Jobs and Positions

Jobs and Positions Overview

Position control is key in large, highly structured agencies. By basing your work structures on positions, you obtain the most flexibility in representing and managing organizational changes over time.

Jobs and Positions

Jobs provide a way to categorize related positions, independent of specific organizations. For example, in US Federal HR, the occupational series code categorizes related positions. You can assign one or more positions to a job. All the positions assigned to that job share the same occupational series, but the position definitions can differ in location, grade and pay plan.

See: Job Management

Positions and Reporting Lines

When you define a position, you specify the organization to which the position reports. The organization definition stores your choice of the reporting information as organization hierarchy or street address. The application displays the appropriate hierarchy information or street address in the RPA depending on what you entered when you set up the organization.

By building work structures based on positions, you have the flexibility of representing structures where reporting lines cross organizations. You can create a position that belongs to one organization and reports to another. The Position window stores the organization to which the position belongs and the Position Extra Information stores the organization to which the position reports.

See: Position Management

Position Hierarchies

You can use position hierarchies to represent the management reporting lines for your agency's departments and sections and accurately represent:

You can build position hierarchies to model reporting lines or other relationships within the agency. Position hierarchies are very like organization hierarchies. You can set up a primary hierarchy and multiple secondary hierarchies to show reporting lines, including 'dotted line' reporting, and to control access to information. Position hierarchies are dated, so you can create future-dated versions, and can retain previous versions for historical information.

See:Position Hierarchies

Position Description

Many agencies require classified position descriptions (PDs). The written PD describes the position's unique responsibilities, requirements, and working conditions. You can attach the PD to a position and maintain it in the document catalog. In the usual process of classifying a position, a PD is initiated and then routed for review and authorizatio and then completed by the Personnelist who classifies the position.

After classifying a PD, you can attach it to one or more positions. If you process an RPA for an employee whose position is linked to a PD, the application generates a PD Cover sheet with information assembled from the PD, the RPA, and the Position. When you later print the Notification of Personnel Action for the employee's Official Personnel File, you can also print the PD assigned to that position.

See: Position Description Classification Overview

If your agency uses the National Finance Center as a provider, you can submit position records to the NFC by generating the appropriate NFC FESI interface files.

See: National Finance Center Interface, Oracle HRMS Configuring, Reporting, and System Administration Guide

Key Concepts

To broaden your understanding of jobs and positions, see:

Jobs and Positions

Position control is key in Government agencies. You can create and validate positions with associated position descriptions, grades, and occupational series. As you define positions in your agency, you can describe their responsibilities, requirements, working conditions, and work schedule.

Does Oracle Federal Human Resources classify positions?

Many agencies require classified position descriptions to describe the position's responsibilities, requirements, and working conditions. Using the product's standard attachment functionality, you can attach the position description to a position and maintain it in the document catalog.

Position information, the position description document, and any other supporting documentation can be routed for approval using the workflow feature.

Does Oracle Federal Human Resources use the Office of Personnel Management's (OPM) Occupational Job Series?

You can define jobs using the supplied OPM-mandated occupational series. Once you define a job, you can establish one or more positions for that job.

Position-related actions are processed using the Request for Personnel Action (RPA)

Does Oracle Federal Human Resources report organization and position information to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM)?

You can represent the reporting relationships within an organization using position and organization hierarchies, and generate the necessary OPM reports such as the Organizational Component Translation Report.

How does Oracle Federal Human Resources reflect the reporting relationship within an agency?

You can use position hierarchies to represent the management reporting lines for your agency's departments and sections and accurately represent:

Grades and Pay Plans

An employee's compensation is determined by the pay system or pay schedule that is used to set the employee's rate of basic pay. This pay system is usually the relationship of a pay scale to the grade and step of the position the employee holds.

Does the product supply basic rate tables for calculating compensation?

The product supplies Office of Personnel Management basic and GS Special Rate Tables that are common to most federal agencies. The basic tables include predefined pay plan and valid grade combinations.

Does the product support agency-specific tables?

If the pay plan your agency uses is not included, you can define agency-specific pay tables, and create pay plan and grade combinations.

Job Management

Job Management

Job definition functions can contribute to the efficient management of your agency. Jobs provide a way to categorize related positions, independent of specific organizations. For example, in US Federal HR, the occupational series code categorizes related positions. You can assign one or more positions to a job and have all positions related, but varied in the position details, such as location, grade and pay plan.

Candidate Selections

When you define a job, you can also specify:

Having specified the job requirements (and also recorded the competencies and work preferences of individual applicants and employees), you can use Oracle HRMS's suitability matching functions to identify candidates for roles and roles for candidates.

Comparisons with Industry

Agencies sometimes need to evaluate jobs, in relation to industry standards. Accordingly, Oracle HRMS enables you to:

Job Groups

You can define all roles in an enterprise as jobs. Such roles include those associated with the main business of the enterprise, such as sales manager or clerk, as well as those considered supplementary, such as fire warden or safety representative.

Oracle HRMS organizes jobs into job groups. (Some statutory reports require job group as an input value.) For each business group, there is a default job group to which standard HRMS jobs must belong. Supplementary roles, however, must not belong to the default job group. You can define additional job groups for these supplementary roles and for use in Oracle Projects. Job groups you define can apply globally or within a single business group.

Creating a Job Group

You create job groups in the Job Groups window.

To create a job group:

  1. Enter a name for the job group. If the HR:Cross Business Group profile option is set to Y then this name must be unique across the system. If it is set to N then it must be unique within the business group.

  2. Select the required flexfield structure. This will determine the fields that are displayed in the Job window when this job group is chosen.

  3. Select a business group if required. If the HR:Cross Business Group profile option is set to N, then your business group will be displayed and you will not be able to amend it. If the profile option is set to Y then you can either select your business group, or leave the field blank to create a global job group.

    Note: The HR Default Job Group that contains all the standard HRMS jobs is business group specific and therefore all jobs held within it are only available within your business group. Global job groups only apply to supplementary roles within Oracle HRMS, and Oracle Projects.

  4. Check the Master Job Group check box if this is to be the master job group. The jobs within the master job group can have jobs from other job groups mapped onto them using Oracle Projects.

    If the HR:Cross Business Group profile option is set to Y then you may only have one master job group across the system. If it is set to N then you can have one for each of your business groups.

  5. Save your changes.

Defining a Job

Jobs provide a way to categorize related positions, independent of specific organizations. You use the Job window to establish a job and associate it to a 4-digit occupational series code.

You can also enter supplementary roles in the Job window. You can record information about any roles an employee holds which are not part of the employee's contract; for example, fire warden or health and safety representative.

The Further Information field is not used by Oracle Federal Human Resources. In general, you enter the information from the Further Information field in the Position Extra Information flexfields. For example, you enter the FLSA information in the Extra Position Information Position Group 1 flexfield. If you enter information in the Job Further Information flexfield, the application does not save it on update.

If you intend loading historic assignment details into Oracle HRMS, make sure you enter valid start dates for your jobs. You cannot assign an employee to a job before the start date of the job.

Note: Consider using a fixed date as a default for your initial setup, for example, 01-JAN-1901. This simplifies your data entry.

Use the Job window to define jobs.

To create a job

  1. Enter a start date early enough to handle any historical information you want to enter.

  2. Select the required Job Group. This defaults to the Default HR Job Group for your Business Group and should not be changed unless you want to enter a job that describes a supplementary role to a person's normal employment, such as a fire warden or health and safety representative, or you are setting up a job to be used in Oracle Projects.

    Only jobs entered in the Default HR Job Group will be available in other windows such as Position, Competencies, or Assignment. The only window within Oracle HRMS that can access jobs outside of the Default HR Job Group are the Supplementary Roles and the Elections window.

  3. Click the name field to open the Job Flexfield window. The flexfield that opens is dependent on the Job Group you have selected. Select a job from the occupational series list of values. Choose OK.

    Note: It is recommended that you define only one segment for occupational series and do not use the other segments. If you define additional segments, the job name that appears on the Position form, the RPA, and the Notification of Personnel Action is a concatenation of these segments, which users may find confusing. If you need to capture other job-related information, add segments to the Position Extra Information.

  4. Enter a numerical approval authority value to define an approval level for incumbents of this job. This value is used by Oracle Approvals Management to determine whether a person has sufficient authority to approve a transaction.

  5. Indicate whether the job carries any additional employment rights or is a benchmark job. A benchmark job is one that can be used to represent a number of jobs in reports such as salary surveys.

    Save your work and do not complete any further steps, if you are entering a supplementary role.

