Analyzing Data with

Dashboards
Training Guide
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Course name Contents 3

Contents
Overview ........................................................................................................................................... 5
Learning Objectives....................................................................................................................................... 5
Prerequisites ................................................................................................................................................. 6
Available Resources ...................................................................................................................................... 6
Our Training Scenario ................................................................................................................................... 6
Dashboards Overview ........................................................................................................................ 7
The Analysis Process ..................................................................................................................................... 8
Transactional Reports vs. Dashboards .......................................................................................................... 8
Data Preparation for Dashboards ............................................................................................................... 10
Data Sources ......................................................................................................................................... 11
Background Job Scheduling .................................................................................................................. 12
The Dashboards Decision Process .............................................................................................................. 13
Working with Dashboards ................................................................................................................ 15
Dashboards ................................................................................................................................................. 15
Access Existing Dashboards ........................................................................................................................ 16
Preconfigured Dashboards ................................................................................................................... 16
Load Existing Dashboards ..................................................................................................................... 17
Add a New Dashboard ................................................................................................................................ 18
Add a New Dashboard Group ..................................................................................................................... 20
Modify Dashboard Properties ..................................................................................................................... 21
Create Views.................................................................................................................................... 25
Add Existing Views to Dashboards .............................................................................................................. 27
Remove Views from Dashboards ......................................................................................................... 29
Modify View Settings............................................................................................................................ 29
View Builder ................................................................................................................................................ 31
The View Builder Process ..................................................................................................................... 32
Create a Chart View .................................................................................................................................... 33
The View Builder .................................................................................................................................. 35
Save Your View ..................................................................................................................................... 42
Create a Table View .................................................................................................................................... 44
Save Your View ..................................................................................................................................... 48
Create a KPI View ........................................................................................................................................ 51
Save Your View ..................................................................................................................................... 60
Create Metrics ............................................................................................................................................ 64
Save Your Metric .................................................................................................................................. 70
View Drilldowns .......................................................................................................................................... 72
Dashboard Administration ............................................................................................................... 75
Dashboard Security ..................................................................................................................................... 75
Set Role Access Parameters ................................................................................................................. 75
Grant Dashboard Access to Others ...................................................................................................... 77

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4 Overview Course name

Configurating Measures .............................................................................................................................. 81

Headcount............................................................................................................................................. 81
Length of Service................................................................................................................................... 82
Turnover Rate ....................................................................................................................................... 82
Configuring Employee Properties................................................................................................................ 83
Perform Quick Queries ..................................................................................................................... 85
Quick View Navigation ................................................................................................................................ 86
Generate a View .......................................................................................................................................... 87
Keywords............................................................................................................................................... 87
Execute Your Query .............................................................................................................................. 89
Refine a Quick Query ............................................................................................................................ 89
Export Dashboards and Views .......................................................................................................... 92
Export a Dashboard to PowerPoint ............................................................................................................. 92
Set Up a Dashboard Export Template ................................................................................................... 96
Export Options for Individual Views ............................................................................................................ 97

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Analyzing Data with Dashboards 5

Overview
This course discusses the Dashboards features in Dayforce. These optional features help thought leaders
collect and use data from across your organization. You will explore how to create dashboards that
contain a series of charts, tables, KPIs and metrics to display your data. These dashboards can help you
spot trends and observe changes throughout your organization over time. You’ll also learn how to query
the application using searches called Quick Queries. These are useful for one-time queries that you need
to answer but don’t necessarily need to review on a regular basis.
Ultimately, you will learn how to use Dashboards features to locate, display, and export the information
you need when making business decisions.
The following sections are included in this course:

Section Description
Dashboards Overview This section introduces Dashboards features and illustrates how they fit
into the broader organizational analysis process. It then describes how
to populate the data used by these features and how to decide which
features you should use to meet your analysis needs using the
Dashboards Decision Process.
Working with Dashboards Describes how to review the data on existing dashboards, modify these
dashboards, and create brand new dashboards and dashboard groups.
Create Views Describes how to use View Builder to create and modify views within
your dashboards. You will create each of the four types of views from
scratch and modify the properties of an existing view.
Dashboard Administration Discusses how to grant access to some of your Dashboards to other
members of your organization. You will also learn to configure
dashboard measures and employee properties.
Perform Quick Queries Demonstrates how to enter quick queries, which are English-language
searches that you can use to produce views for one-time use.
Export Dashboards and Illustrates how to export Dashboard information to a PowerPoint
Views presentation or Excel spreadsheet.

Learning Objectives
By completing this course, you will be able to:
• Locate information within a dashboard
• Add or modify dashboards and dashboard groups
• Add existing views to a dashboard
• Use the View Builder to create Chart, Table, KPI, and Metric views
• Add filters to a view
• Define access parameters to determine who can view or edit a dashboard
• Perform Quick Queries
• Export dashboards, views and data

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6 Overview Analyzing Data with Dashboards

Prerequisites
Certain Dayforce courses are required as prerequisites prior to attending this course. The following
courses will provide the foundational knowledge you need to understand the key Dayforce features
discussed in this course.
• Understanding How a Manager Uses Dayforce
• Viewing HR Records in My HR
• Administering Employee HR Information

Available Resources
A variety of supporting guides are available through the Ceridian Support Portal (support.ceridian.com)
using the Knowledge Articles search feature. Talk to your organization’s support user or Implementation
Consultant for help with obtaining these guides, depending on if you are in implementation or live.
• Admin and User Guides
• Dashboards Guide
• Dayforce Implementation Guide (DIG)
• Dashboard Data Dictionary

Our Training Scenario

Today you will be exploring the use of Dashboards features and functionality by considering them
through the lens of a sample organization. This makes it easy to understand how the data provided
within dashboards can be applied to business problems within your own company.
XYZ Company is a fitness and health organization. The company runs a number of fitness center
locations across the country and also provides home personal training and organizational wellness
solutions. It recently conducted an employee engagement survey and was surprised to discover that
managers and employees alike were complaining that ‘experienced’ individuals frequently left the
organization.
Melanie Gallagher, XYZ Company’s Vice-President of Human Resources, has been asked to follow up on
these comments. She wants to verify whether these claims are accurate, and if they are, also wants to
develop a new employee retention plan to correct the problem. Today you’ll log into Dayforce as
Melanie and use Dashboards features to aid in her analysis.

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Analyzing Data with Dashboards 7

Overview
Today’s businesses are entering the age of data. Enterprise HR software solutions, which are already
seen as an integral part of streamlining business processes, also carry the added benefit of recording
and collating massive amounts of data about your workforce and operations that have not previously
been accessible. The most successful organizations are learning how to tap into this data and utilize it
when tackling complex business problems – in fact, some are even able to use it to anticipate and
respond to problems before they occur!
It should come as no surprise that Dayforce contains a wealth of data about your workforce. Whether
you are trying to anticipate future problems or look for solutions to existing ones, the ability to review
and use the employee data within Dayforce is paramount to your success.

Dashboards features comprise an easy-to-use and powerful analytics tool that can help you understand
and utilize employee data within Dayforce. You gather information related to a wide variety of HCM
topics into dashboards and use them to make informed decisions for your organization.
Dashboards features utilize three main components:
• Views – These are visualizations of data about your organization. The data shown within a
view is derived from a data source.
• Dashboards – A collection of views, typically about a certain topic.
• Dashboard Groups – A collection of dashboards that contain similar information or require
similar employee access.
Throughout this course you’ll explore each of these components in detail, and learn how to set up
dashboards to address issues facing your own organization. The image above shows the dashboard you
will create by the end of today’s session. You’ll also learn how use Quick View, a tool designed to
generate a view for one-time, immediate use.

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8 Overview Analyzing Data with Dashboards

The Analysis Process

Before beginning an in-depth look at the Dashboards functionality, it is important to consider how this
functionality fits into the broader analysis process. Dashboards are a powerful tool for gathering the
information you need, but they must be part of an effective analysis process in order to truly harness
the power of your data.

1. Identify a business issue - The analysis process begins as you identify a business issue, such as a
problem to be solved or a process to improve upon.
2. Identify and gather data related to the issue - Once an issue is identified, the next step is to
gather the information you’ll need to analyze it correctly. This is where dashboards functionality
becomes important. Dashboards allow you to quickly collect and organize employee data within
Dayforce related to a specific topic or event. For example, XYZ Company is addressing a business
issue related to turnover. You can create dashboards full of data about turnover at your
organization, broken down in ways that suit your needs.
3. Analyze and correlate the data - Once you have collected all of the data you need, you can
begin to analyze it. Basic analysis, such as identifying global trends, can occur directly within
your dashboard in Dayforce. More advanced data manipulation can be completed in dedicated
software. The goal is typically to identify the root cause(s) of an issue or to determine solutions.
4. Incorporate the data into a plan of action - After data analysis has been completed, your
organization will likely integrate the results into a plan aimed at correcting the problem.
5. Execute the action plan and monitor the results - You can then implement the action plan
within your organization and monitor the results. Dashboards can also be used to monitor
changes to your organization on an ongoing basis. It is likely that you will uncover additional
issues as part of this monitoring process, and when this occurs the process repeats again.

Transactional Reports vs. Dashboards

Most reporting features within Dayforce, such as the Reporting feature or predefined report options,
return transactional reports that display a great deal of specific operational data. Dashboards features,

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Analyzing Data with Dashboards 9

however, display aggregate and trend data across more locations and broader time periods. The
features serve different reporting needs. You should understand the differences between these
reporting methods when determining how you will gather and use data within Dayforce.
Transactional Reports Dashboards
Both standard reports (predefined reports Dashboards features return production data that
available within a variety of features) and reports has been loaded and optimized within the
created in Reporting return data found directly Business Intelligence (BI) database. They offer
within the production database. Transactional the following advantages:
reports offer the following advantages:
• Identify broader organizational trends –
• Reporting on operational data – They Dashboards summarize a large amount
return data straight from the production of data over a broad time period, making
database and can report on individual it easier to see trends develop across
transactions or audits in great detail. your organization and review
However, since this information is transformational changes.
organized according to production • Visualization of data – Data within
database parameters and is not dashboards features displays in a highly
optimized for report retrieval, it may visual, interactive way. You can create a
take a few minutes to generate a report variety of charts, tables, KPIs, or metrics
with the data you need. to review at-a-glance and can modify the
• High level of detail – Transactional parameters of these views to meet your
reports can contain a wealth of data needs. This stands in contrast to
filtered to a very granular level, typically transactional reports, which are usually
displayed in detailed tables. This is very formatted as detailed tables without
useful when identifying specific errors or graphic elements.
focusing on particular pieces of • Data is optimized for analysis – Since
information. dashboards tend to report on broader
• Immediacy – As soon as a transaction trends, the immediacy of data is less
occurs in the database, such as a payroll important than ensuring it is
commit, you can start to run a report on transformed for analysis and easy to
it and return results. retrieve for use in your dashboards. It is
• Based upon security rules in your recommended that new transactional
production database – Transactional data is transformed and loaded once per
reports respect organizational security day. The fact that transactions from the
and role configuration in your current day may not be included in
production database so you can restrict dashboard results should have minimal
access to information on reports to or no effect on the analysis task at hand.
individual locations or people. • Based upon security rules set within
Dashboards Setup and the production
database – Dashboard data respects
organizational security but not role
configuration from the production
database. However, you can further
configure access to different roles by
data type or dashboard group within the
Dashboard feature.
Ultimately, the best way to gather data for all facets of your organization is to use a combination of
transactional reports and dashboards.

