7 Ways to Waste (and Save) Money Implementing Workday® Student

Workday® Student is an incredible tool for schools who want to modernize their institutions. But there are things some schools do that unknowingly draw resources away from this investment.

Save money in your Workday® Student implementation

At Legato, we've seen many different implementation scenarios. Across the board, all schools have good intentions and want what's best for their constituents. So do we.

The following Workday® Student money-wasting tips tend to lead to the disruption of crucial operational activities (ie, registration, financial aid access, academic requirements, reporting, security management, identify access management). These disruptions result in missed deadlines, fines, dropped enrollment, high staff turnover, and unreliable data.

Read below for money-wasting and money-saving tips that may be helpful to you and your implementation.

Money-Wasting Tip #1: Make Workday® Student do everything

Workday® can do a lot, but it can't do everything. So, when Workday® Student is made the center of an institution's technological universe it tends to lead to awkward work-arounds to compensate for the things Workday® is less optimized for. This only creates operational inefficiencies and disruptions, and slows down future troubleshooting.

How to Save Money:

Embrace a system of systems approach and use the supporting systems you already have and are paying for. Workday® can do a lot, but sometimes your needs are better met by something you already have. There are many niche products out there that do things really well: Slate, PowerFAIDS, Handshake, Maxient, and Raiser’s Edge to name a few. Slate, for example, is an amazing CRM tool, but Workday®, as it regularly reminds us, is not. So, instead of trying to make Workday® Student into something it wasn’t designed to be, utilize other tools. You'll save money in the long run.

Money-Wasting Tip #2: Cut corners and take shortcuts during implementation

Once the implementation begins, there is pressure to stay on-time and on-budget no matter what. But cutting corners in an effort to save money only results in paying much more in post-production fixing the problems caused by these shortcuts. We all hear about new homes built in a hurry that lead to major headaches for homeowners soon after moving in. In these situations, the builders made decisions that were most efficient for them, but not practical for the family moving in.

How to Save Money:

If a problem or red flag shows up in implementation, take the time and bring in supporting staff to fix it properly. These problems do not go away, but they do get more costly to fix and the disruption to operations is heightened once Workday® Student reaches go-live and is your system of record.

In this scenario, you can hire an independent consultant to augment your staff, problem solve, and keep your project on track. This added expense will save you money in post-production.

Better yet, begin working with an independent consultant before your implementation even begins. Their experience and expertise will steer your project clear of running into problems in the first place.

Money-Wasting Tip #3: Hire new staff, but do not train them appropriately

Despite the complexity of Workday® Student and each school's unique tenants, sometimes project team members are expected to learn what they need to know over a one week course, or through knowledge transfer during the implementation. Other team members are expected to learn everything they need by watching old recorded meetings. Hiring without methodically training the team is like buying snow boots without a water proof seal on them. And ultimately, an under-prepared staff is prone to higher staff turnover, which is detrimental to your implementation and the first years after go-live.

How to Save Money:

Learning to manage the system and problem-solve takes time and steady, consistent, personalized training. Ideally, teams can consult Workday® Student specialists who assist with complex activities like report writing and data validation, while also mentoring them to independently manage the system. During this process, the institutional team benefits from thorough, hands-on training as well as detailed documentation for crucial processes so that it is prepared to work independently.

This type of institutional empowerment is exclusive to Legato Strategic Consulting. We stand out from other independent consulting firms because our aim is to render our services unnecessary by training and empowering an institution to operate without consultants like us.

Money-Wasting Tip #4: Expect project team members to know everything

Workday® Student is complex and the implementation process is demanding. Expecting your project team to learn everything about Workday® while simultaneously managing an implementation on-budget and on-time ultimately leads to productivity lost to inexperienced troubleshooting, rushed configuration and security decisions, and an overall inferior product.  When this happens, institutions pay the price in the form of poor staff retention, poor SIS performance, and operational disruption.

How to Save Money:

Regardless of the number of Workday® trainings or certifications you possess, no one can do or know it all. Collaboration is essential during the implementation process and in post-production management. The most successful schools have an on-campus team that collaborates with experienced advisors to personally train and guide the team, brainstorm solutions, and bring in specialists as necessary. Although partnering with experienced, independent consultants involves a cost, this approach ultimately saves money by reducing staff turnover and burnout, minimizing operational disruptions, and maximizing the system's capabilities and its added value to the institution.

Money-Wasting Tip #5: Skip independent quality assurance measures

It is a mistake to only look at the timeline and budget as measures of success during an implementation. It's also risky to rely on implementation partner quality assurance measures alone. Trouble spots and red flags ignored or unidentified during implementations are most costly to correct after the implementation is over. It’s like buying a custom home and relying on the builder's inspection to protect your interests that the work was done correctly.

How to Save Money

Mitigate risk by enlisting an independent quality assurance panel throughout the implementation process. In this way, you can catch and correct the trouble spots before they disrupt or delay the implementation process or the institution’s operations.

Money-Wasting Tip #6: Look to the implementation partner to drive the project and suggest best practices

Workday® Student is a highly configurable system and each institution is unique. Relying on the implementation partner to inform these configurations and accompanying decisions will result in a product misaligned to the institution. Ultimately, the institution will be on the hook for extensive and costly post-production support to redesign the system.

How to Save Money:

Drive your implementation. Be in charge. Conduct your own research, speak to peer institutions, outline all SIS requirements and operational needs ahead of time. Lead your implementation partner in this process, not the other way around. By steering the project towards a system that works for your school, you will avoid costly post-production support and redesign.

Money-Wasting Tip #7: Save change management activities until after the implementation is over

In an effort to save time and money, schools invest everything in the implementation. Unfortunately, schools may find themselves with wonderfully designed systems and no one who can use them. Or, worse, they use the system incorrectly, which requires costly clean-up after the fact.

How to Save Money

Do not underestimate change management. In fact, no school ever said they invested too much in change management. Workday® Student is a tool, not a solution. It is only as useful as those who can use it. Minimize staff turnover and training costs by supporting and developing your existing staff to maximize all the functionality of Workday® Student from the very beginning.

Wrap-Up

Legato stands apart from other independent consultants. Many of our team members have backgrounds in higher education, giving us insight into how institutions operate and what they require in a student information system to thrive. Our focus is on training and educating your teams to ensure they feel comfortable, confident, and skilled in using their system.

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