  6. Select a benchmark job, if required.

  7. Save the job.

  8. Choose the Extra Information button and complete any agency specific information there.

    Note: If you have Oracle Projects installed, you can enter further information in the Extra Job Information flexfield.

    See: Implementing Resource Utilization, Project Resource Management Implementation and Administration Guide.

    You can investigate the job categories in your enterprise using HRMS Intelligence.

  9. Choose the Evaluation button to enter evaluation information and an overall evaluation score for the job.

    See: Entering Evaluation Information

    If you are following the competence approach for suitability matching, enter your competencies using the Competence Requirements window.

    See: Defining Competence Requirements, Workforce Sourcing, Deployment, and Talent Management Guide

  10. Choose the Requirements button to enter job requirements, such as required qualifications or valid experience, to help you match people to roles.

    See: Entering Job and Position Requirements

  11. Choose the Work Choices button to enter work choices relevant to the job.

    See: Entering Work Choices for a Job or Position

  12. Choose the Survey Mapping button to link salary survey lines to your job.

    See: Mapping Salary Survey Lines, Enterprise and Workforce Management

  13. Save the job.

Ending Jobs for OCC Series that End

If OPM ends an occupational series, determine if you have job definitions based on that occupational series and positions associated to that job. To identify the jobs, query the occupational series in the Job window's Name field, then manually end-date these jobs.

To identify the positions, query the occupational series in the Position window's Job field. If you wish to continue using the positions, create a new job and then update the position definition by processing an RPA Change in Data Element (NOAC 800).

To process a NOAC 800 Change in Data Element

  1. Choose Change in Data Element from the Navigator menu.

  2. Choose the new occupational series from the List of Values.

  3. Complete the RPA, following the usual steps for processing an action.

    When the application updates the HR database with the RPA, the Job field on the Position form changes to reflect the new occupational series.

Position Description

Position Description Classification Overview

Many agencies require classified position descriptions (PDs). Agencies recognize valid positions based on different criteria such as:

The written PD describes the position's unique responsibilities, requirements, and working conditions. You can attach the PD to a position and maintain it in the document catalog. For example, you can attach:

If you later find that you need to modify the PD, you can do so by reclassifying it. (You can reclassify the PD more than once, if necessary.)

Security

The application supports secure user view and cross-business group functionality. For example, when you create and then save a PD, the application stores the business group ID attached to your login's responsibility with the PD record. The application then limits access to users whose business group login corresponds to the one saved with the PD.

If you require access to all PDs or need to update related information such as Position Extra Information, use a non-secure responsibility.

PD Process

In the usual process of classifying a position, you create (initiate) a PD, route it to a Requester, to an Authorizer, and then to the HR Specialist who completes the PD and classifies the position.

When classifying a PD, you can categorize it as a standard PD, canceled, active, or inactive. A PD Occupancy form lists the employees whose current or previous positions were linked to the PD. After classifying a PD, you can attach it to one or more positions by entering the PD identifier in the Position Extra Information.

If you process an RPA for an employee whose position is linked to a PD, the application generates a PD Cover sheet that contains information assembled from the PD, the RPA, and the Position. Personnel working with the RPA can view the Cover sheet from the RPA. When you later print the Notification of Personnel Action for the employee's Official Personnel File, you can also print the PD assigned to that position.

Workflow Roles

When processing a PD, the workflow roles are similar to those of the RPA as described in the following table.

Role Function
Initiator Can initiate and enter information on a PD, but not the Classifier and Supervisor information; can copy PDs, can view unclassified and classified PDs
Authorizer, Requester Can enter PD information and sign Supervisor information, but not the Classifier information; can view unclassified and classified PDs
Reviewer Can view unclassified, classified, and reclassified PDs
HR Specialist Can complete the entire PD, can initiate and classify a PD without having to route it, can reclassify a PD, can view unclassified, classified, and reclassified PDs

Routing the PD

Using the workflow feature, you can route position information, the position description document, and supporting documentation. By routing the information, you can easily obtain the appropriate approvals for the PD.

The Notification message contains the PD Identifier number that the application automatically assigns the PD (this number is entered in Position Extra Information to link the PD to a position).

The Notification lists the position title by the highest classification level. The authorization order from lowest to highest is:

After classifying or reclassifying a position, the application displays a Closed status for the Workflow worklist and a Routing History status of Classified or Reclassified.

If you want to see the full history of the PD, you can display the Routing History for a record of the status and action taken. The following table describes the status and its associated action..

Status Action taken
Reclassified, Classified User chooses Classified or Reclassified when Routing the PD
Canceled User cancels a PD (PD can only be canceled after it's first saved to the inbox).
Reopened User reopens and saves a PD that has been previously classified
Authorized/Reque4sted User enters or changes the name and date information in the Supervisor Certification region (The application does not display a status for the second Supervisor Certification, only the first.)
Initiated User starts a new PD
Not Routed User saves the PD to his or her inbox without routing it
No Action User opens a PD from the inbox and routes the PD without making a change that would produce an Action Status of Requested, Authorized, or Reviewed
Reviewed Reviewer opens, reviews (view only), and routes the PD

The application displays an Action Taken status for the first person listed in the Supervisor Certification region, not the second. The application records an Authorized or Requested status (depending on the user's role) when the user completes both the name and date field in the Supervisor Certification region. If the user changes the date or name, the application enters another status of Authorized or Requested.

Position Descriptions

Adding an Attachment to the Position Description

After you have completed information regarding your position description, you can add an attachment to the Position Description (PD) to further define the position's duties.

To create the attachment, you can:

To add an attachment from the document catalog:

  1. Choose the attachment icon by selecting the paper clip.

  2. Choose the Document Catalog button.

  3. Find an existing document by entering your search criteria and then choosing the Find button.

    For example, choose the Data Type of Web Page to find all web pages in the document catalog.

    All documents matching your query are listed in the Documents region.

  4. From the query results, choose a document then select the Preview button to view the document.

  5. Select OK to dismiss the Preview window.

  6. Choose the document you want to attach to the Position Description and select the Attach 1 button.

    The Document Catalog window is dismissed and the attached document appears on the Attachments window.

    You can now edit the document you have attached to the Position Description.

  7. Repeat steps 1-6 for each document you want to attach from the Document Catalog.

    Adding an Attachment not in the Document Catalog

    You can create a new attachment by adding a document from your local file system or by creating a document directly in the Attachments window.

    To create a new attachment:

    1. In the Attachments window, enter the Sequence number in which the attachment should be added to the Position Description.

    2. Choose the attachment Category.

    3. Enter a Description of the document.

    4. Choose the Data Type of the attachment file.

      • If the Data Type is an Image or a Web Page, you must choose a Storage type of Database or File depending on where the document is stored. You must then enter the file path to the document in the File or URL field.

      • If the Data Type is Long Text, OLE Object, or Short Text, you can choose to attach an existing document by specifying the document's file path, or you can create a new document directly in the application by typing into the text field.

    5. Save your work.

    6. Repeat steps 1-5 for each new attachment you want to add to your Position Description.

Linking Position Descriptions to Positions

Use the Position window when linking a description to a position.

To link a position description to a position

  1. In the Position window, query the position to which you want to link a Position Description.

  2. Choose the Extra Information button, and select US Government Position Description.

  3. Enter the valid dates of the Position Description.

  4. Enter the Position Description Identifier which was generated by the application when the Position Description was created.

  5. Save your work.

Printing Position Descriptions

You can print a copy of the PD for the employee's Official Personnel Folder or for your records.

Use the Submit Requests window.

To print the position description:

  1. In the Name field, choose Print Position Description.

  2. Choose the Position Description Identifier.

  3. In the Print Options region, enter the number of copies you want to print, choose a print style, and specify the printer to which you want to print.

  4. In the Run Options region, choose whether to Resubmit the print job.

  5. Choose Submit.

    The Submission History lists the print jobs you have submitted during the current system session.

    The printed PD contains the information entered on the PD form.

Classifying Position Descriptions

When classifying a position, you can choose to create a new position description or you can copy an existing description and then make changes. If necessary, you can cancel the PD before you update the PD to the HR database.

If you have more than one responsibility, when you classify a new position description, choose the responsibility where the business group is the same as new position's business group. The application saves the business group ID associated with your current login responsibility with the newly created PD record. From then on, the only users who can view or update the PD are those whose login responsibility corresponds to the business group of the stored PD.

After you classify a position, if details about that position require you to update the position description, you can reclassify the position.

See: Reclassifying a Position.

Use the Position Description to create or update PDs.

To classify a new position description

  1. In the Find Position Descriptions window, choose New.

    Fields in the new record are populated by default values that you can change.