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10 Overview Analyzing Data with Dashboards

Data Preparation for Dashboards

Transactional reports retrieve data directly from your production database, while dashboards use data
within the BI database. But where does this BI data come from?

The answer is simple – the data within your BI database is copied from the production database and
loaded into the BI database using a background task.
The Dashboards Data Preparation background job is the “link” between the two databases. When it
runs, it creates a copy of the production data, transforms it, and loads it into your BI database. You may
know this type of process as an ETL. The data transformation ensures that data is organized and can be
retrieved much more quickly than in the production database. You can only report on data using
Dashboards once it has been loaded into the BI database.

The BI database must be created, configured, and linked to your instance of Dayforce by a member of
your Dayforce Implementation or Support team.
This background job requires lots of processing resources to run because it is transforming a large
amount of data. Best practices dictate that you should schedule this task to occur at night or at a time
when not many users are logged in to ensure the best user experience.

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Analyzing Data with Dashboards 11

Data Sources
In Dashboards, a data source is a collection of data from Dayforce that falls into a broad category. Each
view derives its data from one of the predetermined data sources.
The following chart briefly describes each of the data sources available within Dashboards features:
Data Source Description
Absences Contains data about employee absences and sick time.
Benefit Elections Contains data about the benefits that employees have selected –
elections, costs, and coverage.
Committed Pay Runs Contains data related to processed payroll information such as earnings
and hours, deductions, pay run summaries, and tax details.
Employee Contains a variety of data about employees, such as headcount,
turnover rate, salary, and demographic information.
Job Requisition Contains data about the requisition process, such as average time to fill
jobs or job statuses.
Recruiting Candidate Contains data about the recruiting process, such as candidate status
and hires by source.
Time and Attendance Contains data about employee worked time – early or late punches, no
show shifts, overtime hours, etc.
When the Dashboards Data Preparation background job runs, it copies only data relevant to the existing
data sources, not the entire production database. This ensures that no extraneous data confounds your
results and that access to certain data can be restricted by data source.

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12 Overview Analyzing Data with Dashboards

Background Job Scheduling

You should consider when and how you are using the data within your dashboards when determining
when the Dashboards Data Preparation job should be scheduled to run. Because you can only use
dashboards to report on data within the BI database, you may need to account for data gaps when
viewing them.

For example, XYZ Company has scheduled its Dashboards Data Preparation background job to run daily
at 12:00 AM. Each night, updated employee information is populated in the BI database for use in the
company’s Dashboards. Changes made in XYZ Company’s Dayforce production environment throughout
day are not populated in the BI database until the job runs again.
On September 1, an employee termination was entered into Dayforce at 12:00 PM. If you run a report
within your production environment (e.g. within Reporting or a standard report within a feature) you
can view this transaction immediately after it has been processed. But this same termination transaction
will not appear on your dashboards until the Dashboards Data Preparation job runs again, at 12:00 AM.
This means that there is a data gap between 12:00 PM, time of the transaction, and 12:00 AM, when the
transaction is populated in the BI database.
This data gap may seem like an issue, but it’s important to remember that dashboards are specifically
designed to return results on global organizational trends. A small data difference, such as adding one
termination to your count, should not drastically affect trending and analysis for your organization as a
whole until the job runs again. If you do need to report on immediate changes, you should use a
transactional report.
That said, you do not want to schedule the Dashboards Data Preparation job to run too infrequently as
wider data gaps may become an issue. For example, scheduling the task to run biweekly may lead to
large data gaps and could affect your analysis results. The best practice is to run the job daily during off-
peak hours.

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Analyzing Data with Dashboards 13

The Dashboards Decision Process

Your organization has identified a reporting need and plans to use dashboards to gather the
information. But what steps do you need to follow to actually find that data in Dayforce with dashboards
features? The answer to that question depends on what kind of information you’re looking for and how
you would like to manage it.
The Dashboards Decision Process below is the easiest way to determine exactly how to find and display
the information you need within the dashboards features.

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14 Overview Analyzing Data with Dashboards

Let’s explore this process by considering XYZ Company’s headcount problem:

Decision and Key Questions Decision Decision Consequences
Paths
Decision 1 – Frequency of use Only need Use the Quick View feature to
the data once perform a Quick Query and retrieve it.
You’ve determined that you need to look
for data about headcount, turnover, and Need to save Use the Dashboards feature and add
service bands (to zero in on what and refer to the data you need as a view.
managers mean when they say data
‘experienced’ employees are leaving).
But do you need to be able to refer back
to the data at a later date? Or do you
only need to retrieve this data once?
Decision 2 – Availability of Information Yes Review and use the data on the
existing dashboard.
The Dashboards feature comes
preconfigured with a variety of No The information you need must be
dashboards to address the most common added to a dashboard as a View. You
analysis needs faced by organizations. can either edit an existing dashboard
Does a dashboard already exist that to add a view or create an entirely
contains the information you need? new dashboard.
Decision 3 – Views Yes Add the required view to a
dashboard.
If you do need to create a view to display
your data, you must then determine No Use the View Builder to either create
whether a view containing the data you a view from scratch or modify an
need exists. Is there a preconfigured view existing view so it displays the
that meets your needs? information you need.
Decision 4 – Security Yes You can grant access to dashboards
either by dashboard group or by data
Once a dashboard and its associated
source.
views are completed, you must
determine who can see it. Will you grant No You can keep your new dashboard
access to this dashboard to others within within the “My Private Dashboards”
your organization? group or move it to another for
organizational purposes.
Throughout this class, you will work through each of the decisions in this process from the perspective
of XYZ Company. We will assume that the organization has already completed Decision 1 – they need to
be able to refer to their data in the future, and thus will be working in Dashboards.

Quick View functionality is discussed at the end of the course.

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Analyzing Data with Dashboards 15

Working with Dashboards

Dashboards organize views into collections of information about a related subject or for a specific group.
They act as a framework for organizing your information in order to address specific problems or issues.
Before you can set up views and start gathering information for a problem, you must ensure that you
have created the appropriate dashboards and sorted them into dashboard groups. This section discusses
how to create or modify these components.

Dashboards
A Dashboard is a collection of views.

You can add views to a dashboard in any configuration, but typically dashboards contain related pieces
of information. The above example shows a WFM - Attendance dashboard, which contains different
views for analyzing WFM and attendance information. Users who are interested in this type of
information can review it all in one place since it is grouped together.
You can think about the relationship between dashboards and views in Dayforce in the same way as a
dashboard on a car. A car dashboard contains lots of different information (speed, mileage, fuel levels,
etc.) presented in different ways (speedometer, odometer, fuel gauge, etc.). The same is true about a
dashboard in Dayforce – it can contain information about a wide variety of workforce data sources and
may present it in many ways. Any combination of views can be assembled on a dashboard.

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16 Working with Dashboards Analyzing Data with Dashboards

Access Existing Dashboards

Path: Dashboards > Dashboards

Your organization has begun its analysis process and has determined that it will working primarily in
Dashboards. Now, you must determine whether there is an existing dashboard that satisfies your
analysis needs. If there is, you can simply use it and continue with the analysis process.

XYZ Company already has existing dashboards related to Turnover, Headcount,

and Salary Analysis. Some of the information you need for analysis can be found
within these dashboards.

Preconfigured Dashboards
A number of dashboards are already configured for you by default. These preconfigured dashboards are
related to problems that many organizations face and highlight recommended analytics to address
them.
Dashboard Name Description
Summary Provides an overall look at key statistics for your organization.
Turnover Displays information related to turnover rates within your organization.
Headcount Displays information related to your organization’s headcount trends.
Early Churn Provides insight into turnover for employees who have been with the organization
for six months or less.
Salary Analysis Displays salary trend information for various groups within your organization.
Overtime Hours Provides information about overtime hours recorded at your organization.
WFM - Attendance Summarizes attendance issues, such as no-shows and absences.
Benefits Provides information about your organization’s benefit elections, costs, and
carriers.
Payroll Displays information related to payroll within your organization.
Recruiting Displays information relative your organization’s recruitment efforts.

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Analyzing Data with Dashboards 17

When discussing “existing” dashboards, we are referring to any dashboards that already exist in the
system when you begin your analysis. Some of these may be preconfigured dashboards and others
may be dashboards that you previously created and saved.

Load Existing Dashboards

The Favorites Bar appears across the top of the dashboard’s workspace and lists some of the
dashboards available to you.

Select a dashboard on this bar to load it and its associated views. The selected dashboard is indicated in
bold text and with a blue line underneath.
The Favorites Bar does not usually list every dashboard that exists for your organization; it lists the
dashboards that you use most frequently so you can access them with a single click.

By default, a number of preconfigured dashboards are listed on the Favorites Bar. To remove a
dashboard from this bar, select and load the dashboard into the workspace. Once loaded, click the
Remove from Favorites button to remove the dashboard from the favorites bar.

Removing a dashboard from the Favorites Bar does not delete it entirely. You can view a complete list of
your dashboards in the Dashboards fly-out. Click the fly-out tab at the left side of the screen to open it
and view this list. Select a dashboard in the list to load the associated views in the workspace.

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18 Working with Dashboards Analyzing Data with Dashboards

If a dashboard does not currently appear on the Favorites Bar and you load it from the Dashboards fly-
out, you can click Add to Favorites to add it to the Favorites Bar as well.
Regardless of how you load your dashboard, once it is loaded you can look for views and data within it
that satisfy your analysis needs.

Add a New Dashboard

Path: Dashboards > Dashboards

You’ve found some of the information you need within XYZ Company’s existing
Dashboards. However, you would like to create a new ‘Employee Retention’
dashboard to specifically group together views related to the employee retention
issues.
If you do not currently have a dashboard with views that report on the items you need, you can create a
new one. You may also wish to create a new dashboard to group together views that are currently
organized into many different dashboards.

To create a new dashboard, click New in the toolbar and type a name for the dashboard.
A dashboard is created when you click Save.

In this example, a new dashboard called ‘Employee Retention’ is added. It currently displays as a blank
page because no views have been added to it yet. It appears in the Favorites Bar automatically and can
be loaded directly from there, but you can remove it from the bar by clicking Remove from Favorites.

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Analyzing Data with Dashboards 19

The new Dashboard also appears within the Dashboards Fly-out once added.

Select the dashboard within the fly-out to open it in the workspace.

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20 Working with Dashboards Analyzing Data with Dashboards

Add a New Dashboard Group

Path: Dashboards > Dashboards

After the Employee Retention Dashboard is complete, you want to share this
dashboard with the other members of XYZ Company’s HR department.
Create a new “Human Resources” Dashboard Group to facilitate this.
All dashboards are assigned to a dashboard group. You can view dashboard group assignments within
the Dashboard fly-out.

When you create a dashboard it is assigned to the “My Private Dashboards” group by default. This group
is accessible only to you. You can add other dashboard groups for your organization, either to categorize
the list or to grant others access to only specific information.
Click New Group… within the Dashboards Fly-out to add a new Dashboard Group.

The Group Properties window displays. Enter a Group Name and Description for the new dashboard
group and click Save when finished to create the group.

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Analyzing Data with Dashboards 21

The new group appears within the Dashboards fly-out, and you can now assign dashboards to this
dashboard group.

Update or Delete Dashboard Groups

Occasionally, you will need to modify or delete an existing dashboard group. Right-click the group within
the Dashboards fly-out to display an options menu.

