness Score number (from the Readiness Rating Scale), and not the label. You can find out what is the Readiness Score Number by going to Admin Center > Rating Scales > select "Readiness" rating scale. It is required for most cases, except for Talent Pools that don't require Readiness and for transferring and deleting nominations.
4. RANKING: Optional. It will only be available in the template if the setting "Enable ranking of successors" is enabled in Admin Center > Nominations Setup page.

Additional Information

1. For form based nomination, successors created via import will NOT be searchable by document search. But it will be pre-populated when create nomination form
2. If enabled Talent Pool Nomination, for each row in input file, we will always validate the fields for the regular nomination method first. If failed, then validate for Talent Pool next
3. Oftentimes the UserID and the Username are different so you should verify that you are correctly using the UserID
4. Recommended amount of records per file, for the successors import process, is less than 50,000 nominees in one file. However, the job runs in batches of 250 seconds, so if the time taken to process the file is greater than 250 seconds some records may not be loaded into the system. 

KB article 2362701 - Succession Management: Transfer nominations when employees change Job Code

sf, success factors, SCM, successor import, nominations, error, userid, username, talent pool , KBA , sf succession , LOD-SF-SCM-NOM , Nominations - Form Based and Formless , LOD-SF-SCM , Succession Management , How To

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