Understanding Resource Matching

This chapter discusses:

• Resource Matching using Verity.

• Features that use Resource Matching.

• Resource Matching fit score calculations.

Resource Matching Using Verity

This section lists prerequisites and discusses:

• Resource Matching purpose.

• Verity search engine.

• Resource Matching process flow.

• Factors, factor families, and objective fit.

• Flexible attributes.

• Relative importance of factors and factor families.

• Resource groups.

Prerequisites

Before you can use Resource Matching, you must:

• Select Resource Matching options during implementation on the Search Configuration - Factor Weights page.

  Each factor used by the match process belongs to a factor family. You assign the relative importance of each factor within its family.

  See Defining Factor Weights.

• Optionally define flexible attributes.

  See Defining Flexible Attributes.

• Activate the Publication and Subscription feature on the Resource Management application servers.

  See Enterprise PeopleTools 8.48 PeopleBook: Integration Broker

• Establish and maintain the Verity search index.

  See Setting Up and Maintaining the Verity Search Engine and Resource Matching Cache Tables.

Resource Matching Purpose

The Resource Matching process matches eligible resources to resource demand. It objectively assesses all the resources in your organization and ranks a resource’s level of fitness for each defined factor measured against the requirements for a job. Alternatively, it evaluates all unfulfilled demand and determines, for a given resource, which jobs are appropriate.

While the results are available from many points within the application, the process is virtually transparent to the end user. Several features take advantage of resource matching to:

• Identify resources that are the best fit for a job.

• Identify jobs that are the best fit for a resource.

Verity Search Engine

Resource Matching uses the Verity search engine to quickly calculate qualification and preference scores for each resource. Verity is a third-party search engine tool licensed by PeopleTools that enables PeopleSoft applications to execute free-text data searches.

The indexing process extracts information from the database and loads it into Verity formatted files on the Process Scheduler server. The Verity indexing application transforms those files into an index—a Verity collection—that is used for searching, as shown in this diagram:

Verity index creation

See Understanding the Verity Search Index.

Resource Matching Process Flow

This diagram shows the high level process steps that occur when you search for resources or resource requests by using Resource Matching:

Resource Matching process flow

Factors, Factor Families, and Objective Fit

Resource Matching evaluates several different factors, such as availability, competencies, and interests, when deciding if a resource is a good fit for a job. It adjusts the fit assessment by considering which factors are important to your company.

Manually assessing how well a given resource fits a resource requirement is a complex task. It's difficult enough to obtain in-depth knowledge about the assignment's requirements and logistics and the resource's capabilities, interests, and schedule. The real challenge, though, lies in evaluating all the ways that a resource can be right or wrong for an assignment. Perhaps the resource has the necessary skills but is not interested in doing that kind of work. Maybe the resource was recommended for the assignment but is already booked for that period of time. Resource Matching accomplishes this task by evaluating various factors, such as competency proficiency, resource interests, and availability, and assessing how well the resource matches the requirement for each factor. This assessment is captured as a fit score, which indicates how well a specific resource matches a specific resource request for that factor.

In the context of Resource Matching, a factor is one way to evaluate the fit between a resource and a resource request. A factor can usually be presented as a question. For example, the Availability factor asks the question, “Is the resource available during the requested time frame?” The Competency Proficiency factor asks the question, “Does the resource have the requested proficiency in the requested competencies?” Resource Matching generates a quantitative, objective answer to the questions posed by each of the factors.

When you install PeopleSoft Resource Management, you immediately have nine of the most common matching criteria available to match resources and resource requests. You can also define optional flexible factors. Resource Matching assesses each resource based on these standard factors and any optional flexible factors that you define. You can establish the importance, or weighting, of each factor to be applied within factor families. At search time, each user can further refine their search by adjusting the relative importance of each of factor family.

Resources who have the requested values for a factor are considered a good fit for the resource request based on that factor.

This table describes the nine standard factors:

Factors are further grouped into factor families to provide three key scores to evaluate for each candidate—Qualifications, Preferences, and Availability. This table lists the standard factors and optional flexible factors that make up each factor family:

Flexible Attributes

Flexible attributes enable you to define and immediately implement, without customization, new resource or service order attributes that are unique to your business. You can also designate flexible attributes as factors that are included in the Resource Matching factor fit score calculation. Flexible attributes are optional.

The two types of flexible attributes are:

• Resource attributes.

  Resource attributes provide information about a resource, such as industry specialty, and are captured on the resource profile.

• Service order attributes.

  Service order attributes provide information about a job, such as the dress code, and are captured on the service order.

Each flexible attribute can enable either a single value or multiple values to be associated with the resource or resource request. A single-value resource attribute enables a resource to specify only one attribute value. An example of a single value resource attribute is region. It’s likely that each resource is assigned to only a single region; therefore, the region attribute would be defined as only allowing a single value for each resource.