Click Properties… to display the Group Properties window for the dashboard group, which you can use
to edit the group name or description. You can also click Delete Group to permanently delete a
dashboard group. Note that you cannot delete a dashboard group while a dashboard is assigned to it.

Modify Dashboard Properties

Path: Dashboards > Dashboards > Properties
Once you have created a dashboard group, you will likely want to assign dashboards to it. This
assignment is made within the Dashboard Properties of each dashboard. You can also toggle display
settings and other basic information about a dashboard here.

Assign the new Employee Retention dashboard to the Human Resources

dashboard group. This will allow you to share the dashboard group with
other HR employees later.

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22 Working with Dashboards Analyzing Data with Dashboards

First, load the desired dashboard in the workspace. Then, click Properties within the tool bar to display
the Dashboard Properties Window.

The following changes can be made here:

• Title and Description – You can rename an existing dashboard or add details to the
dashboard in the description box.
• Dashboard Group – Use this list to assign a dashboard to a new dashboard group.
Remember that you need to create the new dashboard group before you can use this list to
assign a dashboard to it.

• Layout – You can change the way that views display within the workspace by using the
Layout sliders. Views display in columns; you can set the width of each column or eliminate
a column from the display by moving the sliders to the left or right. The All Equal button sets
all view columns to the same width.
• Font Size in Charts – Make the text within chart views larger or smaller using this menu.
• Additional Display Options – These options determine how filter values, headers and
footers, and drilldown summaries display within the dashboard. There are three display
options for each:

o Show in All Views – The item displays for all views within the dashboard.
o Hide in All Views – The item is hidden for all views within the dashboard.
o Use View Settings – Dayforce uses the settings from the view configuration when
determining whether to display or hide the item.

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Analyzing Data with Dashboards 23

Delete Dashboards
If you no longer want to use one of your dashboards, delete it by right-clicking on the dashboard’s name
in the Dashboards Fly-out.

Select Delete Dashboard. Then click OK when prompted to delete the dashboard.

When you delete a dashboard, the views that were included on the dashboard still exist and can be
used on other dashboards.

Activity: Add a New Dashboard and Assign a Dashboard to a Dashboard Group

Time: 6 minutes
XYZ Company wants to create a new dashboard, Employee Retention, and assign it to the new
dashboard group, Human Resources.
Details:
▪ The dashboard name should be “Employee Retention.”
▪ Ensure that it appears on both the favorites bar and the Dashboards fly-out.
▪ The dashboard group should be “Human Resources.”
o The description should state that the group contains “Dashboards related to HR
activities”.
o After adding this dashboard group, ensure that the new group appears on the
Dashboards fly-out.
▪ Use the dashboard properties to assign the Employee Retention dashboard to the Human
Resources dashboard group.

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24 Working with Dashboards Analyzing Data with Dashboards

Solution:
Path: Dashboards > Dashboards
Create the Dashboard:
1. Click New.
2. Type “Employee Retention” for the Title.
3. Click Save.
4. Verify that the new Dashboard appears on the Favorites bar and in the Dashboards fly-out.
Create the Dashboard Group
5. Open the Dashboards fly-out.
6. Click New Group.
7. Type “Human Resources” for the Group Name.
8. Type “Dashboards related to HR activities” for the Description.
9. Click Save.
10. Verify that the new dashboard group appears within the Dashboards fly-out.
Assign the Dashboard to the Dashboard Group
11. Select and load the Employee Retention dashboard.
12. Click Properties from the toolbar.
13. Click Human Resources within the Dashboard Groups list.
14. Click Save.
15. Open the Dashboards fly-out and verify that the Employee retention dashboard has been
correctly assigned.

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Analyzing Data with Dashboards 25

Create Views
After determining which dashboard(s) you’re using, you can begin to add views to your dashboard to
summarize and display information.
Each data visualization shown within Dashboards is called a view. You can create and modify views to
satisfy your business needs.
There are four different types of views available:
View Type Description
Chart views represent data as
bar charts, pie charts, or line
charts. Each chart view has a
specific chart type that
controls how it displays the
data.
A chart view is ideal for
identifying trends, comparing
period-over-period data, or
distinguishing the parts of a
whole.

Table views represent data

across several categories. Each
table view has a set of
columns and rows that you
select, and numeric data that
the application displays per
row and column intersection.

A table view is ideal when

looking at a large number of
data points, for example,
salary by job, or totals hours
worked by position.

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26 Create Views Analyzing Data with Dashboards

KPIs, or Key Performance

Indicators, represent data that
you want measured against
specific limits or goals that
you define. They provide a
visualization of how close the
actual KPI value is to these
goals or limits.

Metrics typically show a single

value that on its own conveys
useful information. Metrics
can also be expanded to view
a chart visualization of the
data.
Metric views are great for
displaying many high-level
data elements at a glance.

A number of views are preconfigured in Dayforce to satisfy common client needs. For example, many
organizations may want to use views such as Average Hourly Rate by Job or Overtime Hours Trend.
These views are preconfigured and available to add to your Dashboards without any further
configuration. You can also create and save new views and add them to your dashboards.

For a complete list of preconfigured views available to you within Dashboards, see the Appendix:
Preconfigured Views section of the Dashboards User Guide.

Views can be added to Dashboards in any combination. You may use a variety of view types on a
dashboard to ensure that all the information you need is correctly displayed.

Views and Data Sources

Each view is associated with one, and only one, data source. The data source is where the information
displayed in the view is derived from. Once the data source has been set for a view it cannot be
changed.

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Analyzing Data with Dashboards 27

Add Existing Views to Dashboards

Path: Dashboards > Dashboards

Dayforce comes preconfigured with an extensive list of views to help meet common reporting and
analysis needs. If a preconfigured view is sufficient, you can add it to a dashboard and begin using it.
Additionally, views you have created in the past are also saved within Dashboards so you can re-use
them or add them to additional dashboards in the future in the same manner. You can consider both the
preconfigured views and the views that have been previously created to be ‘existing’ views.

Add the following views to the Employee Retention Dashboard:

• Terminations Trend
• Terminations Trend by Service Band
• Terminations by Job
Note: In Dayforce, the term “termination” refers to an employee who has left the
organization for any reason. Some termination types are voluntary (e.g. resignation,
return to school) while others are involuntary (e.g. dismissal). Since you want to
look at why employees are leaving the company, you’ll be reviewing termination
information.
Adding an existing view to a dashboard is the same regardless of whether you want to add a view to a
new dashboard or to one of the existing dashboards. Select the dashboard you want to add a view to
and click Add View. The Search for View screen displays in a new tab.

There are a few different ways to search for the view you want to add. You can:
• Search by title or by keyword – You can change the search method using the list to the left
of the search bar
• Select a data source – This narrows down the list to only views with the selected data
source
• Select the view type you want – All, Chart, Table, or KPI (metric is not included here)

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28 Create Views Analyzing Data with Dashboards

Leave the search term blank and click search to see a list of all existing views.

This list summarizes the most important information about a view – its name, the view type (chart, table
or KPI), time information, and the data source for the information shown within the view.
Click the name of any view in this list to add it to the dashboard.

Here, the Service Band by Distribution Trend view is added.

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Analyzing Data with Dashboards 29

Remove Views from Dashboards

You can remove a view from a dashboard at any time. Click the ‘X’ in the top right corner of the view to
remove it.

Click OK when prompted to finish removing the view.

Modify View Settings

There are a few options you can change for a view to further modify how it displays on your dashboard
and how its data is used.

Click the settings icon in the top right corner of a view to open the Settings window.

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30 Create Views Analyzing Data with Dashboards

The following chart provides an overview of the types of settings you can modify here. Specific settings
will be mentioned later in the course as they are associated with various tasks.
Setting Type Description and Use
Change font size Toggle the font size displayed within the selected view.
Appearance and summary Use these options to modify the view type or hide information from the
information view.
Explore data Edit the existing view within the View Builder
Export the data Export data in a variety of formats for use in other applications, such as
PowerPoint and Excel.

Activity: : Add Existing Views to the Employee Retention Dashboard

4 minutes
Add the following existing views to the Employee Retention dashboard.
• Terminations Trend
• Turnover Rate by Service Band
• Terminations by Job

Solution:
Path: Dashboards > Dashboards
Add the Terminations Trend view:
1. Load the Employee Retention dashboard in the workspace.
2. Click Add View.
3. Type “terminations trend” in the search bar.
4. Click the Search button.
5. Click Terminations Trend in the Search Results list.
6. Verify that the Terminations Trend view has been added to the Employee Retention
dashboard.
Add the Turnover Rate by Service Band view:
7. Ensure that the Employee Retention dashboard is still loaded in the workspace.
8. Click Add View.
9. Type “turnover rate” in the search bar.
10. Click the Search button.
11. Click Turnover Rate by Service Band in the Search Results list.
12. Verify that the Turnover Rate by Service Band view has been added to the Employee
Retention dashboard.
Add the Terminations by Job view:
13. Ensure that the Employee Retention dashboard is still loaded in the workspace.
14. Click Add View.
15. Type “terminations by job” in the search bar.
16. Click the Search button.

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Analyzing Data with Dashboards 31

17. Click Terminations by Job in the Search Results list.

18. Verify that the Terminations by Job view has been added to the Employee Retention
dashboard.

View Builder

Though the list of existing views is extensive, situations may arise where you discover that none of the
existing views satisfy your needs. In this situation you can use the View Builder to create a view
according to your specifications.
The view builder is accessed in two different ways. The way you access it depends on what type of work
you need to complete:

Task Accessing the View Builder

Modify an existing view to meet There are two ways to load an existing view in the View
your needs Builder:
• Add the view to your dashboard and click View
Settings. Select the View Builder feature to open
the existing view in the View Builder.
• Access the View Builder within the Navigation
Panel (Dashboards > View Builder). Use the filter
to locate an existing view and select it to open it in
the view builder.
Create an entirely new view from Access the View Builder feature within the Navigation
scratch Panel (Dashboards > View Builder). From here you can
create a brand-new view.
Today you’ll create some views from scratch and will use the view builder to modify parameters for
existing views.

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32 Create Views Analyzing Data with Dashboards

The View Builder Process

There are a lot of components that make up a view, and each of these components must be considered
when you create a new view using the View Builder. The View Builder process illustrates each of them
and arranges them in the order in which they should be created.

Step Description and Key Tasks

Select View Type and The first decision you must make involves deciding which view type –
Set Data Parameters chart, table, KPI, or metric – will be used for the new view. This
decision is important, as the view type you select will influence the
options available for steps later the process. Next, you must select the
data source that will be used to populate the new view with data.
Specify Fields Once a data source is selected, the next step is to specify the values
shown within the view (the X axis and Y axis values for a chart, the
column and row values for a table, etc.). The number of values
required depends on both the view type selected and your analysis
needs.
Define Timeframe In addition to determining what data is shown in the view, you must
also determine the time period from which the data is derived. The
results shown on your view may vary widely based on the date range
shown.
Optional Parameters Finally, you can add optional parameters to a view, such as a filter,
drilldown, or other options.
You should also consider the View Builder Process when modifying existing views in order to ensure that
all components of a view remain relevant and correctly configured.

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Analyzing Data with Dashboards 33

Create a Chart View

Path: Dashboards > View Builder
Each chart view has a specific chart type that controls how it displays the data. You can select the type
of chart you need when you add a new chart view.

When selecting a chart type, you should consider the type of data you want to see, how you want it
displayed, and how the data should naturally be represented. For example, if you’re tracking headcount
from month to month, a line chart might be better for identifying trends than a pie chart. In contrast, a
pie chart would be more useful if displaying current headcount by location.

