Report Publication (generic process)

Report Publication (generic process) is the generic process card, GP-604, for the cycle by which a workforce function publishes its standard reports: the recurring outputs on its report catalog, each answering a standing question for a named set of seats. The card owns the method. Each number in an issue cites its definition by entry and version from The Definitions Register and carries a grade per Human Gates and Number Grades; the issue leads with its answer and holds its detail in reserve, the form Answer-First Reporting describes; a report publication gate releases, holds or withdraws it; it is distributed by seat; and a periodic sweep retires reports that answer no question anyone still asks. The consumption layer beneath the reports is on Business Intelligence and Reporting and the delivery architecture on Reporting and Analytics Framework; neither is restated. The card is part of Process Standardization and sits among the cross-cutting sections of the function catalog in Anatomy of a ROC Standard.

Two older rules carry the method. A measurement has no meaning apart from the operational definition that produced it, which is why a number without a register citation does not enter an issue; and a written answer begins with its conclusion and groups its support beneath it so a reader can stop at any depth, which is why the first layer is written before the tables are laid out. The report publication gate is not one of the five gates on Human Gates and Number Grades: it is distinct from the schedule publication gate there, which releases a schedule to the floor, and from the register-review gate, which signs a one-off answer card; this gate releases a recurring issue of a catalogued report to its readers.

Process profile

The profile extends the L0 identity fields of Process Decomposition (L0–L3). Local values are held by the deploying function and marked SET LOCALLY. Authority tiers follow the cross-cutting row of Decision Authority Tiers in Workforce Operations.

Field	Generic value
Card	GP-604 · local card id assigned by the standards committee at deployment
Class	supporting, in the catalog's four-class vocabulary (strategic · real-time · both · supporting)
Trigger	the report calendar, per report; a register version change that affects a report's entries; the readership sweep date
Cadence	per report as the catalog row states (daily, weekly, monthly); the readership and retirement sweep quarterly [A] (SET LOCALLY)
Scope in	every report on the function's catalog; the citation and grade on each number; the answer layer; the gate; distribution by seat; readership; retirement
Scope out	a new question's intake (Work Intake for Planning and Analytics Teams); a one-off answer (The Question Register and Knowledge Base); the definitions themselves; the data pipeline; a wallboard refreshed without a publication act, though its numbers still cite the register
Inputs	the catalog row (question, owner seat, cadence, entries cited, distribution seats, last-read date); the register at its current version; the numbers with grades; the previous issue; the readership record
Outputs	the published issue with its answer layer, grade column, citations and version stamp; the publication record; the distribution; the readership record; retire, merge and keep decisions; the updated catalog
Upstream	the definitions register (versions); the processes whose outputs the reports carry (vintages, schedules, event logs, GP-602's attributed table); the data platform
Downstream	every seat on a distribution list; the governance committee's cadence (WFM KPI Hierarchy and Reporting Cadence); the executive issue register, where a first-layer sentence names a decision
Resources	a report catalog; a reporting platform with a governed semantic layer; a publication record; distribution lists keyed to seats; a readership measure. Platforms are named at L3, never here
Decision points	does every number cite a current entry; does every number carry a grade; can the answer be written in one sentence; release, hold or withdraw; which seats; retire, merge or keep
Authority tier	a routine issue, published on its calendar with its grades inside the catalog row, released at tier 1 (the reporting analyst); a hold or a withdrawal at tier 3 (the reporting lead); an issue whose first layer names a decision or a commitment to finance released at tier 4 (the function head); an issue citing a superseded entry held by the register owner; executive sponsor by exception
Risk and compliance flags	a number without a grade reads as measured; two reports on two definitions of one metric; an issue reaching a seat it should not (personal data, a partner's commercial terms); an issue on a superseded entry that does not say so; an unread report that still costs an analyst's morning
Variant-prone steps	the distribution step where a works council or a client contract restricts who sees what; the publication calendar at a partner supply node (a site, centre or partner); the retention rule
Automation candidates	eight L2 sub-steps (listed below)

L1 flow

Owner seats in parentheses, one per step. The report owner is the seat the catalog row names: the reporting analyst for a routine report, the function head for a decision-bearing one. Decisions are questions.