A multiple-value resource attribute enables a resource to specify multiple attribute values. An example of a multiple-value resource attribute is industry specialty. Because a resource may have more than one industry specialty, the industry specialty attribute would allow multiple values for each resource.

Flexible attributes can be used for informational purposes only, or they can be used as factors in resource matching. You specify the intended use of the attribute when you establish it.

Relative Importance of Factors and Factor Families

Resource Matching identifies resources that are candidates for a given resource request, and resource request candidates for a given resource. This list of candidates should closely resemble the list that you would have created if you performed the process manually. To achieve this goal, Resource Matching takes into account the preferences of the organization and the individual user.

For example, when evaluating a resource's qualifications, the most important criteria might be whether the resource has the competency proficiency requested by the customer. You might not give as much weight to years of experience. Another company may place a higher emphasis on accomplishments. Yet another might believe that the most important criteria is a manager's resource recommendation for the assignment.

To allow for these different approaches, you can establish factor and factor family priorities as follows:

• During implementation, on the Search Configuration - Factor Weights page, you can prioritize the fit scores for search types for individual factors within factor families.

  You can define different criteria for each search type. These priorities specify the factors that are used by Resource Matching and how much weight to give to each factor.

• Users can prioritize factor family fit scores each time they search for resources or resource requests in the Staffing Workbench, Pool Manager Workbench, Express Search, or My Assignments component.

  At search time users can further refine their search by adjusting relative weight of each factor family. For example, you might consider the most important criteria for one resource search to be whether the resource has the qualifications requested by the customer. In this case you don't give as much weight to availability if you are confident that the right resource can be made available. By adjusting the relative factor family importance levels, Resource Matching gives more weight to a factor family fit score with a higher importance level than a factor family fit score with a lower importance level.

The values used to specify relative importance range from Not at all important to Much more important. If you do not want a factor or factor family to be included in Resource Matching, specify Not at all important.

Resource Groups

Resource groups are collections of resources who can be defined by one or more organizational units, one or more supervisor IDs, or one or more resource pools. A resource group can contain organizational units from different business units.

Resource groups serve two main purposes:

• They can be used to selectively limit, broaden, or redirect the search for resources to different parts of the organization.

• They enable resource managers to specify the resources for which they will manage utilization on the Staffing Workbench component.

Users with access to the Express Search or Staffing Workbench components can establish their own set of resource groups. Users also designate which resource groups are active, which makes the groups easily accessible when searching for resources throughout the system.

Note. When evaluating resource factor fit scores, Resource Matching only retrieves resources that are members of the resource group specified for the search.

Features That Use Resource Matching

This section discusses:

• Matching service orders to resources using the Staffing Workbench - Fulfill Orders page.

• Finding assignments for resources using the Staffing Workbench - Manage Utilization page.

• Finding assignments using the My Assignments - Job Spy page.

• Express searching.

• Matching generic resource requests to resources using the Pool Manager Workbench.

• Selecting search options and settings.

Matching Service Orders to Resources Using the Staffing Workbench - Fulfill Orders Page

The Staffing Workbench - Fulfill Orders page is designed for staffing coordinators or practice managers to manage the complete life cycle of service orders. During the business process of fulfilling service order resource requests, you can use Resource Matching to find a selectively tailored match to the staffing requirements.

Finding Assignments for Resources Using the Staffing Workbench - Manage Utilization Page

The Staffing Workbench - Manage Utilization page is designed for resource managers or practice managers to manage utilization of their resources to their fullest potential. You can use Resource Matching to find open resource requests that fit the skills and interests of eligible resources.

Finding Assignments Using the My Assignments - Job Spy Page

The My Assignments - Job Spy page enables a resource to search for new assignments and submit bids for open resource requests. You can use Resource Matching to find open resource requests that are a good fit for you.

Express Searching

The Express Search feature finds resources that meet specified qualifications and ranks the search results according to preferences, qualification scores, and availability. Express Search allows you to specify resource requirements and search for resources to fulfill those requirements in a single session without a service order. You can define requirements through the use of a qualification profile, or select from a list of qualifications from the Competency tree. You may also specify keywords as part of your criteria. After you define the qualifications, specify the project start and end dates, and select the group of resources to consider in the search.

Matching Generic Resource Requests to Resources Using the Pool Manager Workbench

Pool managers that receive generic resource requests (instead of service orders) can use Resource Matching to determine fit scores on the Pool Manager Workbench.

See Fulfilling Generic Resource Requests.

Selecting Search Options and Settings

The features that use Resource Matching are designed with a similar interface for you to specify search options when you initiate a search for resources or new assignments. On the Fulfill Orders, Manage Utilization, Job Spy, and Express Search pages you can specify the:

• Group of resources or requests to consider in the search.

• Relative importance, or weighting, of the Availability, Qualification, and Preference factor families for each search.

