During my time as a Workday client, I was providing solo support for the system at my organization. I always felt like I was two steps behind. We had this incredible tool at our fingertips, but I was only scratching the surface – spending more time putting out fires than proactively preparing for annual processes or exploring all that Workday has to offer.
When you’re paying for the “Cadillac of HR systems,” you should be using it as more than just an HR data system tool. The same goes for the financial management side.
But the issue is, as capable as that car (or system) is, many in the driver seat don’t get the chance to really lean into how it drives and move it forward at its full capacity. So, what’s the solution for this? Learn the system.
When is it Time for a Workday Audit?
Contrary to what some may think, there is no specific time of year or point after implementation when an audit is recommended. It really comes down to what’s happening in your organization and where your executive leadership is planning on taking the system in the long term. In my case, it was an incredible learning opportunity and provided an in-depth, low-risk change to truly dive into our tenant.
And while there are many circumstances where you may want to audit, we tend to recommend a Workday audit in a few situations. For example:
- Your company has gone through a lot of staff changes since implementation and you aren’t sure what’s working effectively and efficiently
- You haven’t reviewed Workday updates in awhile and don’t know which improvements you’ve been missing out on
- You just worked on a big project and caught a lot of issues that need to be addressed, so you want to take a deeper look to proactively resolve any other problems
- You’ve been using Workday for awhile and feel comfortable with the basics of the platform, and you’re ready to see what else is available to you
Although not necessary immediately afterward, an audit can be helpful soon after implementation. As someone who has gone through multiple implementations (Phase 1 & Phase X) as a user and supports our clients’ implementations, I understand that the whole process is like a fire drill. Usually, something ends up broken or wasn’t configured correctly, or people were so siloed in their specific fields that they didn’t see the bigger picture of how everything flows into something like payroll, so the workflows and business processes don’t work as they should. Thankfully, through an audit, you can dig into all of these issues and set your team on a more effective path forward.
What are the Benefits of Getting a Workday Audit?
The end goal of an audit should be to help you be more self-sufficient and proactive with your Workday products. Besides uncovering and resolving any glaring issues in your system, you can also use an audit to find areas of improvement or opportunities to do even more for your organization. That’s the great thing with Workday – it’s always, “How can we do it better?”
At Syssero, we feel one way we can do that is by helping your team adapt any Workday updates you’ve missed. Workday provides its biannual releases twice a year (typically April and September), and while you’ll typically see posts about it on LinkedIn, it can be easy to let them slide through the cracks when you’re busy with other priorities or are still getting a handle of the basics. By leaning on the right people (like us!), you can take your system from good to great by taking advantage of all the new functionalities.
Another benefit of a Workday audit is exploring the data analytics tools available. These tools are what take Workday to the next level. They’re also probably what got your leadership team excited about Workday when exploring different HR systems. If you’re busy cleaning up data and setting up basic workflows, a support organization can step in to implement analytics tools that enable managers, executives, HR teams, and finance teams to make predictions and plan for the future.
How Does Syssero Approach Workday Audits?
Workday provides a lot of great resources that we use to conduct an audit of your system. When new clients come on board, Workday offers audit reports to make sure implementation is successful. If you choose to lean on us for help, your Syssero team will run these reports through your system and map out high-priority items to address as well as recommendations for improvements.
My background is in process improvement and payroll, so when I audit a Workday HR system my priority is making sure people are getting paid and that all of the data is flowing into payroll the right way. I’ll look at pay codes, the W-2 setup, how taxes are being done – all the big ticket items that could make an impact. A lot of times this focus will help identify issues and provide direction into where I should look next.
We take a similar approach with the finance system, but instead of payroll we’re looking at other key deliverable areas like customer and supplier invoices, bank transfers, accounting journals, etc. At the end of the day, we’re identifying what absolutely needs to be done and moving forward from there.
Is Workday Working for You?
Workday is an incredibly powerful and beneficial tool for any HR or finance team. But, if you have unresolved issues or aren’t using the system to its full extent, it’s like buying a Cadillac and leaving it in your garage.
Syssero can not only help your organization take advantage of all that Workday has to offer, we can also guide you to being more self-sufficient, effective, and proactive with the system. Reach out to info@syssero.com to ask how we can support you through your Workday journey, and keep an eye out for an upcoming, in-depth video of how to do a Workday audit!