SAP HCM Interview Questions

We all know that human resource is one of the most-essential resources than any other. A well-guided human resource can create wonders. On this note, companies employ many tools to manage human resources, whereas SAP HCM is one of the noteworthy tools. Know that SAP HCM refers to SAP Human Capital Management, which is one of the key SAP modules. It is a tool widely used across many companies to streamline human resources and improve productivity.

As SAP HCM is increasingly being used across many companies, it opens up many job opportunities for SAP HCM consultants. So there is a high demand for SAP HCM professionals in the job market. It is a clever choice if you plan to pursue an SAP HCM career. Yes!  This blog is a boon to those who are preparing for the SAP HCM interview. That’s because it comes with the top 35 SAP HCM interview questions and answers. Not only that, it includes helpful tips to clear SAP HCM interviews and FAQs as well.

SAP HCM interview questions: Table of contents

• Freshers
• Experienced
• Tips
• FAQs
• Conclusion

Top 10 Frequently Asked SAP HCM Interview Questions

1. What Exactly is SAP HCM?
2. Outline the different Modules of SAP HCM.
3. List Down the Significant Features of SAP HCM.
4. What is the Role of TCode in SAP HCM?
5. List the Advantages of SAP HCM.
6. Outline the Benefits of SAP Human Capital Management.
7. Distinguish CAP and PCR in SAP HCM.
8. Can you Delete A Posting Run in SAP HCM?
9. Explain Global Employment Roles.
10. What do you Understand by Matchcode W?

SAP HCM Interview Questions for Freshers

1. What Exactly is SAP HCM?

SAP HCM stands for SAP Human Capital Management. It is one of the products of SAP that provides solutions for efficient human resource operations such as payroll, shift planning, attendance management, and many more. It also generates analytics and insights from the employee data with which we can make accurate decisions, optimize human resource management, and hence enhance business productivity.

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2. Outline the fundamental structures in SAP HCM.

There are totally three fundamental structures that exist in SAP HCM. They can be outlined below.

• Enterprise Structure: This structure helps identify employees' working location. It consists of many elements such as company code, clients, personnel area, and subarea.
• Organizational Structure: This structure provides the relationship between employees and their business unit. The organizational plan is the crucial component of this structure.
• Personnel Structure: This structure describes the job roles of employees. It includes employee groups as well as subgroups.

3. Outline the different Modules of SAP HCM.

Here is the outline of different modules of SAP HCM.

• Personnel Administration: This module simplifies human resource management. It manages employee recruitment, benefits, compensation, appraisals, etc.
• Payroll accounting: This SAP HCM module governs payroll, compensation, and other salary-related calculations.
• Personnel Time Management: With this module, you can record the performance of employees over a period. This module also assists in managing employee attendance, calculating their wages, and so on.
• Training and event management: This module supports identifying training needs, designing training schedules, estimating costs, etc.
• Organizational Management: This module supports employees to work in one platform in an organized way. It helps to optimize personnel as well as resource management efficiently.
• Recruitment: This module supports the automated web recruiting process. So you can recruit employees effectively.

4. Name the three Administrators of SAP HCM.

The below graphic shows the three administrators of SAP HCM.

5. Describe Personnel Area and Subarea in SAP HCM.

A personnel area refers to the sub-division of a company. It is specified based on personnel. A personnel area can be a reporting area or a physical location. Typically, a personnel subarea is the sub-division of a personnel area. Not only that, it is an SAP HR personnel administration specific unit. It includes pay scale details, work schedules, wage types, etc. Besides,  we can specify personnel subarea with the help of the four-digit alpha-numeric identification code.

6. List down the Significant Features of SAP HCM.

The following are the significant features of SAP HCM.

• Guided Workflows
• Localized Frameworks
• Talent management
• Analytics and insights
• Employee experience management

7. Define: SAP Business Workflow

It is a prime tool in SAP HCM with which you can control HCM operations effectively. A business workflow has a sequence of tasks, steps, or events. It simplifies HCM operations such as hiring employees, organizational reassignment, onboarding and offboarding, and many more. Further, a business workflow assigns roles for executing each step in it. Not only that, it specifies the forms that the roles can access.

8. What do you Mean by Evaluation Path in SAP HCM?

An evaluation path is created in SAP HCM'S organizational management. It establishes a relationship between two object types in the HCM organizational management. We use evaluation paths in many organizational management reports as well as structural authorizations.

 9. What is the Role of TCode in SAP HCM?

We use TCodes in SAP HCM to perform transactions effortlessly. PB10, PB20, PBA1, and PBAY are a few widely used T-codes. Note that we can access T-codes with ‘SAP easy access’ option.