  2. Enter a start date early enough to handle any historical information you want to enter.

  3. Choose the Category of the position description:

    • Active (position is currently occupied by one or more employees)

    • Inactive (position was occupied, but is no longer occupied)

    • Standard (generic agency position description)

    • Canceled (position no longer displays in the database).

  4. Enter Position Description information:

    • Choose the Position Status.

    • In the Position Is field, choose the type of position that corresponds to this position description. For example, choose Supervisor or Non-Supervisory depending upon whether this position requires management responsibility.

    • Choose an FLSA type, either Exempt or Nonexempt.

    Note: The FLSA type you choose on the Position Description window must correspond to the FLSA Category you choose on the Extra Position Information window.

    • Enter the Competitive Level.

    • Choose the Position Sensitivity.

    • Choose the Financial Stmt Req type. If no type is required, choose N/A.

    • Check the Subject to IA Action (Identical Additional) check box if the position is subject to an IA Action.

    • Check the Career Ladder check box if this position is associated with a career ladder.

  5. In the PD Classifications region:

    • In the Classified/Graded By field, choose the Office responsible for completing the position classification

    • Enter the Position Title.

    • Choose the Pay Plan, Occupational Code, and Grade associated with the position you are describing.

    Note: Make sure that the Pay Plan, Occupational Code, and Grade you choose on the Position Description window is the same as the ones you choose when completing the Position Extra Information.

  6. In the Supervisor Certification region, choose the name of one or more employees responsible for certifying that this position description is valid, and enter the date.

  7. In the Miscellaneous region, enter:

    • OPM Certification Number

    • Position Classification Standards

    • Any appropriate Remarks

  8. If necessary, route the PD to the next destination to obtain any additional authorizations.

    If a PD is routed using a routing list, the application displays a message asking whether to use the routing list. If you choose Yes, the application routes the action to the next destination on the routing list.

    If you choose No and route it to another destination within the same routing group, when that user routes the PD, the system asks whether to resume the routing list. If the user responds yes, the application displays the list of the routing destinations.

  9. In the Classifier region, choose the name of the employee responsible for certifying that the classification is valid, and enter the date.

  10. To complete the classification, choose Complete PD Classification from the Routing Dialog.

    The application sends an FYI Notification to the classifier's worklist noting that the system has recorded the PD as classified. (You can remove FYI Notifications from your worklist by choosing the Close button.)

To copy an existing PD and classify it

  1. Navigate to the Position Description window.

  2. In the Find Position Descriptions window, query an existing position description that you want to copy and modify by entering the specific search criteria.

    The application displays search results in the Position Description window.

  3. Choose the Copy button to copy the record information.

    Note: Only users with the role of Initiator in their default routing group can copy a PD.

    The new record displays all of the populated data excluding the Supervisor Certification, Classifier, OPM Certification Number, Remarks, Office of Personnel Management Classified/Graded by information, First and Second Level Review classified/Graded by, Routing History and Routing Group.

    The application does not duplicate attachments. Use the attachment process to include an attached document..

  4. Complete the classification and update the position description to the database by following the steps described in classifying a new position.

To cancel a position description

You cancel a PD that you have not yet updated to the HR database the same way that you cancel an RPA action.

  1. Open the PD from your worklist.

    You must have routed the PD at least one time either by routing it or by saving it to your worklist.

  2. Choose the Delete icon from the toolbar.

    Note: After you cancel a PD, you may retrieve and copy it, but you cannot change it. For example, you could not change the category to active to reactivate it.

Reclassifying a Position Description

When updates to a position description require reclassification, you can make the necessary changes and then route the PD to gather necessary approvals.

To reclassify a position description:

  1. From the Find window, query the PD that you want to reclassify.

    When the application displays the PD, it displays a message asking you whether you want to reclassify the PD.

    • If you choose No, the application displays a view-only PD.

    • If you choose Yes, the application displays the PD, retaining all information with the exception of the Classifier certification which it clears.

  2. Make the necessary changes to the PD.

  3. If necessary, route the PD to complete the form and signatures, including the Supervisor's and Classifier's certification.

    Note: You cannot change routing groups when reclassifying a PD.

  4. When you're done, choose Complete PD Reclassification from the Routing Dialog box.

Listing Occupants Associated to a Position Description

When viewing, classifying, or reclassifying a PD, you can have the system display the PD Occupancy form which lists the employees whose current or previous positions were linked to the PD. Before canceling a PD, you can display this form to see if there are any current occupants.

To view a list of occupants:

  1. From the PD, choose the PD Occupancy button.

    The PD Occupancy list displays the employees' names, Position name (as entered on the Position form), the Position start and end dates, and the Employee Number.

Linking Employee Information to a Position Description Cover Sheet

The RPA includes US Fed PD Employee Extra Information. The RPA takes information from the US Fed PD Employee Extra Information and the PD and assembles it in a PD cover sheet that is viewable from the RPA.

See: Viewing Position Description Cover sheets

To link employee information to a PD cover sheet

  1. From the Request for Personnel Action form, choose the Extra Information button, and select US Fed PD Employee Information.

  2. Choose the Reason for Submission.

    For example, choose New if you are creating a new position.

  3. Enter an Explanation for this position description.

  4. Choose a Service location.

  5. Enter any Agency Use specific information.

  6. Select OK to dismiss the window.

  7. Save your work.

Viewing Position Description Cover Sheets

You can display a view-only version of the Position Description Cover Sheet that includes the data entered when you created the Position Description and data from the RPA.

To view a position description cover sheet

  1. Open an RPA from your Workflow worklist.

  2. Choose the Others button.

  3. Choose PD Cover Sheet.

    A view-only version of the Position Description is displayed.

    You can print this form from the printer icon located on your toolbar. (This is a print screen function, so the system prints the amount shown on the screen when you choose the printer icon.)

Displaying the PD Routing History

You can view the routing history for a position description from within the PD or from the worklist.

To display the Routing History

Note: The PD displays its routing history, not that of an RPA being processed for a position using the PD.

Position Management

Position Management

The Personnel office establishes positions, classifies and reclassifies positions, processes position actions, and reports organization and position information to the Office of Personnel Management.

The application supports this critical function by enabling you to:

National Finance Center Positions

If your agency uses the National Finance Center as a provider, you define two types of positions: master and individual position records. A master position and any individual positions that you define based on the master position share key data items. Employees can occupy individual positions but not the master position.

After you define master and individual position records, you can report these records to the NFC by generating NFC FESI interface files.

See: National Finance Center Interface, Oracle HRMS Configuring, Reporting, and System Administration Guide

Information About Jobs and Positions

As you define positions in your agency, you can describe their responsibilities, requirements, and working conditions. There are a number of ways to add information:

Work Schedules

The application maintains position-related work schedule and part-time hours information in the Position Extra Information and Assignment Extra Information flexfields. The Assignment Extra Information flexfields display the schedule and hourly information that you set up for the Position. However, you can change this information when you process an RPA, such as a Return to Duty that involves a Change in Work Schedule. When you update the action to the HR database, the application updates the Assignment and Position records with that information, thus synchronizing both Assignment and Position data.

Position Hiring Status

Every position must have a hiring status. The system statuses provided with Oracle HRMS are as follows. You can provide user names for these system statuses and map more than one user name onto each system status, if required.

Note: When assigning someone to a position with an RPA, you can initially select a Proposed or Frozen position, but the position must be Active at the effective date, or you receive a warning note.

If the position was never assigned or processed using an RPA, you can purge the position from the database using datetrack delete. You can reactivate Eliminated or Deleted positions.

See: Deleting a Position

You cannot eliminate an occupied position. If you want to assign a position that you plan to eliminate, for example to a temporary worker, first eliminate the position and then assign it using an effective date that is earlier than the elimination date.

Positions have a Valid/Invalid status as well as a hiring status. You cannot assign someone to an Active position if the position status is Invalid. You can only assign someone to a position with an Active hiring status and a Valid status. If the hiring status is Eliminated or Deleted, the application prevents updates to the position information, position extra information, and position status.

Valid Changes to Position Hiring Status

the picture is described in the document text

Position Extra Information Types

You can define as many Extra Information Types as you require to hold additional information about positions.

US Federal Position Extra Information Types

The following is a list of US Federal Position Extra Information types. For a table of lookup type names for each of the flexfield segments, refer to Position Extra Information Types, Configuring, Reporting, and System Administration Guide.

Defining a Position

Establishing, Defining, and Assigning Positions

The process of creating, defining, and assigning positions involves several steps.

