Who is the real hero of your Workday story?

Any successful change needs a narrative or a story to bind impacted people together. Fail to do this, and you will fail to deliver. So straight out of the Disney playbook and referencing elements from Donald Millar's 'Building a Storybrand', here's how you can make your Workday driven change more engaging for your people and deliver the change you require.

Make your employee the hero of your Workday story.

A good story needs a hero who will be the focus of the adventure. On any Workday Project, the hero should generally be the people manager or employee. Think Luke Skywalker in chinos and a round neck jumper. 

If you can provide your hero with a narrative that they can engage with, your business will change. If you don't, you will have a fancy new system that won't be used by the people you intend. Tell the story in a way that they will understand and engage with. Focus on the elements that will enable your hero to access information, make better people-related decisions. Empower them to use Workday as part of their day to day role and your HR and Finance teams will have the capacity to think and work differently.

Grab the attention of the reader 

You have 1/10th of a second to make an impact. That's how long people take to decide if they like what they see on their screen before moving on to the next item. People get bored they 'flick on' and move on to what's happening on Love Island. Like the best books or movies, hit your hero right between the eyes, what's in it for them and why should they read on? 

You don't have to agree with the sentiment of "Make America Great" or "Get Brexit done" to recognise the simplicity and effectiveness of the message. Apply this logic to the delivery of Workday. Don't hide behind jargon. Use language 'normal' people will understand or can't ignore.

Hang on, it's a HCM system! Why isn't HR the Hero?

If HR were the hero of this story, it would suggest that we want them to solve the majority of issues any Workday Project will address.  For this reason, HR should always be positioned as the guide.  

The most compelling stories have a guide at its heart. This person is critical in helping our hero to understand and eventually overcome their obstacles. For every Luke Skywalker or Katniss Everdeen, there is always a Yoda or a Plutarch Heavensbee. 

What about the Project Team - surely they play an important role?

The Project team play the role of the narrator. They help detail the story in an engaging way that wins hearts and minds. The narrator also positions HR as the knowledgeable enabler providing wisdom and support when required. In project parlance, the Project Team should be the anonymous people at the back of the room who are preparing the Organisation and its people to work and behave differently.

It should never be about the Project Manager or the Project team. They need to put their ego's in the drawer and lock it away. If this doesn't happen, the knowledge will leave when the Project stops and your Organisation will remain dependant on expensive external support, and you will not deliver the change.

Every good story needs a villain and a challenge to overcome

Firstly, the villain doesn't need to be a person; it can be a 'thing' also. Think of the barriers that will prevent the change from happening. Examples like poor accessibility, unnecessary complexity, duplication, lack of ownership or accountability are the villains in any Workday implementation. 

If told correctly, it's not hard to position the manager or employee as the hero of the story and a champion against bureaucracy and simplification. Workday becomes the 'thing' that will empower our hero to save the day and deliver a new way of working. Think Darth Vadar preventing mobile access and forcing armies of people to fiddle about with Excel all day.

Balancing the aspirational with the realistic 

Change needs to be aspirational, but it also needs to be practical. You should know your business, what will resonate, and what will not. Don't promise the earth, when its either not achievable or needed. Too often the charismatic leader takes over, acts like Ripley and fires off a 1000 rounds (without reloading) when a more subtle and believable approach would be better. 

Closing credits...

This approach isn't new or novel, however, it is surprising how often it isn't done. Projects start in a rush, the business case doesn't get updated and before you know it you are sucked into a series of workshops, design sessions and preparations for go-live. I am frequently asked to join projects at the midpoint before testing and there is no clear narrative on what the Project or business is trying to achieve from Workday. Decisions get made without a clear reference point to where the Organisation needs to be.

So make defining (or re-defining) your Workday story a priority for your Organisation. Ask yourself honestly, how do you expect your people to work and behave differently if you can't articulate your story in a way they will understand and engage with?

To discuss the points raised in this article and learn how Kainos can help Organisations maximise their investment in Workday  Contact me at [email protected] or alternatively private mail me via Linkedin.