Create a new view called “Voluntary Terminations by Service Band”. This

view will be a column chart and should display the number of terminations,
sorted by service band.

When creating a view from scratch, you must open the view builder directly from the navigation panel.

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34 Create Views Analyzing Data with Dashboards

The same Search for View screen displays, but there is also an additional New View button in the top
left corner. Select this button to begin the process of creating a new view from scratch.

Select View Type and Set Data Parameters

The View Options window displays as soon as you select the New View button.

Use this window to define the most basic parameters about your new view. You must select a view type
– Chart, Table, KPI, or Metric – for the view and determine which data source it will work with.
Click Save when finished.

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Analyzing Data with Dashboards 35

The View Builder

Saving the View Options opens the View Builder.

This is where you can set the rest of the parameters for the view. There is a lot of information on this
screen, so it’s important to understand how to navigate within it before you start to construct a view.
The above screenshot outlines the elements found within the View Builder:
1. Left Column – The left column on this screen displays a number of panes. Each pane is used to
indicate important information about your view. Click the pencil icon in the top right corner of a
pane to edit the information within.
2. Available Fields – The available fields list appears in the middle of the screen. It serves as a bank
of available data fields which you can select to create your view.
3. Preview – This pane displays a preview of your view as you create it. Click the Preview button at
the top right corner of this pane after editing your view to update the preview.
4. Chart Type – When creating chart views, you have the option of selecting from a number of
different chart types. Use this menu to make this selection.
5. Selected Fields – To create a view, select or drag a data field from the Available Fields list to one
of the Selected Field columns. Depending on what kind of view you are creating or the data field
you’ve selected, there may be restrictions on the type or number of fields you can select.
We’ll take a look at how to create and edit a wide variety of views using the View Builder, starting with
the chart view you have already begun working on.

You’ll notice that the View Type and Data Source options you already selected appear in the View
Options pane in the left column.

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36 Create Views Analyzing Data with Dashboards

With the exception of the View Type pane, all of the panes listed in this column can be edited. Click the
Edit icon in the top right corner of the pane to do so.
All views must have a unique title so they can be identified. Usually this title provides a concise summary
of the information found within the view. Click Edit within the Title and Description pane to add a title
to your new view.

In addition to the title, you can add a description or include keywords that help users locate the view
later on. Click Save when finished.

The Title and Description pane updates to reflect the new information, and the new title also appears
above the preview.

The View Title is an example of a mandatory field. If you do not complete one or more of the
mandatory fields while setting up your view, you will be prompted to do so before you can save the
view and add it to a dashboard.

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Analyzing Data with Dashboards 37

Since you are creating a chart view, you must also select the type of chart you want to use from the
Chart Type list.

The list of different chart types is extensive. You can change the chart type at any time during this
process and can toggle between different chart types to preview them before saving your view.

Specify Fields
Next you will indicate the data fields that display within the view.

The Available Fields list contains all of the data fields available to you based on the data source you
selected. There are three field types available to choose from:
Field Type Icon Description
Date Data for this field display as calendar dates in the view.

Numeric Value Data for this field display as numeric values in the view.

Text Data for this field display as text items or categories in the view.

A field is applied to your view once it has been moved into a Selected Fields column.

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38 Create Views Analyzing Data with Dashboards

Because you are creating a chart view, there are three Selected Fields columns available:
• Numeric Values – This serves as the Y axis for most charts, and you can only add numeric
value fields in this column.
• Category – This serves as the X axis for most charts.
• Group By – For some chart types, you can further group information within the chart by
adding a third field to this column.
Other types of charts or views may require fewer Selected Fields.
Since the list of available fields is so extensive, it may be helpful to use filters to locate the field you
need.

Type a query into the search bar or select a Field Type at the top of the Available Fields list.
Once you have located the desired field in the list, there are two ways you can add it to a Selected Field
column:
1. Hover over the field with your cursor. The field icon changes to a green check mark.

Click the check mark to add the value to a Selected Field column.
2. Click and hold the available field in the list.

Drag the field into a Selected Field column.

The view type you’ve chosen and the field you’re trying to select data for may enforce restrictions on
your selections. For example, you can only select a field with the Numeric Value field type if you want to

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Analyzing Data with Dashboards 39

select it for the Numeric Values column, and you may not be able to add a field to the Group By column
if you have selected certain types of charts.
Once you have selected a chart type and determined your Selected Field values, click Preview to see
your new view.

It’s important to look at the preview of your new view to ensure that it captures the correct data in a
way that makes sense to you. You can toggle settings, such as the chart type or selected fields, to see
how the changes affect your view. Click Preview after making any changes to update the view shown in
the view builder.

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40 Create Views Analyzing Data with Dashboards

For example, after looking at your first preview of the Voluntary Terminations by Service Band chart, you
realized that it might be clearer to display the Service Band field across the X axis rather than the Is
Voluntary Term field. Swap the fields shown in the Selected Field columns and click Preview. The chart is
regenerated with the new parameters, allowing you to see how your changes affect the view. You can
see in the screenshot above that even a small change to the view parameters can make a big difference
in the overall view output.

Define the Timeframe

When viewing any type of information, it’s very important to consider the date range from which data is
selected and the time units used to measure this range. Both parameters can drastically affect which
data are pulled to a view and how the data are displayed. For example, turnover data pulled from the
last 6 months may show a completely different trend than the same data pulled from a 24-month
period. It’s important to consider how date and time info affects the scope of your view.

Time parameters for your view are set using the Time panel in the left column. Since you need to define
some time range to be able to generate a view, default parameters are populated here automatically.
Click Edit to change the time parameters.

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Analyzing Data with Dashboards 41

The Date Field indicates the point from which time measurements are taken.
The Time Unit determines how time is measured for the purposes of this view (i.e. the intervals at which
time data displays). You can select from a variety of options such as Month, Week, Calendar Year,
Financial Year, etc.
The Date Field and the Time Unit are combined to ensure that your results are accurate and meet your
needs. In the above screenshot, the Time Unit selected is Month, and the Date Field selected is Period
Start. This indicates that a measurement will be shown for your data each month as of the beginning of
the month. If you wanted to measure a value as of the end of the month instead, you could change the
Date Field value to Period End.
The Time Period determines how far back the view will draw data from (i.e. the volume of data shown).
Here, the view is retrieving data from the last 12 months by default; you can define this period
differently. You can also choose a Fixed Date Range option, which allows you to define a specific date
range from which data will be drawn. When selected, additional fields display where you can enter a
Start Date and End Date for the range.
Finally, you may wish to compare the results for the current year against those of another year in your
view. Use the Show Another Year list to select which year you’d like to compare against. You can
compare with a year up to three years ago.

Optional Parameters
Now you’ve selected a chart type, determined your data fields, and defined the time period for your
new view. You’ve completed all of the mandatory elements for this view and can publish it now if you’re
ready to do so.
If needed, you can also define some optional parameters for your view such as filters, drilldowns, or
other options. We’ll discuss how these function later in this section.

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42 Create Views Analyzing Data with Dashboards

Save Your View

Once your view is finished, click Save as New to save the view to your list of available views. Now you
can add the view to any of your dashboards.

Activity: Create a Chart View

Time: 8 minutes
Create a new view called “Voluntary Terminations by Service Band”. This view will be a column chart and
should display the number of terminations, sorted by service band.
Details:
• This view should be a chart view with the ‘Column – 2D – no values’ chart type
• Use the title for the view keywords
• For the view description, enter the following: “This view displays voluntary terminations at
XYZ Company, sorted by service band”
• The fields for this view should be set as follows:
o Numeric Values → Is Termination
o Category (x Axis) → Service Band
o Group By (Series) → Is Voluntary Term
• You can use the default time settings for this view
• Once the view is finished, preview it, save it, and add it to the Employee Retention
dashboard

Solution:
Path: Dashboards > View Builder
1. Click New View.
2. Click Chart in the View Type list.
3. Click Employee in the Data Source list.
4. Click Save.
5. Locate the Is Termination field in the Available Fields list.

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Analyzing Data with Dashboards 43

6. Move the Is Termination field to the Numeric Values column.

7. Locate the Service Band field in the Available Fields list.
8. Move the Service Band field to the Category (x Axis) column.
9. Locate the Is Voluntary Term field in the Available Fields list.
10. Move the Is Voluntary Term field to the Group By (Series) column.
11. Select Column – 2D – no values in the Chart Type list.
12. Click Preview.
13. Verify that your view has been generated correctly.
14. Verify that the following time parameters have been set for your view:
o Period Start is selected for the Date Field
o Month is selected for the Time Unit
o Last 12 Months is selected for the Time Period
o Just This Year has been selected for the Show Another Year
15. Click Save as New.
16. Type “Voluntary Terminations by Service Band” for the View Title and Keywords.
17. Type “This view displays voluntary terminations at XYZ Company, sorted by service band”
for the Description.
18. Click Save.
19. Click Close.
Add the Voluntary Terminations by Service Band chart to the Employee Retention dashboard:
Path: Dashboards > Dashboards > [load Employee Retention dashboard]
1. Click Add View.
2. Type “voluntary terminations” in the search bar.
3. Click the Search button.
4. Click Voluntary Terminations By Service Band in the Search Results list.
5. Verify that the Voluntary Terminations By Service Band view has been added to the
Employee Retention dashboard.

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44 Create Views Analyzing Data with Dashboards

Create a Table View

Path: Dashboards > View Builder
Table views represent data across several categories. Each table view has a set of columns and rows that
you select, and numeric data that the application displays per row and column intersection.

Based on the information in your Voluntary Turnover by Service Band view,

you can see that turnover is higher than expected for employees in the 1-3
Years service band. However, this chart also helped you identify another
problem – a great number of the terminations entered into Dayforce were
recorded without a reason indicating whether they were voluntary or
involuntary. This issue could be confounding your results and is something
that the organization should address.
Edit the Terminations by Job view to display termination reasons recorded
for each position. You can then use this view to narrow down where in your
organization these terminations without a reason are being recorded and
take corrective action. Save the new view as Terminations by Job and
Position.

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Analyzing Data with Dashboards 45

You created the Voluntary Turnover by Service Band chart view from scratch. For this example, a table
view already exists that is like the one you need. It’s faster and more efficient to edit this existing view
than to create an entirely new view.

Here, the Terminations by Job table view is added. This view provides some useful information, such as
which jobs have a high number of terminations recorded. But this view does not tell us which of these
terminations were voluntary, involuntary, or missing a termination reason. Also, jobs can be used at
multiple departments across the organization, so grouping the chart by job doesn’t really help you
narrow down which departments or locations are entering terminations incorrectly. It would be more
effective in this scenario to further organize the results by position.

When editing an existing view directly from the Dashboard, you must open the Settings window, which
is found in the top right corner of the view. Select View Builder within the Settings window to open the
existing view information in the View Builder.
You could also edit the view directly within the View Builder feature, found in the Navigation panel.

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46 Create Views Analyzing Data with Dashboards

You’ll notice that the View Builder looks a bit different when loaded for a table view. The Selected Fields
columns are listed alongside the Available Fields column, and the table preview is generated at the
bottom of the screen. You still use the Preview button to refresh the preview after modifying
parameters.

Select View Type and Data Parameters

Since you are editing an existing view, the view type and data source are already selected. You do not
need to define them and can proceed to specifying or editing the fields used to generate the view.
However, if you do edit the information contained within a view, you should ensure that the title,
description, and keywords still accurately reflect the view after your modifications. In case you forget,
Dayforce will prompt you to confirm or update this information at the end of the process.

