Workday Q&A: Finance team reviews a transitional year

February 24, 2025 (Volume 48, Number 12)

composite of two headshots: Erica Herwig and Heather White

Erica Herwig, left, and Heather White were among the project leads for Workday Platform.

Erica Herwig, assistant controller, and Heather White, assistant director of Procurement Services, were among the project leads for Workday Platform. Below, they look back on a transitional year for the Business and Finance team and discuss what's next for Workday at GVSU.

What are the most exciting changes Workday has brought for faculty/staff?
Erica Herwig: Faculty and staff now have complete visibility into where their transactions are in a business process and who that transaction is waiting on for approval. This has been very empowering to be able to have that transparency and be able to manage their transactions.

Many manual processes have been automated in Workday and are now accessible in a single system. Before Workday, faculty and staff were accessing two to five systems to get to the information that is now available in one platform.

What have you learned about the Business and Finance team as they have guided colleagues to learn about Workday?
Heather White: The team really stepped up to the plate to help the campus community learn Workday. It’s important to remember that Workday was new for our team as well. So while we were learning how to do our jobs in a new system, our team spent countless hours helping colleagues across the university learn theirs.

Before the go-live date, while testing and building the new system, we also spent 15-plus hours each week holding training sessions and office hours to help answer questions, while creating job aids and demo videos.

We had a strong support system in place and were able to quickly correct any issues or address concerns. For example, the Accounts Payable team changed the invoicing process three times in the first six months of Workday to make the process easier and more efficient.

What’s next for Workday? What should faculty/staff know?
White: Business & Finance meets weekly to continue to work on optimization projects. We have some exciting projects that we are working on and will always continue to work to make the system better for campus. The Workday Optimization page is a good place to see updates on these efforts.

How do new employees get up to speed on Workday?
Herwig: We have many Help articles available in Workday with links to demo videos for various tasks. Faculty and staff can also visit the Workday Support page for access to training materials and to submit a support request directly to the team that can assist.