• Number of candidates to retrieve in the search.

Resource Matching Fit Score Calculations

Each match factor requires separate algorithms in Resource Matching. This section discusses the:

• Accomplishments factor.

• Competency Proficiency and Competency Experience factors.

• Qualification importance ratings.

• Work Experience and Resume factors.

• Manager Recommendation factor.

• Flexible Qualification factors.

• Competency Interest factor.

• Resource Bid factor.

• Flexible Preference factors.

• Availability factor.

• Overall fit score.

• Express searching for resources without a service order.

Accomplishments Factor

The Accomplishments factor compares resources' accomplishments with accomplishments requested on the resource request. An accomplishment is an objective, measurable achievement. The four types of accomplishments that are included in the Accomplishments factor are:

• Education (degrees).

• Licenses and certificates.

• Memberships.

• Languages.

Note. Resource Matching does not include honors, awards, and test results in the Accomplishments factor fit score.

In the resource profile, resources can list their accomplishments and record detailed information about each accomplishment. You can request resources with specific accomplishments on a resource request. For each requested accomplishment, you can specify whether it is desired or required that the resource have that accomplishment.

The Accomplishments factor fit score ranges from 0 to 100. The score is:

• 100 for resources who have all of the requested accomplishments.

• 0 for resources who have none of the requested accomplishments.

• Between 0 and 100 for resources who have some, but not all, of the requested accomplishments.

When evaluating the fit of a resource to a resource request relative to accomplishments, the resource is assigned an intermediate score for each requested accomplishment. These intermediate scores range from 0 (no match) to 100 (perfect match). These low-level scores are combined to derive the Accomplishments factor fit score.

Typically, for an assignment, some accomplishments are more important than others. To address this need for prioritizing, indicate that an accomplishment is required. Marking an accomplishment as required indicates that you will only consider resources who have the requested accomplishment. Therefore, resources who lack a single required accomplishment fail the Accomplishments factor. Resources with a failing score are never returned as candidates for that assignment by Resource Matching.

The system handles accomplishment types in a slightly different manner when searching for a good match between resources and resource requests. This table describes Resource Matching rules for the four accomplishment types that are included in the Accomplishments factor fit score:

Competency Proficiency and Competency Experience Factors

The Competency Proficiency and Competency Experience factors compare resource competencies against the competencies that are requested on resource requests. The Competency Proficiency factor evaluates how well the resource's proficiency in a competency matches the requested proficiency. The Competency Experience factor evaluates how well the resource's years of experience match the requested years of experience.

A competency is a skill, ability, or set of knowledge that is possessed by a resource and maintained on the resource profile. Associated with each resource competency are a specific proficiency (degree of expertise) and the number of years of experience the resource has with that competency. When completing a resource request, you can list desired and required competencies, proficiency, and years of experience.

The Competency Proficiency and Experience Factors use a similar algorithm to calculate fit scores. A resource-and-resource request combination scores:

• 100 for both factors for resources who have at least the proficiency and number of years of experience in the competency that is specified on the resource request.

• Less than 100 but greater than 0 on one of the factors for resources who have some proficiency or years of experience in the requested competency, but not as high as requested.

• 0 for resources who have no proficiency or years of experience in the requested competency.

Marking a competency as required indicates that you will only consider resources who have the required competency and at least the required proficiency and years of experience.

The Competency Proficiency factor is calculated only for competencies with a requested proficiency level. Competencies that are specified on the resource request that do not have a specified proficiency level are not included in Resource Matching fit score calculations for this factor.

The logic applies also to the Competency Experience factor; it is calculated only for competencies with a requested number of years of experience greater than zero.

Competency Proficiency Ratings

The model, or scale, that is used to rate proficiencies may be different for each competency. For example, one competency may have valid proficiencies of high and low, while another may have beginner, intermediate, and advanced. Regardless of the model that is used, each model is mapped by your organization to numeric review points. The highest rating given to proficiency within a model marks the upper boundary of that model (the highest possible proficiency) and the lowest rating (which is typically 0) always marks the lower boundary (no proficiency). For example, high and low can have review points of 25 and 50, respectively, with high representing the most proficient and low representing half the possible proficiency.

Individual Competency Fit Scores

When evaluating the fit of a resource to a resource request relative to competencies, the resource is assigned an intermediate score for each requested competency. These intermediate scores range from 0 (no match) to 100 (perfect match). Once the individual scores are produced, the low-level competency scores are added together—weighting each requested competency equally—to derive the final Competency Proficiency and Competency Experience factor fit scores for the resource-and-resource request combination.