Specify Fields
There are three Selected Fields columns available for a table view. They are:
• Numeric Values – This field represents the data displayed within the table.
• Rows – Determines the value(s) listed in the rows on the table. You can set more than one
row for a table; the resulting table displays the first-row field and groups by the following
field(s).
• Columns – This field indicates the value(s) listed in the columns on the table. You can set
more than one column for a table; the resulting table displays the first column field and
groups by the following field(s).

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Analyzing Data with Dashboards 47

Select the desired fields from the Available Fields list and move them into the appropriate columns.
When your fields have been set, click Preview to see your chart.

Here, you’ve modified the original chart by adding a column value (Is Voluntary Term) and a second row
(Position) to help narrow down the results.

Define the Timeframe

Just like with a chart view, it’s also important to define the timeframe for a table view.

All of the same time period options are available to you when creating a table view.
The most important field to consider here is the Time Period. The table you create will show data
derived from the time period that you select. The Voluntary Turnover by Job and Position table shows
termination information from the Last 12 months, as indicated by the Time Period.

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48 Create Views Analyzing Data with Dashboards

Save Your View

You have two options available when saving a view you’ve updated.

• Click Save to save the modified version of the current view, overriding the original
parameters.
• Click Save as New to save this view as an entirely new view. This allows you to use both the
original view and the modified view in the future.
If you are unhappy with your modifications, click Discard Changes to revert to the original view and save
none of the changes.
Once you have saved the new view, you can add it to your dashboard. For table views, there are also a
few display options that can be modified after the table is added.
As an example, the following table, Absence Reasons – Top 10 Over Last 12 Months, is found within XYZ
Company’s Summary Dashboard.

For this chart, additional buttons appear above the rows on this table. On other tables these buttons
may also appear above the columns. Use these buttons to define the table’s sort order and displayed
values.

To define the sort order of either a row or column, click the triangle button.

The sort order toggles the display order of the values between ascending and descending order.

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Analyzing Data with Dashboards 49

In addition, you can filter the rows or columns so that only some of the values are displayed. Click the
chevron arrow button to display a list of the values shown in the table. Clear or select the check boxes
next to the values to hide or display the corresponding row in the table view. For example, if you did not
want to see Jury Duty or Bereavement within the table, you could clear the check boxes beside these
values to hide them from the view. Click OK when finished to apply your changes.

Activity: Create a Table View

Time: 8 minutes
Modify the Terminations by Job table view that displays the total number of absences by job and age
band. Use the View Builder to create the Terminations by Job and Position view.
Details:
• This view should be a table view
• Use title for the view keywords
• For the view description, enter the following: “This view displays terminations by job and
position, broken down by termination type”
• The fields for this view should be set as follows:
o Rows → Job, Position
o Columns → Is Voluntary Term
o Numeric Values → Is Termination
• You can use the default time settings for this view
• Once the view is finished, preview it, save it, and add it to the Employee Retention
dashboard

Solution:
Path: Dashboards > Dashboards > [load Employee Retention dashboard]
1. Click Settings within the Terminations by Job view pane.
2. Click View Builder.
3. Click Edit in the Title and Description pane.
4. Type “Terminations by Job and Position” for the View Title and Keywords.
5. Type “This view displays terminations by job and position, broken down by termination
type” for the Description.
6. Click Save.

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50 Create Views Analyzing Data with Dashboards

7. Locate the Position field in the Available Fields list.

8. Move the Position field to the Rows column.
9. Locate the Is Voluntary Term field in the Available Fields list.
10. Move the Is Voluntary Term field to the Columns column.
11. Verify that the Is Termination field appears in the Numeric Values column.
12. Click Preview.
13. Verify that your view has been generated correctly.
21. Click Edit in the Time pane.
22. Verify that the following time parameters have been set for your view:
o Period Start is selected for the Date Field
o Month is selected for the Time Unit
o Last 12 Months is selected for the Time Period
o Just This Year has been selected for the Show Another Year
23. Click Save.
24. Click Save as New.
25. Re-type the View Title, Description and Keywords if necessary.
14. Click Save.
15. Click Close.
Add the Terminations by Job and Position chart to the Employee Retention dashboard:
Path: Dashboards > Dashboards > [load Employee Retention dashboard]
1. Click Add View.
2. Type “terminations by job” in the search bar.
3. Select the Table check box within the View Types section.
4. Click the Search button.
5. Click Terminations by Job and Position in the Search Results list.
6. Verify that the Terminations by Job and Position view has been added to the Employee
Retention dashboard.

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Analyzing Data with Dashboards 51

Create a KPI View

Path: Dashboards > View Builder
Key Performance Indicators, or KPIs, represent data that you want measured against specific limits or
goals that you define. They provide a visualization of how close the actual KPI value is to these goals or
limits.

For example, the Summary dashboard contains a KPI that summarizes the average hourly rate across
your entire organization. An acceptable range of rates has been defined and a target rate of
$25.00/hour is set within it. The pointer indicates where the actual Average Hourly Rate falls in this
range.

After reviewing your table view, you determined that turnover is highest for
the following positions at your organization:
• E1101 GEX Base
• C1101 GEX Base
• E1200 Assc Fitness Sub
You want to make sure that current pay rates are not a reason for this
turnover. Create a KPI to measure the current hourly rate for these three
positions and to ensure that their pay rates fall into the appropriate ranges,
as determined by your organization. You should also exclude part-time
employees from this KPI, as their pay rate tends to be lower and higher
turnover is expected for this group. Finally, ensure that a target rate is set at
$24.00/hour.

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52 Create Views Analyzing Data with Dashboards

Select View Type and Set Data Parameters

Unlike other view types, there are very few KPI views preconfigured within Dayforce. Luckily, a KPI with
data similar to what you’re looking for, called Average Hourly Rate, is already available. In other cases
you will need to configure a view from scratch.

You should locate this existing view by navigating to the View Builder directly from the navigation panel.

Use the Search for View screen to locate this view, and click the view name to edit the view in the View
Builder.

If you create a new KPI view from scratch instead, click New View and select KPI as the View Type as
well as a data source. The new KPI view then loads in the View Builder for you to edit.

There are two KPI types to choose from: Semi-circular gauge and Fully circular gauge.

Use the KPI Type list at the top right corner of the view builder to select one of these for your view.
Don’t forget to ensure that the title, description, and keywords for this view still accurately reflect the
view after your modifications. Dayforce will prompt you to confirm or update this information at the end
of the View Builder process in case you forget to change it.

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Analyzing Data with Dashboards 53

Specify Fields
KPIs only measure one value – they compare the actual value to a target value that you set. Therefore,
you can only specify one numeric value for a KPI and cannot specify any other fields.

Since you selected the existing Average Hourly Rate view, the Hourly Rate field has already been added
for the Numeric Value column. This is the correct field for your new view so you don’t need to update it.

Define the Timeframe

Like with any other view, it is important to define the timeframe for a KPI view.

You can set all of the same time parameters within the Time pane in the left column of the View Builder.

Optional Parameters
You may have noticed that the KPI view currently displays the average hourly rate for all positions at
your organization. You’re looking to monitor the pay rates for only certain positions. Furthermore, you’d
also like to adjust the target and limits shown on the KPI to reflect those for only these specific positions.
How can you do this? The answers lie with a number of optional parameters.

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54 Create Views Analyzing Data with Dashboards

Filters
One or more filters can be applied to a view to limit the amount of data shown within. In this case,
filters can be used to ensure the KPI displays only hourly rate data for certain positions, and certain
employees within those positions.

Filters are set within the Filters panel in the left column of the View Builder screen. You can set filters for
any type of view (Chart, Table, KPI, or Metric).

The filters pane is blank if you are creating a view from scratch, since no filters are populated by default.
If you are editing an existing view, such as the Average Hourly Rate view, one or more filters may have
been added to the view already. Click Edit to add, delete, or update the filters for a view.

The Filters window displays. A list of all the filters currently applied to the view, if applicable, is shown.
Each row in this list represents one filter, and each filter consists of three parts:

• Field – Select a field within the list to indicate which field you want to use to generate the
filter. For example, you can select the Employment Status field.
• Comparator – Indicates how the filter will be applied. For example, if the comparator is set
to Is Equal To, the filter will look for all employees whose Employment Status Is Equal To
Active, and will display only results for employees who meet this criterion.
• Filter – The value, found within the field, that you want to filter by. For example, the
Employment Status field at XYZ Company contains three statuses – Active, Inactive, and
Terminated. You must choose one of these statuses as your filter.

You can apply multiple filters to a view to narrow down the results to a much more granular level. For
example, the Average Hourly Rate view already has two filters applied. These filters ensure that the view
only displays results for Active employees whose hourly rate is greater than zero.

Click Add Filter to add a new filter to this list.

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Analyzing Data with Dashboards 55

Select Position for the field to narrow down this list to only the positions with high turnover. In this
scenario, you want to narrow the results down to hourly rates for employees in three positions.

You could create three separate filters to do this, but you can also accomplish the same result more
quickly by selecting Is One Of within the list of comparators. Use the search bar at the top of the
Available Values list to find a value, and select the check box next to the value to add it to the Selected
Values list. Click Save when you have selected all desired values.

Once saved, multiple filter criteria are set within one filter row.

The examples shown here illustrate only a few of the many comparators available for a filter. For more
information about how to use each comparator, review the Dashboards User Guide.

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56 Create Views Analyzing Data with Dashboards

You can add as many filters as necessary for your view, or you can update the criteria for existing filters.
Here, one more filter is added to ensure that the view displays only information for FT employees.
Click the X icon to the right of a filter to delete it from the list.
When your list of filters is complete, click Save Filters to apply the filters and close the window.

The Filters pane reflects the new filters.

Click Preview to update your view to reflect the new filters as well.

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Analyzing Data with Dashboards 57

KPI Options
With other types of views you can easily skip adding some or all of the Chart or Table options without
drastically affecting your data. It is much more important to define KPI options, as these values do
affect how your KPI data displays.

You’ll notice that the Average Hourly Rate KPI is divided into three sections which visually indicate
whether the average pay rate is below, within, or above the acceptable range. You can set these ranges
and their associated colors within the KPI Options pane in the left column. Click Edit to modify these
values.

The most critical fields shown here are the Aggregate Type, the Limit fields, and the color fields.
The Aggregate Type field defines what function Dayforce applies to the data. You can select Maximum,
Minimum, Average, Sum, or COUNT to configure the application to perform the specified function on
the data. If you don’t want any function applied, select blank. Average has already been selected as the
Aggregate Type for this view – you still want to view the average hourly rate for the selected positions,
so do not change this parameter.
The First Limit and Second Limit fields define the limits of the numerical ranges the KPI value can fall
within. These limits create three ranges: if the KPI values fall below the first limit, the application
represents the KPI in the first range, the first and second limits create the second range, and the third
range is anything above the second limit.

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58 Create Views Analyzing Data with Dashboards

Based on some industry comparisons you’ve researched, you have determined that other organizations
in your industry are paying employees between $20.00-$25.00 per hour for comparable positions. You
would like to adjust the portions shown on this KPI view to reflect this information. Furthermore, the
minimum wage in your area is $10/hour, so you would also like to adjust the KPI to reflect this.