1. Open the issue from its catalog row: which report, which period, which standing question (reporting analyst).
2. Pull the numbers with their grades from the ledger or the platform (reporting analyst).
3. Does every number cite a register entry by ID and version, and does the version match the register's current one? A mismatch is held and referred to the register owner; if released, the issue says so (reporting analyst).
4. Does every number carry a grade, and is each computed figure graded no better than its weakest input? (reporting analyst)
5. Write the first layer: the answer in a sentence a reader with no context could act on, with its evidence grade; name the signals in the middle layer; hold the detail (report owner).
6. Name the observation that would change the answer (report owner).
7. Run the report publication gate: release, hold or withdraw? The gate holder produces an amended figure, a stated reason or a decision per flagged row, never a bare approval; a hold or withdrawal is the reporting lead's at tier 3 (report owner).
8. Stamp the version and write the publication record: issue, date, entries and versions cited, signer (reporting analyst).
9. Distribute by seat per the catalog row; a seat, never a person (reporting analyst).
10. Record readership: opens, drill-downs, questions raised (reporting analyst).
11. On the sweep date, which reports have had no reader in the period and answer no standing question? (reporting lead)
12. Retire, merge or keep; update the catalog; announce each retirement with the question it answered and where that question is now answered (reporting lead).

L2 step table

The documentation join key is the key an L3 job aid, a ticket and a variant row cite. Thresholds and system names are L3 values.

Step	Sub-step	Owner (seat)	Inputs	Outputs	Duration	Automation candidate	Documentation join key
1	Read the catalog row; confirm the period and the question have not changed since the last issue	reporting analyst	the catalog	an opened issue	minutes [A]	N	GP-604/1.1
2	Pull each number with its grade, the entry it cites and the pairing the entry requires	reporting analyst	the ledger or platform; the register	the paired number set	minutes [A]	Y	GP-604/2.1
3	Compare each cited version with the register's current version	reporting analyst	the number set; the register	matches and mismatches	minutes [A]	Y	GP-604/3.1
3	Hold a mismatched number and refer it to the register owner; record the superseded-version note if released	reporting analyst	a mismatch	a held or annotated number	same day [A]	N	GP-604/3.2
4	Check each computed figure's grade against its inputs; downgrade where the rule requires; reject an ungraded number to its producer	reporting analyst	the number set; the formulas	a graded set	minutes [A]	Y	GP-604/4.1
5	Draft the answer sentence per standing question with its claim grade (established · inferred · asserted · open)	report owner	the graded set	the first layer	inside the issue window	Y	GP-604/5.1
5	Name the two to five signals the answer rests on and link each to its number	report owner	the first layer	the middle layer	inside the issue window	N	GP-604/5.2
6	Name the observation that would overturn the answer	report owner	the first layer	the change line	minutes [A]	N	GP-604/6.1
7	Route the issue to the gate holder by its class (routine or decision-bearing)	reporting analyst	the issue	a gate sitting	same day [A]	N	GP-604/7.1
7	Produce the gate output: an amended figure, a reason or a decision per flagged row; release, or refer for hold or withdrawal	report owner	the issue	the gate response	inside the turnaround (SET LOCALLY)	N	GP-604/7.2
8	Write the publication record and stamp the version	reporting analyst	the released issue	the record	minutes [A]	Y	GP-604/8.1
9	Resolve the distribution list from seats to current holders; apply restricted classes	reporting analyst	the catalog row; the seat map	the distribution	minutes [A]	Y	GP-604/9.1
10	Record opens, drill-downs and questions raised per seat class	reporting analyst	the platform's readership measure	the readership record	continuous	Y	GP-604/10.1
11	List reports with no reader in the period and no standing question on the catalog	reporting lead	the readership record; the catalog	the sweep list	before the sweep	Y	GP-604/11.1
11	Confirm with each owner whether an obligation (audit, contract) requires the report regardless	reporting lead	the sweep list	the confirmed list	one sitting	N	GP-604/11.2
12	Decide retire, merge or keep; update the catalog; announce	reporting lead	the confirmed list	the decisions	one sitting	N	GP-604/12.1

Variants

Recorded per Standard and Variant in Process Documentation:

• Statutory. Where a works council co-determines the introduction and use of technical devices designed to monitor employee performance or conduct, a report that carries individual performance figures from such a device is approved by the works-council liaison before it leaves the team: an approval step between steps 7 and 9, with a variant row. A works-council agreement that restricts distribution on any other ground is a contractual variant.
• Contractual. A client contract that prescribes a scorecard's format, cadence and recipients parameterizes that report's catalog row: SET LOCALLY, no variant row.
• Structural. A supply node whose numbers come from a partner platform not on the semantic layer varies step 3: its numbers are carried as [A] with a lineage note, under a variant row reviewed each quarter until lineage exists.
• Transitional. A predecessor organization's report set running in parallel until a dated cut-over holds a variant row with an expiry; the retirement sweep closes it.

