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Workday Launch offers companies the implementation option of a preconfigured setup based on industry best practices to help them to go-live quickly with a fully functioning system.  After go-live more configurations can be added easily. While this approach doesn’t allow for a lot of customization, it is often best as ideally it is best to keep the new system as ‘out-of-the-box’ as possible. 

The realization that a company needs a new HCM/ERP system typically occurs when the majority of their business processes are still very manual, they have multiple disparate systems and no self-service options for their workforce. 

Key drivers of a change are the desire to streamline workflows, removal of duplicative processes, and the ability to offer employees a better way to see and get what is needed from HR with a user-friendly, mobile-friendly system. 

After the decision to start an ERP/HCM transformation, one embarks on a project to find the right partner with the right solution.  A partner, not a vendor, who could help go-live quickly, assist with fixing processes by using best practices, and who was known for their expertise in the HCM and ERP world. 

Partnership

Workday demoed their system six times – showing what they could do and how they could do it. 

One of the unique requirements was a paper Activity Report that employees needed to see and verify daily which was directly related to their pay at the end of the week. 

Other vendors were offering pdf solutions, but the goal was to have the data in the system to allow real-time viewing of what happened for both the employee and the manager.  Realtime KPIs for both productivity measures as well as data verification.  Workday provided a proof of concept that showed they were capable of doing just that. 

Recommendation #1: Make your vendor show you what they tell you they can do.  If you are in the middle of the evaluation process, and you have a specific need, don’t hesitate to ask if they can do it, and then ask them to show you how it would be done. 

Involve your IT department if you don’t know the technology side, as IT should be able to help you see through the smoke screen, ask the right questions and help you see how the system will be configured to make that specific thing happen.  To lower the risk and have confidence that with a go-live date in 9 months this deployment would not fail, the strategy should be not to be special and not reinvent the wheel. 

Workday Launch provides a system that’s 80% pre-configured with best practices.  Take advantage of the pre-configurations, work like all the other companies out there, and work with the implementation team to just tweak those built-in business processes to work with your unique needs.   

Recommendation #2:  Secure dedicated resources   Make sure you have at least one person from every area who is 75-100% dedicated to the project.  Most launch projects consist of a lot of people throughout the HR, Payroll, and IT teams.  Each area spends a great deal of time on the project, and it  quickly becomes clear that to be successful some had to concentrate on the project over 75% of their FTE time.  That amount of time can be difficult for people who have full responsibilities in their ‘day job’, so try hard to identify at least one person from each area involved to be committed to the project 75-100%. 

Recommendation #3:  Know what makes your special sauce

While the Launch system comes 80% pre-configured, that last 20% is important so the first step in the project is FAS – Foundation Alignment Sessions - where the special sauce that makes your company work is identified.

Do you have unique requirements because you have leaders in the field that share the orientation process?  Do you have 10 different absence plans? Do you have a special payroll calculation?  Do you want to change your pay frequency?  Because it was shared in these sessions, Workday was launched on-time with weekly payroll instead of the pre-configured bi-weekly. 

These sessions are where it is identified for your implementation team what makes your company different.  These discussions serve to discover if you really are special and nothing is off the table.  The right implementation partner should be pushing back on you to see if you really need to be different – or you’re just not willing to change. 

Recommendation #4:  Don’t overlook your Change Management and Digital Transformation

The transformation of a company from legacy processes requires a lot of focus and alignment between departments.  Starting the project by creating a set of agreed upon Guiding Principles assisted the navigation through the rough waters ahead by enabling us to make decisions when opinions differed and yet stay focused on the important outcome. 

Do not underestimate the power of your digital transformation.  Anyone implementing a Workday system is going to be doing some sort of digital transformation – either a little bit or a complete overhaul.  In our case, this project was the epitome of a digital transformation.  The majority of the employees didn’t have any technology in their hands at all and this system would take as much paper as possible out of the day-to-day work of both corporate and field associates literally forcing them to go digital.   The only way it will be truly successful is to start the communication early and keep it going throughout the whole project.  Change management, communications, plans for training - all started at the very beginning and continue to this day. 

As a Launch customer, access is given to the Workday Adoption Kit which has lots of ideas, training documents, communication recommendations and change management templates. It is helpful to have a talented Change Management champion who can take all of this on and then is very critical to project success.  

Recommendation #5:  Get extra help – Workday Test Lead Service / Reporting

The test process for an ERP/HCM implementation is key to ensuring a successful go-live. 

The skills needed to lead this testing is not often found in companies, therefore the Workday Test Lead service could be a necessary add-on.   The consultant started by helping navigate each of the testing stages by providing prebuilt test scenarios to run.  Other specific scenarios were added to ensure that anything that was part of the company’s ‘special sauce’ was tested.   The scenarios provided assisted with what needed to be tested, and more importantly how to go about testing.  Our consultant also helped organize the test process and really pushed to completion all of the testing – which can get to be overwhelming. 

Also added towards the end of the project was assistance with writing reports.

Reports are a key resource for viewing and understanding all the data Workday gathers.  Despite Workday’s over 4,000 out-of-the-box reports there are always going to be special reports that need to be built.  Although report writing in Workday is straightforward, the object data model is a new concept for most report writers.  Engaging a skilled Workday Report Writer at the beginning really helped the project succeed from Day One.    

Recommendation #6:  Integrations – start early and go with CCB as much as possible!

Launch comes with a defined number of integrations factored in – and you will absolutely have them in place if you fall within that defined number by go-live, but you need to know what integrations you need before you start your project. 

There are a multitude of integrations needed for a project like this one including Time Tracking, DocuSign, Benefits, any custom applications and a payroll money processor.  

The integrations that were CCB (Cloud-Connect for Benefits) were by far the cheapest and easiest to implement.  The Cloud Connect vendors are supported by Workday and offer step-by-step instructions.  Integrations that don’t have that kind of support are possible but require a lot more work and can become expensive. 

If you have a large number of integrations, consider prioritizing what you need.

Reminder:  Launch is only the beginning

Your Workday Sales Executive will tell you that Launch is designed to get you quickly using the system with the most critical functionality.  It’s true, Launch is an excellent way to start using Workday ASAP and over a few months the system becomes yours as you learn to use it, enhance it and even add functionality.   

But, don’t underestimate the amount of time that this project will take and that it will not be perfect.  However, the beauty of Workday is that even if it isn’t immediately perfect it offers great value and will be yours to change as needed. 

Please reach out to me if you have any questions or need clarification.  My experience was just one of many companies that have gone live quickly using Workday Launch.