The above screenshot shows how these ranges are set up using the Limit fields within KPI options. The
minimum limit is set at 10, reflecting the $10.00 per hour minimum wage. The First Limit and Second
Limit define the desired range for the average hourly rate, which is between $20.00 and $25.00 per
hour. Finally, the maximum limit is set at $40.00 per hour. Click Save to apply these limits to your view.

Once these limits are applied, you can see that the average hourly rate for the three positions shown on
this view falls below the preferred range.

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Analyzing Data with Dashboards 59

You can also set a target for your KPI by entering a Fixed Target Value.

For example, you have determined that the desired Average Hourly Rate for the selected employees
falls between $20.00 and $25.00 per hour. Since you see that your organization has fallen below the
desired range, you can set a target, such as $24.00 per hour, on your KPI. If you started to award raises
to some of the employees in these positions, you could return to the KPI to track movement toward the
target later on. Click Save when finished and click Preview to refresh your view.

The target displays as a dotted line and arrow on your KPI view.

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60 Create Views Analyzing Data with Dashboards

Finally, the Color fields within KPI Options define the display color for each range on your KPI.

You can choose from a variety of preset colors for each range, or even set each range to display with the
same color if desired. Click Save when finished and click Preview to refresh your view.

Your color selections are reflected on the updated KPI view.

Save Your View

Since you have modified an existing view to create this KPI, you have a few options when saving the
view:

• Click Save to save the modified version of the current view, overriding the original
parameters.
• Click Save as New to save this view as an entirely new view. This allows you to use both the
current view and the modified view in the future.
• If you are unhappy with your modifications, click Discard Changes to revert back to the
current view and save none of the changes.
If you create a new KPI view from scratch instead, Save as New is the only option available.
You can now add the view you created to any of your Dashboards.

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Analyzing Data with Dashboards 61

Filters Applied to a View

Once a view has been added to your Dashboard, a summary of all the filters applied to the view appears
in the bottom left corner.

All of the filters that you configured for your KPI view are listed within the view. This makes it easy for
you to determine exactly what information is shown.

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62 Create Views Analyzing Data with Dashboards

Activity: Create a new KPI View

Time: 12 minutes
Create a new view called “Average Hourly Rate – High Turnover Positions”. This view should be a KPI
view and should use the “KPI – Semi circular Gauge” type.
Details:
• Use title for the view keywords
• For the view description, enter the following: “This view displays the average hourly rate for
positions experiencing high turnover”
• The Hourly Rate field should be selected in the Numeric Values column
• The time parameters for this view can be left as the defaults
• Filters should be applied to this KPI view to narrow down the information shown:
o Employment status should be ‘Active’ for all employees shown
o All employees represented on the KPI must make at least $10.00/hour
o This KPI should only reflect the hourly rates of employees who work in one of the
three highest-turnover positions: E1101 GEX BASE, E1200 ASSC FITNESS SUB, or
C1101 GEX BASE
o All employees represented on the KPI must be assigned to the FT (full-time) pay
class
• Set up three ranges for this view:
o Employees who make $10.00 – $20.00/hour have hourly rates that are too low, and
should fall within the first range (colored red)
o Employees who make $20.00 – $25.00/hour have hourly rates within the second,
ideal, range (colored green)
o Employees who make $25.00 -$40.00/hour have hourly rates within the third range,
which exceeds the ideal range (colored yellow)
• Add a Fixed Target value of $24.00/hour to the view
• Once the view is finished, preview it, save it, and add it to the Employee Retention
dashboard

Solution:
Path: Dashboards > View Builder
1. Select the KPI check box within the View Types section.
2. Click Search.
3. Click Average Hourly Rate in the Search Results list.
4. Verify that the Average Hourly Rate view is loaded in the View Builder.
Add filters to the Average Hourly Rate – High Turnover Positions view:
5. Click Edit in the Filters pane.
6. Verify that the first filter is set correctly:
o Employment Status is selected for the Field
o Is Equal To is selected for the Comparator
o Active is selected for the Filter
7. Click 10.000000 in the Filter list for the second filter.
8. Verify that the second filter is now set correctly:
o Hourly Rate is selected for the Field
o Is Greater Than is selected for the Comparator

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Analyzing Data with Dashboards 63

o 10.000000 is selected for the Filter

9. Click Add Filter.
10. Click Position in the Field list.
11. Click Is One Of in the Comparator list.
12. Click E1101 GEX BASE, E1200 ASSC FITNESS SUB, and C1101 GEX BASE in the Available
Values list, moving them to the Selected Values list.
13. Click Save.
14. Click Add Filter.
15. Click Pay Class in the Field list.
16. Click Is Equal To in the Comparator list.
17. Click FT in the Filter list.
18. Click Save Filters.
Edit the KPI Options and save the view:
19. Click Edit in the KPI Options pane.
20. Verify that Average is selected for the Aggregate Type.
21. Type 40 for the Maximum Limit.
22. Type 25 for the Second Limit.
23. Type 20 for the First Limit.
24. Type 10 for the Minimum Limit.
25. Select the Fixed Target Value radio button.
26. Type 24 for the Fixed Target Value.
27. Click Yellow in the Second To Max Color list.
28. Click Green in the First to Second Color list.
29. Click Red in the Min to First Color list.
30. Click Save.
31. Click Preview.
32. Verify that your view has been generated correctly.
33. Click Edit in the Title and Description pane.
34. Type “Average Hourly Rate – High Turnover Positions” for the View Title and Keywords.
35. Type “This view displays the average hourly rate for positions experiencing high turnover”
for the Description.
36. Click Save.
37. Click Save As New.
38. Re-type the View Title, Description and Keywords if necessary.
39. Click Save.
40. Click Close.
Add the Terminations by Job and Position view to the Employee Retention dashboard:
Path: Dashboards > Dashboards > [load Employee Retention dashboard]
1. Click Add View.
2. Type “average hourly rate” in the search bar.
3. Select the KPI check box within the View Types section.
4. Click the Search button.
5. Click Average Hourly Rate – High Turnover Positions in the Search Results list.
6. Verify that the Average Hourly Rate – High Turnover Positions view has been added to the
Employee Retention dashboard.

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64 Create Views Analyzing Data with Dashboards

Create Metrics
Path: Dashboards > Dashboards
Metrics are data items that you can add to a dashboard for quick reference.

Each row in the screenshot above represents one metric, or one piece of data. The current value of
the metric is shown within the Metric Value column. The Trend arrows display the trend for this
particular metric over the last four periods, as measured by the value in the Time Period column.
For example, you can see that the Average Actual Salary metric is measured in monthly time
periods. The trend arrows are therefore showing the trend in average actual salary over the last
four months. The arrow farthest to the right represents the current month. Here, you can see that
Average Actual Salary is trending upward this month, after trending downward for the previous
three months.

Click a metric row to expand it and view trending data for the metric over a defined period (here,
data for the last 12 months is shown).

Add a metric for Is Termination. This metric measures the number of

terminations within the current period (defined as a month at your
organization).
Since the Is Termination metric doesn’t currently exist, you must create the
metric before you can add it to your Dashboard. You should also add ranges
to your dashboard to define acceptable and undesirable turnover rates –
these ranges are defined by your organization.

The process of adding metrics to a Dashboard is slightly different than adding another type of
view.

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Analyzing Data with Dashboards 65

To add a metric to the currently selected dashboard, click Add Metric within the tool bar at the top
of the Dashboards screen.

A new Metrics pane appears within the Dashboard, but contains no metric data.

Click Settings in the upper right corner of the pane to display additional options.

To insert a metric into this pane, click Add Metric, select the metric you want to add from the list,
and click Add. You can add more metrics or change the order in which they are displayed. When
finished, click Close Settings.

There are several preconfigured metrics available within Dayforce. You can also create additional
metrics within the View Builder.

The Settings icon for a metric only displays buttons used to add or remove existing metrics from
the list. You must create a new metric by opening the View Builder directly from the navigation
panel. Click New View to create a new metric from scratch. You can also edit one of the existing
metrics by searching for it and opening it in the View Builder.

Select View Type and Data Parameters

The View Options window displays as soon as you select the New View button.

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66 Create Views Analyzing Data with Dashboards

Select Metrics for the View Type and select the data source you will use. Click Save to open the new
view within the View Builder.
You must set a title, description, and keywords for the new metric view. Dayforce will prompt you to
confirm or update this information at the end of the View Builder process in case you forget to include it
while building the view.

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Analyzing Data with Dashboards 67

Specify Fields
Metrics only display one field – they show the value for this field as of the current period as defined by
the Time Unit. The associated graph displays the value for each period, as captured by the total Time
Period.

You can only select one numeric value field per metric. Since you are creating a metric for Is
Termination, this is the field that should be selected.
Click Preview once you have selected a field. The preview workspace displays the chart that will be
associated with the metric.

Define the Timeframe

Just like with any other view, all of the same time period options are available to you when creating a
metric view.

It’s especially important to consider the timeframe when creating a metric view.

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68 Create Views Analyzing Data with Dashboards

When you view a completed metric on a dashboard, the Metric Value column displays the metric for the
current time unit. For example, if the time unit is set to Month, the metric value column displays the
current month’s value.

If you expand the metric and review the associated chart, each data point on the chart represents a
measurement of the field per each of the time units. In the above example, each point on the chart
represents the number of terminations that occur per each month (the selected time unit). The number
of time units shown on the chart depends on the Time Period selected. Here the time period is set to
Last 12 Months, indicating that 12 data points for the last 12 months are shown.

Optional Parameters
Similar to the KPI view, you can set limits for a metric that display as part of the metric graph.

In the above example, ranges have been set for the metric to determine whether the data falls within an
acceptable range.

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Analyzing Data with Dashboards 69

You can define the ranges for a metric within the Metric Options window, which displays when you
select Edit for the Metric Options pane in the left column. Here, values are set within the limit fields to
define three ranges:
• 0-75 terminations
• 76-125 terminations
• 126-200 terminations
The terminations range has been capped at 200, since XYZ Company feels that it would be highly
unlikely to terminate more than 200 people at once.

You can also define a color for each range to help you quickly visualize data trends. In the case of
terminations, fewer is typically better so you’ve assigned the color green to the first range to indicate
this as the preferred range for data to fall into. The second range is set as yellow, indicating a higher-
than-preferred number of terminations, and the third range is set as red, indicating an unusually high
number of terminations.
Click Save when finished to apply the metric options to your view, and click Preview to refresh the
view in the View Builder.

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70 Create Views Analyzing Data with Dashboards

The above screenshot shows the Is Termination metric once the metric options have been saved
and applied.

Save Your Metric

Once your metric view is finished, click Save as New to save the view to your list of available views.

Now it appears in the list of metrics that you can add to your Dashboard.

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Analyzing Data with Dashboards 71

Activity: Add a Metric

Time: 10 minutes
Create a new view called “Is Termination”. This view should be a metric.
Details:
• Use title for the view keywords
• For the view description, enter the following: “Metric reports the number of terminations
per period”
• The Is Termination field should be selected in the Numeric Values column
• The time parameters for this view can be left as the defaults
• Set up three ranges for this view:
o 0-75 turnovers per month is the desirable level; these results fall within the first
range (colored green)
o 76-125 turnovers per month is acceptable, but undesirable; these results fall within
the second range (colored yellow)
o 125-200 turnovers per month is considered an abnormally high rate; these results
fall within the third range (colored red)
• Once the view is finished, preview it, save it, and add it to the Employee Retention
dashboard

Solution:
Path: Dashboards > View Builder
1. Click New View.
2. Click Metrics in the View Type list.
3. Click Employee in the Data Source list.
4. Click Save.
5. Locate the Is Termination field in the Available Fields list.
6. Move the Is Termination field to the Numeric Values column.
7. Click Preview.
8. Verify that the following time parameters have been set for your view:
o Period Start is selected for the Date Field
o Month is selected for the Time Unit
o Last 12 Months is selected for the Time Period
o Just This Year has been selected for the Show Another Year
Edit the Metric Options and save the view:
9. Click Edit in the Metric Options pane.
10. Type 200 for the Maximum Limit.
11. Type 125 for the Second Limit.
12. Type 75 for the First Limit.
13. Type 0 for the Minimum Limit.
14. Click Red in the Second To Max Color list.
15. Click Yellow in the First to Second Color list.
16. Click Green in the Min to First Color list.
17. Click Save.
18. Click Preview.
19. Verify that the ranges have been added to the metric chart.

