Talent Groups Case Study

Modernizing HR Operations with Workday HCM for a Global Retail Leader

Our client, a leading global retail company, embarked on a critical HR transformation project to modernize its legacy HR system. With a workforce of over 350,000 employees across nine countries, the company sought to enhance efficiency, improve self-service capabilities, and centralize HR operations through the implementation of Workday Human Capital Management (HCM). Our SAFe/Agile Practice partnered closely with our client, understanding their needs and bringing solutions to successfully deliver this global, multi-phased project.

CHALLENGE

To be successful with their Workday HCM implementation, the client needed deep Workday expertise paired with strong SAFe/Agile experience. In particular, they required help to understand how to configure Workday to best meet the complex requirements of their global organization. Additionally, they sought guidance on their Agile transformation including modeling the Product Owner role, performing Agile ceremonies, and implementing other SAFe best practices.

APPROACH

Our Agile Practice provided an experienced Product Owner with deep expertise in both Workday HCM and Scaled Agile Frameworks (SAFe). By actively coaching the client’s teams on Agile best practices, we helped them adapt their ways of working for long-term success. Providing guidance regarding Workday-specific configurations supported by our expert technical resources, allowed the client to deliver optimized future state HR processes.

Key aspects of the approach include:

• SAFe guidance, Agile coaching & sprint leadership: Our experts lead Agile sprint planning, manage the product backlog, and facilitate Agile ceremonies to foster collaboration and iterative development. 
• Workday configuration & best practices: Our Agile Practice provided Workday knowledge, serving as a critical liaison between the client and the system integrator, helping to align the configuration with the client’s unique processes while maintaining flexibility for future changes.
• Expert Agile and technical talent: Providing expert talent to define user stories, lead sprint planning, coordinate testing scenarios, develop technical and business intelligence solutions, all while coaching the teams to adopt Agile best practices, has been central to the success of both the Workday implementation and Agile transition.
  

IMPACT

The project is ongoing; however, our Agile Practice has already delivered transformative outcomes:

• Enhanced collaboration and adaptability: The Agile approach has improved cross-functional collaboration and enabled the team to quickly respond to evolving project requirements.
• Workday best practices: The client’s team is now better equipped to manage Workday HCM configurations, thanks to ongoing coaching and guidance.
• Efficient HR operations: Centralized and automated HR processes are improving operational efficiency and reducing manual workloads, laying a solid foundation for future scalability.

This multi-phase, multi-year project continues, with our consultants playing pivotal roles in ensuring both the successful implementation of Workday HCM and the ongoing adoption of Agile practices.

Contact us at info@talentgroups.com to learn more about our SAFe/Agile Practice and how our solutions can help you streamline processes and achieve sustainable growth.