UBC Vancouver Transition Network Members Gather for an Informative Reset

UBC is inching closer and closer to the launch of Workday and renewed HR and Finance processes. Our success is a shared responsibility that will require ongoing strong collaboration across the community.

A critical enabler of that collaboration will be achieved through the Transition Network.

On August 20, the Integrated Renewal Program (IRP) hosted the UBC Vancouver Transition Network Reset event where nearly 200 members of the Transition Network (TN) received a refreshed view of the program, associated timelines and activities, as well as to learn how they will support their colleagues as change champions and leaders throughout this program.

The TN is a group of leaders and administrative individuals from Faculties and departments who have formed a peer-to-peer change community who act as essential liaisons between their units and the IRP. This community approach is key to building awareness and cooperation across UBC for the future successful navigation of change and adoption of the new process and tools introduced by the IRP through Workday.

“For the members of the Transition Network, it’s an exciting opportunity for them to help successfully lead a change of this magnitude for an institution as complex as UBC” says Chris Mercer, Program Director of the IRP. “Their efforts make it easier for faculty and staff to invest more time and resources into UBC’s strategic priorities.”

Since the TN’s last meeting in February, the program and the TN’s approach have evolved, making event even more significant. One notable update was the Application Ecosystem Program (AEP), which plays a critical function to evaluate the large number of applications across UBC that will be impacted by Workday.

“The work being done by the AEP team is exceptionally important to ensure that the critical functionality required for business continuity is in place when Workday goes live,” says Jennifer Burns, Chief Information Officer and Associate Vice-President, Information Technology. “Both the IRP and AEP teams need to work closely together, because we share many stakeholders and impacted groups.”

The TN members also learned more about their evolving roles and responsibilities throughout the timelines toward launch day in 2020. This transparency on the partnership between the TN and the IRP will help leverage the reach and presence into the UBC community and strengthen understanding of the changes and benefits to come from Workday.

“Enterprise-wide change cannot be managed from the top,” says Jennifer Fullerton, IRP Organizational Change Management Director. “We are hoping that through our discussion and the materials we offer to the network will help equip them with resources to localize change within their communities and partners to ensure this implementation is successful.”

The TN has access to a Canvas-based course to access tools, updates and information to support them in their role. The ongoing partnership between the IRP and TN teams will continue to strengthen over the coming months, with the next session scheduled for September 27, 2019.