Key Business Challenges Identified
1. Workday Absence Configuration Issues
Brenda explained that the current Workday Absence environment contains a variety of configuration challenges resulting from:
- Property-specific plans and exceptions.
- Historical lack of standardization across properties.
- Limited corporate-level visibility into localized absence practices.
- Design decisions that were made without complete understanding of downstream impact.
Key concern:
- Certain plans and requirements were not fully captured during implementation.
- Some functionality was not scoped because corporate teams were unaware of unique property practices.
- The organization now needs a comprehensive review of what was built.
Desired Outcome
An experienced Workday consultant should:
- Assess the overall Absence configuration.
- Identify gaps and inefficiencies.
- Recommend optimization opportunities.
- Help create a roadmap toward standardization.
2. PTO Migration / Accrual Balance Problems
A major issue exists around PTO balances migrated from Infinium into Workday.
Current problems include:
- Difficulty determining exactly how PTO data was extracted.
- Inability of current team members to confidently explain or validate migrated balances.
- Resulting employee frustration due to uncertainty regarding available PTO balances.
Brenda indicated:
- Employees are actively questioning their PTO balances.
- The organization needs someone focused solely on understanding and correcting the issue.
Specific Needs
The resource should:
- Investigate historical PTO migration data.
- Analyze accrual balances.
- Validate totals.
- Determine whether hours were migrated correctly.
- Support loading corrected information into Workday if necessary.
3. Need for Dedicated Operational Support
Brenda noted that the current team lacks both:
- Time
- Specialized Workday Absence expertise
As a result, routine support and ticket processing are suffering.
Desired analyst responsibilities:
Day-to-Day Support
- Work tickets in Help Workspace.
- Answer employee absence-related questions.
- Investigate PTO issues.
- Support ongoing operational activities.
Project Support
- Assist with absence plan review.
- Analyze current configurations.
- Support future standardization efforts.
4. Need for a Senior Workday Absence SME
Brenda repeatedly referenced the success of another consultant ("Sydney") supporting the LMS area and stated she would like an equivalent caliber resource for Absence.
Desired SME Capabilities
The SME should:
- Evaluate the current Workday build.
- Assess overall system configuration.
- Identify improvements and optimization opportunities.
- Determine where standardization can occur.
- Help establish best-practice processes.
- Train and upskill internal teams.
Additional Expectations
The consultant should:
- Review all existing plans.
- Determine which plans are truly required.
- Identify opportunities to consolidate configurations.
- Support future governance efforts.
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