    Classify the Position

  1. Use the Position Description functionality to create and classify a position.

    See Classifying Position Descriptions

  2. Define the Position

  3. Use the Position window to define positions within your organization. There you:

    • Enter the organization, location, and job information

    • Add the position to a position hierarchy

    • Associate the position to a position description

    • Decide whether to include the position when building the OCT report

    • Enter position requirements

      See: Entering Position Requirements

    • Enter the skills that position holders require and position evaluation scores, if you have set up a position evaluation system

      See: Defining a Position

  4. Add Information

  5. Enter additional information about the position in the Extra Information flexfields.

  6. Validate the Position

  7. Validate the position.

    See: Validating a Position

  8. Assign the Position

  9. Assign the position to an employee using the Request for Personnel Action (RPA) functionality.

    See: Processing a Request for Personnel Action, Workforce Sourcing, Deployment, and Talent Management Guide

  10. Synchronize Positions

  11. Schedule the Synchronize Positions process to update the non-datetracked positions table with changes made to the date tracked table.

    See: Work Structures, Set up the Synchronize Positions Process to Run Nightly, Oracle HRMS Implementation Guide

Defining a Position

You use the Position window to define positions within your organizations and to add them to position hierarchies.

The check boxes at the top of the window are for information purposes only and indicate whether the position belongs to an organization selected for position control:

If your system administrator has implemented the product to use the National Finance Center (NFC) as a provider, the position window includes a Master Record field. You define a master position record and use it as a basis for defining associated individual positions that you assign to employees.

Effective Dates

There are several dates on the Position form:

To define a position

  1. Set you effective date early enough to handle any historical assignment information you want to enter.

    Note: Consider using a fixed date as a default for your initial setup, for example, 01-JAN-1951. This will simplify your data-entry.

  2. If you are selecting the Active hiring status for the first time, enter a Start Date, the earliest date on which you can hire a person into this position.

  3. For non-NFC implementations, enter a unique name for the position in the Date Effective Name field in the Position Details tabbed region.

    Note: The Name field at the top of the window displays the latest name on record for the position, irrespective of your effective date. This name is used on all other windows, such as Assignment.

    A window opens when you enter the Name field. You must enter a unique combination of segments in this window. For example, if you are creating two similar positions, you can differentiate them by assigning each position a unique sequence number.

    • Enter a unique name for the Position Title

      In general, use the official title from the classified position description.

    • Enter a Position Description Number

    • Enter a Sequence Number, if appropriate for your agency

    Note: If you enter a Sequence Number that begins with zeros, the application displays them here, but removes them on the RPA and the Notification of Personnel Action, displaying the number only. For example, if you enter 001, the RPA displays 1.

    • Enter an Agency/Subelement Code

  4. For NFC implementations, if you are defining an individual position, skip to the next step.

    If you are defining a Master Record, leave the Master Record field blank. In the Date Effective Name field in the Position Details tabbed region, enter a unique name for the position.

    A window opens when you enter the Name field. You must enter a unique combination of segments in this window.

    • Enter a unique name for the Position Title

    • Enter an OPM Agency Code

    • Enter an NFC Agency Code

    • Enter a Personnel Office ID

    • Enter a Position Number (the Master Record Number of Individual Position Number)

    • Enter a Valid Grade

  5. For NFC implementations, if you are defining an individual position record, in the Master Record field, select the master position on which to base your position definition.

    The application automatically enters the key data shared between the master and individual position record in the Date Effective Name field. Complete the two remaining fields, but do not change any of the automatically entered information.

  6. Select the Type of position. The choices are:

    • Single Incumbent, meaning that only one employee is allowed to hold the position at any time

    • None, which you can select if you do not need to record position types

    • Shared (Public Sector), meaning there can be several incumbents, up to the value of the FTE field

    • Pooled (Public Sector only), meaning the position is loosely defined so rules about FTE and hours are not enforced by the system

    Note: The two public sector designations Shared and Pooled are not supported in the current release.

  7. If the position is permanent and budgeted every year, select the Permanent check box.

    If you select Permanent on the Position record, and your agency uses the National Finance Center as a HR or Payroll provider, the FESI position transmission reports this position as a permanent position for budgetary purposes.

  8. If the position is only used in one season each year, select the Seasonal check box. You can enter the season dates in the Seasonal Information extra information type.

  9. Select the organization and job for this position. They must have a start date on or before the start date of this position.

    Note: You cannot change the organization or job once you have saved the definition.

    You can set up several positions that have the same job in the same organization. Each position name must be unique.

  10. If you know that the position will be transferred to another organization or job in the future, enter the proposed end dates now, for information.

  11. Select a hiring status.

    The Start Date field indicates when the current hiring status came into effect.

    Note: When you process a position-related action using an RPA, you can select a Proposed, Active, or Frozen status. This allows you to process future-dated actions. However, at update to HR, the system only updates Active positions.

  12. If the status is Frozen, you must enter a proposed end date for the status. Optionally, you can enter a proposed end date for Proposed or Active statuses, for information.

  13. Select a location for the position, or leave the default, which is the location of the organization.

    Entering Hiring Information

  14. Enter the number of Full Time Equivalents to be assigned to this position. If the Position Type is Single Incumbent, FTE must be 1.0 or less.

  15. You can enter the number of incumbents that are planned for the position in the Head Count field.

  16. If required, enter the earliest date at which incumbents can be hired into this position. If you have created a requisition and vacancy for this position, the earliest hire date must be within the vacancy dates.

  17. Enter the date by which the position should be filled. This date must be on or after the Earliest Hire Date.

  18. Select the Permit Recruiting check box if the position is not open but you want to enable advertising, job posting and acceptance of applications.

    For example, you might select this check box for a position that is frozen but due to become active in the near future.

  19. Select the payroll to which the position's incumbents are normally assigned. This payroll's calendar can be used for calculations of budgeted amounts and commitments.

    Entering Work Terms

    Note: The Working Hours and Normal Start and End Times default from the organization, but you can override them.

  20. Enter a number in the Working Hours field, and select the corresponding period of time in the Frequency field. For example, enter 40 and select Week.

  21. Enter the normal start and end times in 24 hour format. For example, for 5.30 p.m., enter 17:30.

    Note: If this position operates within a shift system or has an unusual work schedule, you can record the shift pattern or days worked in the Work Choices window.

  22. Select the name of a person who supervises this position. See also the Supervisor field in the Related Positions region if the position is supervised by the holder of a specified position rather than a named person.

  23. Select the Replacement Required field if you want to warn users that they should enter the name of a replacement when they enter an absence for a holder of this position. You might do this for positions where it is essential that a person is in charge at all times.

    Related Positions

  24. For information purposes, you can select the position held by the supervisor or manager of this position.

  25. In the Relief field, you can select the position that should be held by people who cover this position when the incumbent is absent.

  26. Select the position from which a successor will move to fill this position.

    Extended Pay Term

  27. For academic positions, if salary can be paid over a longer period than the work term (such as a 9 month appointment paid over 12 months), click the Extended Pay Permitted check box.

  28. If extended pay is permitted, enter the start and end dates of the work and pay terms.

    Entering Additional Details

  29. Click the Extra Information button. In each Extra Information type, enter the required information and the information requested by your agency. For example, you might add language details to establish the language proficiency required by applicants who apply for this position.

    See: Position Extra Information Types

    The application supplies default values for the Position Group 1 and Position Group 2 flexfields that you can change by entering or choosing a different value. When you create a new position, the application automatically enters APPR (Appropriated Fund Position) as the default Position Type in Position Group 2 Extra Information. When the application generates NPAs (batch or individual) or counts records before generating CPDF reports, it acts only on Appropriated positions.

    If you are defining non-standard positions (authorized alternative HR systems such as the National Security Personnel System), you can specify the position's regulatory system in the Position System Indicator in the US Federal Alt HR System extra information.

    Note: You do not need to enter a Position System Indicator for a standard HR system. The application treats values of null or 00 as positions for standard HR systems.

    See: Alternative Federal HR Systems, Oracle HRMS Workforce Sourcing, Deployment, and Talent Management Guide

  30. To simultaneously save and validate the Extra Information, click the Validate button after completing each Extra Information type. (Saving alone does not validate the position data.)

  31. If required, enter comments, a posting description for recruitment purposes, and any special confidentiality or security requirements, such as a clearance level.

  32. To add the position to one or more position hierarchies, choose the Reporting To button. Select a hierarchy and the name of the position to which this position reports.

  33. Save your position.

  34. Click the Evaluation button to enter evaluation information and an overall evaluation score for the position.

    See: Entering Evaluation Information.

  35. Click the Requirements button to enter position requirements, such as required qualifications or valid experience, to help you match people to roles.

