Program Update: June 2019

In April, we kicked off the countdown to late 2020, when UBC would start using new HR and Finance processes supported by a new integrated system called Workday.

When the Integrated Renewal Program (IRP) kicked off in May 2018, we knew we’d started on an ambitious and important journey to transform how we work at UBC. The program team has been hard at work ensuring what is delivered meets UBC's needs well into the future.

With less than a year to go live, we expect the pace to pick up considerably. The past year of consultations with stakeholders across UBC, coupled with building and refining our new system and processes, puts the program right where it needs to be today: ready to start sharing plans about when more people across UBC can see our new system, and where they may need to get involved.

Training

All UBC faculty and staff will have access to training that suits their needs before the Workday go-live date.

The following types of training will be offered:

• Online training (self-serve)
• Webinar training
• Workday business process demos
• In-class, hands-on training for advanced users
• Drop-in / one-on-one coaching

Online training includes online courses, Workday instructional videos, and detailed how-to documentation. This training format will be effective for the majority of UBC’s approximately 15,000 faculty and staff. These materials will help guide employees through Workday to complete tasks like submitting vacation requests, checking vacation balances, submitting expenses and viewing pay stubs, among other common tasks. We expect some online training materials like videos and documentation to be ready later this summer. Online courses will be available around February 2020.

Webinar training will be targeted to those with specialized system access. For example, process approvers and members of HR and central finance. This training will start as early as October 2019.

Workday business processes demos will be offered to senior managers, managers, HR admins and finance admins. These workshops will provide an overview of our new HR and finance business processes and an opportunity to have questions answered by the program team. Workshops will kick off later this summer. 

We expect in-class training to kick off in February 2020. That gives about two months to provide hands-on training to individuals who will initiate complex transactions in Workday. These are individuals dealing with financial accounting and HR processes like banking and settlements, grants and procurement, business assets & expenses, onboarding & offboarding, compensation changes to payroll, leaves & return to work, and benefits changes.

In-class training is being offered as close to go-live as possible to ensure that what people learn in class can be used soon after in practice. If we start training too soon, we run the risk of needing to retrain at or after go-live, which will impact our effectiveness right out of the gate.

Finally, drop-in / one-on-one coaching will be available to the small group of ‘super users’ – these super users are most likely the departmental go-to person for questions about Workday.

Workday Demos for Faculty and Staff

Community Workday Demos

We are planning the first in a series of Workday demos that will be open to any faculty or staff who wishes to attend.

The demos will be guided, not hands-on, but they will give you an idea of Workday’s basic functionality. We’ll demo Workday and show you how to complete common tasks that most employees will need or want to do on a regular basis. Sessions will be recorded and posted to the IRP website so that if you are unable to attend, you’ll still get to see and hear what the attendees do.

The first demo event will take place July 30, and registration via Eventbrite will be published in early July. Watch for more information soon.

A second demo event will take place in the fall, and a third will take place early in 2020.

HR and Finance Demos

Each month, the program offers demos relating to HR and finance processes. These demos are intended for UBC’s HR and finance communities, and they delve into processes that typical UBC staff wouldn’t engage with. The sessions also provide an opportunity for questions and answers.

Processes applicable to the broad employee base will be covered during a general demo, as noted in the previous section.

You can view the call-in schedules for the rest of 2019 on the IRP website here:

• HR Call-In Schedule
• Finance Call-In Schedule

Student Update

While the immediate focus of the IRP is on a successful launch of the HR/FIN Workday platform, the Student stream of the IRP is also moving forward. That stream has progressed into an initial stage of communicating UBC’s detailed requirements to the Workday Student team and continue to build a plan toward implementation. The Student team will be engaging further with community stakeholders in the fall to keep you up to date on the plans. Stay tuned.