read time: 7 minutes

Hey there! Mia and Ceci here. We’re at risk of putting ourselves out of a job with today’s newsletter, but we won’t gatekeep the truth for our own benefit 😉

As a Workday customer, the more empowered your HRIS or People Technology team is to own your software, the more successful you’ll be. 10/10 times, a strong internal team is preferable to outsourced expertise.

That said, even the most skilled teams need support at some point in their Workday journey. Our goal for today’s newsletter is to help you identify your “why” for hiring outside Workday expertise to support your internal team.

Why is having a “why” important here? Well, if you can’t pinpoint a “why”, you may be better off allocating your budget elsewhere—like investing in training for your team or hiring an FTE.

If you do believe you have a good reason to hire outside help, have you thought it through from every angle? We’ve witnessed half-baked whys (and consulting firms eager to profit 👀) lead to poor outcomes throughout our Workday careers all too often. The more refined your “why” is, the better your engagement outcome will be.

So, what should you consider before outsourcing Workday help? OR what should you reconsider if you’re already engaged in external support?

Let’s dive in…

First, a few quick definitions so we’re on the same page…

Post-production describes the state of your Workday environment once your organization is live on Workday. Post-production work involves everything it takes to maintain, optimize, and enhance your Workday software after your initial go-live. As you probably know firsthand, the fun has only just begun after celebrating your initial go-live (we’re not being facetious—we love this stuff 🤪).

In this context, support refers to any external expertise you hire to help handle your post-production work.

We made this graphic for you to illustrate, at a high level, what Workday post-production work looks like…

Understanding your organization’s post-production needs is critical in determining why you may need external support.

Take a look at the chart once more. What it takes to maintain Workday is fairly consistent across customers within each Workday module. What’s unique to your organization are your Workday Roadmap items. These are work items you can anticipate ahead of time.

The Workday Roadmap. You’ve likely heard this beloved term before.

🗺️ A Workday Roadmap is a list of all your known Workday wants and needs, organized into a timeline based on priority and feasibility.

As your initial implementation (Phase 1) wraps up, your Workday Roadmap develops organically. To-dos that didn’t get done during Phase 1 are marked for Phase 2, 3, or even 4. Modules (SKUs) that weren’t implemented in Phase 1 are added to your Workday Roadmap to be rolled out “down the road”. Anything considered a “nice-to-have” or nonessential item in Phase 1 finds a home on your Workday Roadmap.

Before you engage external support, it’s helpful to know what level of effort and expertise each of your Workday Roadmap items will require (unless you’re seeking outside help to assist you in developing your Workday Roadmap, of course).

💡 With this insight, you can then assess what your team can take on versus what you’ll need outside help for. More granularly, you can determine which items…

How do you make these distinctions? Let’s discuss…

As you review your Post-Production needs, take an honest look at your in-house team. How well-equipped are they to maintain, optimize, and enhance your software now and in the future?

We made a list of questions for you to consider across each Workday module your organization uses (e.g. payroll, absence, recruiting, finance, etc.)…

What Workday skills does your team possess? What prior experience do they bring?

What are the skill gaps on your team? Is it possible to fill these gaps through additional training or certifications? What does the timeline for upskilling your team look like?

Does your team have the know-how to troubleshoot and resolve day-to-day issues as they arise? Or will small hiccups present significant challenges?

What items on your Workday Roadmap does your team have the skills to handle? What level of guidance and/or support will they need?

What are the roles and responsibilities of each team member? What percent of their bandwidth is dedicated to each type of post-production work versus other job duties?

Do your team members with the skills and experience needed to own your post-production items have the bandwidth to deliver the work within your ideal timeline?

How much bandwidth have you allocated to additional training for your team members?

Unfortunately, turnover is a reality that most HRIS teams will face…

Do you have a backup plan if you lose a key team member? How will you manage their workload until you find their replacement?

Will you need trusted, external support on standby in the event of turnover, or are you set up to coast internally until your backfill arrives?

Prepare for the worst, hope for the best (and build that trended turnover report we broke down a few weeks ago so you can get proactive with your retention strategies 😜)!

🤞🤞🤞

By now, you’ve got a solid grasp of your day-to-day needs, what’s on your Workday Roadmap, and how equipped your team is to handle it all. Woohoo! Let’s hear it for clarity 😎

Armed with this information, your “why” (or why not) emerges.

Here are a few examples of strong reasons to engage outside Workday expertise…

You need to roll out Workday absence to your EMEA workforce. Your team doesn’t have the skills or experience to handle this implementation.

Your team is slammed and no one has the bandwidth to prepare for the upcoming Workday Release. You need outside help for regression testing and new feature setup.

Your implementation partner left you without any documentation on your custom role-based security setup (brutal 😩). Your team can’t figure out what was set up or why. You need an expert to explain and document the setup.

What makes these strong whys? 💪

The needs are focused, supported by evidence, and clear.

Say GOODBYE to…

😞 Proposals that over-promise and under-deliver…

With a strong “why”, your needs and expectations are pre-determined. You’re not walking into discovery conversations overwhelmed and getting promised the world. You’re getting a proposal for your exact needs and saving yourself the mess of engaging with a bad fit.

🫵 Support partners who point fingers…

When you begin your external support work with an aligned goal, both parties are held accountable for their parts. You’ve stated your strong “why”, and you each know your role in it—no more pointing fingers if something doesn’t go according to plan. The partnership is strengthened by clear roles, responsibilities, and deliverables.

😵‍💫 Sales pitches that spiral into more than you need…

Be cautious of being upsold without further consideration of what your team can handle. A major part of a consultant’s job is to share with you what you don’t know—it can influence and pivot your vision in a good way! But be wary of being pushed to spend consulting dollars where your team already has it covered or where it’s not a priority. Strong whys help you stay true to your needs when pitched an upsell.

So, you know your “why” for hiring external support, and why it’s important. What’s next?

You may have noticed that we love asking questions. With good questions come juicy answers! In this newsletter, you’ve identified your “why”—you’re confident that bringing in external support will be valuable. Now it’s time to nail down your “how”, “what”, and “who”…

How should the work be delivered (i.e., what is the best Service Delivery Model for delivering the work you need)?

And…

Who is the best person or team to do this work?

Your “why” sets the stage for your “how”, “what”, and “who”. We’re looking forward to breaking down how to approach these spicy main act questions soon 🔥

Stay tuned…

In the meantime, if you’d like to get our thoughts on your “why”, we’d be happy to connect with you! Click below to schedule a call with us 👇

Did you enjoy today’s newsletter? Let us know what you think by clicking one of the poll options above or by replying directly to this email.

We sincerely thank you for reading and being on this #wellbuiltworkday journey with us.

As always, we’re celebrating you and your pursuit of a Well Built Workday 🥳

Until next time!

Ceci & Mia

Co-Founders of Well Built Solutions