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10. Can you Specify the T-code for Creating Remuneration Statements?

PE51 is the T-code that we use to create remuneration statements in SAP HCM. Not just that, we can change the properties of the form, such as background, text modules, windows, and much more.

11. What is the Significance of the Company Code in SAP HCM?

Company code in SAP HCM is a legal entity that plays a vital role in a company's financial transactions. We can generate balance sheets and P&L statements with the help of company codes. Know that company code is one of the crucial entities of a company's organizational structure.

12. What do you Understand by Shift Planning?

In SAP HCM, Shift planning is made to select employees, assign them shift time and location, identify the number of employees required to complete tasks, and so on. Simply put, we decide on working hours along with the locations for employees to complete tasks. It is critical to note that we use shift planning to use a company's human resources efficiently and thus improve productivity.

13. List the Advantages of SAP HCM.

Jotted down are the advantages of SAP HCM.

• Provides the best user experience
• Allows innovation
• Offers flexibility
• Compliant with automation capabilities
• Simplifies workforce management

14. How is Employee Subgroup Grouping Done in SAP HCM?

The employee subgroups are grouped to identify the primary wage types assigned for every employee subgroup.

15. Outline the Benefits of SAP Human Capital Management.

SAP HCM provides the following benefits.

• Performs centralized maintenance of master data
• Allows automation of payroll accounting
• Executes workflows and offers data transparency
• Provides seamless integration with other SAP modules
• Simplifies recruitment processes – no matter whether it is contract, permanent, or daily wager recruitment
• Records data based on time management, work schedules, payroll, etc.
• Streamlining HR operations in a company
• Adopts the existing systems quickly, thus offering increased flexibility

SAP HCM Interview Questions for Experienced

16. How is SAP HCM Different from SAP HRMS?

Regarding SAP HRMS, it provides effective HR solutions for small and mid-level enterprises. Regarding SAP HCM, it provides a comprehensive solution to big-sized enterprises. It supports managing the entire employee lifecycle. Besides, it provides detailed, accurate analytics and reporting capabilities.

17. Name the Sub-Modules of SAP HCM.

Below are the different sub-modules of SAP HCM.

• Employee Self-Services (ESS)/Manager Self-Services (MSS): This module streamlines SAP HCM workflows and thus optimizes human resource management.
• Personnel Appraisals: This sub-module supports training and event management, processing salary and bonuses, etc.
• Structural Authorization Management: This sub-module ensures the efficiency of the HCM operations and the security of the master data.

18. Distinguish CAP and PCR in SAP HCM.

CAP stands for Collective Agreement Provision. It has components such as employee subgroup grouping, pay scale type, and pay scale level. CAP specifies different groups of employees who are eligible for other pay scale structures. PCR stands for Personnel Calculation Rules. They are the rules written to control their schemas, such as payroll and TM.

19. State the Different ways through which you can hire a New Employee Using SAP HCM.

We can hire new employees in the following two ways.

• By using the T-code PA40.
• By using the steps shown in the image below.

20. Can you Delete a Posting Run in SAP HCM?

Yes. We can delete a posting run in SAP. We perform this activity when the posting run contains content or technical error. By deleting a post-run, we can cancel the selection of the payroll results.

21. If you set the Payroll Control Record as ‘Released for Payroll’, How will it Limit your Activities in SAP HCM?

• It locks all the personnel numbers associated with the payroll area.
• We cannot change the infotype data.

22. Can you Configure a Single Payroll to Pay Individuals in Multiple Currencies?

No. We cannot configure a single payroll to pay individuals in multiple currencies.

23. How Does SAP HCM Identify the Right Scenario to Enable Retroactive Accounting for a Particular Employee?

If we edit the infotype connected with retroactive accounting, it triggers retroactive accounting. Once the retroactive accounting is triggered, it allows entering data in the MD change and other relevant fields. Soon after, the SAP HCM module recalculates all the payroll periods.

24. How will you Create an Organizational Structure in SAP HCM?

If you plan to create an organizational structure, follow the procedure below.

25. Explain Global Employment Roles.

Global employment simplifies calculating compensation packages and supporting the relocation and repatriation processes. The global employment feature is applied when an employee works on multiple assignments for multiple countries. Even though the employee works on numerous assignments in many countries, a single-person ID is used. Moreover, SAP HCM allows the creation of country-specific roles in employee self-service. So employees can access applications that are only relevant to their roles. And we can customize country-specific service roles based on employees’ needs.

