The Power of One: Onboarding in Workday’s Change Job Business Process

In today’s dynamic work environment, international transfers have become increasingly common within organizations. For employees, it may be for personal growth, career advancement, or expansion into new markets. Between the need for specialized skills and fostering a global culture, companies frequently face the challenge of seamlessly transitioning employees across borders.

Workday understands the complexities of international transfers by incorporating onboarding as part of the Change Job relocation process. In this blog post, I’ll explore how my favorite ERP can support employees during crucial phases of relocation.

International transfers can significantly impact both the employee and the organization. By adding an Onboarding step within the Change Job business process definition, organizations gain the ability to acknowledge the specific requirements associated with international transfers. Offering comprehensive support and guidance to leaders and Human Resources within an integrated process ensures a positive experience and seamless transition into the employee’s international role.

Key Features and Benefits

1. Compliance and Legal Requirements

   Each country has its own set of legal requirements including work permits, visas, tax obligations, and immigration documentation. Failure to navigate these processes accurately and efficiently can lead to delays, penalties, and even the cancellation of the transfer. Including the applicable tasks within Workday Onboarding enables the collection and management of all necessary documentation.

2. Pre-Relocation Assistance

   By including this within the process, employees can access a wealth of information and resources related to their new location. This may include but would not be limited to details regarding local housing options, transportation and education, and availability of healthcare. Employees can make informed decisions by having this information upfront, which may ease stress during their relocation process.

3. Role Clarity and Performance Alignment

   When transitioning to a new role in a different country, employees may encounter changes in their job responsibilities. This might include new reporting structures and expectations regarding performance. As part of self-service tasks, employees can access updated job responsibilities and review new performance objectives.

4. Integration with HR and Payroll Systems

   With the introduction of Onboarding, steps can be included to integrate HR and Payroll systems directly into the process. This can eliminate the need for redundant data entry and minimize the risk of errors. Employees can update their personal details, direct deposit elections, tax forms, and other relevant information directly through the platform, saving time and reducing the administrative burden.

Configuration Considerations

One of my clients identified the need for Workday configuration updates in their Change Job business process, stemming from implementing a new tool. One of the specific requirements was to create a more streamlined version of their Onboarding definition, to be triggered for employees when they transferred locations. However, the client expressed a preference not to include all the Onboarding steps and therefore wished to refrain from modifying the existing Onboarding business process.

To meet these requirements I needed to do the following:

1. Add a step in Change Job to trigger the Onboarding sub-process
2. Add an entry condition rule on the new step that would only trigger with location transfers
3. Make a copy of the existing Onboarding business process so that the steps contained within would be different from the existing/default definition and update the definition as per the requirements
4. Create a condition rule to use as the trigger for the new Onboarding process, only forcing it to fire if the initiating step was from Change Job

The copied Onboarding business process became a condensed version and included the following actionable tasks:

1. Confirm Personal Information
2. Manage Payment Elections – with a step delay to the date of the transfer
3. Confirm Address – with a validation condition that the change date must be equal to the effective date of the transfer
4. Edit Government IDs (only applicable to transfers into the USA from elsewhere)
5. Complete State and Local Withholding Elections (for USA)
6. Complete Federal Withholding Elections (for USA)

Aside from the payment and tax elections, all steps were configured to trigger for both Employees and Contingent Workers.

NOTE: To action any transfer on a Worker after the changes have been made in your tenant, the action is simply “Transfer, Promote or Change Job” from the Job Change sub-menu within their Actions menu on the worker profile. Or, type that into the search bar to bring up the task for any Worker!

Additional Considerations

• Workday tenants include translatable data, further enabling the inclusion of a global workforce
• Adding custom document generation or To Dos into the process – such as new employment contracts or updated benefits information – can guide employees to complete specific tasks and ensure accurate and up-to-date records
• Configuring the Onboarding Dashboard adds another location to store relocation information outside of internal policy documents and Workers’ inboxes
• Including employee onboarding in new manager training keeps them informed and a key part of the process
• Add Workday’s “Onboarding Setup” actionable task within Change Job to enable Managers or HR to tailor additional welcome content before the transfer

International transfers will, if anything, increase in frequency in the coming years. Setting your Workday tenant up to facilitate the process will guarantee success as time goes on. Maintenance should be minimal and limited to regulatory changes. Designating a Human Resources Business Partner to own all updates will further ensure success.

As an international employee myself, I appreciate any organization that considers and addresses impacts to movement across borders. If you’d like additional support with your own updates, get in touch with us here!