Fulfilling Generic Resource Requests

If you will not be using service orders to manage your resource requests, and if you also have PeopleSoft Program Management installed, use the information in this chapter. If you manage your resource requests by using service orders, use the information in the Fulfilling Service Orders chapter.

This chapter provides an overview of generic resource requests and discusses how to manage generic resource requests.

Understanding Generic Resource Requests

When a project manager is planning his or her project, it is often not known what the extent of the resource requirements will be—how many people will be needed? A generic resource is a labor resource who does not have an employee ID. These generic resources hold resource pool capacity and serve as role-oriented placeholders for resources during the project-planning phase.

You must have Program Management installed to use generic resource requests in Resource Management. In Program Management a project manager builds a team using the project resource list. If your organization does not use service orders to create resource requests (through the Manage Generic Resources functionality in Program Management), then a pool manager builds a team based on generic resources.

You create generic resource requests in Program Management. A generic resource request can be created only from the project resource list. A generic resource request comes into the Pool Manager Workbench in Resource Management with a status of Pending or Allocated (depending on your Resource Management business unit options), and you can either fulfill it with a named resource, or you can simply allocate capacity.

All generic resource requests from the project resource list are sent to the Pool Manager Workbench with a status of Pending if the Pool Manager Approval required check box for the Generic Resource Approval required option is selected on the Resource Management Options page. If that check box is not selected, then generic resource requests are sent to the Pool Manager Workbench with a status of Allocated.

The Pool Manager Workbench - Fulfill Request page is the starting point for managing generic resource requests, approval, and fulfillment. Using this page you can:

Approve or reject a generic resource request.
Perform a search using Resource Matching.
View resources who are already associated with the resource requests.
Search for specific resources to evaluate their fit scores for a generic resource request.
Drill down to details about generic resource requests, resource profiles, assignments, and schedules to enable you to finalize staffing decisions.

Managing Generic Resource Requests

Pool managers can approve and fulfill generic resource requests easily and efficiently using the Pool Manager Workbench component (RS_MY_GNRC_RQST).

Upon entering the Pool Manager workbench, the Pool:<pool name> group box displays a summary-level, collapsed row for each open generic resource request that is assigned to the pool manager. For each request, you can:

Approve or reject a request.
View visual indicators that depict how close the current date is to the requested start date for requests.
View generic resource request fulfillment progress.
View summary information about the generic resource request.

This section discusses how to:

Approve and fulfill generic resource requests.
View generic resource requests.
Filter and expand generic resource request lists.
Identify and add resources to fulfill generic resource requests.
Confirm actions.

Pages Used to Fulfill Generic Resource Requests

Page Name	Object Name	Navigation	Usage
Generic Resource Request	RS_GRR_APPRVL	Click a link in the IDs column on the Pool Manager Workbench - Fulfill Request page. Click a Details link in the Link column on the Pool Manager Workbench - Worklist page for a resource with an Action of Generic Resource For Approval.	Fulfill generic resource requests.
Pool Manager Workbench - Fulfill Request	RS_GRR_WKBNCH	Resource Management, Pool Manager Workbench	Find resources to fulfill generic resource requests.
Select Resource - Resource Search	RS_RESRC_SRCHM_SEC	Click the Add Resource button in a row in the Requests scroll area on the Pool Manager Workbench - Fulfill Request page.	Directly associate resources with resource requests on the Pool Manager Workbench - Fulfill Requests page. Note. You can also directly associate a named resource with the resource request on the Generic Resource Request page by clicking the Search icon beneath the Assignment Information group box.
Staffing Changes Confirmation	RS_GRR_WB_CONF_MSG	Save an action on the Pool Manager Workbench - Fulfill Request page.	View actions before committing changes. Add comments for assignment activity.
Update Confirmation	RS_GRRWB_CONF_MSG	Click OK on the Requests Changes Confirmation page.	Confirm actions.

Approving and Fulfilling Generic Resource Requests

Access the Generic Resource Request page.

Assignment Schedule

Schedule	Displays the schedule sequence.
Status	If the generic resource request is newly created and pool manager approval workflow is activated for generic resource requests, the status will be Pending Approval. If the generic resource request has been approved (but no name assigned yet), the status will be Allocated.
Project Role	Displays the project role associated with resource’s schedule.
Start Date and End Date	Displays the start and end dates for the resource’s schedule.

