Manager Productivity Improvement

Evidence and data. Interviewees said that before deploying Workday, managers faced significant productivity challenges due to fragmented systems, manual processes, and limited access to real-time data. Core HR functions such as compensation management, performance reviews, and workforce planning were often handled through spreadsheets, outdated on-premise systems, and disconnected tools for time tracking, recruiting, and learning. This lack of integration created inefficiencies, which required managers to rely heavily on HR teams for basic employee information, approvals, and reporting. The absence of self-service capabilities meant that even routine tasks like viewing compensation data or approving leave were time-consuming and error-prone. Additionally, performance management cycles were infrequent and administratively burdensome, often leading to delayed feedback and disengaged employees. These limitations not only slowed down operations but also increased the administrative burden on HR and IT teams, reducing the organizations’ overall agility.

The interviewees explained that after deploying the Workday solutions, their organizations saw significant improvements in manager productivity, primarily through streamlined workflows, centralized data access, and automation of routine tasks. Managers gained real-time visibility into compensation, performance history, and organizational structures, which enabled faster, more informed decision-making. The time required for tasks that previously took days (e.g., job changes, merit approvals) reduced to less than an hour, and performance management cycles became more frequent without increasing administrative burden.

• Interviewees said frontline managers spent lots of time on shift management, but Workday Scheduling provided visibility and flexibility to managers scheduling shifts. The director shared: “I think that’s boosted the ability for managers to be more creative with their scheduling and their schedules. It’s helped the employee be more transparent about what their work schedule looks like. When you’re a manufacturer and you have employees who work overnight or weekend shifts, you can then figure out the sentiment or maybe their well-being to see how it’s going. Maybe those shifts aren’t that great for them, and without us really knowing and being more transparent in these transactions, you wouldn’t know that.”

• Frontline managers also previously dealt with workers transfers, but interviewees said Workday provided transparency into employee information, which saved time for managers compiling required information of workers, especially with information related to job certifications or safety requirements. The director commented: “The transparency in Workday is tremendous because if I execute a business process for a job change, it goes through a person who reviews it, and they approve it. It tells you who’s up next, and it keeps showing that transparency. You can go in and say where it’s stuck at and who has it right now. And then Workday alerts that person saying they’ve got a task in their inbox to review. They’re able to communicate back and forth, send it back to the person, and update information. It really takes a form. It [previously] took three or four days or longer for that whole transaction to go through. And [with Workday,] we can get through those transactions within 30 minutes to an hour.”

• The interviewed CIO commented that managers at their organization benefited significantly from Workday providing the ability to track and automate training and certification requirements for frontline workers. They said that when employees move between roles or areas, the system automatically triggers necessary retraining based on safety and compliance needs (e.g., forklift, crane, or personal protective equipment [PPE] certifications): “This centralized visibility ensures workers are qualified for their roles and reduces manual oversight, saving managers an estimated 8 hours per month.”

• Interviewees described Workday becoming a hub for employees with information ranging from compensation to organizational charts. Managers no longer needed to shop around to gather information about certain reports, which was especially valuable for frontline managers. The director shared: “When we implemented this, [managers] didn’t have too much insight into compensation [for their direct reports]. They either had a spreadsheet or a document that said the employee makes this. And today, they can go in and say, ‘My employee’s base compensation is this. They get these allowances, and they are eligible for these bonuses.’”

• Another area where managers improved productivity is performance reviews. The director and operating unit general manager said: “We went from annual reviews to quarterly reviews. We want more in-person meetings [and] also shorter write-ups for each touchpoint. So, having Workday is a tool to do more frequently — just check the box. Workday is managing those workflows, which is easy. If the manager has 20 employees and there’s quarterly connections, that’s 80 meeting conversations that need to be documented in a tool easily without creating more workload.”

Modeling and assumptions. Based on the interviews, Forrester assumes the following about the composite organization:

• Each manager saves an average of 8 hours per month on shift scheduling in Year 1 and 16 hours in Years 2 and 3 due to the learning curve.

• Each manager saves 4 hours per month on worker transfer in Year 1 and 8 hours in Years 2 and 3.

• Each manager saves another 1.5 hours per month due to better information transparency in Year 1 and 2.5 hours per month in Years 2 and 3.