    See: Entering Position Requirements

    Note: Consult your HR manager or system administrator to determine whether this is the right window for entering position requirements. Use this window if requirements were defined using Special Information Types. Use the Competence Requirements window if you are following the competence approach.

  36. Click the Occupancy button to view all those people who have held a selected position or who are applying for it, and the dates of their occupancy. This information could be relevant for selecting people with the necessary skills for similar positions.

    See: Viewing Position Occupancy, Oracle HRMS Enterprise and Workforce Management Guide

  37. Click the Work Choices button to enter work choices that can affect an employee's, applicant's, contractor's, or ex-employee's capacity to be deployed within your enterprise (or a customer's).

    See: Entering Work Choices for a Job or Position

  38. When you are done, save your position.

  39. Click the Validate button to have the system perform the necessary edit checks and update the database with the new information.

    You can only use valid positions when updating an RPA to the HR database. Each time you change data in the position, validate the position again by clicking the Validate button.

Validating a Position

Positions have a Valid/Invalid status as well as a hiring status. You cannot assign someone to an Active position if the position status is Invalid. You can only assign someone to a position with an Active hiring status and a Valid status. If the hiring status is Eliminated or Deleted, the application prevents updates to the position information and changes the position status to Invalid.

When you create a position or change position data in the Position window or flexfields, the position becomes invalid.

To validate a position

  1. Choose the Validate button.

    The application applies business rules that check the data for errors and alerts you if it finds any. You can then correct the information and validate the position again.

    If you change the information, you can re-choose the Validate button to simultaneously save your changes and validate the data.

    After you validate the position, you can use it when processing position-related Requests for Personnel Action.

Entering Additional Information About Jobs and Positions

As you define roles in your agency, you can describe their responsibilities, requirements, and working conditions. There are a number of ways to enter additional information about a role:

  1. You can attach documents to each job or position record.

    See: Using Attachments, Oracle HRMS Configuring, Reporting, and System Administration Guide

  2. You can add up to twenty additional fields to the Job window, and up to thirty to the Position window using a descriptive flexfield.

    See: User Definable Descriptive Flexfields, Configuring, Reporting, and System Administration Guide

  3. You can add any number of Extra Information Types (EITs) to each window.

    See: Setting Up Extra Information Types (Excluding Organization EITs), Oracle HRMS Configuring, Reporting, and System Administration Guide

  4. You may need to add other information, such as required qualifications or valid experience. You do this by entering competencies against jobs and positions.

    See: Defining Competence Requirements - No Core Competencies, Oracle HRMS Workforce Sourcing, Deployment, and Talent Management Guide

  5. Comparing and Relating Roles

    You may also want to relate roles to each other. You can relate roles in the following ways:

    • By forming multiple hierarchies of positions to show reporting relationships or career paths

      See: Creating a Position Hierarchy

    • By linking jobs into multiple career paths to show suggested progression paths.

      See: Defining Career Paths, Workforce Sourcing, Deployment, and Talent Management Guide

    • By recording successor positions and relief positions (to cover in the case of absence) against each position

      See: Defining a Position

Entering Work Choices for a Job or Position

You can enter work choices that can affect the capacity of workers and applicants to be deployed in your enterprise. Work Choices include willingness to travel, willingness to relocate, and preferred working hours and work schedule. You can enter work choices for a job or position, and compare these with the personal work choices entered for people.

To enter schedule information for a person, you can:

Alternatively, you can enter basic schedule information in various areas of Oracle HRMS, such as here in the Job or Position window.

Important: The application does not use the schedule information that you can enter here to determine a worker's availability. This is for information purposes only.

The decision for which method to set up is based on knowledge of which applications use which information.

You enter this information in the Work Choices window, accessed from the Job or Position window.

To enter work choices for a job or position

  1. Check the relevant work requirements boxes if the job or position requires the holder to:

    • Work in all locations

    • Relocate

    • Be willing to relocate

    • Travel

    • Hold a passport

  2. Enter the length of time the worker must perform the job or position, for example, indefinitely or two years.

  3. Enter the normal working hours (for example, 9.00 to 5.30), the work schedule (the working days in the week or pattern of shifts), the proportion of full time hours required, and the minimum length of service required.

  4. Check the relevant international deployment boxes if the job or position requires the worker to:

    • Work in all countries

    • Be willing to relocate

  5. Select the countries to which the worker might be relocated.

  6. Select the locations to which the worker might be relocated.

  7. Enter any further job or position requirements, if required.

Find a Position

When you navigate to the Position window, the Find Position window automatically displays in front of it.

To query a position using the Find Position window

  1. Do one or both of the following:

    • Enter a full or partial query on the position's name.

    • If relevant, enter a query on the other fields, such as the job, organization, location, and status.

  2. When you click the position's name, the US Federal Position window automatically displays in front of the Find window.

  3. Enter your query criteria and click:

    • OK to search for Position titles that match your criteria in one or more fields

    • Cancel to exit the window without conducting the search

    • Combinations for Position titles that match the criteria you have entered using wildcard characters

      For example, you might restrict a search by entering a wildcard for a Position Title of Admin%.

    • Clear to remove the contents from the fields

  4. In the Find Positions window, click Find.

    The position found by the query is displayed in the Position window. If the query found more than one position, you can use the [Down Arrow] key or choose Next Record to display the next person.

Changing a Position

You can change the position definition for unoccupied positions by making manual changes in the Position window. For occupied positions, you determine whether the changed information requires an RPA action such as a Change in Data Element (800 NOAC). If not, you can changed the information manually in the Position window.

When you change the position definition, the application maintains a complete record of your changes using DateTrack. If you change the position today and then process a retroactive action with an effective date of a month ago, the RPA and the Notification of Personnel Action use the values from a month ago.

You cannot change a position's hiring status if it is Eliminated or Deleted. If a position's hiring status is proposed, you can change its start date.

See: Position Hiring Status

If your agency uses the National Finance Center as a provider, you cannot change the key data items shared between the master and individual position. If you need to change key data, such as the NFC Agency code, you must create new master and individual positions, move the affected employees to the new positions, and end the former positions.

See: National Finance Center Interface, Oracle HRMS Configuring, Reporting, and System Administration Guide

Use the Position window to change the information in an unoccupied position or to change the non-RPA position information in an occupied position.

To change a position

  1. Set your effective date to the day the changes come into effect.

  2. Update the position definition as required.

  3. To record the source of changes, such as the formal amendments, choose the Additional Detail tab.

  4. Enter a reference number, details of the recommended amendment, and the date on which the amendment takes effect in the Amendment Information region.

  5. Save your work

Changing the Position Title

The Position window stores the position's organization, location, the job occupational series, and the position title, comprised of the segments of the position key flexfield.

You change the position title by processing a personnel action or by performing manual data maintenance. For example, you can change the Position Sequence Number by manually entering a different value, and the Occupational Series with a Change in Data Element Personnel action (800 NOAC).

The Position window is datetracked. If you change the position title today and then process a retroactive action with an effective date of a month ago, the RPA and the Notification of Personnel Action use the values from a month ago.

An exception to this guideline are the CPDF, SF113-A, and retroactive mass actions and reports. They use the latest position title:

Use the Position window.

To change the position title

  1. Set the effective date to the date on which you want the position name changed.

  2. Query the position that you want to change.

  3. Click the Position Name field to display the position key flexfield segments.

  4. Change the data there.

  5. Save your work.

Representing Structures Where Reporting Lines Cross

By building work structures based on positions, you have the flexibility of representing structures where reporting lines cross organizations.

When you set up an organization, you enter an agency code for it. When you create a position, you enter the organization name in the Position window and its agency code in the Position flexfield.

However, these values don't have to correspond. You can create a position that belongs to one organization and reports to another.

To create a different reporting organization:

  1. Enter the organization to which the position belongs in the Position window.

  2. Enter the organization to which the position reports in the Position flexfield.

    See: Organizational Component Translation Report

Entering Job and Position Requirements

Using the Job Requirements window and Position Requirements window, you can store any personal attributes or experience required by a job or position. You can then use this information to list employees or applicants who might be suitable to hold the job or position.

Note: If you are following the competence approach for suitability matching, enter competence requirements for jobs and positions in the Competence Requirements window.

To enter job or position requirements:

  1. Select the name of a special information type.

  2. Enter the Requirements field to open the window corresponding to this special information type.

  3. In this window, enter the precise requirement of the job or position and choose OK.

  4. If the requirement is essential to the job or position, check the Essential check box. This information is used in the Skills Matching Report.

  5. Save the requirements.

Deleting a Position or Job

You can delete a job if no position is currently or has ever been created using the job.

