Change Management WalkMe TeamUpdated April 12, 2022

Prevent Workday® Issues with a Digital Adoption Strategy

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Prevent Workday® Issues with a Digital Adoption Strategy

Workday® issues can occur both during and after implementation. 

To minimize these issues, it is important to plan for them and, when possible, address them before they occur. To do this, it is necessary to know the types of issues you will face when adopting Workday®.

Prevent Workday® Issues Before They Start with an Adoption Strategy

The right digital adoption strategy can help you prevent Workday® issues before they become a stumbling block to productivity and software ROI.

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Here are a few pointers that can help you minimize adoption issues:

Understand what digital adoption means. 

Digital adoption means achieving a state where users are leveraging a platform to its fullest extent and for its intended purpose. 

This can help you establish clear goals for your digital adoption strategy, which are a prerequisite for realizing the full value of your software investment.

Set adoption goals. 

Achieving full adoption, as noted, means that employees have attained proficiency and are fully utilizing the software, which depends on having an internal Workday® training solution. 

Goals should therefore be measurable targets that focus on employee productivity, feature utilization, and similar metrics.

Identify ways to achieve those goals. 

Simply implementing Workday® without a structured adoption program will undoubtedly cause problems. 

To achieve the adoption goals you defined above, you will need to create a robust adoption program designed to streamline onboarding, training, and ongoing technical support.  

Identify potential obstacles and develop strategies for minimizing or avoiding them. 

A number of issues can hinder your successful Workday® adoption. 

These can include everything from employee-related issues to technical issues to communication issues. 

Examples of Workday® Issues to Prepare For

Let’s look at a few common examples of obstacles to plan for when developing a Workday® adoption strategy:

Employee resistance

Employee resistance is a common obstacle to any organizational change project. 

When it comes to technology adoption projects, such as Workday® adoption projects, that resistance can severely impact productivity and the outcomes of your initiative, both in the short- and long-term. 

To minimize resistance, it is useful to first understand its causes.

Resistance often stems from fear, such as the fear of inadequacy or discipline. 

Address that fear by communicating clearly about the adoption program, listening to employees’ concerns, and ensuring they know how this adoption will benefit them.

Also, consider a participative decision-making process that includes them in business decisions. The more they feel that they “own” the process, the more likely they will be to learn the software and embrace new workflows.

A lack of digital skills

The lack of skills can hamper any digital adoption project, which is why training is so essential both during onboarding and throughout the adoption process. 

Embedding training opportunities through solutions such as digital adoption platforms is one way to overcome these challenges. 

A digital adoption solution can close the digital skills gap, provide employees with information exactly when they need it, and, ultimately, prevent issues that arise from a lack of digital skills – including employee resistance, covered above.

Additionally, an effective onboarding and training program can shorten learning timelines, time-to-productivity, and the time it takes to achieve full adoption. 

Data migration

Data migration – or relocating data between storage types, systems, and formats – is a technical challenge faced when making the transition between software platforms. 

Improperly handled, migration errors can lead to service disruptions, which can affect the employee experience, IT service delivery, and employees’ ability to meet customer expectations.

To minimize these risks:

  • Create a migration plan
  • Form a partnership with IT, whose support will be essential for implementing that deployment plan
  • Align necessary stakeholders and teams
  • Make data backups beforehand
  • Test your new systems and integrations

Also, consider adopting solutions that will minimize data migration headaches in the future, such as unified data platforms.

A lack of executive support

Without an executive sponsor, it will be difficult to roll new processes and changes out across the organization. 

It is therefore necessary to have someone with the right authority and sway with leadership, who will support the program and ensure that it is adopted across departments. 

When making a case for the value of your Workday® adoption program, ensure that the plan is fleshed out, structured, and supports the executive’s agenda. Also, be willing to take a direct role in implementing your adoption program.

Having this support can help you stay agile, implement changes to your adoption programs, and mitigate issues when they do arise. 

A lack of technology alignment

Every business has its own digital ecosystem, so it is important to ensure that the digital software you are adopting aligns with the ecosystem.

Don’t just consider the tools and technologies you are using today, also consider how Workday® will integrate in the future. 

Ask yourself whether or not the software in question will have the capability to support your organization in five years, even if your organization adopts other tools or shifts its strategic focus.

Since Workday® is such a comprehensive platform that affects so many business areas, it is critical to take a big-picture view of its impact on your enterprise’s digital ecosystem.

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