L3 register

Job aid	Anchored to	Form
The report catalog row and its fields	step 1	work instruction
The ledger pull, the grade-carry rule and the citation check	steps 2 to 3	work instruction
The grade arithmetic: a computed figure is no better than its weakest input	step 4	work instruction
The layered answer template: first layer, signals, detail held	step 5	work instruction
The gate checklist and the "must produce" rule	step 7	work instruction
The publication record and the distribution list by seat, with restricted classes	steps 8 to 9	work instruction
The readership measure and what counts as a read	step 10	work instruction
The retirement sweep and the announcement form	steps 11 to 12	playbook
The withdrawn-report runbook: what the function does when a published number is found wrong	step 7	runbook

Automation candidates

Flagged at L2 and released per class of action on a published catch rate per Human Gates and Number Grades. The list is ranked by how easy a catch rate is to publish for the sub-step; each item after the first says why it ranks after the one before.

1. The citation check (3.1): a comparison of entry IDs and versions; a miss is deterministic and visible on the next register change.
2. The grade check (4.1): arithmetic once formulas are stated; ranks after the citation check because a wrong formula statement makes a correct check wrong.
3. The publication record (8.1): clerical; ranks after the grade check because an error in the record is found only when someone reads it back.
4. Distribution (9.1): deterministic given the catalog and the seat map, which is why distribution is keyed to seats rather than names; ranks after the record because a stale seat map sends an issue to the wrong reader before anyone notices.
5. The ledger pull (2.1): ranks lower because an omitted number does not announce itself; it is caught at the answer sentence, if at all.
6. The readership record (10.1): the platform's own measure; ranks lower because an open is not a read, and the record's error cannot be measured against anything.
7. The sweep list (11.1): ranks after the readership record because it inherits that record's error and adds the catalog's.
8. The draft first layer (5.1): an agent may draft the sentence from the graded set; last because the owner writes the grade and the change line and the gate holder signs, and an answer-first sentence without a grade is indistinguishable from an established finding.

The report publication gate (7.2) is never a candidate. A report that names a decision commits the function, and supervision of reliable automation decays into assent unless the supervisor must produce something; the "must produce" rule exists because of that finding. Retirement (12.1) is not a candidate either: readership measures opens, not need, and a report nobody opens that an auditor or a contract requires is kept.

Maturity Model Position

Four scales on this wiki use the word level; the launch page states which is which. On the WFM Labs Maturity Model™ a function with a report catalog, an owner per report and an answer layer written by hand is at Level 2, where Answer-First Reporting places both halves of its remedy; one whose citation and grade checks run on a published catch rate and whose every report cites the register by ID and version, the register's adoption test, is at Level 3; one whose first layer is agent-drafted and whose readership drives the catalog is at Level 4. The data-management discipline that places definitions under stewardship, referenced rather than copied, is the condition every level depends on.

See Also

• Process Standardization — the hub and the inventory this card belongs to
• The Definitions Register — the entry every number cites, and its change control
• Human Gates and Number Grades — the four number grades, the "must produce" rule and the five gates this one is not among
• Answer-First Reporting — the layered form and the habit that produces it
• Data Synthesis Before Decision — the four claim grades the first layer carries
• Business Intelligence and Reporting — dashboards, reports and the governed semantic layer
• Reporting and Analytics Framework — the delivery architecture
• WFM KPI Hierarchy and Reporting Cadence — at which tier of the organisation each report is reviewed
• Decision Authority Tiers in Workforce Operations — the cross-cutting tiers this card's profile uses
• Standard and Variant in Process Documentation — how the variants above are recorded
• Wiki:Packs/Process Decomposition — the pack that localizes this card (CP-OPS-001)