Workday upgrade March 12, 2022: What to expect

    March 9, 2022

    Summary

    On Saturday, March 12, Workday will be upgraded to a new version. Below please find some helpful information to prepare you for the changes. 

    A snapshot of the changes include:

    Business Process User Interface Updates – All Users

    • Workday Assistant, a new virtual chatbot tool that can provide quick access to employee and HR-related information, will be implemented and available on every screen. Learn more about Workday Assistant.
    • New display for tasks
    • Column changes in process history within the business process view
    • Enhanced accessibility in high contrast mode for Windows

    HCM Updates

    • There are no HCM specific updates with this release

    Finance Updates

    • Ability to change the line order within Create Requisition

    Workday Extended Outage

    Workday will be unavailable for a maximum of four hours on Saturday, March 12, from 2:00 – 6:00 a.m. ET. 

    Workday can and does make changes up until the day of release. To understand any new updates, watch for information in the Announcements section on the Workday homepage.

    Details

    Business Process User Interface Updates – All Users

    Workday Assistant

    Using natural language processing, Workday Assistant allows users to query using conversational language to view/perform a range of HR-related data/tasks such as changing your profile or searching a co-worker’s contact information.

    Managers can use Workday Assistant to view individual and collective information about their teams, including anniversaries, birthdays, and time off. They can also easily link to the STARS Hiring Manager Portal.

    The Workday Assistant icon can be found in two places on any screen (see A and B below).

    For a complete list of options, access the “Show all capabilities” button within the Workday Assistant interface or simply query “What can you do?”

    NOTE: At this time, Workday Assistant queries for finance-related information is limited to linking to your own expense reports. Users looking for finance-related tasks and reports should use the top-of-screen native search function.

    To learn more about Workday Assistant, review the Workday Assistant chapter of the Introduction to Workday training guide.

    A brief video introducing Workday Assistant is in production and a link will be shared in the next Business Update.

    Have questions on Workday Assistant? Contact the Employee Service Center (ESC) at employee.services@yale.edu.

    New display for tasks

    Continuing the display change that occurred for Reports in the September ’21 Workday release, you may see additional tasks appearing in a separate window rather than being presented on the main Workday page (e.g., Create Requisition, Change My Business Title, Create Journal, etc.). When you initiate one of these tasks, Workday will gray out the main screen and display the prompt in focus in the new window on the screen. When you close the window, Workday brings the main screen back into focus. 

    Process History Column changes

    Within a business process view, the “Persons” column has been replaced with “Persons (up to 5),” alphabetically listing the names of up to five individuals who are eligible to act on a step within the business process.

    A new “All Persons” column has been added showing the total number of users eligible to act on a step. To see a complete list of users, click on the number in the “All Persons” column. Keep in mind the first five will display in the “Persons (up to 5)” column. You can also export the list to excel or pdf.

    When the:

    • Status is “step completed,” a “1” will show in the “All Persons” column
    • Status is “automatic complete” or “not required” (person column is blank), then a “0” will show in the “All Persons” column.
    • Status is “awaiting action”, then you should see a count of all assignees (limited to the first 5; you may click on the number to show all assignees)

    If a “0” is showing on a step that requires assignment (“awaiting action” and person column is blank), then there is no Cost Center or Grant Manager assigned to the values being used. Please report this issue to FSC to initiate the role assignment process.

    Enhanced accessibility in high contrast mode for Windows

    Workday continues to enhance accessibility for those using high contrast mode for Windows. New changes include:

    • When you type in global search and press the down arrow on your keyboard, an outline highlights the selected result
    • A bolder outline has been added to check boxes and radio buttons

    Have questions on Business Process User Interface changes? 

    • For help with mobile and desktop device technical issues, please contact the ITS Help Desk at 203-432-9000.
    • For questions about Finance inquiries, transactions, and reporting, please contact the Finance Support Center at askfinance@yale.edu or call 203-432-5394.
    • For questions about HCM transactions, please contact the Employee Service Center at employee.services@yale.edu or call 203-432-5552.

    Finance Updates

    Ability to change the line order within a requisition

    The Create Requisition form now provides the option to change the line order by clicking an up or down arrow to reposition each line. The line order will carry over to the resulting Purchase Order.

    Questions on Finance updates?

    For assistance, contact the Finance Support Center at askfinance@yale.edu or 203-432-5394.