BNSF Railway Automates Onboarding and

Streamlines Processes with SAP E-Recruiting

and ERP Workflow

Hervey Ely, BNSF Railway
BNSF Railway Company An Overview
32,000 route miles in 28 states and two provinces
Approximately 5,800 locomotives and 220,000 freight cars
Employs approximately 40,000 people
Operates an average of 1,400 freight trains per day
Moves one fourth of the nations rail freight
Serves all major ports on the West Coast and Gulf of Mexico
If stacked end-to-end, all the intermodal loads shipped with
BNSF in one year would reach from Los Angeles to Shanghai
six times
Has one of the largest computer systems in the world to
manage our network operations 24 hours a day

BNSF Railway System Map
Scope of the BNSF SAP Implementation Human
Resources
Employee Self-Service
Manager Self-Service
Personnel Administration and Organizational
Management
Including structural authorizations
Hire to Retire
Payroll
Benefits
Cross-Application Time Sheets
Talent Management
eRecruiting
Learning Management

2012 BNSF Recruiting Volume
2,200+ requisitions created
3,262 postings created
400,000+ applications created
1100+ hiring events
3139 new hires
23% military hires

What Well Cover
Shortfalls of the standard SAP data transfer
How we captured required data to facilitate the hire
action
How we defaulted required data to facilitate the hire
action
Creating positions on demand to facilitate the hire
action
Meaningful notifications
Wrap-up
Shortfalls of the Standard SAP Data Transfer
Standard SAP (ECC) relies on data entry
Standard SAP E-Recruiting data capture is limited
Standard integration between SAP E-Recruiting and SAP
ECC is minimal

What Well Cover
Shortfalls of the standard SAP data transfer
How we captured required data to facilitate the hire
action
How we defaulted required data to facilitate the hire
action
Creating positions on demand to facilitate the hire
action
Meaningful notifications
Wrap-up

How We Captured Required Data to Facilitate the
Hire Action
Data elements required for various candidate activities
such as:
Entry into SAP as a new employee
All data required to process payroll
Background Investigation (BGI)
Pre-employment Physical Assessments

How We Captured Required Data to Facilitate the
Hire Action (cont.)
Capture at the requisition level
Data specific to the requisition/job
What can we capture at a job level that is
relevant for all hires in that requisition
Capture at the candidate level
Data specific to the candidate

Data Captured Requisition Level
Requisition Level Data
Data conveyed to medical vendors
Exam Category
FRA Required
DOT Required

Requisition Level Data (cont.)
Data transferred to SAP ECC for Benefits/Payroll
Former Road Code Former Railroad benefit plan
Benefit plans are determined by location/job
Salary information
Base salary
Up to three signing bonus entries

Data Captured at the Candidate Level to Facilitate
the Hire Action
Captured through configuration
Captured through customization
Captured through workflow
Data Captured at the Candidate Level Through
Configuration
SAP E-Recruiting allows customers to indicate if fields
are Required, Optional, or Hidden from view
BNSF requires applicants to provide all information
required to finalize a hire in SAP E-Recruiting (standard
SAP delivered fields):
First Name
Middle Name
Complete Address
Data Captured at the Candidate Level Through
Customization
Questionnaire data moved to a custom table
EEO/Veteran Status questionnaire data (optional
entry)
Data staged for possible hire action
Additional fields such as signing bonus
Custom Web Dynpro page
Utilized to capture sensitive data for candidates that
are given a contingent offer of employment
Data Captured at the Candidate Level Through Workflow

BNSF Recruiter making an offer in SAP E-Recruiting kicks
off workflow
Offer letter sent to the candidate with details
Unique URL embedded in the offer letter
URL is candidate specific
Custom Web Dynpro page
Candidate must click on the URL and provide:
Social Security Number
Drivers License Number
Date of Graduation
Offer to Candidate
BNSF-specific configuration Contingent Offer Process
activity
Generates correspondence with a URL unique to the
candidate

Offer Activity Completed
Workflow Sends Email to Candidate
Correspondence to Candidate
Unique URL for each candidate
Requires SAP E-Recruiting login credentials

Custom Web Dynpro Screen
Date of Birth and SSN/SIN required for hire action in
SAP captured

Workflow
Once the candidate provides the additional information
and saves, the following activities are generated:
Emails to medical vendors
Data staging for background vendor
Data staging for data transfer (hire) into SAP ECC

What Well Cover
Shortfalls of the standard SAP data transfer
How we captured required data to facilitate the hire
action
How we defaulted required data to facilitate the hire
action
Creating positions on demand to facilitate the hire
action
Meaningful notifications
Wrap-up

Defaulting of Values
Custom hire action orders infotype creation to allow
systematic determination of default values












Infotype Description Data Source
0000 Action Standard
0006 Address Standard ERC data configured as required entry
0210 Withholding Info W4/W5 US Default
0001 Organizational Assignment
Default - position data determines organization
assignment
0002 Personal Data ERC standard ERC fields, custom ERC fields
0007 Planned Working Time Default
0008 Basic Pay
Union - default, exempt ERC Custom Data (Base +
Signing Bonus)
0009 Bank Details Default check as payment type
0041 Date Specifications Default - determined by system
0077 Additional Personal Data ERC - Custom questionnaire data if present
0105 Communication Default - assigned by system
0015 Additional Payments ERC - custom signing bonus fields
9100 Benefits Status Data ERC - Custom Former Road Code Field
0171 General Benefits
Default - 0006, 0001, 91000 used to determine
values
0207 Residence Tax Area Default - 0006 used to determine value
0208 Work Tax Area Default 0001 used to determine value
0209 Unemployment State Default 0006 used to determine value
What Well Cover
Shortfalls of standard SAP data transfer
How we captured required data to facilitate the hire
action
How we defaulted required data to facilitate the hire
action
Creating positions on demand to facilitate the hire
action
Meaningful notifications
Wrap-up

