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Narratives (and Settings)

KEY TOPICS:

Develop Narratives for the AAP

When Reports > Narratives is selected from the side navigation menu, the Settings tab will display. Tabs will also be accessible for Tags & Values, Templates, and Published Narrative, as described in this Help chapter.

About Narratives and their Components

Your organization’s Affirmative Action plan will include Narratives for:

  • Minorities/Women
  • IWD (Individuals with Disabilities)
  • Veterans

balanceAAP provides boilerplate language on separate tabs, along with tools for customizing their content for each Narrative by Section. The results from plan calculations will be merged into the Narratives, and reports will be included to build a complete Narrative.

Documents from your organization may also be uploaded and included in the AAP, as described below.

Determine Narrative Settings

After determining the Narrative Options (and optional Header and Footer settings) below, click [Save].

Select System Template

The first step is to select the version of default Narrative template you would like to start with. For new plans, dated 2015 and later, the recommended template is: Most Recent. To choose an older default system template, select a date from the provided drop-down.

Important Caution: Finalize this setting before customizing the Templates. If the setting is changed later, any customization will be lost. To review the currently applied template version, navigate to Narratives > Templates.

Include Reports in the AAP Document

To automatically insert the required reports within the final AAP document, check all of the following:

  • Include Reports for Minorities/Women
  • Include Reports for Individuals with Disabilities
  • Include Reports for Protected Veterans

Cross-reference: For information on exporting or printing the final Narrative, see: Select Reports.

Quick Tip: Leave the boxes unchecked to review drafts of the Narrative texts.

Select Report Type (for Organizational Profile)

Either of the following two reports satisfies the requirement for submitting an Organizational Profile. Check off one:

This option may be pre-selected for you, based on earlier settings you made in the system.

(If applicable) Turn on REACH Integration

If Good Faith Efforts data are available from BALANCEhub REACH and you would like to include the data in this Affirmative Action plan, check the box under: Reach Integration.

BALANCEhub Help Cross-reference: Each REACH data record must be associated with at least one or more Locations, a Plan Date, and an Evaluation for the integration to work. See: REACH > Activities.

Display Page Numbers in Table of Contents

While page numbering is always included in the Narrative body, this Miscellaneous setting will turn on (or exclude) page numbers from the document's Table of Contents.

(Optional) Add a Header or Footer

Under the Header and Footer menu header, check the box next to: Include Header and Footer. If applicable, click: Include on the title page.

Next, enter text for either the Header or Footer or both, using the Add Header Text and Add Footer Text menus.

Import Narratives from another balanceAAP Plan

Narrative elements can be imported from another plan into the current plan, by accessing the Narratives > Settings tab. Select the items to import:

  • Settings
  • Tag Values
  • Templates
  • Supporting Documents

Then select Company, Establishment, and Plan from the provided drop-downs. Click [Import].

Edit Tags and Values

About Tags

The text assigned with a tag will appear wherever the tag is placed in a template. Based on tags, content is inserted into the proper place, remains accurate across an organization's plans, and is efficiently updated when information changes.

Example: [Affirmative Action Chief Policy Signer] is a tag, representing the name of the chief policy signer, perhaps "Jane Smith."

Using the Tag Library

On the Narratives > Tags and Values tab, a library of tags appears on the left side of the screen. Tags with an [In use] icon next to them are currently in place in one of the Narrative Templates and should be updated with the relevant information. Tags with a [Value Assigned] icon indicate that information has been supplied. Tags without an icon are currently not in use in Narrative Templates.

Select a tag from the list. Any text already applied to the tag will appear in the Tag Description field. Enter the appropriate information for each tag into the Tag Description field and click [Save], and then continue with the other tags.

Add a Tag to the System

Create a tag by clicking [Add a New Tag]. Enter:

  • Tag Name
  • Tag Description
  • Number of Rows (from 1 to 6, which will be available in the template for tag content)

Click [Save]. Tags created in one plan can be used in any plan in your organization.

Cross-reference: For instructions on including the tag in the Narrative, see: Edit Narrative Templates.

Delete the tag (for all plans in your organization) by clicking [Delete]. You can only delete tags you have created.

(Optional) Manage Documents for the Select Reports list

Appendices and other corporate documents can be added at the end of a Narrative, to appear on the Select Reports list in the Narratives Report Group. From there, they can be compiled into the completed AAP. Begin by clicking the [Manage Documents] button.

From the tab header, select the Narrative to which the supporting documents should be added. Click Browse, and find the document. add [Add Another File] as necessary. Click [Upload]. Multiple documents will appear under Uploaded Documents in the order of upload.

Next, review their order of appearance, as this order will be reflected on the Select Reports > Narratives list. To edit a document’s location, use the [Move Up/Move Down] arrows at the right of the File Name. Once the order is suitable, click [Save].

Note: On the Select Reports list, the document(s) will appear directly after the associated Narrative, in the order you determined.

Click the [Edit] icon to change how the document’s Display Name appears on the Select Reports list. Click the [Delete] icon to remove one of the Uploaded Documents.

When the Upload list is satisfactory, click the Return to Settings tab.