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72 Create Views Analyzing Data with Dashboards

20. Click Save As New.

21. Type “Is Termination” for the View Title and Keywords.
22. Type “Metric reports the number of terminations per period” for the Description.
23. Click Save.
24. Click Close.
Add the Is Termination metric to the Employee Retention dashboard:
Path: Dashboards > Dashboards > [load Employee Retention dashboard]
1. Click Add Metric.
2. Click Settings within the Metrics view pane.
3. Click Add Metric.
4. Click Is Termination in the Metrics list.
5. Click Add.
6. Verify that the Is Termination view has been added to the Employee Retention dashboard.

View Drilldowns
Path: Dashboards > View Builder
Drilldowns describe a relationship between two or more views that are linked together to provide more
detail about a particular type of data. This linked view is displayed when you click on a piece of data in
the top-level view.

For example, XYZ Company’s Salary Analysis dashboard contains an Average Salary by Service Band
view. This view shows the average salary for each service band at XYZ Company. However, you may
want to know average salary within each service band by job. To view more detail, a drilldown is added
to this view. When you click any of the service bands within the Average Salary by Service Band chart, a
second view called Average Salary by Job displays and shows the average salary for each of the jobs
within that service band.

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Analyzing Data with Dashboards 73

Drilldowns are an easy way to link related data together and allow users to easily locate and use related
data within Dashboards. You can create as many drilldown levels as desired; for example, you could add
another drilldown to the Average Salary by Job view to display all the actual salaries for a specific job.

Drilldowns can be added to Chart or Table views only.

Drilldowns are already set up for many of the preconfigured views in Dayforce. You can also add a
drilldown to many of the views that you create yourself.

A summary of any drilldowns that are applied to a view is provided at the bottom left corner of the view
when displayed on a Dashboard.
To configure a view’s drilldown, click Edit within the Drilldowns pane in the left column of the View
Builder.

Specify what field in your view users must click on to view the drilldown from the Field list and which
view opens up as the drilldown from the Drilldown View/Dashboard list. In the example above, when
users click on the Headcount field in the view, the application opens the Headcount Trend by Job view as
a drilldown.

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74 Create Views Analyzing Data with Dashboards

The drilldown views you select are no different from any other view that you create. If you want views
you haven’t created yet linked together, create the drilldown view first. If you want View B to be the
drilldown of View A; create View B first, so that when you create View A, you can select View B in the
Drilldowns prompt to make View B the drilldown of View A.
If you are creating multiple views with drilldowns, it is best to engage in a planning process beforehand
and map out all of the views and associated drilldowns you need. From there, you can create all the
drilldown views prior to creating the top-level views, ensuring that linking the top-level views to their
drilldowns is efficient.

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Analyzing Data with Dashboards 75

Dashboard Administration
Path: Dashboards > Dashboard Setup
The Dashboard Administration screen allows you to set up security for users to view dashboard data,
create templates to export dashboard data, and configure dashboard measures and employee
properties. In this module, we will discuss security and configurating measures and employee
properties.

Dashboard Security
Dashboards can contain a wealth of important data about your organization, but some of this data is
sensitive in nature and should not be readily accessible to all employees. This module discusses how to
restrict access to Dashboards features and information within your organization.
Typically, access to Dashboards is granted to individuals who have visibility over a wide range of
organizational activities. Executives and consultants are examples of people within your organization
who may have access to this sort of data.
Occasionally, you may want to make certain Dashboards available to other members of your
organization. In order to do this, you must:
• Set role access parameters (features and authorizations) for each role to which access will
be assigned
• Grant Dashboard access to others:
o By Data Source, or
o By Dashboard Group.

Set Role Access Parameters

Path: System Admin > Roles
Certain features and authorizations must be enabled for any roles within your organization that work
with Dashboards. The features enabled for each role will depend on the tasks that users assigned to this
role will complete.
Remember, every organization is different. Your Implementation and Professional Services teams will
work with you to ensure that your role configuration meets your needs. The following are two examples
of typical Dashboards role configurations, but you may enable or disable these features in different
combinations if required.

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76 Dashboard Administration Analyzing Data with Dashboards

Dashboards Power User Role Configuration

Throughout the duration of this class you’ve been logged in as Melanie, who is assigned to the Executive
role. Executives at XYZ Company have access to all Dashboards features, including Dashboards setup.

The above screenshots illustrate the features (left) and authorizations (right) that might be set for
Dashboards power users, such as the Executive role at XYZ Company. All of the Dashboards features are
enabled for this role, and users with this role assignment can Create, Read, Update or Delete
information related to Dashboards.

Dashboards End User Role Configuration

Dashboards power users typically create new Dashboards, but they may choose to share them with
other end users in the organization.

At minimum, end users must have the Dashboards feature and Can Read access set for Dashboards
authorizations in order to access a shared Dashboard. These screenshots illustrate the features (left) and
authorizations (right) that should be enabled for Dashboards end users.

If the Dashboards feature is enabled for your role but the Can Read authorizations have not been set,
the Dashboards feature appears blank.

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Analyzing Data with Dashboards 77

Grant Dashboard Access to Others

Path: Dashboards > Dashboards Setup > Access Control

You wish to share the Employee Retention dashboard with HR professionals

at your organization, via the Human Resources dashboard group. All of
these professionals have been assigned to the HR Admin role configuration,
so you can assign dashboard group access to this role directly. In addition,
you would like to restrict the data sources that this group can access to
Attendance, Benefit Elections, and Employee data.

Though the appropriate role configuration is required to see Dashboards features, the access to specific
Dashboards is set directly within the BI database rather than by management structures within your
production database.

Dashboards access settings are set within Dashboards Setup.

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78 Dashboard Administration Analyzing Data with Dashboards

The Access Control child feature lists all of the roles currently configured for your organization. You can
grant access to specific data sources or dashboard groups for each role by selecting the access control
for the desired role.

Access to Data Sources

Path: Dashboards > Dashboards Setup > Access Control > [locate desired role] > Data Sources
A data source is a collection of data from Dayforce from which fields and data shown in a view is
derived. Recall that creating or editing any view within the View Builder required you to select a data
source; the available fields you could choose from were the result of the selected data source.
You can grant certain roles access to only data from specific data sources. For example, the Employee
data source contains employee pay information. You might therefore only grant access to the Employee
data source to people within the organization who can typically see employee pay, such as HR
professionals.

Select the check box for the data sources that should be accessible to this role, and clear the check box if
the role should not have access to a data source. Click Save when finished, and click Back to return to
the role list.

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Analyzing Data with Dashboards 79

Access to Dashboard Groups

Path: Dashboards > Dashboards Setup > Access Control > [locate desired role] > Dashboard Groups
All Dashboards are assigned to a Dashboard Group. The Dashboard Group assignments are managed
within the Dashboards fly-out.

Dashboard groups are a useful organizational tool, but, more importantly, can be used to grant or deny
access to all Dashboards within a group. Only authorized individuals can view the information on the
Dashboards within.
For example, in the screenshot above the Employee Retention Dashboards have been assigned to the
Human Resources Dashboard Group. You can grant access to this Dashboard Group and the Dashboards
within this group to only individuals with certain role assignments, such as the “HR Admin” role.

Select the check box for the Dashboard Groups that should be accessible to this role and clear the check
box if the role should not have access to a Dashboard Group. Click Save when finished and click Back to
return to the role list.

You can grant access to both a specific Dashboard Group and a specific data source for a role. For
example, you might assign the access to the Human Resources Dashboard Group and the Employee
data source to a particular role. This grants any users assigned to this Dashboard Group access to the
Dashboards within, but only views that use the Employee data source will appear.

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80 Dashboard Administration Analyzing Data with Dashboards

Activity:
Time: 5 minutes
You wish to share the Employee Retention dashboard with HR professionals at your organization. Set
the appropriate access controls to grant them access to the dashboard.
Details:
• HR professionals are assigned to the HR Admin role
• Grant access to the Human Resources dashboard group
• Within the dashboard(s) assigned to this group, the HR Admin role should only be able to
see data from the Absences, Benefit Elections, and Employee data sources.

Solution:
Create the detail view:
Path: Dashboards > Dashboards Setup > Access Control
1. Click Page 4 in the Access Control roles list.
2. Locate the HR Admin role.
3. Click Data Sources for the HR Admin role.
4. Select the Absences, Benefit Elections, and Employee data sources.
5. Click Save.
6. Click Back.
7. Click Dashboard Groups for the HR Admin role.
8. Select the Human Resources dashboard group.
9. Click Save.
10. Click Back.

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Analyzing Data with Dashboards 81

Configurating Measures
Path: Dashboards > Dashboards Setup > Configuration: Measures
Organizations can have different methods of assessing measures like headcount, length of service and
turnover rate. For instance, some organizations may calculate service length by calculating the
difference between the current day from the employee’s start date, while others may calculate the
length of service using the seniority date instead of the start date. Configuration Measures allows you
to specify those measures using your organization’s preferences.

Headcount
You can select the method that Dashboards uses to calculate headcount. Your selection affects the way
dashboard fields are calculated. Options include:
Measure Definition Fields Affected
Employee Employees are included in the headcount numbers as of • Headcount at
Start Date their Start Date. Start
• Headcount at End
Hire Date Employees are included in the headcount numbers as of • Headcount Is New
their Hire Date. Hire
Note: If an employee has been rehired, then the Original
Hire Date is used rather than their most recent hire date.

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82 Dashboard Administration Analyzing Data with Dashboards

Length of Service
You can choose between several methods for calculating length of service. Your selection affects the
way the dashboard fields are calculated. Options include:
Measure Definition Fields Affected
Employee Uses the employee Start Date to determine length of • Service Length
Start Date service. • Years of Service
• Months of Service
Hire Date Uses the employee’s Hire Date to determine length of • Service Band
service.
Note: If the employee has been re-hired, the application
uses the latest Hire Date and not the Original Hire Date.
Original Hire Calculates length of service starting from the employee’s
Date original Hire Date.

Seniority Uses the employee’s Seniority Date to calculate length of

Date service.

Turnover Rate
Some organizations consider only employees with a terminated status when they calculate turnover,
while others also include inactive statuses. You can now select one of these methods to calculate
turnover. Options include:
Measure Definition Fields Affected
Only Calculation includes only employees with terminated • Turnover Rate
Terminated status. • Is Termination
Employees
Terminated Calculation includes employees with terminated status and
and Inactive employees with an inactive status.
Employees

Changes made to the dashboard measures take effect after the Dashboard Data Preparation
background job runs in System Admin > Background Jobs.

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Analyzing Data with Dashboards 83

Configuring Employee Properties

Path: Dashboards > Dashboards Setup > Configuration: Employee Properties
You can add fields to the Employee datasource that are configured in HR Admin - Employee Properties
by using the Configuration: Employee Properties sub-feature.