• Each manager saves 1.5 hours per month on performance reviews in Year 1 and 2.5 hours per month in Years 2 and 3.

• The fully loaded hourly salary for a manager is $41.

• The productivity recapture rate for a manager is 50%.

Risks. The expected financial impact is subject to risks and variation based on several factors that may reduce or slow recognition of this benefit, including:

• The number of direct reports managed by each manager.

• The daily responsibilities and tasks of managers.

• The compensation for managers.

Results. To account for these risks, Forrester adjusted this benefit downward by 15%, yielding a three-year, risk-adjusted total PV (discounted at 10%) of $13 million.

Payroll Administrative Savings

Evidence and data. Before implementing the Workday solutions, interviewees’ manufacturing organizations relied heavily on manual, decentralized payroll processes, which often required multiple administrators per site and extensive time for each payroll cycle. But interviewees said after deploying Workday, their companies experienced significant administrative savings driven by automation, centralized data, and streamlined workflows that enabled leaner operations and faster, more accurate payroll execution.

• The CIO reported their organization reduced its payroll staff from multiple site-based roles to just two centralized administrators for all of North America, which cut processing time per cycle from days to hours. They shared: “We basically used to have two people doing payroll administration at every one of our factories. And now we have two people for all of North America doing payroll.  So, there were six people removed from the organization because we didn’t need them to do what they were doing anymore. The time for processing of payroll was significantly less as well. It used to take a couple of days to do that, and now they can do that in about 4 hours.”

• Interviewees said the Workday solutions helped their organizations navigate complex payroll situations (e.g., when facing union workforces) and decreased the cost of payroll administration. The director of corporate IT operations shared: “Most of the variability with respect to union workforce is with respect to pay. So, a lot of that complexity is built into the payroll system. But there are certain aspects of it that are embodied within Workday. For the most part, the individuals within the business units can manage that uniqueness themselves — which, of course, is a benefit for our corporate HR folks because they don’t have to do it.”

• The chief growth officer spoke highly about the configuration of Workday, which they said enabled the customization of their organization’s incentive compensation. By switching to Workday, the payroll administration improved efficiency without investing effort to change their work processes: “We had a manual process around incentive compensation where you would set goals. Then those would roll up into this giant spreadsheet, and then you had to assess the goals and fill out the spreadsheet. We were able to basically take the same process for the steps, the approvals, the approvers, and the basic process, and implement it in Workday very easily. It was configuration, not software development. It was able to mirror an existing corporate process very easily.”

Modeling and assumptions. Based on the interviews, Forrester assumes the following about the composite organization:

• The composite organization previously had two payroll administrators in each factory and 16 payroll administrators at the headquarters.

• Using Workday Payroll, the composite reallocates 40% of its payroll administrators in Year 1, then 75% in Years 2 and 3.

• The fully loaded annual salary for a payroll administrator is $80,560.

Risks. The expected financial impact is subject to risks and variation based on several factors that may reduce or slow recognition of this benefit, including:

• The original number of members on the payroll team.

• The complexity of the payroll tasks in the organization.

• The compensation of payroll administrators.

Results. To account for these risks, Forrester adjusted this benefit downward by 10%, yielding a three-year, risk-adjusted total PV (discounted at 10%) of $4.5 million.

Financial Planning Administrative Savings

Evidence and data. Before deploying the Workday solutions, interviewees said financial planning across their manufacturing organizations was largely manual, fragmented, and reliant on spreadsheets. This led to inefficiencies, inconsistent assumptions, and high administrative overhead. But they said Workday enabled significant administrative savings through automation, centralized data, and streamlined workflows.

• The director and operating unit general manager reported their organization improved its planning efficiency by 17%. They said Workday was not only more efficient than legacy solutions, but that it also ensured more consistent experiences than working with spreadsheets. They shared: “What [Workday] offers is a more unified and consistent planning experience across the enterprise. As different programs and divisions contribute to the overall financial picture, everyone is working within the same system and using the same assumptions to ensure alignment and coherence throughout the organization.”

• The CIO reported that by deploying Workday Financial Management, their organization eliminated the need for a full-time resource previously dedicated to monthly consolidation, and expense management costs dropped by over 90% in some cases: “We’re actually going to be moving our planning process from a quarterly basis to a monthly forecast and a rolling 18-month forecast … without adding more effort.”