Qualification Importance Ratings

Often for an assignment, some qualifications are more important than others. This is a different consideration than the desired level of competency proficiency. For example, a project may have two software programs to develop—one in PeopleSoft Application Engine and one in PeopleCode. The total amount of work is appropriate for a single resource. The PeopleSoft Application Engine program is difficult and requires a high degree of expertise, while the PeopleCode program is fairly straightforward. The PeopleSoft Application Engine program performs a peripheral function, and the PeopleCode program is essential to the day-to-day operation of the system. When searching for a resource to staff to this project, you can specify a high PeopleSoft Application Engine proficiency as desired, and at least an average PeopleCode proficiency as required.

You can specify an importance rating to each requested competency and accomplishment. The rating choices are Desired and Required. Marking a qualification as required indicates that you will only consider resources with at least the requested qualification. If the qualification type is a competency, marking it required indicates that resources must have at least the specified proficiency and requested number of years of experience for the competency.

Resources who don't have a required accomplishment fail the Accomplishment factor. Resources who don't have a required competency proficiency or years of experience fail the Competency Proficiency or Competency Experience factor.

Resources with a failing score are not recommended for that assignment by Resource Matching.

Note. If during implementation you select 0 - Not at all important as the relative importance of the Accomplishment factor in the Resource Matching calculation of the Qualification factor family fit score, a resource can fail the Accomplishment factor and still be recommended for a resource request. This logic applies also to the Competency Proficiency or Competency Experience factors if during implementation you select 0 - Not at all important as the relative importance of these factors in the calculation of the Qualification factor family fit score.

Work Experience and Resume Factors

Resource Matching uses Verity to conduct free-text data searches for the work experience and resume factors. Keywords define the criteria used to calculate these fit scores by searching the work experience description and default resume document attachment on the resource profile.

The scores are based on how many times the keywords appear in the resource's resume or work experience description relative to the size of his or her resume or work experience. For example, a resource request user can specify PeopleTools as the keyword. If the first resource has a one-page resume with PeopleTools listed five times, and the second resource has PeopleTools listed five times in a two-page resume, the first resource receives a higher score because there is a higher occurrence (high density) of the word PeopleTools relative to the size of the resume.

Manager Recommendation Factor

Recommendations enable resource managers to have direct input into the staffing process. You can recommend one or more resources for resource requests by entering a recommendation directly on the request or by selecting the Recommend action on the Staffing Workbench - Manage Utilization page. A resource can only be recommended for a given assignment once, meaning that multiple managers cannot recommend the same resource to the same resource request.

Recommendations influence the staffing process in two ways:

• Any user with access to the Staffing Workbench component or My Assignments component can view the resources who are recommended for a resource request.

• Resource Matching can use the Manager Recommendation factor fit score to calculate the Qualification factor family fit score, potentially increasing the Qualification fit score for the recommended resource.

Recommending a resource for an assignment indicates that the manager who made the recommendation believes the resource is a good fit for the resource request. The Manager Recommendation factor fit score is always either 0 or 100.

Resource Matching does not calculate the Manager Recommendation factor until at least one resource receives a recommendation for a resource request. The factor becomes applicable after a resource receives a recommendation. When a resource receives a recommendation for a resource request, the score is:

• 100 for resources who are recommended for that resource request.

• 0 for all other resources who did not receive a recommendation for that resource request.

Flexible Qualification Factors

You can create additional factors—called flexible factors—without customization. The two types of flexible factors are Flexible Qualification factors and Flexible Preference factors. Flexible Preference factors are discussed later in this chapter.

When Resource Matching uses flexible resource attributes to match resources to resource requests, the attributes are called Flexible Qualification factors. Flexible Qualification factor values can be specified on the Qualifications tab of the Resource Requests page so you can further define the resource requirements for an assignment. They also appear on the Resource Profile - General Information page so resources can further define their qualifications.

Flexible Qualification factors measure how well a resource matches the requirements for a specific attribute that you define during implementation in the Flexible Attributes Setup component (RS_ATTRIB_SETUP). An example of a Flexible Qualification factor is industry. While two resources may possess skills and experience in financial software applications, implementing financial software for a retail conglomerate differs significantly from implementing financial software for a large university. You can create an Industry qualification factor to track resource industry specialties, specify an industry on the resource request, and find the best candidate using Resource Matching.

Depending on the configuration of the attribute, the resource profile can have one or more values for each Flexible Qualification factor. You can request one or more attribute values on the resource request. You can also specify the importance of the requested values.

Single-value and multiple-value flexible qualification attributes are handled in a slightly different manner on the resource request. In both cases, the resource request user can request multiple values for each attribute, but the meaning of the lists of values is subtly different. For single-value attributes, the list of values on the resource request represents the pool of desirable attribute values; a resource with any of the specified values is acceptable. For multiple-value attributes, the list of values on the resource request represents a portrait of the ideal resource; the perfect resource has all of the requested values.

Flexible Qualification factor fit scores range from 0 to 100. The Flexible Qualification factor fit score is:

• 100 for resources who have the values for that attribute that are specified on the resource request.

