This chapter contains instructions for searching for resources to fill requirements and managing the nomination and tracking process.
This chapter covers the following topics:
You use the resource pool to search for eligible candidates. Candidates are the nominated resources for open requirements. After the Oracle workflow approval, candidates work for a project.
The candidate life cycle begins with the search for candidates for open requirements. Candidates are nominated for requirements, their qualifications and competencies reviewed, and finally selected and assigned.
The candidates can also be assigned directly to fill the requirement. The team roles and staffing processes have some required and optional predefined behavior. You can define this default behavior through profile options, statuses, and other attributes.
Related Topics
Project Requirements, Oracle Projects Fundamentals
Project Assignments, Oracle Projects Fundamentals
Implementing Oracle Project Resource Management Oracle Projects Implementation Guide
You perform resource searches primarily to fill a resource requirement on a project. They can also be performed independent of filling a specific requirement and to just search the resource repository for having specific resources.
For more information about the creation and maintenance of project requirements and assignments, see Defining Scheduled Team Members, Oracle Projects Fundamentals.
When performing a resource search for a requirement, the dates of the requirement are compared with the availability of the resource. If these time periods match, the resource is considered a candidate for the requirement given the other search criteria for the requirement also matches.
Only valid resources (including future-date people) are considered in resource search queries. Valid resources include both employees and contingent workers. In order for a person to be considered a qualified resource within Oracle Project Resource Management, certain criteria must be met. For a complete list of the criteria, see: Processes in Oracle Projects, Oracle Projects Fundamentals. For information about contingent workers, see: Support for Contingent Workers, Oracle Projects Fundamentals.
A single collection of your resources, their skill sets, and their availability enables you to utilize and manage your resources both effectively and efficiently. To establish such a resource pool, you must understand your enterprise structure, the job groupings, and the required and desired competencies of the resources.
This section describes the resource pool and how to perform resource searches on it.
The resource pool is the collection of all your valid resources into a single group. Each individual within your resource pool has various attributes defined such as personal information, work patterns, location, and competencies. Through entering this information as accurately as possible, you gain the following benefits:
Resources with consistent information from which to search
Secured single-source access to information such as personal information, resume, and competencies
Precision in matching resources with requirements
Forecasting based on resource needs
Resource utilization manageability
When searching your resource pool for potential matches to requirements you specify criteria to limit the search. You can also search for a resource that meets specific criteria outside the context of a project requirement. This search includes all the attributes used for the requirement-based resource search. You can access this search when you log in using your responsibility.
Note: For a requirement-based resource search, the default search criteria values are based on the requirement definition.
You can refine the search on your resource pool to match resources to a requirement with the following fields:
This field value identifies the project expenditure/event organization hierarchy in which to conduct the search for resources. The default hierarchy value is the project expenditure hierarchy assigned to the operating unit for your current logon responsibility. You can change this value to any project expenditure/event organization hierarchy. This search criterion is also available on the Advanced Search window.
This field value identifies the organization from which to start the search within the specified project expenditure/event organization hierarchy. This search criterion is also available on the Advanced Search window.
The minimum required definite availability match percentage of the resource to be returned as a match, based on the confirmed assignments of the resource.
The availability of a resource is considered from the current system date and does not reflect any past dates. For example, you have a requirement that spans four weeks with the start date that began last week. If a resource is found to have the next three weeks 100% available, then that resource is considered as a 100% match without any regard to the availability of the resource for the first week of the requirement. A resource search will not return results if the end date of the requirement is earlier than the current date.
In order for a resource to qualify for the search results, the resource must have availability records for at least a portion of the assignment duration. An availability record represents each day a resource has availability. These records are generated for a specific time period in the future for every resource. The specific time period is determined by the profile option PA: Availability Duration. For example, if you have a requirement with a time length of two years, and a qualified resource has availability records for only the next year, the resource is still delivered in the search results as a potential match.
You can view the availability of a resource on the timeline on the Resource Details page. The displayed availability may not be correct if the resource does not have an assigned calendar for the duration of the requirement or the calendar schedules have not been generated or updated for the period. See also, Availability Percentages.
The weightings default from the requirement, but can be changed while performing a resource search. For more information, see Candidate Score Weightings.