Modeling and assumptions. Based on the interviews, Forrester assumes the following about the composite organization:

• Before deploying the Workday solutions, the composite organization had two dedicated financial planning team members in each factory. With the deployment of Workday, 20% of these employees are reallocated in Year 1, and 40% are reallocated in Years 2 and 3.

• The fully annual loaded salary for a financial planning team member is $97,022.

Risks. The expected financial impact is subject to risks and variation based on several factors that may reduce or slow recognition of this benefit, including:

• The previous financial planning processes.

• The workforce at each factory site.

• The deployment of Workday.

• Compensation of financial planning staff members.

Results. To account for these risks, Forrester adjusted this benefit downward by 10%, yielding a three-year, risk-adjusted total PV (discounted at 10%) of $1.8 million.

Financial Department Operational Savings

Evidence and data. Interviewees said Workday enhanced financial department operations across their manufacturing organizations by streamlining reporting, auditing, and administrative processes. They explained that due to centralized workflows and real-time data access, audit support became more efficient, which reduced manual effort by an estimated 20%, and document and contract management features further simplified compliance, enabling faster access to signed NDAs and vendor agreements—critical during financial restructuring. Being able to automate document workflows; integrate with other tools; and provide secure, role-based access to financial data helped reduce administrative overhead and improved transparency. Overall, they said the Workday enabled finance teams to operate leaner, respond to audits more quickly, and maintain higher data integrity, which delivered measurable operational savings and strategic value.

• Interviewees from manufacturing organizations that operate in different countries described using a mix of legacy systems for financial reporting, leading to inconsistent data formats, duplicated effort, and manual consolidation work. This delayed month-end and quarter-end closes while real-time visibility into global financial performance was limited, making it harder to respond to business changes. One interviewee shared: “There was one person for, like, a week to do that consolidation every month. Workday is fully integrated, so it just goes automatically. We only have one person for financial reporting, and they’re able to get everything now.”

• Interviewees explained that auditing across multiple jurisdictions is more difficult when data is scattered and workflows are undocumented while ensuring traceability and access control becomes a major concern. The CIO commented: “Before Workday, auditing was done in [spreadsheets]. … Someone had to take the results, put them into the spreadsheet, and make sure the links worked. … Moving it to Workday was really about making it more auditable and secure.”

Modeling and assumptions. Based on the interviews, Forrester assumes the following about the composite organization:

• Before using Workday, the composite had one financial staff member per factory, and 50% of their effort was dedicated to financial reporting.

• With Workday Financial Management, the composite saves 50% of this effort.

• Each factory’s financial staff member previously spent 100 hours per year on auditing.

• Using the the Workday solutions, the composite saves 20% of this effort.

Risks. The expected financial impact is subject to risks and variation based on several factors that may reduce or slow recognition of this benefit, including:

• The solutions previously used for financial reporting.

• The internal guidelines on financial reporting and audit.

• The deployment of Workday.

Results. To account for these risks, Forrester adjusted this benefit downward by 10%, yielding a three-year, risk-adjusted total PV (discounted at 10%) of $341,000.

Recruitment Efficiency Savings

Evidence and data. Interviewees reported that before deploying the Workday solutions, recruitment processes at their organizations were fragmented, manual, and time-intensive, and often involved spreadsheets, disconnected systems, and email-based approvals. Recruiters faced high administrative burdens, and hiring managers lacked visibility into candidate pipelines and compensation benchmarks. After implementing Workday, the organizations reported significant efficiency gains. Interviewees explained that the time needed to approve offers reduced from days to hours, streamlined workflows allowed recruiters to manage high volumes, and hiring managers saved time on administrative tasks. Centralized data and automation enabled faster decision-making, improved candidate experiences, and reduced the need for manual coordination, which ultimately transformed recruitment into a more agile and data-driven function.

• Recruiters benefited from the automated workflow enabled by the Workday Recruiting add-on, which replaced administrative work. The chief growth officer shared: “Workday can have a big impact on the efficiency of the recruiting talent acquisition team. As you get to bigger and bigger organizations, they probably have a higher percentage efficiency. If you try to run a 100,000-person company with spreadsheets, Workday can help you lift the efficiency by 30 or 40%. It’s very significant.”

