Starting Monday, employees logging in to Workday will see a new landing page that puts relevant reminders, approaching deadlines and their frequently accessed tasks in front of them. The familiar field of application icons that dominated the right half of the site is available in a new navigation menu.
The intent is to help employees find information about themselves and use self-service tasks that have been in Workday since day one but perhaps were difficult to uncover. The change is part of regular upgrades provided by Workday for its clients.
"It's really about personalizing the landing page for each employee and what's relevant to you -- whether you're an employee or a manager," said change manager Scott Butterfield, information technology. "Workday is focusing on improving the user experience and making an employee's information more visible so it's easier for them to manage their employment at Iowa State."
For example, an employee's upcoming time off will display on the landing page. Or, when a new pay slip becomes available, that message displays for a few days.
Virtual help center
Jan. 10 and 12 (8 a.m.-5 p.m. daily)
Webex Room
Workday has added machine-learning algorithms to recognize the tasks and applications each user accesses most often and displays those on an employee's landing page. After several weeks of use, employees should notice changes in what displays on their landing pages.
Components of the landing page
Workday presents information in several tiles on the landing page:
- Awaiting your action, formerly the in-box. It displays up to three tasks the employee needs to act on, with direct links to them.
- Timely suggestions (new), employee-specific action items, for example, employees who are required to track their time see their time clock status (checked in or out).
- Quick tasks, provides links to the three tasks a user accesses regularly. A "view all apps" option beneath the three opens to the entire list.
- Announcements, university content remains largely unchanged, but the location moves lower on the page.
- Supervisors will see an additional tile, Your team, which displays reminders about their employees' upcoming or current time off, time tracking, anniversaries, etc.
Here's a summary of several other key changes to the Workday landing page.
Search function enhanced
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The search function at the top of the Workday landing page provides results within categories employees select for filtering their search results. Enhancements to the search function should provide more accurate results, and starting Jan. 10, employees will be able to customize -- and shorten -- those filters to better fit their needs. The search page also lists prefixes to use in quick, efficient searches.
Applications, shortcuts move to new navigation menu
A new navigation menu to the left of the ISU wordmark lists all Workday's applications -- time and absence, procurement, benefits, for example -- formerly displayed as icons on the landing page. The navigation menu is on every Workday page, not just the landing page. Employees who use Workday's shortcuts option (the foursquare icon) or configure applications option (cog icon) will find those options in the navigation menu. Shortcuts set previously in Workday will show up in this menu Jan. 10.
Get help from a chatbot
Another new feature, Workday assistant, functions as a chatbot to help employees retrieve personal information, for example, details about benefits, payroll, personal data, time off and time tracking that are unique to them. Hourly and nonexempt employees can use it to clock in. The assistant is visible in the lower right corner of every Workday page: a blue W inside a blue ring.
As use of Workday assistant expands over time, users should expect the relevance of the assistant's answers to strengthen due to the machine-learning algorithms.
"We'll monitor this to see how employees use the assistant," Butterfield said. "When we have more information about what they're seeking help with, we'll be able to offer tips on best uses."
Questions? Get answers Jan. 10 and 12
If you have questions or concerns about the changes to your Workday landing page, drop in during the virtual help center on Jan. 10 and 12 (8 a.m.-5 p.m. daily). Members of the Workcyte change management team will host it in a Webex personal room. Or, you can send questions anytime to workcyte_feedback@iastate.edu. A new knowledge-base article in the IT service portal also introduces features of the new landing page.
Pilot and demos
UHR central staff and HR delivery staff have been using the new landing page since December to become familiar with it and be a resource for employees they support on Jan. 10, when the rest of campus sees it. Workcyte's change management team also has demonstrated the landing page to leadership and user groups across campus, including IT leadership team, finance delivery leadership team, time keepers for nonexempt employees, the technical enterprise advisory committee and job management support employees who assist departments with student employment tasks in Workday.
A peek at the landing page
Workday's new landing page
