Implementing Workday HCM solutions correctly is essential for any organization looking to improve their core human resources (HR) processes, optimize data management functions, and enhance employee engagement and adoption in the long run. But, without the right project team and external support resources on your side, this process can be pretty complicated.
Read on to learn how our team of Workday consultants recently helped a rapidly-growing technology company out of California implement Workday HCM solutions and navigate complex system challenges to help them manage, monitor, and optimize core HR functions and set them up for success in the long run.
Having a Client-Side Consultant in Your Corner
On one hand, making the transition from working at a Workday partner firm to operating as a client-side consultant can be quite a daunting move, but one that has proven quite advantageous for our team of consultants time after time, regardless of the project at hand.
On the other hand, deciding to bring a team of client-side consultants on to help navigate Workday HCM implementation challenges and prepare your team for success can be a tough decision on the frontend, but well worth the time, effort, and costs in the long run.
With a team of expert Workday consultants, our clients are enabled to…
- Help users configure and operate their Workday system correctly and efficiently
- Ensure all Workday operations are set up and done right the first time
- Accelerate user adoption and drive employee satisfaction with their Workday system
- Involve relevant stakeholders in key decisions to ensure proper Workday adoption across teams, departments, and areas of the organization
- Optimize business processes to gain a higher return on investment (ROI)
Building a Strong Project Team
When it comes to preparing your organization for a successful implementation and ensuring your solutions are deployed correctly and efficiently, assembling the right team of internal employees and leveraging external support personnel is a non-negotiable.
Too often, customers task their internal teams with implementing Workday and learning the ins and outs of their new system, all while continuing to do their regular jobs at the same time. This typically leads to underpaid, overworked, and burnt-out employees at the end of the implementation process, making it harder for companies to retain employees and keep their Workday system operating in tip-top shape.
Our client understood the importance of having independent consultants and subject-matter experts in all areas of Workday on their side to intervene on their behalf and support them throughout each phase of their implementation project. And, by building a solid internal project team, outlining a plan for their Workday HCM implementation, and maximizing the value of their Workday support services, our client was able to set themselves up for a successful software implementation and higher employee retention in the long run.
Leading the Human Capital Management Charge
Completing a successful Workday HCM implementation project is tough without an expert on your side to lead the charge and ensure your implementation team is prepared for what’s to come in their Workday HCM implementation process.
Our client was busy trying to implement core Workday HCM solutions across their locations in the United States, as well as their other locations in countries like Japan, Singapore, China, and the United Kingdom, so bringing on a functional HCM lead to navigate location-specific requirements and keep project plans on track was critical to their success.
And, with ever-changing roles and responsibilities across employee teams, finding an expert to handle all the ins and outs of the core HCM implementation process so employees could focus on their actual jobs without worrying about whether their Workday solutions were configured correctly was a “must” for this client.
Our team of consultants, with years of experience in Workday HCM, jumped into the project head-first and worked with the client’s internal team to ensure data migration, conversion, and configuration processes were handled correctly to ensure success across their new Workday solutions in the future.
Core HCM, Benefits Administration, Absence Management, and integrations with other solutions like ADP Workforce Now and CloudPay — You name it, our consultants handled it.
Assisting with Post Production Support
Clients typically don’t have access to internal Workday support from the start of their deployment processes, leading to a lack of oversight and control for their most important company data. Without the right kind of support for your initial WD HCM implementation and post-production processes, avoiding issues with mismatched data, improper configuration, and unorganized testing scripts can be quite difficult.
Once the client successfully went live with Workday’s core HCM products, our team of consultants was tasked with offering post-production support to ensure all members of the team understood their new Workday system and were able to operate it correctly.
By working with internal employees and acting as the manager’s “right hand man”, our consulting team was able to leverage feedback to ensure the Workday system looked how they wanted it to, build detailed test scripts to help users understand how to use their own system, and provide a new perspective on Workday operations.
Solving Workday Implementation Challenges
While implementing a new cloud-based system like Workday does offer many benefits for customers, including streamlined processes, greater visibility, and improved data accuracy, the implementation process can pose quite a few challenges for underprepared internal teams and client-side consultants tasked with helping them navigate such challenges.
And, successfully navigating these challenges requires careful planning, effective communication, and collaboration between internal teams, independent consultants, and any other stakeholders involved in the HCM implementation process.
Let’s take a closer look at a few challenges faced (and conquered) by our consultants…
1) Knowledge Gaps
“Do I take the extra time to teach them how to do it, or do I just do it myself?”
Bridging knowledge and skills gaps between internal employees, implementation partners, and other stakeholders involved with the HCM implementation project was one of the biggest challenges for our consultants.
From dealing with implementation partners that had a different methodology for the project to teaching employees how to operate each function in their new Workday system, helping employees balance their actual jobs with their new tasks and responsibilities in Workday, and more, our consultants had their hands full. And, deciding whether to make the choice to reprioritize and delegate responsibilities to other members of the project team or not was a difficult (but necessary) challenge for our consultants to face head-on.
While more difficult than completing complicated tasks on their own most of the time, staying true to the project plan and delegating responsibilities across project teams played a critical role in helping our consultants make more informed decisions concerning the implementation of this client’s new Workday system.
2) New Perspectives
New managers, new employees, new consultants… OH MY!
Navigating a brand new Workday system is a challenge in itself, but trying to include key stakeholders in decision-making processes throughout the entire implementation project brings a new level of difficulty without the right team in place.
Bringing new people into the mix not only changes team dynamics for clients in any industry, but it also provides more opportunity for new team members and executives to question the way the Workday system is set up, as well as core operations and functions across the system. And, as a new startup organization, our client struggled to find the balance between continuing to leverage traditional manual processes to keep employees comfortable and leveraging Workday automation tools to scale solutions to align with future growth.
Our team of consultants navigated this challenge by offering new experiences and new perspectives for our client to help them better understand their new Workday solutions. By helping them see what their workforce looks like with automated processes, our consultants made it easier for the client’s internal team to scale their Workday solutions to meet changing business needs and prepare their employees for growth and success in the long run.
3) Scattered Data
Trying to make the switch to a new Workday system without a legacy ERP system keeping all your information together in one place can get a little complicated without the right resources.
Before making the decision to implement Workday across their organization, our client was using Microsoft Excel, ADP Workforce solutions, and downstream payroll vendors to manage all their most important employee and company data in scattered data sources across their organization. With data in virtually every corner of the organization, our client needed help bringing it all together in one place, and they needed it fast.
From extracting important data from each different location, matching the existing data format with that of Workday, and identifying critical data points across teams, our Workday consultants worked quickly and diligently to ensure employees and managers could access the right data, in the right place, at the right time.
Our team of consultants worked to pull data from here, there, and everywhere across the client’s systems to combine and consolidate their most valuable information in a new, comprehensive Workday system.
How Can We Help?
Whether you need help implementing new Workday solutions across your entire enterprise, an extra hand customizing the common Workday deployment model to meet your individual needs, or additional support navigating complexities within the testing phase, our team of senior-level Workday consultants are here to help.
We know Workday HCM implementation, integration, and upgrade projects can be challenging without the right resources and personnel for the job. And, wherever your Workday needs lie, Surety Systems is guaranteed to assemble the right project team to meet your needs.
Getting Started with Our Team
Interested in learning where our team of consultants can fit in your organization?
Contact us today to get started with our team of Workday consultants!
