Dynamic Groups

The information in this topic relates to Dynamic Groups, which is different from the Classic Groups functionality. If you are looking for help with Classic Groups, see Classic Groups.

The Dynamic Groups feature enables you to automate the process of assigning Users to Groups, Learning Plans, Skills, and Job Profiles based on specific User criteria you pre-select. As Users are added to or removed from LearnCenter, or as their User Profile information changes (new job, new address, etc.), the process of adding them to or removing them from appropriate Groups and assigning them to appropriate training can be handled automatically by LearnCenter. This functionality reduces the amount of work it takes to maintain accurate Group memberships and training assignments. Here are a few examples that demonstrate some ways you can apply this functionality to your LearnCenter. You can:

• Create a Dynamic Group for all employees residing in the state of California that automatically maps them to a Compliance Learning Plan containing content specific to the CA Sexual Harassment regulations.
• Create a Dynamic Group for all employees located in the US who have a Job Code of "Regional Account Manager" that automatically maps them to the Job Profile of "US Sales".
• Create a Dynamic Group for all employees who have a Job Code containing the word "Nurse" that automatically assigns an annual renewing CPR Skill.
• Move Users to appropriate Dynamic Groups as they are promoted or change roles, and automatically update their assigned training.

In addition, the Dynamic Group feature enables you to let Users self-register for a Dynamic Group. Dynamic Groups can now belong to one or more hierarchies (With the Classic Groups functionality, Groups can only belong to a single hierarchical path). You also have the ability to create custom fields for Dynamic Groups and use these fields with the new functionality.

New Terminology

A User's Group Membership type indicates how a User became a member of a Dynamic Group. There are two types of Dynamic Group Memberships:

• Static - Users who were specifically and manually added to a Dynamic Group. For example, you can manually assign Mary, John, Dave, and Lisa to a Dynamic Group called "Company Owners." The only way you can remove them from the Dynamic Group is to do so manually.
• Dynamic - Users who meet a pre-defined set of filter criteria which automatically includes them in a Dynamic Group. For example, you can create a Dynamic Group called "Ohio Sales Team" that automatically adds Users with the Job Code of "Sales" and an Office of "Ohio." Users are removed when their profile or Learning Item assignment status changes. You can also indicate that they are excluded from a Dynamic Group even if they meet the preset criteria.

Dynamic Groups can contain both static and dynamic members. A User’s membership type is indicated by an icon. The icons are described in the topic called Adding Users to a Dynamic Group.

Users who have Pending, Denied or Removed statuses are not included in Static or Dynamic Groups until their status is changed to Active. Changing an Active User's status to Pending, Denied or Removed results in the User being removed from all Static or Dynamic Groups and from any training items (Learning Plans, Skills, and Job Profiles) that are mapped to those Dynamic Groups.

What You Need to Know About This Feature

This feature is available to all, however:

• If you become an Oracle Taleo Learn customer after LearnCenter Release 14.6, the features and functionality described in this document are available upon receipt of your LearnCenter.
• If you were an Oracle Taleo Learn customer prior to LearnCenter Release 14.6, upon general availability of the software your LearnCenter will continue to use the classic Groups functionality. Keeping the Classic Groups functionality active upon release means there is no impact or interruption of your current Classic Groups setup or functionality. You will only see the new feature when you elect to migrate to it.
• You do not need to migrate immediately.
• If you previously worked with our Technical Consulting team to set up a custom integration involving Groups, there may be an additional cost associated with your migration to the new functionality. This will be thoroughly investigated and discussed with you at the time you elect to migrate.

• The Classic Groups functionality will remain in LearnCenter for now, but will eventually be removed. An end-of-life date has yet to be determined, and will be announced in advance when it is known.
• Enhancements for Groups will only be added to the Dynamic Groups functionality. Should the need arise, only bug fixes will be applied to the Classic Groups functionality.
• When you are ready to migrate you can contact Support via My Oracle Support.
• Important: Once you opt in and activate this feature, the Classic Groups functionality will be discontinued in your LearnCenter.

Migrating to the New Groups Functionality

If you were a Taleo Learn customer prior to Release 14.6, your LearnCenter contains the Classic Groups functionality. You will need to complete the following steps to opt in to the new functionality. If you became a customer after Release 14.6, you already have the Dynamic Groups functionality, and you can skip to the next section called Setting Up the New Groups Functionality.

If you are not sure if you have the classic Groups functionality, review the help topics for the classic functionality and compare it to what you see in your LearnCenter. If your Group pages look similar to as the illustrations in these topics, you have the classic Groups functionality.

