I
have recently received and read a lot of questions around getting
trained in SuccessFactors and there has been some confusion with
consultants who are expecting to be able to take traditional classroom
training to make the transition to SuccessFactors.
SuccessFactors training differs from traditional SAP training and
certification and has many activities that are extremely different for
SAP Consultants who have undertaken SAP HCM training. In this FAQ I will
answer a number of questions that I commonly get from aspiring
SuccessFactors consultants. In addition, I would recommend watching Becoming an HCM SaaS Consultant part 1 and part 2 for some additional insights [added in January 2015].
Only employees of official SuccessFactors partners are eligible for training. This is because there are a number of systems required to undertake SuccessFactors training and access to these are part of the Partner agreement between SuccessFactors and the partner. These systems include the SuccessFactors LMS, SAP Jam, SuccessFactors Partner Portal, and a SuccessFactors demo system.
SuccessFactors offers what they call a “Mastery” course for each of their solutions, such as Employee Central or Performance & Goals. Before you can take a Mastery course, you have to complete the Introduction to Mastery course. Since December 12th, 2013 it is no longer a prerequisite to complete the Introduction to Mastery course to gain Provisioning access. However, taking a Mastery course is not optional for implementing a specific module.
SuccessFactors offers the following courses:
- Introduction to Mastery
- Employee Central Mastery
- Compensation Mastery
- Learning Management System Mastery
- Performance and Goals: Core Topics Mastery
- Performance and Goals: Additional Topics Mastery
- Recruiting Management Mastery
- Recruiting Marketing Mastery
- Succession Mastery
- Variable Pay Mastery
- Workforce Analytics and Planning Mastery
- SAP Jam Mastery
Training is delivered virtually and is focused around self-learning. There is also a strong emphasis on collaborative learning via SAP Jam and you will be expected to record one to three demonstration videos in the SAP Jam group. SuccessFactors holds regular check-in meetings via WebEx. For Introduction to Mastery these are every day, but for a Mastery course they are often two or three times weekly. In the Mastery course, there is an exercise that must be completed and passed at the end of the first week in order to progress to the second week which then often involves completing a final exercise in which you are provided a sample customer workbook and have to set up the system based on these requirements.
As mentioned above, to undertake a Mastery course you must complete the Introduction to Mastery course. The prerequisites for taking any training course are access to:
- SuccessFactors Learning (LMS)
- SuccessFactors Partner Portal
- SAP Jam
There is no particular experience required, but it does help to be familiar with the module you are taking and to have knowledge of XML. Business process experience is not required for the training, but it helps to understand the various functions of the application that you are training on.
At present only SuccessFactors offer trainings although some of the trainers are employed by SuccessFactors Partners. Trainings offered by any other providers are not official and will not mean that you will be given Provisioning access or have a customer instance linked to your Provisioning account so you will be unable to do many traditional consulting tasks/responsibilities. If a Partner has completed the “Train the Trainer” program then they can provide SuccessFactors training in-house and it will hold the same weight as the training offered by SuccessFactors.
Although this practice does occur with SAP HCM, without taking the training it is not possible to get Provisioning access or to have the customer instance mapped to your Provisioning account. In addition, there are many nuances to each solution that would not be known without taking official training.
The length and content of each SuccessFactors course can vary. Each course assumes 8 hours of study per day and it is strongly advised to schedule no other work during the course time as this impedes the ability to learn the content and pass the course. The length of each course is listed below.
- Introduction to Mastery
- Recruiting Marketing Mastery
- Performance & Goals: Additional Topics Mastery
- Workforce Analytics and Planning Mastery
- Compensation Mastery
- Learning Management System Mastery
- Performance and Goals: Core Topics Mastery
- Succession Mastery
- Variable Pay Mastery
- Recruiting Management Mastery
- Employee Central Mastery
- SAP Jam Mastery
As mentioned above, there are a number of different systems required to take training and it can be difficult to provide access to non-partners. I am hopeful that this will change over time once the sheer demand for training subsides but in the interim think it is smart to limit it to ensure that unauthorized training centers don’t open up as this has historically been a problem in the SAP ecosystem. At present, there is a huge demand for training from existing partners and courses fill up quickly.
The cost of courses vary, especially if your organization buys courses in bulk but in general they are between $1,500 and $4,500 depending on the course. Your company should contact their SuccessFactors Alliances manager to find out more. The current list prices can be found in the SuccessFactors Partner Portal.
In the past, a consultant had to complete the Introduction to Mastery, a Mastery course, and complete 2 full projects as the lead consultant to obtain official SuccessFactors certification.
It
was announced at SuccessConnect 2013 that going forward SuccessFactors
wants to better align their Certification Program with SAP, so they will
be announcing some changes to their Consultant Certification Program.
They are introducing 2 levels of certifications in different
SuccessFactors product tracks:
- SuccessFactors Certified Associate
- Requires successful completion of relevant product Mastery
- SuccessFactors Certified Professional
- Requires successful completion of relevant product Mastery Training and requires successful completion of customer project implementations in relevant products
SuccessFactors training equips you with the fundamentals of each application, but much of the real learning happens on projects so it is advised to shadow an experienced consultant on your first few projects. Like with any software, there are many nuances and caveats that you cannot learn in a training course and there is no substitute for experience.
I have heard from several recruiters that their customers have said that they “don’t need their SuccessFactors Consultants to be certified”, but as you can see from above the basic Associate Certification for a solution (e.g. Employee Central) there is no value that an uncertified consultant can offer. As a bare minimum customers should be looking for experienced and trained consultants and once the new certification program is announced then Associate Certified consultants. Customers should ask consultants to provide a copy of their course certificate as it is provided once they have successfully passed a course.
For
those that don’t know MOOC is a new mode of training where training is
delivered via online collaboration and the learner can complete the
curriculum at their own pace. The great news is that SuccessFactors
tentatively has plans to offer Introduction to Mastery for
official SuccessFactors Partners via the massive online open course
(MOOC) delivery method. Some of the advantages for Partners are the
following:
- Never sit on a waiting list again!
- Schedule training when it works best for you
- Self paced learning with instructor help when needed
- Increased access to deeper expertise
- Get credit for your expertise
It's important for me to point that Mastery courses are updated quarterly and that course modality, duration, and titles are subject to change based on business demand. Anything I have written here is subject to change at any point by SuccessFactors!
There are some key resources that you can use to help learn about SuccessFactors and SuccessFactors training:
- SuccessFactors Partner Portal – Training
- SuccessFactors - Useful Resources and Documents
- How to Transition from an SAP HCM to a SuccessFactors Consultant
- SAP HCM Cloud Applications Solutions Consultant training on SAP PartnerEdge
Much like SuccessFactors in general, SuccessFactors training and certification is not the same as what SAP HCM consultants will be used to. There are different methods and formats required and the outcomes are different. While training is only open to SuccessFactors partners, I expect this to change in future as the ecosystem stabilizes.
Thanks for sharing this niche useful informative post to our knowledge, Actually SAP is ERP software that can be used in many companies for their day to day business activities it has great scope in future.
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