Current Approval Status

Routing	Displays the approval type: Originator or Approver.
Name	Displays the name of the originator or approver.
Request Status	Indicates completed steps in the generic resource request approval process.
Date	Displays the date on which the approval status was assigned.

Assignment Information

Name

Select a named resource from the requesting resource pool. Once the assignment is created, this field is display only.

After you select a named resource, click the Approve button to change the Request Status in the Current Approval Status group box to Fulfilled.If you enter a resource in this field and click Approve the generic resource request is fulfilled.

Note. You can approve a generic resource request without providing a named resource for it.

Comments

Enter information regarding the generic resource request such as why you reject the request. The page will display the comments when the project manager reviews his/her requests. Pool manager must enter comments when he/she rejects a request.

Viewing Generic Resource Requests

Access the Pool Manager Workbench - Fulfill Request page.

Hello , <User Name>

Displays the name that is associated with the user ID.

You currently have <number> unworked items in your worklist!

Click to access the Worklist page and view or process items that are routed from PeopleSoft workflow.

Note. The number of unworked items on the Worklist page does not necessarily correspond to the number of unfulfilled generic resource requests on the Pool Manager Workbench - Fulfill Requests page.

See Processing Worklist Items.

Pool:<Pool Name>

One or more group boxes display all the resource pools owned by the current pool manager. There will be a separate group box for each active resource pool of which the user is the manager. Each group box will contain all the generic resource requests for that pool that have not been fulfilled.

Each resource request row has a visual indicator that depicts how close the current date is to the requested start date for the request. This helps you determine which requests need your attention first.

The visual indicator values are the same as the ones described within the Staffing Workbench - Fulfill Orders page.

Resource Request Summary Rows

Rows in the Pool:<Pool Name> grid are collapsed when you enter the page. These rows provide resource request summary information. When you expand resource request summary rows, they display basic information about resources who are associated with the resource request and the resource's factor fit scores for the request.

A resource may appear in the expanded row if:

You are considering the resource for the resource request.
You add this resource to the resource request row.

A more detailed discussion of the information that appears for each resource row is discussed in the upcoming Evaluating Candidates section of this chapter.

See Evaluating Candidates.

Request Status	Displays generic resource request fulfillment progress. Pending Approval: The request has not been approved yet. Allocated: The request is approved and is waiting for fulfillment with a named resource.
IDs	Displays a concatenation of the business unit ID, project ID, and team member ID. Click a link in this column to access the Generic Resource Request detail page.
Project Role	Displays the project role.
Personnel Status	Displays the personnel status.
Region	Displays the region.
Request Action	Displays the generic resource request action for the pool manager. Pending approval requests will have the following options: Approve:Select to approve the current generic resource request. This means that the pool manager is willing to allocate the requested resource capacity of a resource in his or her resource pool. Reject: Select to reject the current generic request. This means that the pool manager is not willing to allocate any resource capacity from his or her pool for the request. Note. If the generic resource request is already Allocated, no data will display under this heading.
Dates	Displays the start and end dates of the request. If multiple date ranges are indicated on the request, this column displays the earliest start and latest end dates of those indicated date ranges.

Filtering and Expanding the Generic Resource Request List

You can view subsets of the unfulfilled generic resource requests that are assigned to you. Four filters control the generic resource requests that display in the Pool:<pool name> group box. Only requests that meet the particular filter criteria display in the group box.

View All Requests	Click this link to view all open generic resource requests that are associated with a resource pool that is assigned to you and has a value of Pending Approvalor Approved.
View Pending Approval Requests	Click this link to view a subset of generic resource requests that are pending approval.
View Allocated Requests	Click this link to view a subset of resource requests that are allocated. Allocated requests are requests for which the pool manager is willing to allocate resource capacity from his or her pool to the requestor, but for which the pool manager does not yet have a specific resource chosen to assign.
View Selected Requests	Click this link after selecting the check box beside the generic resource requests that you want to appear in the Pool:<pool name> group box. To remove another resource request from this filter, clear the request check box and click View Selected Requests again.
	Click Select All to select all resource requests that appear in the work space.
	Click Deselect All to deselect all resource requests.
	Click Expand All to expand all resource request summary rows.
	Click Collapse All to collapse all resource request summary rows.

Identifying and Adding Resources to Fulfill Generic Resource Requests

There are two ways to find resources to fulfill generic resource requests on the Pool Manager Workbench:

Use the resource search to bring those resources that match with the qualification profile associated with the role specified in the request.
Add a resource that belongs to the requested resource pool to a generic resource request row.

