HRIS Synchronisation

Human Resource Information System (HRIS) synchronization is the sync of data from Employee
Central to User Data Tables and the Employee Profile. HRIS Sync is a one-way HR (unidirectional)
sync of Employee Central data to populate the talent data to support the other modules of SAP
SuccessFactors. Because Employee Central is the core HR system of record for SAP
SuccessFactors, we want to ensure data is accurate across the entire SAP SuccessFactors Suite.
Some areas of the system store data in legacy data tables, so the HRIS sync populates these tables
with Employee Central data.

The synchronization process is called an HRIS Sync Job and is completed in Manage Scheduled Jobs
in Provisioning. HRIS sync is a background quartz job that periodically looks for data that has been
changed in Employee Central and updates the legacy user tables with data from Employee Central.
The job itself should be configured to run on a schedule. For data updated using the UI, the
synchronization process is triggered automatically at the end of the update for current and past-dated
records.

User Tables feed data to other modules like Performance, Goals, Compensation, and Recruiting.

Warning: To avoid future data inconsistency between Employee Central tables and legacy tables, do
not use basic import to update data in the legacy tables directly.

Additional configuration in Employee Central may be required to utilize integration features between
Employee Central and other SAP SuccessFactors solutions.

Why is HRIS sync important?

Employee Central stores employees’ Personal and Employment Information. For example, Job
Information includes fields such as an employee’s Department, Company, or Location. Employee
Central data is robust and connected to the supporting Foundation Object record data in the system,
making it more valuable and accurate than the standard element data used by the User Data Tables.

When configuring HRIS Sync fields, you connect the Employee Central data fields to Standard
Elements in Succession Data Model with an HRIS Synchronization Mapping. When there is a change
in Employee Central information, it flows to Employee Profile fields and is consumed by talent
solutions that cannot directly leverage Employee Central data.

For customers WITHOUT Employee Central, their talent process relies solely on imported data using
the User Data File (UDF), which is displayed in Employee Profile blocks in People Profile. These fields
allow the standard Org Chart to populate correctly, provide filter criteria for dashboards and reports,
create the route maps used for Performance Management and Compensation, and more.

For customers WITH Employee Central, some talent modules continue to refer to User Data File to run
the talent processes in the system because they can't leverage person and employment information
directly from Employee Central. However, with HRIS Sync, customers do not need to upload this
information manually.

Some fields are critical to keeping the sync between Employee Central and the UDF. If using
Employee Central, you should not be making user data changes by importing the User Data File
(UDF) either from the UI or through a scheduled job. Doing so can overwrite data coming from
Employee Central and cause data inconsistencies.

HRIS Sync Provisioning Jobs

You can schedule HRIS Sync Jobs in Provisioning. You can monitor the HRIS Sync Job using the
Scheduled Job Manager in the Admin Center.
When is HRIS Sync triggered?

Use the interaction below to know how HRIS Sync is triggered.

Use the interaction below to know the types of synchronisation jobs: Incremental and Full.

Synchronisation Mappings

The data synchronized from Employee Central to basic user data tables are either hard-coded
(designed by default) or configured in the Succession Data model (custom-designed).

Hard-coded sync means that the system will sync some HRIS elements and HRIS fields into user
directory tables without any configuration based on hard-coded rules, such as syncing Job
Information: job-code to Standard element: jobCode.

However, you can also customize sync mappings, which means you can configure the syncing of
Employment Details: Eligible for Stock to Standard Element: Customizable Field 9 in Succession Data
Model.
You can define HRIS Sync mappings for standard elements, user info elements, and user info record
key elements. With these mappings, you can establish a relationship between these elements and
HRIS fields (predefined and custom fields). HRIS Sync considers these mappings when propagating
Employee Central to other SAP SuccessFactors products.

Hard-Coded Sync Mapping

Certain mappings are hard-coded into the system, meaning you MUST NOT configure these in the
Succession Data Model. Configuring an HRIS-sync mapping in the data model for these fields can
cause undesired results.

The system prevents anyone from adding duplicate sync mappings to the sync-mappings section of
the Succession Data Model. Duplicate sync mappings lead to data not syncing to Employee Profile
correctly. Manage Business Configuration (BCUI) has a validation that prevents creating an HRIS sync
mapping for hard-coded fields.

These are some of the HRIS fields that are hard-coded to standard elements:

Hard-coded Fields

Please refer to Implementing Employee Central Core guide in the Help Portal for the complete list and
other sync logic.

Custom Sync Mapping

You can create custom sync mapping by adding additional XML into your Succession Data Model or
through BCUI. The separate section in your XML document uses the tag <hris-sync-mappings>.
The attribute entity-type is mandatory for HRIS-sync mapping of address, email, phone, and global
info. Entity type specifies the type of information. For example, emailInfo can either be business or
personal. The picklist center can verify the external code used for each type.
The following steps describe the custom mapping process in Succession Data Model.
1. Identify the Employee Central block, using hris-element-ref refid="jobInfo"
2. Identify the Employee Central field, usinghris-field-ref refid="business-unit".
3. Identify the Employee Profile field (standard-element), using standard-element-ref
refid="custom01".
4. Update the XML in your Succession Data Model.
5. Upload to Provisioning.

The code in the Succession Data Model is as follows:

<hris-sync-mappings>
<hris-element-ref refid="jobInfo">
<hris-mapping>
<hris-field-ref refid="business-unit"/>
<standard-element-ref refid="custom01"/>
</hris-mapping>
</hris-element-ref>
</hris-sync-mappings>

You can define multiple sets of hris-mapping within the hris-element-ref tag and multiple sets of hris-
element-ref inside the hris-sync-mappings tag.

Alternatively, you can configure the mapping in Manage Business Configuration (BCUI) with these
steps:
1. Go toManage Business Configuration → HRIS Sync Mappings
2. Select Plus (+)
3. Select the appropriate HRIS Element ID from the drop-down menu
4. Select the Field ID
5. Select the Target Field Type
6. Select the Target Field ID
7. Select Entity Type when applicable
8. Save.