3782188 - "The value of eventReason is invalid" Error When Onboarding Is Initiated from SmartRecruiters - Onboarding

After a candidate is hired in SmartRecruiters, the candidate does not appear in the SAP SuccessFactors Onboarding dashboard and the onboarding process is not initiated. The SmartRecruiters integration microservice returns the following error from the Onboarding API:

Error: The value of eventReason is invalid. Kindly enter a valid value to proceed.

SAP SuccessFactors Onboarding

1. Hire a candidate using the SmartRecruiters hire workflow.
2. Navigate to the Onboarding dashboard in SAP SuccessFactors.
3. Observe that the hired candidate does not appear in the dashboard and the onboarding process has not been created.

CAUSE 1: The HIRNEW event reason is not configured or is inactive in SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central.

Per the Field Mapping from SmartRecruiters to Onboarding documentation, the SR-OBX integration uses HIRNEW as the default event reason when no event reason is explicitly selected in SmartRecruiters or when no event reason mapping is configured between SmartRecruiters and Employee Central. The Onboarding API validates the event reason against EC at hire time. If HIRNEW does not exist in EC, or exists with incorrect values, the API cannot resolve the event reason and returns the error.

The required EC configuration for this integration is:

• Event Reason ID: HIRNEW
• Event: Hire
• Status: Active
• Employee Status: Active

CAUSE 2: The Event Reason field in the Integration Center is mapped to a value that does not exist or is inactive in Employee Central.

When the Integration Center integration for SmartRecruiters to SuccessFactors Employee Central has the Event Reason field mapped to a custom or incorrect event reason ID, the Onboarding API returns the same error. This can occur when the mapped value references an event reason that was never created, was deactivated, or has a different Event or Employee Status than what the Onboarding process requires.

The steps below address the two most common causes of this error. Start with Resolution 1 to verify the EC event reason configuration, then proceed to Resolution 2 if the error persists.

RESOLUTION 1

1. Navigate to Admin Center > Manage Organization, Pay and Job Structures.
2. Select Event Reasons.
3. Search for the event reason with Event Reason ID HIRNEW.
4. Verify that the following values are set:
   • Status: Active
   • Event: Hire
   • Employee Status: Active Note: If HIRNEW does not exist, create a new event reason with these exact values. If it exists but is inactive or has incorrect Event or Employee Status values, update and save the record.
5. Retry the hire in SmartRecruiters and verify that the candidate appears in the Onboarding dashboard.

RESOLUTION 2

If HIRNEW is correctly configured in EC and the error persists, verify the Event Reason mapping in the Integration Center.

1. Navigate to Admin Center > Integration Center.
2. Open the SmartRecruiters to SuccessFactors Employee Central integration.
3. Under Mandatory for the integration, locate the Event Reason field.
4. Confirm that the source value is set to HIRNEW. Per the Field Mapping from SmartRecruiters to Onboarding guide, HIRNEW is the required event reason for this integration. Note: If the field is unmapped or set to a different value, update it to HIRNEW and save the integration.
5. Retry the hire in SmartRecruiters and verify that the candidate appears in the Onboarding dashboard.

After completing the applicable steps, the hired candidate should appear in the SAP SuccessFactors Onboarding dashboard and the onboarding process should be initiated. If the error persists after both verifications are confirmed, collect the integration microservice logs for the affected hire and open a support case with component LOD-SF-OBX-SR for further investigation.

• Field Mapping from SmartRecruiters to Onboarding
• Integration of SmartRecruiters with Onboarding
• KBA 3745216: Task Assignment Rule Not Getting Triggered When Candidate Onboarding Is Initiated from SmartRecruiters - Onboarding
• KBA 3767974: Business Rule for User ID Not Applied When Initiating Candidates from SmartRecruiters to Onboarding - Onboarding

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