1. Read the description of the Dynamic Groups feature in this document, and decide if you are ready to migrate.
2. Contact Customer Support through My Oracle Support to opt in to this feature and request a key to activate it. Support will process the request, and will notify you of any additional steps you need to take. You can continue working in LearnCenter while the migration takes place, but you will not be able to make changes to the classic Groups functionality at this time. Group Display Filters will continue to work during the migration.

Once you have been migrated, you can begin setting up the Dynamic Groups functionality for your LearnCenter. See the next section called Setting Up the New Groups Functionality.

After migration:

• The Users who are members of Groups created with the classic Groups feature migrate over with static memberships.

• If you had Groups with identical names, but different descriptions, be sure to display the Description column on the Dynamic Groups page so that you can distinguish between them.

• Co Owners are granted the new Manage Groups User Permissions.
• Pre-existing Group Display Filters migrate over intact.
• Pre-existing Enrollment Group Permissions migrate over intact.
• Pre-existing eCommerce Group Discount Codes and Purchase Order mappings migrate over intact.
• Group mappings for Reports migrate over intact.

Changes after Migration

If you are familiar with the classic Groups functionality, there are some additional changes to LearnCenter that you will notice as a result of this feature. They are described in the following sections.

Change to Reports and Group Display Filters

Classic Groups functionality included the display of Group paths when selecting Groups for use with Reports and Group Display Filters.

Now when you select Groups for either of these features, you will use the new Find Groups selector.

Groups Categories No Longer in Use

The concept of adding Groups to Group Categories is not part of the Dynamic Groups functionality. Any Category mappings you have with classic Groups are not carried over during migration. You will need to create LearnCenter categories for Groups if you want to continue categorizing your Groups.

See Categories if you need instructions on how to use LearnCenter Categories.

Change to Bulk Imports

At this time, with the Dynamic Groups functionality,. you cannot import Users directly to Groups during the Bulk Import process as you can with the Classic Functionality. This functionality is currently being evaluated for inclusion a future release. After migrating to the Dynamic Groups functionality, when you bulk import Users, you will need to manually or dynamically add them to Groups.

Notice that there is no longer an option to add Users to Groups from the Bulk Import page.

See Bulk Importing Users if you need instructions on using the Bulk Import feature.

Optional Change to Method for Removing User Mappings to Training Items

There are now two behaviors for removing a User from a training item, when that User was mapped to the item by multiple means: the classic behavior and the new behavior.

The classic behavior works as follows. When a User is mapped to multiple items such as a Skill and a Job Profile, and both of those items also maps the User to the same Learning Plan, removing the User from just one item, also removes him from the Learning Plan. For example, a User is mapped to a Job Profile that automatically maps him to Learning Plan A. The User is also mapped to a Group that automatically maps him to Learning Plan A. He is mapped to Learning Plan A via two means of entry. With the classic behavior, you only have to remove the User from one item (just the Skill for example) in order to remove him from Learning Plan A.

The new behavior works as follows. When a User is mapped to multiple items such as a Skill and a Job Profile, and both of those items also maps the User to the same Learning Plan, you must remove the User from both the Skill and the Job Profile to also remove him from the Learning Plan. For example, a User is mapped to a Job Profile that automatically maps him to Learning Plan B. The User is also mapped to a Group that automatically maps him to Learning Plan B. He is mapped to Learning Plan B via two means of entry. With the new behavior, you must remove the User from both the Job Profile and the Group in order to remove him from Learning Plan B.

If you were a customer prior to release 14.6, you have the classic behavior by default. You can keep this behavior, or you can request the new behavior by contacting Support via My Oracle Support.

If you become a customer after release 14.6, you have the new behavior by default. You can request the classic behavior by contacting Support via My Oracle Support.

Setting Up the New Groups Functionality

When you are ready to begin using the Dynamic Groups functionality, follow these steps to set it up for your LearnCenter.

1. Determine who in your organization will be responsible for managing this feature, and grant or deny the appropriate User Permissions to them, including the User Account User Permissions. (Co-Owners are granted these permissions upon receipt of this feature.) There are also Dynamic Groups related User Permissions under Manage Messages and Manage Custom Fields. The new permissions are noted in their respective help topics.
2. Review the new Communication Messages associated with this feature, and decide whether the default text works for your purposes. You can customize the default message text if needed.
3. Add Groups Custom Fields if needed, and indicate the settings for those fields.
4. Begin using the Dynamic Groups functionality to create dynamic mappings.
5. Insert the Dynamic Groups dynamic object on the appropriate LearnCenter page so that Users have access to Groups.
6. Approve or deny User requests to join Groups.

Related Topics

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