You can delete a position with a Proposed hiring status and eliminate a position with an Active hiring status. You can also remove a position record from the database if it has never been assigned or used by an RPA.

To delete a Proposed position

  1. Set your effective date to the date on which you want to delete the Proposed position.

  2. Change the Hiring Status to Deleted.

  3. Save your work.

To eliminate an Active unoccupied position

  1. Set your effective date to the date on which you want to eliminate the Active position.

  2. Change the Hiring Status to Eliminated.

  3. Save your work.

To remove a position from the database

  1. Set your effective date to the date on which you want to remove the position record from the database.

  2. Choose the datetrack delete icon from the toolbar.

  3. Choose Purge.

    When you delete a position, the Extra Information for that position is also deleted.

  4. Save your work.

To restore a position using datetrack delete

  1. Query the position you deleted or eliminated.

  2. Set your effective date to the day before the effective date on which you deleted or eliminated the position.

  3. Choose the datetrack delete icon from the toolbar.

  4. Choose Next to remove the changes made to the next record, All to remove the changes made on all subsequent records.

  5. Save your work.

    The Hiring Status is restored to Active.

To change a job's end date

  1. Edit the To field in the Dates region.

Processing Recruit and Fill, Establish, Abolish, and Review Actions

When processing a position action that does not involve a person, such as Recruit and Fill, Establish, Review, or Abolish Position actions, you can use the RPA for information purposes.

To use the RPA for notification and authorization

  1. In the Action Requested field, indicate the action you want to take, such as Recruit and Fill.

  2. If you are processing an action for an unoccupied position, select the position from the To Position list of values.

    If you are processing an action for an occupied position, such as a Review action, you can display the position information by first choosing the current occupant's name.

    Note: You cannot abolish a position that is currently occupied.

  3. Use the Notepad or the Remarks section to add comments about the action you are taking.

    If you later change families, for example, to process an Appointment for a Recruit and Fill action, the application retains these comments. If you no longer require this background information, you can delete it from the Notepad or Remark.

  4. Print the RPA if you want a paper record of this action and the Notepad contents.

  5. Complete an Establish, Abolish, or Review action by choosing End Routing from the Routing dialog box.

    The application enters the status of Closed in the Workflow Inbox and Ended in the Routing History.

  6. Complete a Recruit and Fill position by changing families to the appropriate action, for example by changing to an Appointment action when you have an applicant to hire.

    If you do not fill the position, you can always close the Recruit and Fill RPA by choosing End Routing from the Routing dialog box.

Defining Position Hiring Statuses

Several system hiring statuses are provided with Oracle HRMS. You can provide user names for these system statuses and map more than one user name onto each system status, if required. Use the User Types and Statuses window.

Note: You can view any lookup type in this window. However, in the current release, you can only define user names for position hiring statuses.

To define user hiring statuses:

  1. Select the entity for which you are defining user types. For hiring statuses, this is POSITION_AVAILABILITY_STATUS.

  2. Select a Business Group or leave this field blank if you want your hiring statuses to apply in all Business Groups.

  3. To see the user statuses already defined for the Business Group (or across all Business Groups), choose Find All from the View menu.

    You can overwrite the displayed user types if you want users at your site to see a different status name.

    If you want more that one user status for a system status:

  4. Choose New Record from the Edit Menu.

  5. Select the system status and enter your new user status.

  6. Save your work.

Viewing Position Occupancy

The Position Occupancy folder lists all those people who have held a selected position or who are applying for it, and the dates of their occupancy. This information could be relevant for selecting people with the necessary skills for similar positions.

Note: As supplied, this folder displays employees who have held the selected position or who are scheduled to hold it. Your system administrator can create a customized version of the form to display applicants who are currently applying for the position.

The supplied folder also contains a button to open the People window to see further details of an occupant. Your system administrator can change the buttons displayed on this window.

To view occupants of a position:

  1. In the Position window, query a position and choose the Occupancy button.

    Occupants are listed in reverse date order. Where a person has occupied the same position at different times, a separate record is created for each occupancy.

Viewing Further Details of Occupants or Applicants

To see further details of occupants or applicants:

  1. Select the person's record in the Position Occupancy folder and choose the Person button.

    Note: There is no restriction on the assignments you can view in the Position Occupancy folder. However, you cannot view further details if you do not have clearance to view that person's records.

Copying and Updating Positions

Copying a Position

Position Copy reduces the time and effort required to create positions and ensures that position data is uniform and accurate across positions. You can use it when creating positions in anticipation of a change in organization, budget, or work plans.

When you use Position Copy, you have the flexibility to:

The Contexts window specifies the information (columns) you can view and change, based on Responsibility, Application, and Legislation.

See: Defining a Context for Mass Actions, Oracle HRMS Configuring, Reporting, and System Administration Guide

In addition, your system administrator can restrict the positions that appear in the window to those falling within your security profile.

Use the Position Copy window to create new positions.

To copy a position

  1. In the Name field, enter a name to identify the set of positions to be copied. (Enter a name even if you are going to copy only one position.)

  2. In the Effective Date field, enter a date that corresponds to the position data you want copied.

    The Effective Date applies to all the positions that you query. If you do not enter a date, the application uses the current date.

    Entering Selection Criteria

  3. Choose the Original tab and enter the Selection Criteria. You can copy a specific position or retrieve all positions that correspond to the criteria.

    • To copy a specific position, enter the Position Name and the position key flexfield information. Skip the Other Criteria field.

    Note: If you do not know the information to enter in each position key flexfield, choose the Combinations button and use the Position find dialog.

    • To retrieve all positions that correspond to a job, organization, or location, skip the Position Name field and enter Other Criteria.

      When you click the Other Criteria field, the system displays a dialog where you can choose a Job, Organization, Hiring Status, Position Type, and/or Location from the supplied List of Values.

      The application displays the position's current name (not the date-tracked name).

  4. In Default Copies field, enter the number of copies for each retrieved position.

  5. Choose Query to display the positions that match the Selection Criteria.

  6. If necessary, change the number of default copies.

    • To have the application enter the default number of copies, choose All from the Selection list.

    • To have the application ignore positions you do not want copied, choose None from the Selection list.

    • To have the application copy a few positions from the list of retrieved positions, locate the positions you want to copy. Enter a zero (0) in the Copies column next to each position. Choose Invert from the Selection list. The application changes the zeroes to the Default Copies number and deselects the remaining positions.

    • To enter a greater or lesser number of copies than the default amount, manually change the number of copies in the Copies column.

    Entering Changes for New Information

  7. Choose the New tab.

  8. Click the Change List field to display the Change List's supplied values. Enter information that you want applied to the new positions.

    The information you enter in the Change List applies to all the positions; however, after you create your new positions, you can edit the contents of individual fields.

    Note: In the Change List items, the Start Date is the new position's Start Date at the top of the Position form, and the Effective date, the new "From" Effective Date. If you don't enter dates in these fields, the application uses the existing position's dates.

  9. In the Position Name field (optionally), enter a value for one of the position key flexfield segments that you want to replace on all the newly created position names.

    Note: The application automatically increments the Position Sequence for you upon update to the HR database. The application identifies the greatest number used for the Position Sequence. Using this number as the basis, it automatically increments each new Position Sequence number by one.

    You can change other segments in the position name or other position data items by increments or by adding suffix or prefix information as described in the following steps.

  10. In the Column field, choose a data item that you want to change.

    The application changes this item in each record based on the information you supply in the following steps.

    Note: If you choose a different Column identifer, you must manually change the new position names to make each one unique before submitting the positions for update.

  11. Choose an Operation. Use this field to specify how you want the Column item changed:

    • Choose Replace to substitute the data with data you enter in the With and/or Increment fields.

    • Choose Suffix or Prefix to append the information in the With and/or Increment fields.

    • Choose None to skip the Operation field.

      Choose this option when you want to change the data manually on the new positions rather than automatically apply an identifier.

  12. In the With field, enter alphabetical and/or numeric information that replaces the Column item, or serves as a suffix or prefix.

  13. In the Increment By field, enter an amount by which to increase or decrease the Column item.

    The identifier for the first new position has an increment of zero. Subsequent positions increase or decrease this number based on the amount entered in the Increment field.

    For example, if you create five positions for Manager and enter II as a suffix in the With field, the new positions become ManagerII0, ManagerII1, ManagerII2, and so on. If you skip the With field and enter an increment of 1, the new positions become Manager0, Manager1, Manager2, and so on.

