The 2018 Civil Service HR (CSHR) Global Design programme aims to provide a framework for the standardisation of HR and Payroll processes and ways of working across UK Government departments. As a result, there is a strong emphasis and movement towards reaping the benefits of a standardised cloud-based HR system. In this instance the Civil Service Fast Stream (CSFS), has decided to use Workday to facilitate this change.
The CSFS is part of the Cabinet Office and successful implementation of Workday will represent a "proof of concept" demonstrating that it is another viable option as a Government HCM system. At the beginning of this programme, the Programme team approached Veran to help them with generating a business case detailing the scope and business benefits which would be realised from adoption of the Workday solution. Veran also worked with CSFS during implementation assisting with the management of the programme.
The CSFS Workday system has been configured with the wider Cabinet Office in mind creating the potential for other areas of Cabinet Office to ‘piggyback’ on the existing production tenant and potentially benefit from reduced configuration timings and costs. If the programme meets the agreed success criteria and achieves the proposed benefits, the Cabinet Office will have an opportunity to consider whether to deploy Workday in other areas of the department.
Now the CSFS Workday project has gone live with HCM and Expenses, it is safe to say that all the planning and preparation is paying off.
So what happened?
At the end of August, the CSFS Workday tenant went live to all existing Fast Steam participants and the first tranche of 2018 new entrants. The elapsed time between mobilisation and go-live was just 23 weeks. At the end of September, the remaining 2018 Fast Stream recruits went live. The current Workday tenant configuration comprises of Core HCM and Expenses. The next stage in the programme is to roll out Workday Payroll to Fast Stream by April 2019.
And what are the results?
Workday has enabled:
A user-friendly system which delivers a timely and consistent user experience
Streamlined processes which maximise automation
Clear lines of responsibility and accountability
A single source of knowledge and a reduction in errors due to cleansed, high quality, robust data
A system which motivates and incentivises users to self-serve
An HR function which meets the needs of the wider business, not just the HR team
The implementation of Workday into CSFS is a brilliant example of an HR Cloud transformation project which is delivering the benefits expected. It has shown that Tier 1 cloud solutions can be safely implemented within the government environment. It’s safe to say that with this success, HR in the public sector has some exciting opportunities ahead!
Written by Helena Sedgwick, Veran Performance