Each individual involved in a workflow has a personal worklist. From your Workflow worklist, you can:
Query and view notifications
View the routing history
Respond to an action or form
Reassign the action or form to another user
Your workflow worklist displays notifications initiated by you or routed to you from another individual, a routing list, or a groupbox. A notification is a workflow message that accompanies HR forms that you route, such as Requests for Personnel Action (RPA) and Position Descriptions (PD).
You can open the routed form from the notification and view its history. The notification message includes information about the routed form, such as the request number, the action requested, the routing group, the organization, and the current status.
The current status displays the highest level of status reached in processing an action (not the latest). For example, if a human resource specialist approves an RPA and then routes it to a supervisor for authorization, the current status on the workflow notification is Approved.
An FYI Notification is a message in your worklist that informs you of an action taken by the application. If you route or save a current or retroactive action to your worklist, the application sends you a FYI Notification; otherwise it does not. However, you can configure the notification process to establish who receives notifications, by specifying the:
Person who performs the Update to HR
Approver as well as the person who performs the update to the HR database
Similarly, the application does not send FYI notifications upon update for Automatic Within Grade Increases to the personnel office (POI), but you can configure the notification process to have them sent to the POI.
See: Within Grade Increase Workflow Decisions, Oracle HRMS Compensation and Benefits Management Guide, Copying a Workflow Item, Changing a Workflow Attribute
To use workflow to suit your agency's requirements, you need to understand the following key concepts and activities:
Oracle Workflow allows you to route documents electronically among the members of a work group.
Each individual involved in a workflow has a Workflow inbox. From your Workflow inbox, you can:
View notifications (messages and actions routed to you)
View Routing and Action History
Respond to an action or form
Open the action or form and reroute it to another user
Users can route RPAs and Positions Descriptions (PDs) to a variety of destinations including individuals, groupboxes, or routing lists.
The Notification includes information about the routed form, such as the request number, the action requested, the routing group, and the organization.
You can open the Routing History from the Notification and view the history of the action taken in processing the RPA or PD.
You can route documents electronically among the members of a work group. A routing group consists of employees and contingent workers who participate in the data entry, review, approval, and update of documents such as RPAs or position descriptions. A routing group enforces security by allowing only the routing group members access to the document.
A groupbox comprises a group of individuals who share a common business function. For example, the groupbox might comprise members of an office, a branch, or a team of individuals. Notifications that you send to a groupbox are visible to all members of the groupbox.
Each member of the groupbox has a set of roles, which may differ from the roles that were assigned to the user in the routing group. A user may have access to multiple groupboxes.
A routing list is a predefined list of routing destinations that defines the order in which notifications are routed. The routing list expedites routing HR documents such as personnel actions and position descriptions by automatically forwarding a document from one routing destination to the next. The routing list can accommodate an unlimited number of routing stops. Users may choose not to use the routing list at any time.
Roles are designations that describe each member's workflow activities within a routing group or groupbox. You can assign multiple roles to each user in a routing group. All roles can route documents.
When you assign roles, you assign the Initiator a default routing group. The application uses the initiator's default routing group as the routing group for the document. If the initiator belongs to more than one routing group, before saving or routing the document, the initiator can change the routing group. After that, however, no one can choose a different routing group.
See: Processing an RPA Based on Role, Oracle HRMS Workforce Sourcing, Deployment, and Talent Management Guide
Note: Roles are not the same as responsibilities. Responsibilities are Oracle designations that describe your system privileges. A responsibility defines the records, windows, and functions that you can access.
The routing history contains a history of all users who have participated in routing the HR form to date and the workflow action's taken. You can view the form's history from the workflow notification.
The Routing History is a scrolling, read-only window that contains an Action History and a Routing History. You can see the progress of a form as it is routed, including the individual user and groupbox destinations.
The Action History includes the user name, the person's full name, a brief description of the action taken, and the person's role for this action.
Refer to the status column in the following table for an explanation of each action taken.
| Status | Action Taken |
|---|---|
| Initiated | RPA is initiated |
| Requested | Requester signed Part A |
| Authorized | Authorizer signed Part A |
| Reviewed | Reviewer displayed the RPA |
| Approved | Approver signed Block C-2 |
| Update to HR | RPA has been submitted to the database for validation and edits |
| Update HR complete | RPA has successfully passed edits |
| Reassigned | RPA has been routed to another user or groupbox |
| Not routed | RPA was saved but not routed |
| No action | User did not initiate, sign, or cancel the RPA |
| Canceled | RPA has been canceled |
| Future action | The approved RPA is held by the system in a separate file until the effective date is reached. You can view the RPA and its history from the Approved Requests for Personnel Action window (the window that's displayed when you initiate a Correction or Cancellation action). |
The Routing History includes the user name, the groupbox name, the routing list name, the sequence of the action, the date that the notification was sent, the NOA code and description, and a notepad that shows free window notes authored by each user.
