Oracle HCM Cloud Absence Release 24B

Mar 2, 2024Nov 15, 2024 ~ K8 Mead ~ Leave a comment

Oracle have started to release what’s coming in release 24B. Whilst they are likely to drip feed the features over March, I wanted to highlight a few key new features that have already been announced.

Absence Cases are critical to the new Enhanced UK Statutory Absence Solution that is mandatory for UK customers in release 24C. Having the Absence Cases page rewritten in the Redwood toolset ensures that users have a consistent experience with absences.

Absence Plan Balances Viewable in Redwood Time Cards

Click here to read more about Version 1’s Oracle capabilities.

A great feature for organisations using Absences and Time Cards in Redwood, is the ability to view absence plan balances directly in the time card. This saves employees having to check their balances in the absence area and then go back to their time cards. This will only add value for those organisations that allow employees to enter absences directly in the time card, rather than in absences and interfacing across to time cards.

One big frustration for customers in the difficulty in reporting on open ended absences. Open ended absences are a fact of life for most organisations are employees will go on leave with no known return to work date. In 24B, the open ended flag and the estimated end date attribute have been added to the absences OTBI subject area. This will make the monitoring of open ended absences much easier.

As I said earlier, Oracle are likely to release more features in Absence later in the month, so I will do an updated blog later. Also keep an eye out for blogs on other modules within HCM Cloud for Release 24B. Please check out my post on the key features so far in Core HR:

Oracle HCM Cloud Core HR 24C – K8 Mead

About the author:

Kate Mead is an Oracle-certified HCM Consultant and Solution Architect at Version 1 with 14 years of experience in Oracle HR and Payroll systems, including 7 years with Oracle HCM Cloud. She has worked across implementation projects and managed services, has a sound knowledge of UK Payroll legislation and — before becoming a consultant — was an HR Manager.

If you have any questions or would like more information on how Version 1 can help you realise the full potential of your Oracle Cloud instances, please contact her at kate.mead@version1.com

Please note all screenshots are the property of Oracle and are used according to their Copyright Guidelines

Oracle HCM Cloud Core HR 24B

Mar 2, 2024Nov 15, 2024 ~ K8 Mead ~ 2 Comments

It’s my favourite time of the quarter when Oracle release the details of what’s coming in the next release! Oracle will continue to reveal details of 24B over March, but what has been announced in Core HR so far, is already looking great.

Unsurprisingly, this is another Redwood-heavy release and I’m delighted with what has already been announced. As part of the drive to move Employee and Manager Self Service to Redwood, there is a new Team Activity Centre. This gives Line Managers a high-level overview of the important metrics relating to their team, including staff turnover and progression with goals and skills.

If your organisation is using Journeys, Line Managers can see details of outstanding tasks waiting to be completed. Additionally, key information that the Line Manager needs to view for their team, can be seen directly in the new Activity Centre, for example, compensation details, talent ratings and the status of recruitment requisitions.

Pending Workers have joined Redwood now! This is another key page that HR teams use regularly which has been completely rewritten within the VBS toolset. It’s now a guided process and Guided Journeys can be incorporated into the process too.

Journeys are another key theme of recent Core HR releases and this is no different. The worlds of Redwood and Journeys are meeting perfectly with a number of key new features in 24B.

Configuration has now moved to Redwood, with the new Journeys Configuration page. The new Journey Configurations page is the equivalent of the existing Configurations tab where Journeys were previously set up. The new page is designed to be easier to use, with fewer button clicks and better performance.

Additionally, there is a new Journeys Console and Journeys Integrations application written in VBS to replace the existing View Console and Integrations tabs on the Checklist Templates page. These include the same optimisations that the Journeys Configuration page has.

One more exciting new feature is the Autoprovisioning of Areas of Responsibility based on templates. It is now possible to mass assign, but also automatically end date, AOR based on user-defined template criteria. The new Assign by Criteria section allows organisations to add criteria and values that identify the user who should receive the responsibility with the Basic Info and Scope defined in the prior sections of the page.

As I said earlier, Oracle is likely to release more features in Core HR later in the month, so I will do an updated blog later in the month. Also, keep an eye out for blogs on other modules within HCM Cloud for Release 24B.

Learn more about how Version 1 can help you maximise your Oracle Cloud instances here.