• 0 for resources who do not have the requested values for that attribute.

• Between 0 and 100 for resources who have some, but not all, of the requested values for the attribute.

Flexible Qualification Factor Importance Ratings

You can designate on the resource request which Flexible Qualification attribute values are desired and which are required.

For multiple-value attributes, you can designate each requested value as Desired or Required. The relative importance for multiple-value attributes provides a means for the resource request user to emphasize qualities that are important and de-emphasize qualities that are preferred, but not critical.

For example, you may want a resource with both government and telecommunications industry expertise, but government is more important to the success of the project. You therefore list both government and telecommunications on the resource request as values for the multiple-value attribute industry specialty, indicating that government industry experience is required and telecommunications is desired. Marking a value as required indicates that you will only consider resources with the required value. In this example using industry specialty, marking government industry experience as required means that resources without government industry experience are not evaluated by Resource Matching, while resources with both government and telecommunications are given priority.

For single-value attributes, you can designate each attribute value as Desirable or Very desirable to distinguish on the resource request which values you prefer more than others. For example, you may want a resource from either the western or southeastern regions, but your first choice is western. You can list both western and southeastern on the resource request as values for the Region single-value attribute, and specify the western region as very desirable and the southeastern region as desirable.

Single-value attributes function differently than multiple-value attributes with regard to required values. You cannot mark multiple requested values as required on the resource request because each resource only one value for the attribute. For single-value attributes, you can, however, specify that only resources with one of the requested attribute values be returned by Resource Matching in the search results. In the previous example using region, marking the Region single-value attribute as required means that only resources from the western and southeastern regions can be returned in the search results, while resources from the western region are still preferred.

Resources who don't have a required attribute value fail the associated Flexible Qualification factor. Resources who fail a Flexible Qualification factor are not recommended for the resource request, unless the relative importance of the Flexible Qualification factor is specified as 0 - Not at all important during implementation.

Note. If during implementation you select 0 - Not at all important as the relative importance of a Flexible Qualification factor in the Resource Matching calculation of the Qualification factor family fit score, then a resource can fail the Flexible Qualification factor and still be recommended for a resource request.

Single-Value Versus Multiple-Value Factors

For single-value factors, the ideal resource has the requested attribute value with the highest importance. The Flexible Qualification factor fit score is:

• 100 for resources who have the requested attribute value with the highest importance.

  In the previous example using region, resources from the western region receive a fit score of 100. In cases where two requested values share the same, highest importance, resources with either value receive a score of 100.

• Between 0 and 100 for resources who have a requested attribute value that is not the highest importance.

  Resources with one of the other requested values receive a score between 0 and 100 proportional to the importance assigned to that value.

For multiple-value factors, the ideal resource has all of the requested attribute values. The Flexible Qualification factor fit score is:

• 100 for resources who have all of the attribute values that are specified on a resource request.

  In the previous example using industry experience, only resources with both government and telecommunications experience receive a score of 100.

• Between 0 and 100 for resources with some, but not all, of the requested values.

  Resources with some of the requested values receive a score between 0 and 100 proportional to the number of values they possess and the assigned importance of each value.

Competency Interest Factor

The Competency Interest factor compares resource competency interests against the specified competencies on a resource request. Resources can indicate their level of interest in performing work that requires the use of that competency. Each resource request can include a list of resource competencies that are important to the success of the assignment. Resource Matching uses resource interest levels for competencies to calculate Competency Interest fit scores for each resource-and-resource request combination.

Resource attitudes toward various characteristics of an assignment can range from Very desirable to Very undesirable. Resources may be motivated to work on some types of assignment, and not interested in working on other types. It may be important to consider resource preferences when deciding which resources are the best fit for resource requests. Giving resources the ability to express their preferences—and the knowledge that those preferences are not ignored—can improve the quality of the competency proficiency data associated with a resource. For example, resources with a lot of programming expertise can rate their proficiency as high. However, if they have a desire to branch out into other areas, they can rate their degree of interest in programming as low.

For each competency value, resources can select one of these five options to characterize their preference for the competency:

• 4–Very desirable

• 3–Desirable

• 2–No Preference

• 1–Undesirable

• 0–Very undesirable

Resources with interest in a competency that is specified on a resource request are assumed to be interested in that assignment. Competency Interest factor fit score ranges from 0 to 100. The score is:

• 100 for resources who consider the competencies Very desirable that are specified on the resource request.

• 0 for resources who specify an interest level of Very undesirable for the competencies that are listed on the resource request.

• 0 for resources if the competencies that are specified on the resource request do not exist on the resource profile.

Resources who assign higher interest levels on their resource profile for a competency will have higher Competency Interest factor fit scores than resources who assign lower interest levels or do not have the competency on their profiles. It is up to your organization to enforce standards regarding the definition of each preference rating.