Use the Routing Groups and Groupboxes and Routing Lists maintenance forms to set up your routing groups, groupboxes, and routing lists.
Before you can assign employees and contingent workers to a groupbox or routing list, you must assign each person to a routing group. To set up routing groups, groupboxes, and routing lists, follow this sequence of actions:
Define your routing groups using the Routing Group and Groupbox Details window or the Routing Group and Routing List Details window.
Assign users to routing groups and to roles within that routing group using People Extra Information. See: Adding a User to a Routing Group
Set up groupboxes and add users to them. See: Setting up Groupboxes
Set up routing lists and add users to them. See: Setting up Routing Lists
Note: Once you initiate an RPA or Position Description from a routing group, it stays within that routing group. You cannot redirect it to another routing group.
You need to set up a routing group before you create groupboxes or routing lists. You can set up and access routing groups from the Routing Group and Groupbox Details window and the Routing Group and Routing List Details window.
To set up a new routing group:
Open the Routing Groups and Groupbox Details window from the Navigator.
Note: If it is more convenient, you can set up a new routing group usingform the Routing Group and Routing List Details window.
Enter the Routing Group Name.
Enter a short description of the group. For example, you might name the group "Personnel Office."
Save the new routing group information.
See: Adding a User to a Routing Group, Setting up Groupboxes, Setting up Routing Lists
Use the People Extra Information (US Federal Workflow Routing Groups) to add an employee or contingent worker to a Routing Group and assign that person roles within the Routing Group.
For a list of roles and their related actions, see Processing an RPA Based on Role, Oracle HRMS Workforce Sourcing, Deployment, and Talent Management Guide
Note: If you want an Initiator to belong to two separate routing groups, make sure that you assign that person a default Routing Group as an Initiator.
To add a person to a routing group
In the People window, enter the person's name and choose Find to initiate a search for the user you want to add to the routing group.
Choose the Other button on the user's People window and choose Extra Information.
Choose US Federal Workflow Routing Groups from the Extra Information list and choose the Enter button.
Place your cursor in the Details field and click the mouse to display the US Federal Workflow Routing Groups flexfield.
Place your cursor in the Routing Group Name field and choose the List of Values button on this window. Select a routing group and choose OK.
In the Default Routing Group field, type Yes to assign this routing group as the user's default routing group.
A user can have only one default routing group. Type No, if the user has already been assigned a default routing group.
Assign roles for this user by typing a yes or no for each role.
When you add a user to a Routing Group's Groupbox, you can override the roles you assigned that person here. (This is only true for Groupboxes, not Routing Lists.)
See: Processing an RPA Based on Role, Workforce Sourcing, Deployment, and Talent Management Guide
Choose OK. Choose Validate on the Extra Information window to save and validate the information.
Repeat steps 6 through 9 to assign another routing group.
See: Setting Up Routing Groups, Setting up Groupboxes, Setting up Routing Lists
The Routing Group and Groupboxes window creates a link between a Routing Group and a Groupbox. Groupboxes are often convenient for dividing large departments into groups, but you can also route forms within a Routing Group. Notifications that you send to a groupbox are visible to all members of the groupbox.
Use the Routing Groups and Groupboxes window.
To set up a groupbox
Query the Routing Group for which you want to add the Groupbox.
If you previously created a groupbox for this routing group, the system displays that information. To create a new groupbox, choose New Record from the toolbar.
Enter a name for the groupbox.
Note: Groupbox names must be unique. Do not enter the user's name as the groupbox name.
Enter a short description of the groupbox.
To add users to the Groupbox, enter the user names. Assign each user a role for this groupbox.
By default, this groupbox uses the Routing Group roles assigned the user in the People Extra Information, US Federal Workflow Routing Group. To change the user's role when working with notifications sent to the Groupbox, select or deselect the applicable roles. (Selecting a role here doesn't change the default role.)
Note: Before adding a user to a Groupbox, the user must be a registered Oracle application user and must also belong to a routing group.
Save the file.
To remove a user from the Groupbox, select the row, choose the Delete Record icon on the toolbar, and save the file.
To add multiple Groupboxes to a Routing Group, place your cursor in the Groupbox Name field and choose the New Record icon on the toolbar. Repeat steps 3 - 6.
You set up a routing list for a routing group in sequential order in the Routing List window. You may create multiple routing lists for a routing group, and users may belong to more than one routing list.
You can also use the Routing List form to create, update, or delete a routing group.
Use the Routing Group and Routing List Details window.
To set up or add a user to a routing list
Query the Routing Group for which you want to set up a routing list.