Creating Positions on Demand to Facilitate the Hire
Action
BNSF maintains 1:1 position to holder ratio
SAP allows copy of position with all attributes
Normal OM function Build org units, positions,
determine headcount
Manual data creation PP01, PPOME, etc.
BNSF did not have headcount to manually create
thousands of positions
Systematic Creation of Positions
BNSF had approximately 3,000 external hires in 2012
95% of these hires were union/scheduled
employees
All required positions were created systematically
Control on position creation? Who needs controls.
Job checks position attributes
Employee Group (IT1013)
System will only copy employee groups
specified
Relationships for current Holder (A0008 in
IT1001)
If holder exists position and all attributes are
copied


Data Transfer Action
Recruiter creates activity for candidate
Exempt hires are done on a 1:1 ratio
Scheduled/Union hires may be done with any number of
candidates. If there are 30 scheduled hires starting on the
same date and they are in the same requisition, the activity
can be created for all hires at the same time.
Job is scheduled to transfer candidates at set intervals throughout
the day
Job may be run manually using a custom T-Code if the user has
the appropriate authorizations
Job checks position association for each hire in the file and
creates positions as needed
Data Transfer Recruiter Activity
Standard SAP activity
Recruiter selects candidate(s) to hire
Recruiter indicates hire date
Recruiter indicates position for hire
Recruiter saves the activity
Scheduled job runs
Candidates hired
Recruiters receive notification
Data Transfer Action
Data Transfer Infotype Order
Infotype Description Data Source
0000 Action Default
0006 Address Standard ERC data
0210 Withholding Info W4/W5 US Default
0001 Organizational Assignment Default - Position data
0002 Personal Data ERC - Custom, Standard
0007 Planned Working Time Default
0008 Basic Pay Union - Default, Exempt - ERC
0009 Bank Details Default - Check
0041 Date Specifications Determined by System
0077 Additional Personal Data ERC - Custom Questionnaire data
0105 Communication Determined by System
0015 Additional Payments ERC - Custom Signing Bonus Fields
9100 Benefits Status Data ERC - Custom Former Road Code Field
0171 General Benefits Determined by System based on above infotypes
0207 Residence Tax Area Default - Address
0208 Work Tax Area Default - Position Location
0209 Unemployment State Default - Address
What Well Cover
Shortfalls of the standard SAP data transfer
How we captured required data to facilitate the hire
action
How we defaulted required data to facilitate the hire
action
Creating positions on demand to facilitate the hire
action
Meaningful notifications
Wrap-up
Workflow Notification Sent
Custom table
Entries drive distribution of information to a static list of
recipients
List may be modified by end users directly
User/Recruiter that hired the candidate is also notified




Distribution Shown in SOST
Email address in the table, as
well as the recruiter executing
the data transfer are sent
correspondence from SAP.
Spreadsheet Attached
Initially sent as a plain text email
Users requested a better way to search/sort data
Number of hires in one run has been as high as 200

Spreadsheet Data
Data specific to BNSF business users request







Message 1 and Message 2 are used to convey error
messages as needed

TYPE
Employee
Number
Position
Number Last Name First Name
New
Position
Title
Requisition
Location
Requisition
Number Hire Date
Applicant
Number Recruiter Name Message 1 Message 2
HIRE 145755 28051 Bond James
Switchman
(UTU) Fort Worth 2697526 12/4/2012 2697528 hervey.ely@bnsf.com
Employee hired
successfully
HIRE 145771 28052 Candidate Additional
Switchman
(UTU) Fort Worth 2697526 12/4/2012 2697829 hervey.ely@bnsf.com
Employee hired
successfully
ERROR 0 Gibbs Jethro 2987121 First.last@bnsf.com
Position already
occupied by
PERNR 00146977
What Well Cover
Shortfalls of the standard SAP data transfer
How we captured required data to facilitate the hire
action
How we defaulted required data to facilitate the hire
action
Creating positions on demand to facilitate the hire
action
Meaningful notifications
Wrap-up
7 Key Points to Take Home
Standard SAP relies on data entry but does not say
who has to enter the data
Keying the same data multiple times in multiple
systems is bound to cause issues
Accuracy is key
Default values are acceptable SAP ESS exists to allow
employees to update their own data
Notifications should go to a target audience and have
specific meaningful information
Why copy positions manually when the system can do it
faster?
Processing hires in bulk is more efficient
Where to Find More Information
E-Recruiting with SAP ERP HCM
SAP Press publication
Mastering SAP ERP HCM Organizational Management
SAP Press publication
SAP ERP HCM: Technical Principles and Programming
SAP Press publication

How to contact me:
Hervey Ely
Hervey.Ely@BNSF.com
THANK YOU FOR PARTICIPATING

Please provide feedback on this session by
completing a short survey via the event mobile
application.

SESSION CODE: 1704

For ongoing education on this area of focus,
visit www.ASUG.com