  14. Select the Other Info button for a list of additional position data to copy.

    The application automatically copies all the US Federal extra information types associated with this position with the exception of information unique to the source position (Position Description, US Federal Position Obligated, and Position Mass Action extra information). The application does not copy the original position's task flowed information, such as its event history or evaluation data.

    Select Work Choices if your agency uses this information in its position definitions.

  15. Choose the Create New button.

    When you choose the Create New button, the application creates a set of positions based on your selection and change criteria.

  16. Deselect those positions that you do not want to copy.

    • To have the application skip positions you do not want copied, choose None from the Selection list.

    • To have the application copy a few positions from a longer list, deselect the positions you want to copy. Choose Invert from the Selection list. The application selects the formerly deselected positions and visa versa.

  17. Make any necessary changes to the position data, replacing the displayed data by entering new data or choosing the appropriate data from the supplied list of values.

    For example, you might change the Status, to change an existing status from Frozen to Proposed.

    Making Further Changes to Selection Criteria

    If you change the Selection Criteria after you create new positions, and then rechoose the Create New button, a dialog appears asking if you want to replace the positions and overwrite any manual changes that you have made. Choose No to keep your changes and Yes to replace the positions.

    Note: If you are changing the Selection Criteria to model different results, you might create two Position Copy sets, submit the set you want and delete the other.

  18. Choose the Submit button to create the new position(s) and to update the database.

    When the set of positions is submitted, the application refreshes the position data as of the Effective Date, but leaves unchanged any manual changes that you made or updates that you made to the Change List items.

    The status of the new position is the same as the original position. For example, if you copy a position with a status of Invalid, the new position has the same status. To validate the position, in the Position window, query the new position, and then choose the Validate button.

    If your newly created positions require different Extra Information, edit the copied information by querying the new position in the Position window and then making the necessary changes.

    Correcting Errors

    If you copied more than one position, the successfully updated positions display a Status of Complete. You can take no further action on these positions.

    If the application encounters an error when you submit the set, for example, a duplicate position name, the Status changes to Error New Record(s).

Updating Positions

Mass Position Update reduces the time and effort required to update positions and ensures uniform and accurate data across positions. You can use it to modify positions in anticipation of a change in organization, budget, or workplans.

When you use Mass Position Update, you can:

The information that you can select and change when updating positions depends on your Responsibility defined in the User Profile. The Contexts window controls what information you can view and change based on Responsibility, Application, and Legislation. In addition, your system administrator can restrict the positions that appear in the window to those falling within your security profile.

To update a position:

  1. Open the Mass Position Update window.

  2. In the Name field, enter a name to identify the set of positions to be updated. (Enter a name even if you are going to modify only one position.)

  3. In the Effective Date field, enter the date that you want the positions to change.

    The Effective Date applies to all the positions that you query. If you do not enter a date, the system uses the current date.

    Entering Selection Criteria

  4. Choose the Original tab and enter the Selection Criteria. You can change a specific position or retrieve all positions that correspond to the criteria.

    • To update a specific position, enter the Position Name and enter the position key flexfield information. Skip the Other Criteria field.

    Note: If you don't know the information to enter in each position key flexfield, choose the Combinations button and use the Position find dialog.

    • To retrieve all positions that correspond to a job, organization, hiring status, position type, or location, skip the Position Name field and enter Other Criteria.

      When you click the Other Criteria field, the system displays a dialog where you can choose a Job, Organization, Hiring Status, Position Type, and/or Location from the supplied Lists of Values.

  5. Choose Query to display the positions that match the Selection Criteria.

  6. If necessary, deselect all the positions you do not want to update. You can manually deselect positions, or you can use the Selection pop-up list to select None, then manually select the positions you want to update. Alternatively, you can deselect the positions you want to modify, then choose Invert. If you change your mind and want to update all the queried positions, you can choose All.

    Entering Changes

  7. Choose the New tab.

  8. Click the Change List field to display the Change List's supplied values. Enter information that you want applied to the positions.

    The information you enter in the Change List applies to all the positions; however, after you modify your positions, you can override the contents of individual fields.

    Note: In the Change List items, the Start Date is the updated position's Start Date at the top of the Position form, and the Effective date, the new "From" Effective Date. If you don't enter dates in these fields, the system uses the existing position dates.

  9. Choose the Create New button.

    When you choose the Create New button, the system creates a set of positions based on your selection and change criteria.

  10. Deselect those positions that you don't want to change.

    • To have the system skip positions you don't want changed, choose None from the Selection pop-up list.

    • To have the system change a few positions from a longer list, deselect the positions you want to update. Choose Invert from the Selection pop-up list. The application selects the formerly deselected positions and visa versa.

  11. Make any necessary changes to the position data, replacing the displayed data by entering new data or choosing the appropriate data from the supplied List of Values. You can adjust data for individual positions.

    For example, you might change the Status, to change an existing status from Frozen to Proposed.

    Making Further Changes to Selection Criteria

    If you change the Selection Criteria after you update positions, and then again choose Create New, a dialog appears asking if you want to replace the positions and overwrite any manual changes you've made. Choose No to keep your changes and Yes to replace the positions.

    Note: If you are changing the Selection Criteria to model different results, you might create two Position Update sets, submit the set you want and delete the other.

    Making the Final Changes

  12. Before submitting your update, you must choose a Datetrack Mode, which determines how the application records the update.

    • Correction replaces all information for the position(s) you are updating

    • Update end-dates the original position record, creating a new record to hold your changes and thus preserving the history of the changes to the position

    • Update-Insert creates a new record inbetween two existing records (for instance, a past version and a current or future version of the position), likewise preserving the position's entire history

    • Update-Override behaves like a Correction, but replaces only an update rather than the entire history of the position

  13. Choose the Submit button to update the position(s) and to update the database.

    When you submit the set of positions, the system refreshes the position data with the exception of the Change List items and any manual changes you've made. It refreshes the data based on the Effective Date.

    The system validates the position(s) using the same validation process it does when you create a position with the Position form. You can query the new position in the Position form and continue making further changes, for example, to Position Extra Information.

    Correcting Errors

    If you updated more than one position, the successfully updated positions display a Status of Complete. You can take no further action on these positions.

    If the system encounters an error--such as a duplicate position name--when you submit the set, the Status changes to Error New Record(s).

    The Process Log lists the errors.

To correct an Error:

  1. Locate the position on the Original tab that has a status of Error New Record(s).

  2. Choose the New tab to view the corresponding positions. Locate the positions that have a status of Error New Record(s).

    If you have updated many positions, you can sort the New folder by the Status column so that all Error New Record(s) are grouped together.

  3. Review the change list items and make any necessary corrections.

    You might see an error, for example, if information that's required to complete a position is missing.

  4. After correcting the information, resubmit the set of positions.

    Submitting Updates at Different Times

    When you're updating many positions, you may not have the information on hand that you need to create and submit all the positions. You can process the information at different times by:

    • Setting up different sets of positions based on which ones require further data entry

    • Including all the positions in the same batch, but deselecting positions on the New tab

    You can deselect a position and submit the other positions. The deselected ones display a Pending New Record(s) status. Complete the information, select the positions, and choose the Submit button.

    If your set includes many positions, you can sort the New folder by the Status column so that all Pending New Record(s) positions are grouped together.

Position Hierarchies

Position Hierarchies

You may also want to relate positions to each other. You can relate positions by forming multiple hierarchies of positions to show reporting relationships.

You can create and maintain your reporting structures in two ways. You can use the:

The Hierarchy Diagrammer, included with Oracle HRMS, enables you to create your position hierarchies graphically, and make intuitive drag-and-drop changes to them.

Position hierarchies are very like organization hierarchies. You can set up a primary hierarchy and multiple secondary hierarchies to show reporting lines, including 'dotted line' reporting, and to control access to information. Position hierarchies are dated, so you can create future-dated versions, and can retain previous versions for historical information.

Change and Delete Positions from the Hierarchy

You can add new positions to an existing hierarchy, or change positions in a hierarchy. You can also delete a position hierarchy, but you must check that it is not tied in to other working areas of the system.

Creating a Position Hierarchy

Use the Position Hierarchy window to create position hierarchies. Always define hierarchies from the top position down.

Note: You can use the Hierarchy Diagrammer to create your position hierarchy graphically.

See:Introduction to Hierarchy Diagrams

Each position can belong to any number of hierarchies at the same time, but can only appear once in any hierarchy.

You should define the primary reporting hierarchy as part of your implementation of positions. The first version of your hierarchy should show your reporting structures when you implement Oracle HR.

Tip: You may find it easier to define the Hierarchy using the top position and one other. Then you can add other positions into the hierarchy when you make your definitions in the Position window.