About the author:

If you have any questions or would like more information on how Version 1 can help you realise the full potential of your Oracle Cloud instances, please contact her at kate.mead@version1.com

Please note all screenshots are the property of Oracle and are used according to their Copyright Guidelines

Oracle Cloud Console — what is it?

Feb 20, 2024Nov 15, 2024 ~ K8 Mead ~ Leave a comment

Have you heard about the all new Oracle Cloud Console? It’s a very exciting development for all Oracle Cloud Customers, including ERP Cloud, EPM Cloud, HCM Cloud and OCI!

So what is Oracle Cloud Console?

It’s the new Service Management Platform from Oracle to improve the experience for your administrators. It incorporates Environment Management; Communications; Subscriptions and Costs; and Identity, Security and Compliance.

The roadmap for future features will also add in monitoring functionality, including environment availability, diagnostics, alerts and log files.

Why should I be excited? The Environment Management part of the Console is a massive step forward! We all have experienced the lead times on requesting an environment refresh (P2T copy). Sometimes we need a P2T quickly if we need to test something using Production data, but it can be up to a three week lead time. This is all changing!

So what does this mean for us? P2Ts are no longer copied directly from Production. Each evening Oracle takes a back up from your Production pod, so rather than taking a snapshot at the start of the P2T process, Oracle will now use this nightly backed up data. This means that there is no impact on your Production pod when the snapshot is taken, but more importantly, the lead time has gone! Once you’ve moved to Oracle Cloud Console, you can request your P2Ts yourself, without the need to raise an SR, but also it can start immediately!

There are a few points to be mindful of. If you’re going to select a P2T immediately, is any inflight configuration or development in the non prod pod documented / backed up? If not, please back up before starting. Secondly, you cannot request a refresh 4 days before or after a scheduled patch (quarterly releases, CWBs etc).

So how do I get it? Oracle is rolling this out to all Cloud customers between Quarter 3 2023 — Quarter 3 2024, so everyone will have this in the next 6 months. Oracle will notify you 30 days prior to the transition to Cloud Console. Firstly it will be switched on for your non Production Cadence pods and then 2 weeks later for your Production Cadence pods.

So in summary, this is a very exciting development and we’ll all get to benefit from it soon, and I for one, cannot wait!

About the author:

If you have any questions or would like more information on how Version 1 can help you realise the full potential of your Oracle Cloud instances, please contact her at kate.mead@version1.com

Please note all screenshots are the property of Oracle and are used according to their Copyright Guidelines

Oracle HCM Cloud Redwood Key Dates

Jan 22, 2024Nov 15, 2024 ~ K8 Mead ~ Leave a comment

Have you read my previous blog on Redwood in HCM Cloud? If not, check it out here! Now you know what Redwood UI is, it’s time to review the timeline for implementing Redwood for Oracle HCM Cloud.

As of January 2024, these are the key dates, that organisations who use Oracle HCM Cloud should know, for Redwood implementation:

Release 24A

Majority of key HR and Payroll processes available in Redwood UI

Newly provisioned pods will be delivered with Redwood-enabled

Release 24B

Redwood for Learn Self Service becomes mandatory

Release 24D

Checklists and Onboarding replaced with Journeys

Redwood for Timecards becomes mandatory

Release 25A

New Go-lives must be Redwood

Release 25B

All Employee Self Service (ESS) / Manager Self Service (MSS) must be Redwood

Image by StartupStockPhotos from Pixabay

Now is the time to start planning for your move to Redwood UI. Version 1 can help you plan and implement Redwood UI for all your Oracle Cloud modules — EPM, ERP and HCM. For more details, please get in touch!

About the author:

If you have any questions or would like more information on how Version 1 can help you realise the full potential of your Oracle HCM Cloud instances, please contact her at kate.mead@version1.com

Are You Getting the Most from Oracle Guided Learning (OGL)?

Jan 20, 2024Nov 15, 2024 ~ K8 Mead ~ Leave a comment

Firstly, what is Oracle Guided Learning? OGL is part of Oracle’s Digital Adoption Platforms (DAP). It’s a highly configurable tool which allows organisations to use in-application guides within their Cloud instances to guide users to follow processes in their preferred way. The guiding includes in-app messages, process guides, step guides, smart tips and beacons. It can be utilised to help an organisation handle change with technology, processes or to help make decisions.

Organisations have the flexibility to use the pre-defined Oracle guides or develop their own content. As with all seeded content from Oracle, it is also possible to copy the Oracle guides and modify them to meet the organisation’s needs for a hybrid approach to content development.