In addition to specific search criteria, you can also search for resources using the following optional search criteria:
If selected, the Minimum Availability percentage specified above is calculated using both the confirmed and provisional assignments. This means that the resource must have both a definite and potential availability match percentage greater than the minimum availability percentage specified, in order to be returned. For more information, see Availability Percentages.
Each project requirement has defined minimum and maximum job levels for the purpose of resource searching. During a search, the job levels of the resources are compared to the minimum and maximum job levels of the requirement. If the job level of a resource falls between the minimum and maximum job levels of the requirement, the resource is considered a possible match for the requirement given other search criteria are met.
The default values of the Minimum and Maximum Job Level fields come from the levels defined on the requirement, but you can modify them on the Modify Search Criteria page. Modifying these values on this page does not change the original definition on the requirement. The original definition of the requirement is available on the Requirement Details page.
The minimum and maximum job levels are based on the job levels associated with the job group specified as the value for the profile option PA: Project Resource Job Group. For this profile option, you enter the name of the job group you want used as the collection of jobs included in searches. This profile option is set at the site level only.
You can use the master job group as the value of this profile option, but remember that it includes every job. If you have jobs that you do not want included in job searches such as accounts payable jobs, administrative jobs, and human resource jobs that are not related to staffing projects, then you can set up a separate job group specifically for searching. This job group should include all jobs that you want included in searches.
All mandatory and optional competencies of the requirement are compared to those of the resource. Resources with the mandatory competencies and desired competence levels are potential matches given the other search criteria are met. If a competence associated with a resource or requirement has no defined proficiency level, then it is considered to be at the lowest proficiency level.
For each matching resource, the matches between the optional competencies of the requirement and the competencies of the resource display in the following format: 0/2. The first number indicates the number of matches, and the second number refers to the actual number of optional competencies of the requirement. For example, 4/5 means that the resource has four of the five optional competencies at the specified proficiency level for the requirement.
The competencies in the search criteria page default from the competencies defined for the requirement. However, you can modify these competencies and their associated proficiency levels and mandatory flag settings on this page. Your modifications are specific to this search only, and do not change the original definition on the requirement.
In addition to specifying individual competencies, you can also just specify a parent competence, where a parent competence is a rollup of many competencies with the same competence structure. All resources with any competence in that parent competence at the specified proficiency level will be considered as match for the criteria. For example, you can search for resources that have skill in the parent competence "Oracle Technical...", instead of specifying the detailed child competencies within the parent, such as "Oracle Technical: SQL" or "Oracle Technical: PLSQL" or "Oracle Technical: Forms."
To speed up your competence entry in your search criteria, you can copy role competencies predefined roles. For example, if you are searching for a database engineer, instead of entering in each competence for the database engineer, you can copy the already defined competencies associated with the role of the database engineer.
The work preferences are defined by the resources in their Professional Details profile in Self Service Human Resources. If you choose to search based on work specified preferences, then only the resources that have the matching work preference defined in their profile will be returned. If you do not select any work preference option in the search criteria, then the work preferences are not considered for finding matching resources.
The location refers to the country, state and city of the primary address of the resource. If you specify a location of city, state, or region in the search criteria, the search will return resources who have matching locations, as well as resources who do not have any locations defined in HR.
If the country, state or city of a resource is a valid match to the criteria as of the start date of the requirement, then the location of that resource is a match. For example, if you are searching for resources in a specific country, the search process compares the start date of the requirement to the effective date of the address for each resource to identify potential matches. Therefore, if a resource is moving to the identified location prior to the start of the requirement, the resource may be a potential match for the requirement.
The results display all resources that match the mandatory competencies and meet the other defined criteria. For each matching resource, the matches between the optional competencies of the requirement and the competencies of the resource are displayed in the following format: 0/2. The first number indicates the number of matches, and the second number refers to the actual number of optional competencies of the requirement. For example, 4/5 means that the resource has four of the five optional competencies at the specified proficiency level for the requirement.
