Navigating Workday, a leading provider of enterprise cloud applications for finance, HR, and planning, can be daunting for beginners. Understanding the terminology is a crucial step in becoming proficient with the platform.
Here’s an A-Z glossary of common Workday terms to help you get started.
A
Absence Management: A Workday module that tracks employee time off, including vacation, sick leave, and other absences.
Account: An entity within Workday representing a specific type of financial activity, often part of a larger account hierarchy.
Account Posting Rule: Defines how transactions are posted to specific accounts within Workday’s financial modules.
B
Benefit Event: An event in Workday that affects an employee’s benefits, such as hiring, termination, or life events like marriage or the birth of a child.
Business Process: A sequence of tasks or steps that are completed in Workday to accomplish a specific business goal, such as hiring an employee or processing payroll.
C
Compensation: Refers to all forms of employee pay, including salary, bonuses, and stock options, managed within Workday.
Cost Center: A unit within an organization that is responsible for costs and expenses, often used in financial reporting and budgeting.
Custom Report: A report tailored to specific needs, created using Workday’s report-writing tools.
D
Dashboard: A personalized view in Workday where users can see key metrics and reports.
Date Effective: Refers to the date on which a transaction or change becomes effective within the system.
E
Employee Self-Service (ESS): A Workday feature that allows employees to manage their personal information, benefits, and other HR-related tasks.
Event: Any transaction or change within Workday, such as a job change, benefit enrollment, or performance review.
F
Financial Accounting: The module within Workday that manages an organization’s financial transactions and reporting.
Foundation Data Model (FDM): Workday’s flexible and comprehensive data model that supports the financial, operational, and strategic needs of an organization.
G
Global Payroll: Workday’s payroll solution is designed to handle the complexities of payroll across different countries and jurisdictions.
Grant: In Workday, this term often refers to funding provided by an external organization, such as a government or foundation, to support specific projects or activities.
H
HCM (Human Capital Management): The suite of Workday applications that support HR functions such as recruiting, talent management, and compensation.
Hierarchy: The organizational structure within Workday that defines relationships and reporting lines, such as departmental hierarchies or supervisory structures.
I
Integration: The process of connecting Workday with other systems to enable data flow and synchronization.
Involuntary Termination: A type of termination in Workday initiated by the employer, such as layoffs or dismissals.
J
Job Profile: Defines the attributes of a job within Workday, including responsibilities, qualifications, and compensation range.
Job Requisition: A request to fill an open position, which initiates the recruiting process in Workday.
K
KPI (Key Performance Indicator): Metrics used within Workday to measure and track the performance and success of various business processes.
L
Learning: Workday’s module that supports employee development through training and educational programs.
Life Event: Personal events that affect an employee’s benefits, such as marriage, birth of a child, or divorce.
M
Manager Self-Service (MSS): Features in Workday that allow managers to handle tasks related to their team, such as approving time off or initiating performance reviews.
Mass Actions: Tools within Workday that allow administrators to perform actions on multiple records simultaneously, such as mass updates or approvals.
N
Notification: Alerts within Workday that inform users of pending tasks, approvals, or changes in status.
Non-Exempt Employee: An employee eligible for overtime pay under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).
O
Onboarding: The process within Workday that helps new employees transition into their roles, including completing paperwork and training.
Org Chart: A visual representation of an organization’s structure, showing reporting relationships and hierarchy.
P
Payroll: The Workday module that handles the calculation and processing of employee wages and deductions.
Position: A specific role within an organization that an employee can hold, defined by a set of responsibilities and requirements.
Performance Management: The Workday module that supports the evaluation and development of employee performance.
Q
Qualifications: Attributes and skills required for a specific job profile within Workday.
Quicklink: A shortcut in Workday’s user interface that provides easy access to frequently used tasks and reports.
R
Recruiting: The Workday module that manages the end-to-end process of hiring new employees, from job requisitions to candidate selection.
Report Writer: A tool within Workday that allows users to create custom reports based on their specific needs.
S
Security Group: Defines a set of permissions within Workday, controlling what data and tasks users can access.
Supervisory Organization: Defines reporting relationships within Workday, showing which employees report to which managers.
T
Talent Management: The Workday suite includes tools for managing employee development, career planning, and succession planning.
Time Tracking: The module within Workday that allows employees to record their work hours and managers to approve time entries.
U
User Interface (UI): The visual elements and layout through which users interact with Workday.
User-Based Security Group: A security group in Workday assigned to specific users, granting them access to certain tasks and data.
V
Voluntary Termination: A type of termination initiated by the employee, such as resignation or retirement.
Validation Rule: Checks in Workday that ensure data entered meets certain criteria before it is saved.
W
Workday Community: An online portal where Workday users can access resources, ask questions, and share best practices.
Worktag: Labels in Workday are used to classify and group data, making it easier to track and report on financial and operational activities.
X
XSLT (Extensible Stylesheet Language Transformations): Used in Workday integrations to transform XML data from one format to another.
Y
Year-End Processing: Activities in Workday related to closing out the financial year, including payroll, tax reporting, and financial statements.
Z
Zero Balance Account (ZBA): An account maintained in Workday where the balance is reset to zero regularly, commonly used in payroll processing.
This glossary covers essential Workday terms, providing a foundation for beginners to navigate the platform effectively. Understanding these terms will help you utilize Workday’s capabilities to their fullest potential.