Understanding the Relationship Between Competency Importance and Competency Interest Fit Scores

When specifying competencies on a resource request, you indicate the importance of each competency—Desired or Required—to the success of the project. This importance rating does not impact the Competency Interest factor score.

There are several reasons to assign a high importance to a requested competency. For example, if a large portion of the work to be done on the assignment involves the use of that competency, it is important that the resources have expertise in that area. Another example is if the competency is necessary to ensure the success of a high-priority task. The critical nature of the task means that it is extremely important that the resource has the requested competency, even if it won't be used often. Because it is impossible to know why a given competency has been marked as important, no assumptions are made regarding whether a resource would be more or less interested in an assignment based on the importance ratings assigned to competencies on the resource request.

The competency's importance level does not affect the calculation of the Competency Interest factor fit score.

Resource Matching evaluates resources for resource requests even if the resources do not express an interest in a Required competency.

Resource Bid Factor

Bids enable resources to have direct input into the staffing process. Resources can express an interest in a particular resource request by submitting a bid for the resource request. You can bid on one or more resource requests using the Job Spy page.

Bids influence the staffing process in two ways:

• A staffing coordinator, resource manager, or practice manager can view a list of resources who submitted bids for a particular resource request, and consider the bid when making a staffing decision.

• Bids influence the Preference family factor fit score that is returned by Resource Matching.

  A resource who submitted a bid for a particular resource request may have a higher overall fit score than a resource who is equally as qualified and available, but did not submit a bid.

The Resource Bid factor fit score is always either 0 or 100. The factor is not included in Resource Matching calculations until at least one resource bids on a resource request. When a resource bids on a resource request, the score is:

• 100 for resources who submitted a bid for the resource request.

• 0 for all other resources who did not submit a bid for that resource request.

Flexible Preference Factors

When flexible service order attributes are used to help match resources to requests, they are called Flexible Preference factors. Values for Flexible Preference factors can be specified on the Service Order - Additional General Information page of the resource request. They also appear on the Resource Profile - Preferences page so resources can further define their assignment preferences.

Flexible Preference factors measure the fit of resources to resource requests based on user-defined preferences for attributes that can be selected on a resource request. Flexible Preference factors measure how well the assignment matches the preferences of the resource regarding a specific, user-defined attribute. An example of a flexible resource preference factor is attire. Creating an Attire preference factor gives you the ability to track the dress code of each assignment, capture the attire preferences of each resource, and consider how compatible the two are when performing Resource Matching. You define Flexible Preference factors during implementation in the Flexible Attributes Setup component.

The resource request can have one or more values for each flexible attribute associated with the factor. Resources indicate their preference for each attribute value. Flexible Preference factors are calculated in the same way as Competency Interest factors.

Flexible Preference factor fit scores range from 0 to 100. The score is:

• 100 for resources who consider the attribute value Very desirable that is specified on the resource request.

• 0 for resources who have an interest level of Very undesirable for the attribute value that is specified on the resource request.

• 0 for resources if the attribute values that are specified on the resource request do not exist on the resource profile.

• 0 for resources if the attribute values that are specified on the resource request exist on their resource profiles, but the resources did not specify an interest for this competency.

  If resources don't specify an interest for an attribute value on their resource profile, Resource Matching uses a default value of 0 to calculate the fit for the attribute on this resource request.

Availability Factor

The Availability factor is a ratio of a resource's unscheduled time during the resource request time frame to the amount of work on the request. At a high level, the factor compares the requested start date, end date, total days of work, and number of hours per day on a resource request to the resource schedules. Resource schedules track the amount of time that resources are working on assignment and appointment tasks. Each task has a start date, end date, and number of hours per day to indicate the amount of time during the task period that the resource is working on that task.

When using Express Search, the availability calculation uses the number of requested hours per day to determine the resource's true availability. If the resource request is for a time period of less than 8 hours (or less than the defined standard number of hours per day), you can define the number of hours per day. In addition, you can specify multiple date ranges and hours per day.

Here's an example of how availability is calculated if there is an express search for an assignment that lasts 10 days for 4 hours per day, and the standard hours per day is 8:

• If there is a resource in the system that is already assigned to a project for those same 10 days for 4 hours per day, the resource is therefore still available for 4 hours each of those days, and the availability calculation determines that the resource is 100 percent available for the requested 4 hours per day in the search.

• If there is a resource in the system that is already assigned to a project for those same 10 days for 6 hours per day, the resource is still available for 2 hours each of those days, and the availability calculation determines that the resource is 50 percent available for the requested 4 hours per day in the search.

• If there are multiple date ranges involved, the availability score determines an availability percent for each range and then uses a weighted average of the ranges to determine the overall score.

At a more detailed level, the Availability factor fit scores are the result of complex algorithms that are impacted, positively or negatively, by:

• Start and end dates on the resource request.

• Days of work on the resource request.