When a parent competence is part of the search criteria, any resource with at least one competence in that parent is returned and shown to have a match of 1. If no competence is found, the resource will have a match of 0. When a parent competence is specified in association with proficiency levels, only a resource with a competence in the parent competence with a proficiency level equal to or higher than the specified proficiency level is returned. If the parent competence specified is mandatory, then only those resources with at least one competence in that parent competence are returned; if the parent is not mandatory, then it will not be used to filter resources, and will only be used in calculating the competence match and score values.
You can also assign a resource to fill the requirement for the full or partial duration.
If you specified a resource and checked the Restrict to Resource's Competencies check box, only those requirements for which the resource meets all the mandatory competencies are returned as results.
If you specified a resource but did not select the Restrict to Resource's Competencies checkbox, then the mandatory competencies are not considered. All requirements matching the search criteria display as your search results. However, a competence comparison match appears for each requirement. This match indicates the total number of competencies, both mandatory and optional, that the resource and requirement have in common. For example, a competence match result of 4/5 means that the resource has four of the five competencies defined for the requirement.
If no resource was specified, competencies are not considered and all requirements matching your specified search criteria display as the search results.
From the results, you can nominate yourself or your resource as a candidate to fill a requirement. For more information on candidate nomination and approval, see Candidate Nomination and Approval.
Percentages used in search to compare availability are of two types, depending on the context of your resource search:
The Availability match percentage is the percentage of time a resource is available to work for a specific project requirement. It is calculated as [resource's (capacity hours - assigned hours)] /requirement hours*100.
The Availability percentage measures the percentage of time the resource is available to work, simply based on their capacity to work. It is calculated as [resource's (capacity hours - assigned hours/capacity hours)]*100.
Both measure the percentage of the availability of the resource to work. The availability match percentage is to fill a specific requirement, while the availability percentage just measures the availability of the resource and is independent of filling a specific requirement.
Both the availability percentages above have two views, which are displayed in the resources search results.
Definite availability is based on the confirmed assignments. Therefore
Definite availability match percentage is [resource's (capacity hours - confirmed assignment hours)] /requirement hrs)*100]
Definite availability percentage is [resource's (capacity hours - confirmed assignment hours/capacity hours)]*100
Potential availability is based on the confirmed and provisional assignments. Therefore
Potential availability match percentage is [resource's (capacity hours - confirmed assignment hours - potential assignment hours)] /requirement hrs)*100]
Potential percentage is [resource's (capacity hours-confirmed assignment hours - potential assignment hours/capacity hours)]*100.
For example, a resource who has a weekly capacity of 40 hours is confirmed on an assignment for 20 of those hours. If you have a requirement for 20 hours, the resource will show to have a definite availability match percentage of 100% [resource's (capacity hours - confirmed assignment hours)] /requirement hrs)*100 as he is available for the entire required hours. If you simply search for this resource outside the context of filling a requirement, his definite availability percentage is 50% [resource's (capacity hours-confirmed assignment hours/capacity hours)]*100 and he has 50% of his capacity already committed.
If this resource also has a provisional assignment of 10 hours, his potential availability match percentage is 50% [(40 capacity hours-20 confirmed assignment hours - 10 potential assignment hours/20 requirement hours*100], and his availability percentage is 25% [(40 capacity hours - 20 confirmed assignment hours - 10 potential assignment hours)/ 40 capacity hours*100].
The availability percentage of a resource is considered from the current system date and does not reflect any past dates. For example, you have a requirement that spans four weeks with the start date that began last week. If a resource is found to have the next three weeks 100% available, then that resource is considered as having a 100% available match without any regard to the availability of the resource for the first week of the requirement. A resource search will never return any results when the requirement is completely in the past (when the end date of the requirement is prior to the current date.) In order for a resource to qualify for the search results, the resource must have availability for at least a portion of the assignment duration.
You can view the availability of a resource on the timeline on the Resource Details page.
The determination of available resources is based on the setup defined by the implementation team. The setup includes the availability calculation period (daily or weekly), and the minimum available percentage of capacity for a resource to be deemed as available.
A resource is considered available and is shown on the staffing pages as well on timelines based on the following calculations:
The available hours of the resource = (capacity hours - confirmed hours) is calculated based on weekly or daily basis, as determined by the setup. For example, consider a resource with capacity of 40 hours (8 hrs over 5 days), if the resource has 40 confirmed hours over 4 days (10 hrs per day), the resource is considered available for 8 hours on one day using the daily basis but not available using the weekly basis.
