Template Content for Stories in People Analytics has been released early Aug 2020. These set of (template) Stories can be imported and modified by the users to fit their individual systems. In this Blog, I will provide some insights related to the Content idea and to take you along the Journey which will help you tell your Story using People Analytics.
The Idea (behind Template Content)
Stories are the new way to share insights on data available in your system. You can use different formats like charts, widgets and tables to visualize those as per your needs. Stories can go way beyond just simple list reports. You can start with an overview page that provides the key takeaways by just showing aggregated information and continue with additional pages to provide more details on various aspects.
Template Content is a valuable tool to help you understand how to build meaningful Stories. We are proud to share the first batch of Story
Templates that will help fast-track your own content creation tailored to your business. Although there are many ways a Story can be designed, we would like you to take the templates as a suggestion and build upon them.
In order to make it easier for you we used the already available Reports and re-imagined them into Stories. Following similar lines future templates will relate to EC Advanced Reports, Classic reporting and others.
What we deliver
All the available Template Content is comprised of three parts; Functional, Technical and (dot)acn file.
The Functional information is available in the
help portal. It provides the details on usage along with the look and feel of the Story. The module components used to create this Story can be found under the section "Component List" and download link to the zip file containing the (dot)acn file and Technical Documentation.
To import a Story successfully into your system you should verify that you are using the required products, then download and unzip. Please use the (dot).acn file and upload it via the Report Center Import. Once imported you can run the Story for the first time and verify that the fields used in the Template are available in your system as well. Any re-import will overwrite an already existing template Story so we recommend to rename the Story once imported.
The Technical documentation covers the steps to follow in order to re-create the template by yourself. It provides details on the query design, fields, used filters and calculated columns. The fields used can be located under "Column Overview" section. Please refer to this section to validate and map the fields used in the query and the fields in your system.
In case there is a mismatch, the Story might not run as expected. Please refer to the
quick fix guide to adapt the template Story to your system.
TIP: You can use the “Save As” or “Duplicate” option to create copies of the story and create different flavors of the same Story.
Naming Convention
The templates are shared with the Technical Names. This convention of naming contains 4 parts as described below
Sample: SF_
EMP_
Work_Eligibility_
v1.0
SF: Content Owner is SAP SuccessFactors
EMP: The module used is Employee Central Employment
Work_Eligibility: The Story's functional name is Work Eligibility
V1.0: The version is 1.0 of this template. It will be updated with every new version of this template
The name itself will help you understand if this Story is relevant for you and the required products. The Stories are also listed per Module, so it is easier to locate which module's Stories are available. Please refer to
this page for detailed listing of the Templates per module.
As of August 2020, the content released is in relation to Employee Central Advanced Reporting. We also have release content for other modules and are continuing to build more for your consumption.
TIP: A new and improved stack for Stories is released, known as Optimized View Mode and Optimized Design Experience(includes OVM as default). We highly recommend you use this in Stories either by creating new story in ODE or enabling OVM in your existing Stories. Details can be found here.
Following the creation process
We encourage you to create content from scratch to understand the process and to explore the many different possibilities to create a Story. For this we have the
Technical Documentation attached with every Story's zip download. This document contains all the details and relevant screen shots for you to refer and create the content by yourself. This is a lengthier process but will help you get accustomed to the steps we follow in creating these templates.
The process can loosely be described in four sections Query, Columns, Filters and Widgets. All of these can be found in the technical documents. Please note we do not share the Widget designer, as we wish for you to choose the best suited visualisation for your Story. However, if needed you can always import the template and analyse all the components.
TIP: Since the Stories are Templates, our recommendation is always to Run the Story after Import as there can be a need to modify them to fit your system configuration.
Future Content
As we continue to create new Template content please follow the Content and Community Pages for updates on new releases. As per the current pipeline, we will be creating content which will substitute for Employee Central Advanced reporting, Classic Reports and other cross module reporting.
The current release set includes Stories from Employee Central’s Apprentice Management, Compensation, Employment and Person, Employee Central Time, Benefit, Position, Competency, Workflow, Onboarding . Please follow and subscribe
Community post for updates regarding new and revised content release.
We are happy to hear your thoughts, comments and suggestions regarding the templates that we have shared and for future template development. Please use the
influence portal to share your thoughts and enhancements recommendations.
Useful Links
Information related to Stories and Template Stories can be found below listed links