• Resource standard weekly work days on the resource profile.

• Standard work days on the Resource Setup - Common Installation Options page.

• Standard hours per day on the Resource Setup - Common Installation Options page.

• Resource standard day percentage calculation (identifying part-time and full-time workers).

• Task flexibility.

• Partial days acceptable option on the resource request.

• Hours per day specified on the resource request.

The Availability factor objective fit score ranges from 0 to 100. The score is:

• 100 for resources who are available for the requested time period.

• 0 for resources who have no availability for the requested time period.

Note. Resources can be assigned to multiple tasks on the same day, even if it results in the resource being overbooked.

Resource Request Period, Period Days, and Days of Work

The resource request period is the date range between the first start date and last end date on the request. Period days are the number of days in the resource request period. The days of work are the specified number of work days that are required to complete the assignment during the resource request period.

The days of work can equal the period days, or there can be fewer days of work than period days. The more unscheduled time the resource has during the resource request period, the higher the Availability factor fit score.

If you specify a start and end date on a resource request and do not enter a value for days of work, the resource request calculates days of work as the number of work days between the start and end dates (the period days). In this case, there is no free time between the days of work and the start and end dates (the resource request period). This results in a lower Availability factor fit score for resources who are committed to other tasks during that period, even if their other tasks are small.

If you specify a start date and days of work, but no end date, the resource request calculates the end date as the start date plus the days of work. This also results in no free time between the days of work and the resource request period.

If you specify multiple, noncontiguous date ranges, you can only specify the start and end date of each date range. The days of work is equal to the period days for each date range.

Note. Resource Matching does not include non-work days in the Availability factor fit score calculation, regardless of whether the resource is available or unavailable on that day.

The standard weekly work days are defined during implementation on the Resource Setup - Common Installation Options page.

Part-Time and Full-Time Resources

Full-time resources can be scheduled up to 100 percent of the standard work week before they are considered overbooked. Part-time resources work less than the standard number of hours per week. For example, a resource that works half days is unavailable on any day that is already at least 50 percent scheduled. To support this functionality, Resource Matching needs to know the standard day for each resource. The resource standard day defines how much time the resource has available for tasks on any given workday. The number of hours in a resource standard day is included in the Availability factor fit score calculations for the resource.

The resource weekly work hours represents the number of hours per week that the resource is expected to work. This value is taken from the resource's Job record. Not all resource work hours are stored at the week level, so the stored value is adjusted using the following formula:

Resource weekly work hours = (annualization factor * resource standard hours) / 52, where annualization factor is the number of units per year (such as 52 if already stored at the weekly level, 12 if stored at the monthly level, and so on).

The number of days per week that a resource is expected to work is specified on the Resource Profile - General Info page. The number of hours per day that a resource is expected to work is calculated as the resource weekly work hours divided by the number of days per week that a resource is expected to work.

The resource standard day percentage is the resource hours per day divided by the standard hours per day. The formula is:

(resource weekly work hours / resource standard work days per week / standard hours per day),

which is specified on the Resource Setup - Common Installation Options page.

Resources with a standard day of 100 percent who work a full standard workweek are considered full-time resources. Resources with a standard day less than 100 percent are considered part-time resources. Note that a resource with a standard day of 100 percent who doesn't work on all standard work days is not a full-time resource. For example, a resource who works Monday through Thursday when the standard workweek is Monday through Friday is not a full-time resource.

Task Flexibility

Resource schedules contain assignment tasks that can be internal or external, and billable or nonbillable. Schedules also contain appointment (nonassignment) tasks such as meetings, vacations, company events, and training. You may want to consider resources for assignments if the resources are already committed to nonessential appointment tasks, but not if the resources are already committed to scheduled assignments. For example, you may consider a resource with two weeks of scheduled training to be more available than a resource with a two-week billable assignment.

Each resource schedule task belongs to a task category that is assigned a flexibility percentage, which is used by Resource Matching to identify how easily a task in that category can be rescheduled. Tasks that are in a category with a high flexibility percentage are considered more likely to be rescheduled. Resources with high flexibility tasks on their schedules will have a higher Availability factor fit scores than resources with low flexibility tasks for resource requests during that period.

PeopleSoft Resource Management delivers twelve standard task categories and the ability for you to add your own task categories. You specify the category's flexibility during implementation on the Task Categories page. Flexibility is a percentage between 0 and 1, where 1.00 indicates that a task of this category is completely (100 percent) flexible and can be rescheduled. A value of 0.00 indicates the task is completely inflexible and tasks in this category should not be rescheduled. For example, a value of 0.90 (90 percent) for task category Vacation indicates that scheduled vacations only slightly reduce resource Availability factor fit scores.

You can also specify a reserved status flexibility for assignment task categories, which assigns a different, usually higher, flexibility for assignment tasks of that category that are in a status of Reserved.