This example shows the fields that are present in HR Admin > Employee Properties.

This example shows the corresponding fields available in the sub-feature Configuraiton: Employee
Properties. You can add or delete these fields to the Employee datasource by selecting or deselecting
them using the Include checkbox .

Additionally, you can also choose how to aggregate Numeric fields by choosing Average, Maximum,
Minimum or Sum.

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84 Dashboard Administration Analyzing Data with Dashboards

When you add or remove employee properties from the data source, they are updated the next time
you run the Dashboards Data Preparation background job in System Admin > Background Jobs.

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Analyzing Data with Dashboards 85

Perform Quick Queries

Path: Dashboards > Quick View
When the Dashboards decision process was discussed at the beginning of the course, we assumed that
XYZ Company had already completed the first decision in the process – they needed to be able to
reference their data in the future, and chose to in Dashboards as a result.

But what happens in scenarios where this isn’t the case? If your organization only needs to see a view
once and does not need to reference it in the future, it is faster and easier to use Quick View.

While you were working on the Employee Retention dashboard, XYZ

Company’s finance director requested some information on your Total
Salary expenses. Since this is a one-time request, you can perform a Quick
Query to retrieve the appropriate information.

This module describes how to use Quick View to access data through simple English language searches.
These searches are called quick queries. Similar to searching the web, quick queries use English
language syntax with keywords that tell the application what data to return.

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86 Perform Quick Queries Analyzing Data with Dashboards

Quick View Navigation

You can access Quick View from the Navigation Panel.

The above screenshot outlines the elements found within the Quick View workspace:
1. Search Bar – A view is generated by typing a query into this search bar. Dayforce recognizes
keywords that are part of the query and generate a view that satisfies it.
2. Buttons – Once you have entered your query, click Execute to generate a view. Click Clear to
clear the current query from the search bar. You can also save a query as a favorite or open it in
the View Builder from here.
3. Keywords – Provides a glossary of the keywords you can use in your queries, and an executable
example of how each is applied.
4. Last 10 Queries – Sometimes you may clear a query from the search bar only to require it again
in a few minutes. This pane lists the last ten queries you entered, even after they are cleared, so
you can load them and review them again. Click a query in this list to generate the associated
view.
5. Favorite Queries – Queries are eventually bumped off of the Last 10 Queries list as you enter
more of them. If you would like to be able to recall a query later regardless of when you first
generated it, you can add it to the Favorite Queries list. Click a query in this list to generate the
associated view.

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Analyzing Data with Dashboards 87

Generate a View
Path: Dashboards > Quick View
One of the benefits of creating a view within the Quick View feature is the ability to determine your view
parameters with a simple English-language search. You can type in a query and generate a view based
on the information within your query. In order for this to work, your query must contain certain
components that cue Dayforce to assemble your view. These components correspond to the same
components you use to construct a view in View Builder – data sources, fields, the time period, and
operators.
Each of these components is highlighted in a different color in the table below and serves a different
purpose when generating a view.
Component Color Description
Data Source Green Just like when you create a view in the View Builder, you must
specify a data source from which the view will derive its data.
Field Pink After indicating a data source, you must need to select one or
more fields from that data source to display in your view.
Time Period Purple You may want to apply a filter to a quick view or specify the
time range from which the view is derived. You can add filters or
groupings to a query to help narrow down the results shown in
your view.
Operators Mauve You can enter operators such as >, =, <, to further filter your
results.

Dayforce recognizes each of the query components you specify and highlights them.

If you click on a highlighted component, a list of available options for that component displays.

If you see the component you’re looking for within the list, you can select it with the mouse and add it
directly to your query instead of typing it out manually.

Keywords
Query components are joined together by keywords. Each of these keywords describes how the
components relate to one another.

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88 Perform Quick Queries Analyzing Data with Dashboards

A list of available keywords displays at the bottom left corner of the workspace. This list also describes
how each keyword should be used in a query with an example. Click the example query to load the view
in the search bar and generate the associated view – this is the easiest way to understand how each
keyword is applied.

When you write a query, selecting the appropriate keywords is essential for linking the other
components together correctly and generating the correct view.

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Analyzing Data with Dashboards 89

Execute Your Query

Once your query has been entered in the search bar, click Execute to generate the associated view.

The view appears below the search bar, and Additional Information appears to provide basic details for
the view. You can further refine the view by modifying your query and executing it again. If you want to
modify the view at a more granular level (for example, change the chart type or add a drilldown) or save
the view to one of your Dashboards, click Open in View Builder.

Refine a Quick Query

One of the major advantages of generating a view using quick queries is the ability to easily refine your
query and generate a new view on demand. Once you have generated your first view, it’s very likely that
you will want to filter or refine it in some way to narrow in on the information you’d like to show. The
following example illustrates how you can add more components to a query and refine your results.
Query One

Result:

Query one is a simple query that contains a field, data source, and time period. The resulting
view shows total salary data for each of the last 12 months.

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90 Perform Quick Queries Analyzing Data with Dashboards

Query Two

Result:

In query two, a second field is added to split the total salary results by Age Band. This is
equivalent to setting a field in the ‘Group By’ column if you were to open the view in the View
Builder. A keyword (‘by’) connects this new field to the existing query.

Query Three

Result:

Query three modifies the query to search for the total salary proportion rather than the total
salary amount.

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Analyzing Data with Dashboards 91

Query Four

Finally, an operator (greater than) is added to query four to further narrow down the results
shown to employees 25 or older. This is equivalent to adding a filter in the View Builder and
adding it to a view.

Activity: Perform a Quick Query

Time: 2 minutes
You want to see the total salary paid out over the last 12 months, broken down by age band. Search for
this information as a quick query.

Solution:
Path: Dashboards > Quick View
1. Type “show proportion of Total Salary from Employee during Last 12 Months split by Age Band”
2. Click Execute.
3. Review the resulting chart, ensuring that all appropriate details are included.
Other query examples you can test:
• show total salary from employee during last 12 months
• show total salary from employee during last 12 months split by age band
• show proportion of total salary from employee during last 12 months split by age band
• show proportion of total salary from employee during last 12 months split by age band
where age > 24
• show average actual salary from employee
• show average actual salary split by gender from employee

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92 Export Dashboards and Views Analyzing Data with Dashboards

Export Dashboards and Views

Dashboards features are extremely helpful at the beginning of the analysis process as you identify and
gather data related to issues within your organization.

Once you have gathered the information you need to address your issue, you’ll move on to the next
stages in the analysis process. You will analyze the data you’ve gathered and work with others in your
organization to integrate it into a plan of action.
It’s easy to export Dashboards data and share it with individuals in your organization in a variety of
formats. This module discusses the export options available within Dashboards features.
When exporting any data, the most important thing to determine is whether you need to export a
single view or an entire Dashboard. Different export format options are available depending on the
option you choose.

Export a Dashboard to PowerPoint

Path: Dashboards > Dashboards > [load Dashboard]

You’ve gathered the data you need to address XYZ Company’s turnover
problems into the Employee Retention dashboard. The XYZ Company
executive team is pleased and wants you to present your findings to the
board.
Export the Employee Retention dashboard to PowerPoint so it can be
shared. You’ll use the Landscape template for the export, and do not
require additional image files of the views.

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Analyzing Data with Dashboards 93

It’s very likely that you will need to present some or all of the data you’ve gathered on a dashboard with
others in your organization. You can export an entire dashboard and all of its views directly to a
PowerPoint presentation, making it easy to prepare for a presentation or share pieces of information in
a standard file format outside of Dayforce.

The above screenshots provide examples of the views from within your Dashboard after they have been
exported to a PowerPoint.
The export process begins directly within Dashboards.

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94 Export Dashboards and Views Analyzing Data with Dashboards

Load the desired dashboard into the workspace and click Export to initiate the process.

The Dashboard Export wizard opens in a new tab in your browser. This screen is where you will
manage the export process.

Export Options
There are a variety of preferences you can set for your dashboard export.

• Template – Select a PowerPoint template from the list. When your dashboard exports, the
template will be applied to the PowerPoint output. You can choose from preconfigured
template options or add your own.
• Include View Headers and Include View Footers – You may or may not require this
information on your PowerPoint. Select these boxes to include it and clear them to exclude
it.
• Include View Filters – If you applied a filter to a view, you can choose whether or not the
filters are still applied to the views in your export. Select this box to continue to apply the
filter, and clear it to remove all filters from the exported views.
• Export Excel files for tables – If you want to perform further analysis on your views, it may
be helpful to export the source data to Excel as well as exporting the views themselves to
PowerPoint. Select this check box to include a source data file with the export.

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Analyzing Data with Dashboards 95

Generate the Export

Click Generate once you are ready to initiate the export process.

Each of the views within the exported dashboard is listed at the bottom of the workspace.
Dayforce works through this list from top to bottom, exporting each view in order. The Status for
each view updates to indicate whether a view is exporting, exported, or not yet exported (shown
as a blank status). A visual of the view appears in the workspace as it is being exported.

When all views have been exported successfully, you will be prompted to select views to include in
your export package using the check boxes provided. Any views selected here will be exported as a
.jpg file in addition to appearing in your PowerPoint. This can be useful if you’d like to include the
view image in another location, such as in a report. The entire ‘package’ is exported in a single file
for your convenience.
Click Package when you have selected all the included views. Your export package is prepared and
downloaded to your computer.

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96 Export Dashboards and Views Analyzing Data with Dashboards

Set Up a Dashboard Export Template

Path: Dashboards > Dashboard Setup
Most organizations have a standard PowerPoint template used to ensure consistency with brand
guidelines. You can upload a copy of your standard slides to Dayforce and export your dashboards
directly within them.

Your organization’s PowerPoint file (.pptx) requires additional configuration before you can upload it
and export dashboards to it. Please speak to your Implementation Consultant or Support team for
more information about adding the required components to your branded slides.

Once your slides have been configured correctly, the Dashboard export templates are set within
Dashboards Setup.

The Templates for Export child feature lists all of the PowerPoint templates that have been uploaded
to Dayforce for use with dashboard exports. A couple of templates are provided by default in case
your organization does not have a template of its own.

To add a new PowerPoint template, specify the appropriate file name within the field provided. You
can also click Browse to locate your file within Windows Explorer. Click Add to upload the file to
Dayforce.

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Analyzing Data with Dashboards 97

The new template file is added to the list and can now be selected as a template for a Dashboard
export.
Sometimes your organization may change its template, requiring you to update it within Dayforce
as well. You can upload an additional template at any time, and can also click Delete to remove an
old template from Dayforce. Once a template is removed, you can no longer export a dashboard
with it.

Export Options for Individual Views

Path: Dashboards > Dashboards
Sometimes you may only need to export one individual view rather than an entire Dashboard.
Each view type has a variety of individual export options.
Chart View Table View KPI View
• Print View • Table exporter – • Print view
• Export Source Data opens an exporter • Export Chart Image
– Exports the entire tool which you can – Exports an image
data source to an use to export data of the chart as a .jpg
Excel file to an Excel file or as file
a PDF file
• Export Chart Data –
Exports data for the
selected chart to an
Excel file
• Export Chart Image
– Exports an image
of the chart as a .jpg
file

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98 Export Dashboards and Views Analyzing Data with Dashboards

The export options are part of the view’s settings, accessed by clicking the Settings icon in the top
right corner of the view.

You cannot export metrics.

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