By using Workday, companies, both large and small, can protect their most valuable resource —their people. Workday brings best-in-class finance and HR applications into one powerful system. Their complete solution can seamlessly connect your financial and people data, which provides the insights and agility to make the right moves and make them with confidence. The cloud-based software provides recruiting and talent management, time tracking, workforce planning, and payroll and benefits management.

The important thing to know about Workday is that the companies who initially deploy any Workday suite of products, must do so through a Workday Services Partner or Workday’s own Professional Services. So, while Workday digitally streamlines HR operations, the platform’s ultimate success still lies in cultivating relationships with people. In the end, communication is key.

Workday Consultants Are in High Demand but The Talent Pool Is Limited 

Currently, the Workday ecosystem is a candidate-driven market. The overarching problem is there aren’t enough Workday certified consultant resources among the existing talent pools to meet that demand. While we may have a host of companies eager to start the Workday implementation process, we’re consistently short on candidates. 

There’s a limited pool of candidates with the required skill set for the Workday implementation process and therefore, they can and will drive the market. Ultimately, every candidate finds themselves entertaining multiple offers. 

Finding Talent and Filling in The Gaps 

When we examine our existing talent pool, we often find a wealth of candidates that have the technical know-how to install and configure various applications for clients. And while there may be plenty of people who have done Workday implementations, the demand is higher for those candidates with active certifications.  

As Workday’s only global staffing partner in North America and the EU, we work with consultants with prior Workday certifications to facilitate “update training” to reactivate their certifications to a current, active status. We can also provide a process to support the training of resources with prior Workday experience and support them through Workday certification training. We hold their certifications and make them available to partners as needed.

By partnering with Workday and putting this certification process in place, we expand that talent pool making more Workday certified resources available. 

Tips On Retaining Workday Contractors

The keys to the retention of certified Workday contractors are clear communication, advocating for proper compensation, and keeping a finger on the pulse of clients and contractors.

• Clear Communication: Like any job with any company, clear communication is key. Ultimately, the more information you can give the candidate, the better. Every candidate should be clear about the expectations of the job, their objectives, and the role they are playing. Moreover, candidates should feel comfortable knowing that their skillset meets the client’s expectations. 
• Advocate Proper Compensation: Being clear about compensation is critical to any job, and it’s no different for Workday contractors. While it’s important to provide the best possible resources for the client, it’s also important to advocate for the candidate. Ultimately, it’s important to know what’s going on in the market and adjust compensation packages accordingly. 
• Keep a finger on the pulse of the clients and contractors: Contractors are constantly on the move. In a given year, one contractor could potentially work with four (or more) different organizations; that’s a lot of change in a 12-month period. And while experienced contractors will likely be fairly nimble, it’s still important to check in on them periodically—organizations differ, leadership styles differ, and let’s not forget company culture. 
  
  As such, periodic check-ins are a must when working with contractors and clients, and the check-ins go both ways. Not only is it important to check in with contractors to ensure they are thriving in their role, but it’s equally important to ensure that the client is happy with said contractor. 

In a candidate-driven market, Workday HCM has a limited pool of talent resources. But by certifying our contractors, we have bridged the gap. Moreover, by fostering relationships and openly communicating with our contractors, we have been able to keep the wheel in motion for our partners interested in Workday implementation.

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