Full-Day Assignments

A full-day assignment requires that a resource is available to work on the assignment for at least the standard hours per day each day of the assignment. Resources with fewer demands on their time during the resource request period receive a higher Availability factor fit. Resources with a standard day less than 100 percent always receive a score of 0 for full-day assignments. A full-day assignment is specified on the resource request by clearing (not selecting) the Partial Days Acceptable option on the request.

For full-day assignments, Resource Matching compares the number of days that a resource is available to the number of days of work on the request. The Availability factor fit score is:

• 100 for resources with no tasks scheduled during the requested period for a full-day assignment.

• 100 for resources with scheduled tasks in a category that has a flexibility of 100 percent.

• 100 for resources that have assignments in the requested date range but that are available for the requested hours per day.

• 0 for resources with no available days during the requested period for a full-day assignment.

• Between 0 and 100 for resources with some, but not all, days available during the requested period.

• Between 0 and 100 for resources with scheduled tasks in a category that has a flexibility greater than 0 percent during the requested period.

• 0 for resources with partially-scheduled days during the requested period for a full-day assignment.

Partial-Day Assignments

If you enable the Partial Days Acceptable option on the resource request, it has an effect on availability for two reasons:

• If enabled, it allows part-time workers to be matched for the resource request.

• It indicates greater flexibility in the assignment, which means that the resource can be scheduled partial days on the assignment.

A partial-day assignment does not require that a resource work on the assignment for the entire workday. This option is used if you care less when the resource actually performs the work as long as it is completed during the requested period. A partial-day assignment is specified on the resource request by selecting the Partial Days Acceptable option on the request.

For partial-day assignments, Resource Matching compares the number of hours that a resource is available to the number of hours of work on the request. The Availability factor fit score is:

• 100 for resources with more total free hours during the resource request period than the number of hours requested for the partial-day assignment.

• 0 for resources with no free time during the resource request period.

• Between 0 and 100 for resources with fewer available hours during the resource request period than the number of hours requested for the partial-day assignment.

• Between 0 and 100 for resources with scheduled tasks that have a flexibility greater than 0 percent during the requested period.

Resource Availability Cache

Any change to the resource schedule triggers the Resource Schedule application message (RS_SCHED_TASK) to update the Resource Availability Cache table (RS_DF_WRKR_DATE). The Resource Availability Cache table stores resource schedule data that the Resource Match engine uses to calculate Availability fit scores when you search for resources to match resource requests.

Overall Fit Score

The matching process identifies and prioritizes candidate resources and service order resource requests using much the same logic that you would employ if you were performing the process manually. This coupling of objective and subjective analysis produces the fit score.

In the Staffing Workbench component and My Assignments component, you see a list of best matches. For example, in the Staffing Workbench - Manage Utilization page, you can view a list of the best open resource requests for eligible resources. On the Staffing Workbench - Fulfill Orders page, you can view a list of the best eligible resources for open resource requests. To generate these matches, Resource Matching calculates the overall fit score, ranks relevant combinations of resources and resource requests, and returns the top-ranking pairs.

A resource's overall fit score includes:

• The resource's Qualifications, Availability, and Preferences factor family fit scores for a resource request.

• The organization's individual factor priorities that are specified on the Search Configuration - Factor Weights page.

• The priorities that are specified by the user during the search session.

The fit score calculation begins with the objective fit scores for each match factor, then calculates factor family fit scores by applying installation-level relative factor importance settings, and finally averages the family scores according to the relative factor family preferences that are selected during search time.

The resulting fit score is not visible to the end user, but it controls which resources or resource requests are presented to the user. The resources or resource requests are returned in descending order of fit score. The fit score is not cached; it is calculated every time a user performs a search using Resource Matching in the Staffing Workbench component or My Assignments component.

Not all factors are necessarily included in the factor family fit score calculation. If you indicated during implementation that an individual match factor is not important, the factor fit score is excluded from the fit score calculations for the factor family that contains that factor. A factor fit score is also excluded if it does not apply to the resource request. For example, if accomplishments are not specified on the resource request, the Accomplishments factor is excluded from the Qualifications factor family fit score calculations.

Not all factor families are necessarily included in the fit score calculations. If you specify a search settings that a particular factor family is not important, the factor family fit score is excluded from the fit score calculations. In addition, if none of the factors in a factor family apply to the resource request, the factor family fit score is excluded from the fit score calculations.

Express Searching for Resources Without a Service Order

With the Express Search feature, you can specify resource requirements and search for resources to fulfill those requirements in a single session—without a service order. You can define requirements through the use of a qualification profile, or select from a list of qualifications or the Competency tree. You may also specify keywords as part of your criteria. After you define the qualifications, you specify the project start and end dates, and select the group of resources to consider in the search. The Express Search feature uses Verity to find resources who meet your qualifications, and ranks the search results according to qualification scores and availability.