In-app feature messages can be customised or displayed based on the user’s roles, the time of day or the specific content. Additionally, it is possible to measure users’ interaction with the messages, to monitor the effectiveness of the communication.

The use of prompts can help users navigate through the process. Prompts can be added to any element within a page. Within the content, it is possible to view any key information, including highlighting any AI content.

OGL is provided as part of the licence for organisations using Oracle HCM, ERP or EPM Cloud. As part of the licence, an organisation is allowed to have 15 individual OGL guides. If more than 15 are required, Oracle Guided Learning Premium will be required.

About the author:

If you have any questions or would like more information on how Version 1 can help you realise the full potential of your Oracle HCM Cloud instances, please contact her at kate.mead@version1.com

Please note all screenshots are the property of Oracle and are used according to their Copyright Guidelines

Oracle HCM Cloud Release 24A — Key New Features in Global HR

Jan 12, 2024Nov 15, 2024 ~ K8 Mead ~ Leave a comment

The first iteration of the What’s New 24A Oracle HCM Cloud has been released and it looks like it’s going to be a big one! There are a lot of changes, particularly around Journeys and Redwood.

Here are a few of my highlights:

1. Redwood Global HR Enhancements

24A is the first HCM Cloud Release that brings the Redwood User Interface to the masses. All the key processes that your HR users follow are now available in the new UI. For more details, please check out my article on Redwood in 24A.

2. Journeys

24A has a substantial number of new Journey-related features. These include an improved search functionality; allowing the use of Contextual Journeys in Redwood pages and the simplification of editing tasks. All of these new features are to help streamline processes for users.

3. Work Pattern Templates and Assignment Rules

This is a helpful new feature that allows you to create rules to automatically assign working pattern templates to employees based on rules. This will minimise mistakes with incorrect working patterns being assigned to employees. The automation will speed up the hiring process and simplify making changes to employee data.

4. Approvals Work Area

The new Approvals Work Area is a new application that works across the whole of HCM Cloud. This new page has a user-friendly interface and intuitive search functionality which allows users to find tasks more easily than within the current BPM Worklist. Approvals and rejections of transactions can be made in the Work Area as well as viewing the status of historical transactions.

5. Other Functionality of Note

Two areas of functionality are being made redundant in 2024. The first is the Share Personal Info page which will be made redundant in release 24B and there is no replacement for this functionality. Secondly, Checklists and Onboarding Tasks will be made redundant in release 24D. Oracle recommends moving to Redwood Journeys as soon as possible.

About the author:

If you have any questions or would like more information on how Version 1 can help you realise the full potential of your Oracle HCM Cloud instances, please contact her at kate.mead@version1.com

Please note all screenshots are the property of Oracle and are used according to their Copyright Guidelines

Oracle HCM Cloud 24A — The Redwood Release!

Jan 10, 2024Nov 15, 2024 ~ K8 Mead ~ 1 Comment

As Oracle promised, 24A is the release that brings Redwood to the masses! There are so many Redwood new features in this release, now is the time to start your move away from Responsive UI to the new and improved Redwood-enabled Core HR applications.

So what is Redwood and why should I be excited about this?

Redwood is the new Oracle User Interface (UI) for all Oracle products. The long-term plan is for all applications within the Oracle Cloud EPM, ERP and HCM modules to have the same look and feel. The Redwood UI is designed to be mobile and tablet-friendly. When personalising pages, you can view how the page will look on named mobile device and tablet models, to see how the page will appear based on the dimensions of that particular device. All of this is to ensure that accessibility is central to the application.

So back to 24A. What features should I be looking out for?

There are numerous process flows now incorporated into the Redwood experience. These include Change Assignment, Promote, Change Position, Employment and Transfer. These are the processes that Oracle users have been waiting for.

Before 24A, the main applications that were within the Redwood UI were in the configuration areas, such as Workforce Structures. Now your HR users can carry out their day-to-day processes, such as carrying out promotions; changing line managers; managing contracts; and using the latest and greatest Oracle technology in a user-friendly and accessible interface.

For more details on release 24A, please see the Oracle 24A What’s New page here.

About the author:

If you have any questions or would like more information on how Version 1 can help you realise the full potential of your Oracle HCM Cloud instances, please contact her at kate.mead@version1.com

Please note all screenshots are the property of Oracle and are used according to their Copyright Guidelines