UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Faculty, staff, technical service and student employees actively tested the University’s new human resources and payroll system, Workday, over the past several weeks. User engagement testing (UET) gave employees the ability to log in to the new system, watch demonstrations by members of the Workday implementation team, and test the system themselves.
More than 300 unique testers representing campuses, colleges and administrative departments across the Commonwealth tested real-world scenarios such as updating an emergency contact, adding a dependent to their benefits and entering time worked into the system, which will launch on Dec.10. Staff from Penn State Human Resources' Shared Services team tested transactions such as hiring employees, changing jobs and opening positions.
“User engagement testing is a critical milestone prior to the launch of Workday. We wanted a representative set of testers who could provide us feedback and enhance our communications and training strategies,” said Rina Kumar, assistant project director of the Workday implementation project.
Employees tested the workflow of various processes, approvals and roles. They also helped validate existing training guides —called "job aids" — by ensuring that the step-by-step instructions accurately guided users through the process. All users tested processes based on the role they will play in various business processes. Workday is a role-based system, meaning the security structure only permits individuals to transact or view information based on the role they have at the University.
User feedback was documented during each session to capture suggestions, concerns and clarifying questions. Users were particularly excited about the visibility Workday offered them into their own employee record.
As a tester, Renee Borromeo, director of health and human development at Penn State Mont Alto, believes that Workday will improve employees’ “experience with searching for, finding and correcting data about themselves.” Borromeo noted that navigating Workday is “much easier than what we have been using with IBIS and ESSIC.”
Testers continually emphasized the importance of employees taking advantage of training materials, which will be made available to all employees via the Learning Resource Network beginning on Oct. 23.
Another tester, Jeffrey Wike, a supervisor of engineering labs, traveled from Penn State Berks to test the new system. He described Workday as "easy to use" and advised his fellow employees that it may take time getting used to Workday, but the new system "will be quicker and more efficient."
For more information and to prepare for Workday training, please visit worklion.psu.edu.