• The director and operating unit general manager commented that the post-offer process became easier with Workday: “Workday is flexible enough for resumes, interviews, and scheduling — that sort of thing. It’s the post-offer to fulfillment of all the checklists before the employee’s first day on the job. The process like that is fine. As long as once we hit the button, the workflow triggers within a minute.”

• Interviewees also reported efficiency savings for onboarding processes. They said hiring managers and HR teams gained real-time visibility into onboarding status, while new hires experienced smoother, more professional introductions to their new companies. These enhancements not only reduced administrative overhead, but they also improved compliance, engagement, and retention from Day 1. The chief growth officer emphasized: “The onboarding experience has a real impact on how new employees perceive the company, which can influence retention. [Workday] provided a much better starting point than feeling like things are disorganized or confusing.”

• Interviewees also explained that Workday decreased the administrative burden on hiring managers — especially for frontline managers — since they actively recruit. The chief growth officer shared, “I think there’s a smaller percent of the impact on the hiring managers themselves who are not the HR or talent acquisition professionals, but it’s still probably 10% or 15%.”

Modeling and assumptions. Based on the interviews, Forrester assumes the following about the composite organization:

• The composite organization has 60 recruiters.

• Prior to using Workday, these recruiters spent 60% of their effort on the administrative process of recruiting.

• With the deployment of the Workday Recruiting add-on, these recruiters save 20% of their administrative effort in Year 1, and 40% in Years 2 and 3.

• The annual fully loaded compensation for a recruiter is $82,011.

• The composite organization has an average of 1,750 openings per year.

• Prior to using Workday, each hiring manager spent 5 hours on hiring administrative tasks per opening.

• With the deployment of Workday, these hiring managers save 10% of this effort in Year 1 and 20% Years 2 and 3.

• The fully loaded hourly rate for a manager is $41.

•  The composite organization’s productivity recapture rate is 50%.

Risks. The expected financial impact is subject to risks and variation based on several factors that may reduce or slow recognition of this benefit, including:

• The organization’s hiring process.

•  The number of recruiters and annual openings.

• The deployment of Workday.

Results. To account for these risks, Forrester adjusted this benefit downward by 10%, yielding a three-year, risk-adjusted total PV (discounted at 10%) of $1.1 million.

IT Efficiency Savings

Evidence and data. Before implementing Workday, IT teams at the interviewees’ organizations were burdened with maintaining multiple disconnected systems, managing manual integrations, and supporting high volumes of help desk tickets. The organizations often relied on external consultants for implementation and ongoing support. But interviewees said after deploying Workday, their companies saw significant IT efficiency gains. Help desk ticket volumes dropped due to Workday’s interface and stability. System integrations became automated, saving hours of manual effort weekly, and legacy systems were consolidated, reducing maintenance overhead. In some cases, IT headcount reduced by more than 60%, which interviewees said reflects the long-term operational efficiencies that Workday’s cloud-native architecture and unified platform enable.

• The CIO at the manufacturing organization spoke highly about the way Workday’s system is integrated, which they said reduced IT team workload. They commented: “We don’t have a dedicated resource in the IT team for Workday. … Most of the stuff just works pretty well. … It’s really only access requests … not a lot of tickets.”
  They also said the automation of data flows between systems is much smoother compared to the prior environment: “We were manually taking a flat file and loading it into HR system before. … Now it’s fully integrated with Workday. We’re probably saving a couple of hours per week.”

• The director said Workday’s systems are easier to maintain than their company’s legacy solutions, which saved an average of $100,000 per year on third-party professional services.

Modeling and assumptions. Based on the interviews, Forrester assumes the following about the composite organization:

• With the deployment of Workday, the composite organization doesn’t need an IT team member dedicated at each factory for HR, payroll, and financial management system maintenance.

• The fully loaded compensation for an IT team member is $135,000.

• In the prior environment, the composite received 3,500 help desk tickets related to its HCM and financial management systems each year.

• With Workday, the number of help desk tickets is reduced by 50%, and the time needed to resolve one ticket is reduced from 1 hour to 30 minutes.

• The composite organization’s productivity recapture rate is 50%.

Risks. The expected financial impact is subject to risks and variation based on several factors that may reduce or slow recognition of this benefit, including:

• The organization’s previous IT stack.

• The expertise of the IT team members.

• The general IT system knowledge of employees.

