This switch enables the system to respect the Employee Central "Rule to generate next employee ID" when manually adding a new hire to Onboarding

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Respect Rule-Based Generation of User ID During Manual Onboarding in SAP SuccessFactors Onboarding

Introduction

Manual onboarding is commonly used in SAP SuccessFactors when a customer does not use SAP SuccessFactors Recruiting, or when onboarding is initiated outside the standard Recruiting flow.

Typical examples include:

  • Customers using a third-party ATS
  • Direct hires initiated by HR
  • Executive or confidential hiring scenarios
  • Contractor or temporary worker onboarding
  • Local hiring processes managed outside Recruiting

In these cases, HR users often initiate onboarding manually from Add New Hire to Onboarding.

The key design question is simple:

How do we make sure the employee ID or user ID is generated consistently when onboarding is started manually?

SAP SuccessFactors now provides a specific setting for this scenario:

Respect Rule-Based Generation of User ID During Manual Onboarding

This blog explains what the setting does, why it matters, where to configure it, and the key limitations every consultant should understand before enabling it.

Business Scenario

Many customers have Employee Central as the system of record, but they do not always use SuccessFactors Recruiting.

When onboarding is initiated manually, the HR admin may need to provide the new employee ID during onboarding initiation.

This can create governance risks such as:

  • Manual entry mistakes
  • Incorrect employee number sequence
  • Different ID logic between manual onboarding and standard hiring
  • Dependency on HR users to know the next valid employee ID
  • Inconsistent employee ID generation across legal entities or countries

For customers with strict employee numbering logic, this is not just a configuration issue. It is a data governance issue.

What This Setting Does

The setting is available under:

Onboarding General Settings > Manual Onboarding Settings

Setting name:

Respect Rule-Based Generation of User ID During Manual Onboarding

When this switch is enabled, SAP SuccessFactors respects the rule-based ID generation logic during manual onboarding.

The main visible behavior is:

The “Add new employee ID” field on the Add New Hire to Onboarding page becomes read-only.

This means the HR user does not manually enter the employee ID during onboarding initiation. The system generates it based on the configured rule.

Configuration Overview

At a high level, the setup has three parts:

  1. Create or validate the employee/user ID generation rule
  2. Assign the rule in Onboarding Configuration
  3. Enable the manual onboarding setting

Step 1: Create or Validate the ID Generation Rule

Go to:

Admin Center > Configure Business Rules

Create or validate the rule used for employee/user ID generation.

The rule design depends on the customer’s numbering requirement.

Examples:

  • Global employee number sequence
  • Legal entity-based sequence
  • Country-specific sequence
  • Worker type-based prefix
  • Custom alphanumeric employee ID format

Example logic: 

IF Legal Entity = Netherlands
THEN Generate Employee ID using NL sequence

IF Legal Entity = Germany
THEN Generate Employee ID using DE sequence

ELSE Generate Employee ID using global sequence

The exact rule logic should be aligned with the customer’s Employee Central design.

Step 2: Assign the Rule in Onboarding Configuration

Go to:

Admin Center > Manage Data

Search for:

Onboarding Configuration

Open:

DEFAULT_ONB2_CONFIG

Maintain the rule in:

Rule for Onboarding User ID Generation

This is the rule that Onboarding uses when the manual onboarding setting is enabled.

Step 3: Enable Manual Onboarding Setting

Go to:

Admin Center > Onboarding General Settings

Navigate to:

Manual Onboarding Settings

Enable:

Respect Rule-Based Generation of User ID During Manual Onboarding

After enabling the switch, validate the behavior from:

Add New Hire to Onboarding

Expected behavior:

  • The Add new employee ID field should be read-only
  • The HR admin should not manually enter the employee ID
  • The system should generate the ID using the configured rule

Important Behavior to Understand

This setting controls the behavior during manual onboarding initiation.

It does not mean the rule is enforced in every downstream onboarding screen.

There is one important exception:

The rule is not enforced on the Provide Personal Data page if the new hire selects the “Provide Additional Data” option.

This is important for consultants and architects.

The employee/user ID generation design should be controlled at onboarding initiation, not during the new hire’s personal data collection step.

Why This Matters

This setting is especially useful for customers who do not use SuccessFactors Recruiting.

Without this setting, manual onboarding can depend on manual ID entry or fallback system behavior.

With this setting enabled, customers get better control over:

  • Employee ID governance
  • Sequence consistency
  • Manual onboarding reliability
  • HR admin user experience
  • Alignment between Onboarding and Employee Central

For global customers, this is valuable because employee ID logic often differs by country, legal entity, or worker type.

Key Design Consideration

Do not create competing ID generation logic.

For example, avoid having one rule assigned in Onboarding Configuration and another conflicting rule assigned in Employee Central hire/rehire configuration.

This can create confusion during the transition from Onboarding to Manage Pending Hires.

The project team should clearly define:

  • Which system step owns ID generation
  • Which business rule controls the sequence
  • Whether the ID is generated during onboarding initiation or during EC hire
  • How skipped sequence numbers are handled if the candidate does not join

A clean design is more important than a clever rule.

External ATS Consideration

For customers using an external ATS, the design must be confirmed separately.

The implementation team should decide:

  • Will the external ATS send the employee/user ID?
  • Will SAP SuccessFactors generate the ID?
  • Will manual onboarding be used only as an exception path?
  • Should external ATS hires and manually initiated hires follow the same sequence?

This decision should be made during solution design. It should not be left to testing or production support.

Recommended Test Scenarios

Before enabling this in production, test the following scenarios.

1. Manual onboarding with the switch enabled

Expected result:

The Add new employee ID field is read-only.

2. Manual onboarding for different legal entities

Expected result:

The correct employee/user ID sequence is generated based on the rule logic.

3. Manual onboarding with Provide Additional Data

Expected result:

The team confirms that the rule is not enforced on the Provide Personal Data page.

4. Manage Pending Hires

Expected result:

The hire process continues without triggering a conflicting ID generation rule.

5. Candidate cancellation or no-show

Expected result:

The business confirms how skipped sequence numbers will be handled.

6. External ATS scenario

Expected result:

The team confirms whether the ATS or SuccessFactors owns ID generation.

Recommended Implementation Approach

For customers without SAP SuccessFactors Recruiting, I recommend the following approach:

  1. Use Respect Rule-Based Generation of User ID During Manual Onboarding if the customer wants SuccessFactors to control ID generation for manual onboarding.
  2. Assign the rule centrally in DEFAULT_ONB2_CONFIG.
  3. Avoid duplicate or conflicting ID generation rules in downstream EC hire/rehire configuration.
  4. Document the ID ownership clearly in the solution design.
  5. Test manual onboarding, Provide Additional Data, Manage Pending Hires, and external ATS scenarios before production rollout.

Common Mistake to Avoid

A common mistake is assuming that enabling this setting solves every employee ID scenario.

It does not.

This setting specifically improves rule-based ID generation during manual onboarding initiation.

It does not automatically replace the need for proper EC hire/rehire design, external ATS integration design, or sequence governance.

Conclusion

Manual onboarding is often treated as an exception process, but for many customers it is a real operational process.

This setting helps bring stronger governance to that process.

By enabling Respect Rule-Based Generation of User ID During Manual Onboarding, customers can reduce manual ID entry, improve consistency, and better align manual onboarding with Employee Central ID generation logic.

For customers not using SuccessFactors Recruiting, this is a small but important configuration setting.

It improves control.

It reduces avoidable mistakes.

It makes manual onboarding more enterprise-ready.

References

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