If you previously created a routing list for this routing group, the application displays that information. To create a new routing list, choose New Record from the toolbar.
Enter the name of this routing list and check the primary routing list box if this is a primary routing list.
To add users to the Routing List, enter the names of the routing list members as follows:
In the first column, enter the routing sequence of the user (1,2,3, and so on).
In the second column, enter the user name.
If you did not enter the user name in the second column, you may enter a groupbox name in the third column. You may enter a groupbox name or a user name in each row.
Note: Before adding a user to a Routing List, the user must be a registered Oracle application user and must also belong to a routing group.
Save the file.
To remove a user from the Routing List, select the row, choose the Delete Record icon on the toolbar, and save the file.
To add multiple Routing Lists to a Routing Group, place your cursor in the Routing List Name field and choose the New Record icon on the toolbar. Repeat steps 3 - 5.
Note: If you have multiple routing lists for a routing group, you must specify which list is the Primary list.
See: Setting Up Routing Groups, Adding a User to a Routing Group, Setting up Groupboxes
The application maintains a record of each action as it is routed through the workflow process.
To review the history from the Notification
From the worklist, click the notification that you want to view.
Click the Routing History icon in the view only area.
To review the history from the RPA
From the RPA, choose the History button to open the Routing History.
Your personal Workflow worklist displays notifications for actions that you initiate, actions and forms routed to you from other users, canceled (closed) actions, and actions updated to the database.
To view notifications
From the View List, select the appropriate view filter.
To sort the list, click the label of the worklist column that serves as the sort criteria. The application arranges the worklist contents in ascending or descending order. Click the label again to reverse that order.
Select a notification from the worklist, and choose the Open button to see its contents.
To obtain more information about a notification or its attachment
Display the notification.
Choose the Request Information button.
Select a routing group member from the Workflow Participant list of values. If the recipient is not included in the routing group, select Any User and enter a user name or display name.
In the Information Requested text box, enter your query.
Choose the Submit button to send the notification and its request for information.
You can view or process the routed RPA directly from your worklist.
To respond to an RPA form
Open a notification from the worklist.
Choose the RPA icon in the Response region.
Complete the fields on the RPA according to your role and agency practices.
If the only change you need to make to an RPA is to complete extra information, upon opening the RPA, you can click the RPA extra information and enter information directly in these fields.
Choose the Save icon to open a Decision dialog box that lets you route the RPA. From the Routing dialog, you can choose to:
Route the RPA to a Person, Routing List, or Groupbox.
Save the Notification in your personal worklist.
If you are an Approver, approve the RPA and route it, or approve the RPA and choose Update to HR.
Choose OK to route the RPA and close the RPA window.
If you receive an action that a different user in your routing group should process, you can reassign that action.
Similarly, if you have several actions, you can reassign that batch of actions to another user in your routing group.
To reroute a notification
From the worklist, click the Select box next to the notification you want to reassign.
Choose the Reassign button.
In the Reassign field, enter the destination display name or user name. If you do not know the name, click the flashlight icon to display the Search and Select dialog.
Select a Search By criteria and choose the Go button.
Note: In the current release, the list of values displays the individual users and groupbox users who comprise the routing group.
In Results region, select a recipient.
In the Comments region, add any additional comments that you want to accompany the notification.
Choose the Submit button to route the notification.
The application sends the action to the requested destination.
When you want to change the predefined workflow process, you copy and rename the original process. By leaving the original process intact, you can refer to it and also use it as a basis for future upgrades.
To copy the original workflow item type
Open WorkFlow Builder.
Copy the Oracle Federal HR Application Item Type from the Object Navigator.
Paste the Oracle Federal HR Application Item Type back into the Object Navigator.
When you paste you will be asked to change the properties of the Item type.
Change the Item Type:
Internal Name
Display Name
Description
Click OK, and cancel any messages that may appear.
You manage the flow of information using Oracle Workflow, an application included in Oracle US Federal Human Resources. By configuring the Notification and approvals process, you can determine who approves personnel actions and who receives Notifications upon successful update to the HR database.
Note: Set the access level between 100 and 999 to change the default value for the attributes. You can do this by navigating to Help and then choosing About Oracle Workflow Builder.
Do not work with the original predefined workflow process. The original should only be used for reference and as a basis for future upgrades.
Use the Workflow Builder window to change an attribute.
To change the workflow attribute
Open Workflow Builder.
Open the appropriate Item Type:
GHR Personnel Action
GHR Within Grade Increase
US Federal HR - FESI
Select the attribute that you want to configure.
Double-click the attribute name to open a Control Properties dialog window.
Change the default value to one of the choices provided.
For example, you can choose to receive a notification when the application successfully completes the update or encounters an error, or you can choose not to receive a notification.
Save your work.