To create a position hierarchy:

  1. Enter a unique name, and check Primary if it is your main reporting hierarchy.

  2. Enter the version number and start date for the hierarchy.

    You can copy an existing hierarchy. See: Copying an Existing Hierarchy

  3. Query the top position name into the Position block.

    The Holder field displays the name of the person who holds this position. If there is more than one holder, this field displays the number of holders. You can choose the List icon from the toolbar to display the list of holders.

    The Worker Type field displays the worker type of the person who holds this position. The worker type is similar to person type, except that the worker type only displays the person's active worker type. For example, the worker type for an Employee.ex-applicant person type is Employee.

  4. In the Subordinates block, select the immediate subordinates for the top position.

  5. To add organizations below one of these immediate subordinates, check the Down check box for the position.

    The Position block now displays the position you selected. You can add subordinates to this position. To return to the previous level, check the Up check box.

    Important: The list of positions from which you can select in the Subordinates block includes positions that are already in the hierarchy. If you select such a position, you will move it and all its subordinates within the hierarchy.

Creating a New Version of a Position Hierarchy

To create a new version of an existing hierarchy:

  1. Query the name of the hierarchy.

  2. In the Version field, use the Down Arrow to move through existing versions of the hierarchy until you reach a version number for which no other data appears. Enter the start date for the new version.

    Note: Overlapping versions of a hierarchy cannot exist. Whenever you enter a new version of a hierarchy, the system automatically gives an end date to the existing version. Oracle HRMS retains the records of obsolete hierarchies so you do not lose any historical information.

    You can copy an existing hierarchy. See: Copying an Existing Hierarchy

  3. Query the top position name into the Position block.

  4. In the Subordinates block, select the immediate subordinates for the top position.

  5. To add positions below one of these immediate subordinates, check the Down check box for the position.

    The Position block now displays the position you selected. You can add subordinates to this position. To return to the previous level, check the Up check box.

Copying an Existing Hierarchy

Use the Position Hierarchy window to copy an existing hierarchy.

To copy an existing hierarchy:

  1. Enter or query the name and number of your new hierarchy version and choose the Copy Hierarchy button.

  2. Select the name and version number of the hierarchy you want to copy.

    Details of this hierarchy then appear in the Position and Subordinates blocks. You can change these.

Deleting a Position Hierarchy

Use the Position Hierarchy window to delete a position hierarchy. You must check that the hierarchy is not tied in to other working areas of the system before you try to delete it.

To delete a position hierarchy:

  1. Remove any subordinate positions from the hierarchy, starting at the lowest level.

  2. Check whether other versions of the hierarchy exist. If they do, you must delete these other versions first.

  3. Check whether the position hierarchy is referenced by a security profile. If it is, you must first delete this link.

  4. Query the position hierarchy in the Position Hierarchy window and choose Delete.

Changing a Position Hierarchy

Use the Position Hierarchy window to change a hierarchy. You can change position hierarchies in three different ways.

To view which positions are in a hierarchy:

  1. Query the hierarchy and version you want to view.

  2. In the Position region, enter a query on the Name field.

  3. Check the Exists in Hierarchy check box and run the query. You can now scroll through the positions currently in the hierarchy in the Name field.

To add new positions to an existing hierarchy:

  1. Query the hierarchy and version you want to change.

  2. Query the parent position for the one you want to add.

  3. Select the new position in the Subordinates block.

    Important: The list of positions from which you can select in the Subordinates block includes positions that are already in the hierarchy. If you select such a position, you will move it and all its subordinates within the hierarchy.

To change the top position in an existing hierarchy:

  1. Query the hierarchy and version you want to change.

  2. Query the new top position.

  3. Select the previous top position in the Subordinates block.

To move a position and all its subordinates within a hierarchy:

  1. Query the hierarchy and version you want to change.

  2. Query the new parent position for the one you want to move.

  3. Select the position to move in the Subordinates block.

Running the Position Hierarchy Report

The application includes a standard Position Hierarchy Report to display the relationship between the positions in a hierarchy. The report also lists the current holders of each position in the hierarchy.

You run reports in the Submit Requests window.

To run the Position Hierarchy Report:

  1. In the Name field, select Position Hierarchy.

  2. Enter the Parameters field to open the Parameters window.

  3. Enter the effective date for which you want to see the report.

  4. In the Position Structure field, select the hierarchy. If there are multiple versions, select a version.

    If the effective date lies between the version's start and end dates, the report shows information for the effective date. If it lies outside these dates, the report shows information for the start date of the version.

  5. In the Parent Position field, select the highest position in the hierarchy that you want to see on the report.

  6. Enter Yes in the Holders Shown field to see holders' names.

  7. If there are more than ten holders, you see the number of holders only.

  8. Choose the Submit button.

    You can review the eligibility criteria and its run results by performing a standard query after entering the criteria name in the form.

    You can create more than one set of eligibility criteria. The application saves the criteria and its run results, storing the criteria name and the employee's selection status on the Person Mass Action Extra Information (Mass Salary and Transfer In) or the Position Mass Action Extra Information (Realignment and Transfer Out).

Job and Position Evaluation

Jobs and Position Evaluation

Evaluation systems, which compare the responsibilities of roles to help in the definition of grades, are common in large enterprises. The Hay Evaluation System, which is used internationally, is an example. Directly or indirectly, the evaluation can also contribute to setting compensation levels.

Evaluation systems normally use a set of formal and systematic procedures to perform a comparison of roles. As such, evaluation is primarily concerned with the definition of the relative status of a role, and not with a set of absolutes. The objective of all evaluation systems is to place a role in a grading or salary structure.

There are two main types of evaluation system:

FactorKey roles are examined factor by factor and a rank comparison order produced for each factor. A complex comparison of weighted factors then follows.

PointsA wider range of factors is used.

RatingEach factor is weighted and has a numerical scoring system. The total points scored determines the placement of the role in a grade or salary structure.

These systems might incorporate benchmarking, where a few key roles determine the rank of all the others. Grades and compensation levels are determined after the evaluation and ranking of the jobs.

In Oracle HRMS, you can set up one or more evaluation systems for jobs or positions. You use a descriptive flexfield to hold the evaluation information, which provides the flexibility for you to use the evaluation system of your choice.

Creating an Evaluation System

To create an evaluation system:

  1. Decide whether to hold the evaluation information for jobs or for positions, depending on your own definitions of employees' roles within the enterprise model.

  2. Define values for the Lookups Types EVAL_SYSTEM (evaluation system name) and EVAL_SYSTEM_MEAS (the units in which to measure the evaluation). If you use more than one system, you can define multiple values to provide a list of values in the Job Evaluation and Position Evaluation windows.

  3. Define the structure and segments of the Additional Evaluation Details descriptive flexfield, which holds the evaluation information. This descriptive flexfield displays on the Job Evaluation and Position Evaluation windows.

    For example, you could define the following segments:

    • Responsibility

    • Problem Solving

    • Know How

    • Related Grade

    If you are using more than one evaluation system in your enterprise, you should make the flexfield segments context sensitive to the evaluation system. Context sensitive segments ensure that each system has its own distinct set of evaluation information.

    Your system administrator usually carries out this task as it requires access to parts of the system that control how Oracle Human Resources works.

Entering Evaluation Information

Enter evaluation scores and details in the Job Evaluation or Position Evaluation window.

To enter a job or position evaluation:

  1. Select the evaluation system used to evaluate this job or position.

  2. Enter the overall score and select the units of measurement.

  3. Enter the date of the evaluation.

  4. Open the descriptive flexfield window, and enter the information it prompts you for.

Workforce Intelligence for Jobs and Positions

Employee Job and Position Detail Workbook

This workbook allows you to analyze aspects associated with jobs and positions within your organization. It allows you to:

Parameters

This workbook has no parameters.

Worksheets

This workbook has the following worksheets:

Workforce by Job and Position Worksheet

This worksheet enables you to analyze assignment details for employees within an organization by job and position.

Business Questions

Who in my workforce occupies a particular job or position?

Work Choices by Job Worksheet

This worksheet enables you to analyze deployment factors for jobs, people in specific jobs, and job applicants.

Business Questions

What are the working preferences of my employees?

Headings and Calculations

This worksheet uses the following calculations:

Work Choices by Position Worksheet

This worksheet enables you to analyze deployment factors for positions, people in specific positions, and position applicants.

Business Questions

What are the working preferences of my employees?

Headings and Calculations

This worksheet uses the following calculations:

Job and Position Special Information Worksheet

This worksheet enables you to analyze special information types associated with jobs and positions.

Business Questions

What other information is relevant to a particular job or position?