These toolbar icons invoke a search for resources and the visual indicators appear when a resource matches the search criteria:

Click the Search icon to retrieve resources for the selected rows based on search options and each resource's factor fit scores for this request. Specify search options at search time. Resource Matching calculates factor fit scores for each combination of resource and generic resource request.

The system returns resources who meet this criteria for a generic resource request to the work space with the resource request row expanded and a visual indicator that the resource is a result of a Resource Matching search.

A message appears for each selected row stating the number of resources that the system found in the search results for the request.

Note. The qualifications that are used in the search come from the qualification profile that is associated with the project role specified on the Generic Resource Request page. Therefore, it is important to create a qualification profile for each project role created in the system.

Click Supply Category Analytic Report to view the supply category availability analytic.

See Conducting Consolidated Scenario Analysis.

Add Resource

Click this button to add a resource to the list of candidates. This button appears for each expanded resource request row. Use this option to directly associate a resource to the generic resource request. Select the resource and return to the workbench to select the appropriate action. The resource selected must belong to the requesting resources pool.

Search for Resources Based on Factor Fit Scores

Expand the Search Settings group box.

Note. The search is based on the resource pool that is specified on the generic resource request.

To populate the workbench with resources based on the resource's factor fit scores for this request:

If you permit non-employees to be resources, select to include all personnel statuses, or just employees or non-employees, in your search.
Assign the relative priorities to the Availability, Preferences, and Qualifications factor family fit scores for this search session, and identify the Max Candidates (maximum candidates) to be returned.
Select the generic resource request rows for which you want to search for resources.
Click the Search icon.

If selected generic resource requests are matched with resources based on the resources' factor fit scores, the resources appear with the row expanded and a visual indicator that the corresponding resource was returned in the search results from Resource Matching.

The priorities that you specify during the search session are included in each resource's overall fit score calculations. The resources appear in descending order of their overall fit score, which measures how well a resource fits the specified qualifications, availability, and preferences; accounting for the organization's priorities; and the priorities that you specify during the search session. If you change the priorities and search again, Resource Matching recalculates overall fit scores, which potentially changes the order of resources.

When the system returns scores, you can click the score and be taken to the Job Scorecard.

Note. Because the qualification score is a combination of the resource's qualification and preferences fit scores, changing the relative priorities of qualifications and preferences may result in a change in the resource's qualification score shown on the workbench. If you only want to see the qualification score in the workbench, you can set the preferences search setting to 0 - Not at all important. The actual Qualifications, Preferences, and Availability values will appear in the Job Scorecard. Those values are not affected by the search settings.

See The Fit Score.

Add Resources to the Work Space

Click the Add Resource button on a corresponding resource request row in the Pool Manager Workbench - Fulfill Requests page to access the Select Resource - Resource Search page.

To directly add resources to the work space for a generic resource request:

The resource pool associated with the generic resource request filters the search.
Search for a resource by employee ID or name in the Search by drop-down list box. The resources that appear include all resources that are assigned to the pool as of the current date, as well as resources that have a start date in the future for this pool. This gives the Pool Manager the ability to assign a future-dated resource to a request with dates that correspond to the dates the resource is assigned to the pool

Because the system displays resources that will be part of the pool at some future date, pool managers have greater flexibility in assigning a future-dated resource to a future-dated request. For example, if a resource starts in pool on 10/01/05 and the request is for 10/01/05, because the resource is included in the search results, the pool manager is able to assign the resource to the request.

Note. If the pool manager selects a future-dated resource for a request and resource manager assignment approvals are activated, the system sends the assignment approval workflow to the resource's current resource manager.
Click the resource Name link to add it to the Selected Resources group box.
Click OK to add the resource to the Pool:<pool name> group box on the Pool Manager Workbench - Fulfill Request page.

Note. Search settings that you specify on this page do not impact the scores of the resources that are added to the work space through Add Resource.

Evaluating Candidates

Select a generic resource request by clicking its left-hand column check box and then click the Search icon to have the system return resources with factor fit scores based on specified search options.

If selected resource requests are matched with resources based on the specified search options and the resource's factor fit scores, the resources appear in the Pool <Pool Name> work space with the row expanded. You can click the View Selected Requests link to hide all other resource request rows from view.

Expanded rows display basic information about resources, the resource's factor fit scores for the request, the assignment status (if applicable), and a link to the resource profile and job scorecard.