The availability percentage (available hours/capacity hours*100) is then compared to the threshold percentage setup by your implementation team. If the availability percentage is more than the threshold percentage then the resource is considered an available resource. For example, if the minimum threshold percentage specified is 30%, all resources that are available for more than 30% of their capacity are shown as available, starting from the date that they meet these criteria.
You can nominate candidates for a requirement to track a list of potential people whom you may want to assign to fill the requirement. As the candidates are nominated, an Oracle Workflow process notifies the resource manager, the staffing manager, and the resource of the nomination. This list of notification recipients may vary depending upon the implementation of the workflow processes.
Any project member with the proper authority can view the list of candidates for a given requirement, and review the candidate information on an individual basis. The status indicates where the candidate is in the review process.
If a resource is declined as a candidate on a project, the status of the candidate is changed to Declined. This status initiates another Workflow notification process. This process notifies the candidate, the manager of the resource, and their staffing manager of the change in status and the reason. However, a notification is not sent to the person who declined the candidate, if that person is one of these individuals.
Note: A candidate may withdraw themselves for consideration at any time.
Candidates are assigned a score based on the weightings defined for the requirement. This score helps identify the level of match between the requirement and candidate. For information on the candidate score and system-nominated candidates, see Candidate Scoring and Automated Nomination process.
To assist your users in staffing requirements, you can set up an automated search and nomination process to identify and nominate resources as candidates for open requirements automatically. The setup includes definitions for both calculating the candidate score and performing automated searches for candidates. Setup of these features is required only if you choose to use this functionality.
Candidate score weightings enable you to define the level of importance of the availability, competencies, and job level of the resource when matched to the specifications of a requirement. These weightings are used to calculate a score for each resource identified by a resource search and for every candidate on your requirements. This score helps you identify the stronger candidates based on the weightings. A high score indicates a better match.
The formula for calculating the scoring percentage is as follows:
[(Competence Match)*(Competence Match Weighting) + (Availability Match)*(Availability Match Weighting) + (Job Level Match)*(Job Level Match Weighting)]
divided by:
[Competence Match Weighting + Availability Match Weighting + Job Level Match Weighting]
You define these weighting values at the Requirement level. Default values appear for your requirement if they have been defined for the project or project template. You can change these values at any of these levels. You can also temporarily change these values when performing a resource search.
You can define the candidate score weightings and set up your preferences for the automated candidate nomination process using the Candidate Score and Search Settings option.
This search process identifies resources that meet the specified criteria for the requirement, including the candidate score, and nominates those resources as candidates on the requirement. This search is an automated process that can be implemented to run on a regular frequency, such as, daily or weekly.
All of the requirements for a project are included in the search process if the Enabled Automated Candidate Nomination Requirements check box is selected on the Staffing Information page of the project. However, you can select or de-select this check box for individual requirements.
All candidates nominated by this process have a status of System Nominated. If you find a candidate you want to keep, from the Candidate List page, change the System Nominated status of the candidate to any user-defined status to indicate that the candidate is under review. If you leave the status as System Nominated, then the candidate is re-evaluated the next time the process is run, potentially risking the loss of that candidate to another assignment.
Resources are matched against the search criteria defined in the Automated Search and Nomination fields of the requirement. These fields are:
Minimum availability
Organization hierarchy
Starting organization
Country
Minimum candidate score
Minimum and maximum job levels
Requirement dates matched to availability dates
Competencies
All matching resources are nominated as candidates for the requirement and assigned a candidate status of System Nominated. If the user does not change this status, the candidate is re-evaluated to determine if a match still exists for the requirement the next time the automated search process is run. The user can prevent a candidate from being reconsidered by the automated search process by changing the candidate status to any other candidate status. For more information on candidate statuses, see Implementing Oracle Project Resource Management Oracle Projects Implementation Guide.
If you do not enable the automated search process for a project or requirement, or if a requirement is excluded from the automated search, the search process still uses the Automated Search and Nomination values to identify qualified requirements for resources. Resources can nominate themselves as candidates from their Candidacy Lists for these requirements.
Related Topics
PRC: Automated Candidate Search Process, Oracle Projects Fundamentals