26. What is the Role of Infotype in SAP HCM?

Infotypes are nothing but information units. The related data are grouped together as information units. An information unit may contain the first and last names of employees, their date of birth, and so on. Note that an infotype can have sub-infotypes. We can classify info types as customer-specific, OM-related, and time-related.

27. What are Various Dynamic Actions Performed in SAP HCM?

Dynamic actions enable certain actions whenever a specific infotype is maintained. Following are the different types of actions triggered in SAP HCM.

• Maintaining another infotype or subtype
• Calling routines
• Sending emails

28. What do you Understand by Matchcode W?

Matchcode W is a list of specific payroll accounting area personnel numbers. These are the numbers rejected by the payroll run. The rejection might have happened because of incorrect data. The rejection also occurs if you change the personnel numbers during the correction phase of the payroll run. If you want to avoid this scenario, we must make the required changes in the master data in the personnel numbers. Then only the numbers will be run properly in the payroll run.

29. How is SAP HCM different from SAP SuccessFactors?

On the one hand, SAP HCM is an on-premise SAP HR solution. It manages personnel admin, recruitment, payroll accounting, and so on. On the other hand, SAP SuccessFactors is a cloud-based SaaS platform. It supports onboarding, analytics, compensation, and so on.

30. Is it Possible to Evaluate wage types Indirectly?

Yes. It is possible to calculate wage types indirectly. It is done by multiplying the basic pay with the percentage of the wage type to be calculated.

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Tips to Clear SAP HCM Interview

• Study the company completely: You must research the company for which you will attend the SAP HCM interview. You must get the details of the company's vision, competitors, and products or services. You must thoroughly know their brand value and the company's performance in the market. You can gather information about the company through its press releases, websites, annual reports, etc. Having good knowledge about the company will impress the interview panel undeniably.

• Get to know the interview format: Before attending your interview, it is better to get the complete interview structure. If you are familiar with the interview format, it will help you to sail smoothly through the interview process. Generally, interviewers finalize candidates after sifting them through many tests and rounds of interviews. For example, there may be stress tests, behavioral tests, etc. The interview team conducts all these tests to evaluate your attitude, confidence, emotional balance, etc. You can ask about the interview structure with the HR executive communicating with you from the company. Or, you can ask the candidates who have attended interviews in the same company earlier. You can acquire a lot of information either way.

• Anticipate the interview questions: It is wise to anticipate the questions that might be asked in the interview beforehand and prepare answers accordingly. It will help to answer questions when you are shot up with a question and breeze through the interview. The quick and sharp answers aid you in presenting a stunning performance in the interview and impress the interview team.

• Make your answers straight: Time is ticking. Everyone has their own agenda and commitments. So it is extremely important to deliver your answers direct and straight. Don’t hover over the unwanted topics or provide long rather than short answers. Only elaborate your answers when it is genuinely needed or asked by interviewers. Otherwise, come to the point direct. It will elevate you as a super performer in interviewers' minds and help you reach out for your offer.

• Prepare your own questions: The interview team may invite you to ask questions from your side at the end of the interview. You must use this chance to impress interviewers by asking questions cleverly. You can ask about the company's work culture, methods of task assignment and execution, work-life balance, activities beyond routine work, and so on. Also, you can ask about relocation, business travel, etc.

SAP HCM FAQs

1. Is Learning SAP HCM Tough?

Not at all. Learning SAP HCM is easy. If you zero in all your efforts in the learning process, you will quickly be proficient in the tool.

2. What is the Salary Package of SAP HCM Consultants?

You can earn around 6 LPA with 2-3 years of experience. You can get a salary package of up to 13 LPA based on your experience and exposure to the tool.

3. Is it Reasonable to make a Career in SAP HCM?

Sure! SAP HCM is increasingly being used in many companies. So the chances of getting hired by top companies are also high.

4. How many Companies have Leveraged SAP HCM in their HR Operations?

More than 17000+ companies have leveraged this software to optimize their HR operations.

5. Is SAP HCM a Technical or Functional Module?

In its basic form, SAP HCM is a functional module.

Conclusion

To wrap up, you have gone through the top 30 SAP HCM interview questions and answers. Also, you have come across helpful tips to clear the SAP HCM interview as well as FAQs. Mere learning the interview questions will only take you near the finish line. But if you wish to cross the finish line, you must groom your knowledge of SAP HCM in the best way. If you go through intense professional training, it will help you significantly to ace your interview.If you want to enrich your career and become a professional in SAP HCM, then enroll in "SAP HCM Training" - This course will help you to achieve excellence in this domain.