Qual. (qualification) and Avail. (availability)	Displays the Qualification and Availability factor family fit scores, which indicate how closely the resource's profile and schedule match the resource request. The qualification fit score is made up of the qualification and preferences factor family fit scores. Click either fit score link to access the Job Scorecard for <resource> page and view details about requirements that are included in the resource's fit score calculation for each factor family. Note. The qualification, preferences, and availability scores represent the actual scores of the resource for the request. The scores that appear on the workbench may vary from the Job Scorecard. The scores displayed on the workbench are based on the search settings used and may vary depending on the relative weights you place in the settings. See Viewing the Job Scorecard.
Name	Click the resource name link to open the resource profile in a new browser window. See Reviewing Resource Profiles.
Role	Displays the resource's role.
Status	Displays the assignment status (Considered or Pending Approval) and provides a link to the assignment if the resource is assigned (status Pending Approval) to the request. Click this link to access the Assign Resource page to view or update the assignment. Note. If a resource status is Assigned or Pending Approval, this data will only appear until the pool manager exits the workbench. If the pool manager returns to the workbench, any resources that have been assigned or are pending approval will no longer appear in the workbench because the generic resource request has not been fulfilled and is no longer in the pool manager's queue. Note. The search settings that you specify on the workbench do not impact the scores of the resources that appear in the grid with a value in the Status column.
Action	Select to assign this resource to the current generic resource request: Assign: The assignment appears on the confirmation pages for you to edit and verify. There you can modify the days of the week, hours per day, and start time, and make comments. If project manager approval workflow is enabled, the assignment is automatically routed to the project manager for approval after you save and confirm the actions on the workbench. The next time you refresh the Pool Manager Workbench, this request does not appear in the Pool:<pool name>group box and the resource's assignment status isPending Approval. The assignment remains in a pending status until it is approved or canceled. If assignment approval workflow is not enabled, or if the user that is logged into the system is the resource's manager, the assignment can be saved in a status of Assigned without triggering assignment approval workflow. Only one resource can be assigned to one request. Consider: Associate the candidate with the resource request as someone whom you are considering as a possible match. This is not an assignment status. Note. When project manager approval workflow is enabled in Resource Management business unit options, it is critical that a project manager be assigned prior to assigning resources to the project. If a project manager has not been assigned to the project and project manager approval workflow is enabled, the resource that is selected here will be put on the project with a resource status of Considered and no Resource Management assignment will be created. The generic resource request will be fulfilled at this point because the pool manager has provided a resource for the request. This resource, however, cannot be assigned to the project until a project manager has been assigned to the project first. See Assignment Statuses.
Region	Displays the region of the resource.
Rate	Displays the resource's bill rate and currency as specified for the resource's employee ID. If no bill rate is specified for the employee ID, the value is the rate that is associated with the job code in the Job Code Rates table (PC_RATE_JOBC). If neither value exists, the bill rate value is 0.0000.
	Click the Assignment icon to access the Assignments for <resource> page in a new browser window and view the resource's current assignments, bids, recommendations, and assignment history. This information is useful when evaluating the true availability of candidates, as there may be assignment activity that does not appear on their schedule or that impacts their availability score. See Accessing Additional Assignment Options.
	Click the Monthly Calendar icon to access the resource's monthly schedule in a new browser window and view the assignments and appointments schedule. See Working with Resource Schedules.

When you save the page and accept the confirmation:

If there is no existing assignment for this combination of resource and project, and if you selected an Action status of Assign, the system:
- Creates a new assignment with the indicated status if assignment approval workflow is not enabled.
- Automatically routes the assignment to the resource's manager, the project manager, or both, for approval if assignment approval workflow is enabled.
If you selected an Action status of Consider, the system saves the record to associate this resource with the generic resource request as a possible candidate.

An assignment is not created for an action status of Consider.

Note. Resources that have a status of Consider are associated with the resource request only on the Pool Manager Workbench. This information does not appear anywhere else in the system. These resources appear in the work space each time the generic resource request appears until their status changes or the generic resource request is closed or canceled.

Confirming Actions

Access the Staffing Changes Confirmation page.

When you save the actions on the Pool Manager Workbench - Fulfill Requests page, the Staffing Changes Confirmation page appears and explains the changes to be made for every selected generic resource request. When you accept the changes, the Update Confirmation page appears and confirms that the changes were successful.

Use these pages to confirm that:

An assignment is created for the resource selected.
If assignment approval is required, the status of the assignment changes to Pending Approval.
Assignment history is updated when you confirm the request changes.