Results. To account for these risks, Forrester adjusted this benefit downward by 10%, yielding a three-year, risk-adjusted total PV (discounted at 10%) of $4 million.

Legacy System Retirement Savings

Evidence and data. Interviewees said that before adopting the Workday solutions, their organizations relied on a patchwork of legacy systems for HR, payroll, recruiting, expense management, and employee engagement. These systems were costly to maintain, difficult to integrate, and often lacked transparency. But some explained that after deploying Workday, their organization retired between six and seven legacy platforms, translating into substantial cost savings beyond licensing costs. The organizations also reduced IT overhead, integration complexity, and administrative burden, which led to leaner, more efficient digital HR ecosystems.

• The director shared: “We shut down six to seven systems. … Some of those cost less [than Workday solutions], but Workday gave us more value and transparency.”

• The CIO said: “We were using another system for expense management … [that cost] about $120,000 per year. Now we pay about $10,000 per year for Workday. The functionality was better.”

Modeling and assumptions. Based on the interviews, Forrester assumes the following about the composite organization:

• The composite organization saves $1,580,000 per year on the cost of retired core HR and payroll systems.

• It saves $500,00 per year on the cost of retired financial management systems.

Risks. The expected financial impact is subject to risks and variation based on several factors that may reduce or slow recognition of this benefit, including:

• The tools the organization used before Workday.

• The Workday deployment.

Results. To account for these risks, Forrester adjusted this benefit downward by 20%, yielding a three-year, risk-adjusted total PV (discounted at 10%) of $4.1 million.

Unquantified Benefits

Interviewees mentioned the following additional benefits that their organizations experienced but were not able to quantify:

• Employee access to information on their mobile devices and decreased costs of information access. Interviewees said Workday’s mobile application enhances the employee experience, especially for frontline and manufacturing workers who often lack access to traditional desktop systems. They explained that intuitive mobile access allows employees to use their smartphones to easily view payslips, submit time-off requests, update personal information, and complete onboarding tasks. They described this as a convenience that empowers workers with greater control over their employment data and reduces reliance on HR for routine inquiries. Another benefit, they said, is that the app’s accessibility fosters a sense of inclusion and modernity, helping employees feel more connected to the organization. Overall, they credited Workday’s mobile capabilities for driving efficiency, transparency, and more empowered workforces across all levels.

• Easy project management and cost savings due to automation. Interviewees said Workday’s automation streamlines workflows, improves visibility, and reduces manual effort across and even beyond financial operations, which enhances project management. They also explained that their organizations benefit from centralized data and standardized processes, which enable faster decision-making and more accurate forecasting. Managers also gain real-time access to project-related workforce data (e.g., skills, availability, cost profiles), which supports better resource allocation and succession planning.
  Interviewees from organizations that use Workday Adaptive Planning said that solution allows for dynamic modeling and scenario analysis, which helps leaders more accurately assess labor costs, project margins, and staffing needs. Ultimately, interviewees said Workday automation empowers cross-functional teams to collaborate more effectively, adapt quickly to changing business needs, and drive productivity through a unified, data-driven platform, which leads to a more agile, efficient, and strategically aligned approach to managing projects and people.

Flexibility

The value of flexibility is unique to each customer. There are multiple scenarios in which a customer might implement Workday HCM and Workday Financial Management and later realize additional uses and business opportunities, including:

• Further productivity savings with AI integration. Interviewees said they believe future integration of AI into Workday holds promise for enhancing productivity, decision-making, and user experience across their manufacturing organizations. Several expressed optimism about AI’s potential to streamline complex processes and reduce manual effort. The CIO noted: “We’re interested in [Workday’s] AI, especially if the AI for financial planning can be improved.” Similarly, the director highlighted the value of AI in requisition writing “The genAI (generative AI) for requisition writing somehow needs to refer to training on old job descriptions. … You actually get a better result that looks more natural.”
  Interviewees also said AI can play a role in improving talent acquisition through smarter, context-aware automation while enhancing user support and training. The director of corporate IT operations suggested: “Find a way to make the user interface more intuitive or provide some AI that would let a user ask a question and have a guided response.” Overall, interviewees said they expect AI integration to reduce administrative burden, improve data-driven decision-making, and personalize user interactions.

Flexibility would also be quantified when evaluated as part of a specific project (described in more detail in Total Economic Impact Approach).