UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State is in the midst of one of the largest and most impactful Human Resources changes in its history, a major component of which is the technology employees will use to manage their benefits, performance, time off, and payment elections among other self-service actions.
The Human Resources Business Process Transformation (HRBPT), the initiative to create a more agile, self-service HR model, will include the creation of WorkLion, a single-online employee portal that will house tools such as a searchable HR knowledge base, access to the Learning Resource Network, and the University’s new cloud-based HR and payroll system called Workday.
An intuitive and user-friendly software, Workday will empower employees to view and manage personal data when the system launches later this year. Employees across the University will access Workday for tasks ranging from enrolling in and maintaining benefits, entering time worked, scheduling time off, updating contact information, to maintaining pay elections (such as direct deposit accounts information) and setting performance management goals. All Penn State employees will use elements of Workday.
To help prepare Penn State employees for the transition to Workday, Human Resources Strategic Partners and University Financial Officers are serving in integral roles as WorkLion Ambassadors. Responsible for communicating key messages about Workday and the HRBPT to University employees, WorkLion Ambassadors will also collect and share feedback that will allow the project teams to better aide and prepare employees for the transition.
“The goal of the WorkLion Ambassadors’ program is to drive a thoughtful and holistic change across the University in the areas of both Human Resources and Payroll,” said Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer Susan Basso. “To do this, we need HR and Finance to coordinate messaging, gauge progress, and report feedback.”
An essential part of the communications and change management strategy, WorkLion Ambassadors have already begun sharing timely information on the HRBPT and Workday rollout with employees, and coordinating with University communicators to take advantage of multiple communication channels, including newsletters, staff meetings, and email distribution lists.
“The ability to share key messages and collect feedback about Workday is a critical factor for our success when we go-live,” said Associate Vice President for Finance and Corporate Controller Joe Doncsecz. “Employees of all types — faculty, staff, technical service, and student — need to know about the new HR delivery model and HR-Payroll software, Workday.”
WorkLion Ambassadors are uniquely prepared to assist their units, colleges, and departments prepare for the transition to Workday. They will be sharing key messages around time tracking, employee benefits and system training throughout the spring semester.
For more information about the WorkLion Ambassador program, contact your HR Strategic Partner or University Financial Officer. You may also contact the teams implementing the HRBPT and Workday by emailing worklion@psu.edu, visiting the WorkLion Workday website at worklion.psu.edu, following WorkLion on Facebook or Twitter @WorkLion.
To learn more about HRBPT, visit the Transformation’s website.
Follow these links to Penn State Today articles from an earlier series on the Human Resources Business Process Transformation — “HR Business Process Transformation on track to improve HR service to employees,” “HR Business Process Transformation to create an HR shared services model” and “Technology to drive the HR Business Process Transformation self-service features.”