HCM Data Loading Services Certification Exam - Repeated Concept Exposure Flashcards
Content I created to prep for the new proctored format. Contains flashcards from both courses, the Instructor lead Data Loading Class and independent Data Management
GMS Tenant
used for demo.
What is WDSetup?
Source of factory default data for foundation recipes and Configuration Catalog. Content in WDSetup goes through a vetting and standardization process to ensure it adds value and minimizes migration issues.
What are Foundation Recipes?
Organize the content in WDSetup into configuration packages. Packages are consolidated into recipes based on product SKU and countries. During the Foundation tenant build, implementers can select factory default data to load based on customer scope of work.
What is Advanced Load?
Export, manipulate, and load data using XLSX, CSV, CSV ZIP, and XML files. Generate customer-facing workbooks and load data into the Advanced Load staging area. View data in Advanced Load using faceted search capabilities.
Previously known as CloudLoader.
What is the Configuration Catalog?
Migrate specific data sets of factory default data from WDSetup into customer non-Production tenants. This includes certain reports and other sets of configuration.
What is Customer Central?
An Implementation tenant that serves as a central hub to secure access to data migration tools. Used in deployments and ongoing Workday configuration management.
What are Migration Recipes?
Migrate setup and configuration data from one customer tenant to the next. Uses built-in DNU (Do Not Use) functionality to easily filter out non-relevant data.
What is Tenant Compare?
Compare data from one customer tenant to the next. Useful in reviewing content changes and validating tenant builds and migration.
What is the Object Transporter?
Migrates setup and configuration data from one customer tenant to the next. Also migrates data sets from Configuration Catalog to a customer tenant.
What is iLoad?
Legacy implementation tool that manages data migration and data loading. Mostly for Payroll.
What is EIB (Enterprise Interface Builder)?
An integration tool that enables building simple inbound and outbound integrations between Workday and external endpoints.
customers and consultants
What is the recommended order for running various recipe types?
- Baseline Foundation Recipes: Select appropriate deployment approach tags (LE, Launch, LX, Launch Now) and scope tags based on the Statement of Work (SOW). Ensure tag selections are correct. Run only once into an empty or vacant initial tenant.
- Industry Recipe: Select appropriate scope tags for a particular industry. Use Commercial industry tags if no other industry is applicable.
- FIN Country Recipe: Contains country-specific content for Expenses, Financial Management, and Taxes. Must select corresponding scope tags in Baseline Foundation Recipes.
- HCM Country Recipe: Contains country-specific content for Absence, Benefits, HCM, and Time Tracking. Must select corresponding scope tags in Baseline Foundation Recipes.
- Collective Agreements Recipes: Contains Collective Agreements and Notice Period and Probation Period Rules for France and Italy. Select only applicable Collective Agreements.
What should be done when running Baseline Foundation Recipes?
Select the appropriate deployment approach tags and scope tags based on the Statement of Work (SOW). Ensure tag selections are correct and run only once into an empty or vacant initial tenant.
What tags should be used for Industry Recipes?
Select the appropriate scope tags for a particular industry. Use Commercial industry tags if no other industry is applicable.
What does the FIN Country Recipe contain?
Country-specific content for Expenses, Financial Management, and Taxes. Must select corresponding scope tags in Baseline Foundation Recipes.
What does the HCM Country Recipe contain?
Country-specific content for Absence, Benefits, HCM, and Time Tracking. Must select corresponding scope tags in Baseline Foundation Recipes.
What do Collective Agreements Recipes include?
Collective Agreements, Notice Periods, and Probation Period Rules for France and Italy. Select only applicable Collective Agreements.
Who is typically responsible for building the Foundation tenant?
A data conversion consultant.
What are the three primary activities involved in building the Foundation tenant?
- Seeding the customer’s tenant with a set of starting configuration or factory default data from a foundry tenant (WDSetup).
- Loading customer-provided data that is representative of their organizations, jobs, and worker data.
- Running through a set of data validation and transformation steps to ensure the tenant’s contents are actionable.
What does seeding the customer’s tenant involve?
It involves using a set of starting configuration or factory default data from a foundry tenant (WDSetup).
What type of data is loaded during the building of the Foundation tenant?
Customer-provided data that is representative of their organizations, jobs, and worker data.
What is the purpose of running data validation and transformation steps?
To ensure the tenant’s contents are actionable.
What are the steps in seeding the Foundation tenant with factory default data?
Identify Customer Scope of Work
Foundation Tenant Build
Verify Target Tenant
Resolve Errors
Building the Foundation tenant is typically the responsibility of a data conversion consultant and consists of three primary activities:
- Seeding the customer’s tenant with a set of starting configuration or factory default data from a foundry tenant (WDSetup).
- Loading customer-provided data that is representative of their organizations, jobs, and worker data.
- Running through a set of data validation
Foundry tenants are the source of all factory default data. Workday currently manages two foundry tenants:
one for the Workday medium enterprise launch offerings, and WDSetup for everything else.
At the start of deployment projects, pre-configure the customer’s Foundation tenant with factory default data.
This data provides a starting point, including a common set of security groups, security policies, and business process definitions.
Implementation suites are considered factory default data and therefore loaded as part of foundation recipe processing. The most common implementation suites housed in WDSetup are loaded as part of the Foundation tenant build.
The suites include: Optimized HCM Implementation, Optimized Financials Implementation, Optimized Payroll Interface Implementation, and others.
Customer Central
is an Implementation tenant that serves as a central hub to secure access to data migration tools. Use it in deployments and ongoing Workday configuration management. It is where you access advanced load functionality.
CONFIGURATION CATALOG
contains predefined configuration packages of factory default content sourced from WDSetup. The configuration packages include country-specific setup data, custom reports, and custom integrations. Users can then modify the data to align with the customer’s needs. Both implementers and customers can access the Configuration Catalog from the Tenant dashboard in Customer Central.
Advanced Load primarily supports three use cases:
- Augment setup and configuration data outside of the recipe process.
- Fix errors that occurred as part of recipe processing.
- Bring customer-provided legacy data, such as companies, locations, and worker data, into a customer tenant.
Advanced Load Sets
Several Advanced Loads at once
Order of Advanced Load
Create and then view
What report tells you if there’s an advanced load or iLoad
Implementation Types Detail
Use Reference IDs
Not WIDs
Find the spreadsheet template on the:
View advanced Load in Customer Central
From the View Integration system related actions
Integration: Launch/Schedule
What is the Enterprise Interface Builder (EIB)?
Used to build simple inbound and outbound integrations between Workday and external endpoints.
What is the purpose of Advanced Load?
Used to export, manipulate, and load data using XLSX, CSV, CSV ZIP, and XML files.
What does Change Tracker do?
Returns changes made to configuration data within the selected timeframe and for selected users.
What is the Configuration Catalog used for?
Used to migrate specific data sets of factory default data from WDSetup into customer non-Production tenants.
What is Customer Central?
An Implementation tenant that serves as a central hub to secure access to data migration tools.
What are Foundation Recipes?
Used to organize the content in WDSetup into configuration packages.
What is the Implementation Suites Summary?
Centralized access to view relevant Implementation suites within customer Implementation tenants.
What does Tenant Compare do?
Used to compare setup and configuration data between customer tenants.
What is WDSetup PACMAN (Phase X Tool)?
Source of factory default data for foundation recipes and Configuration Catalog.
Deployment Stages:
Plan
Architect and Config
Test
Deploy
purpose of the Implementation tenant in Workday
is to provide a secure space for testing, prototyping, and training.
The source of factory defaults
WDSetup
The central hub for secure access to data migration tools
Customer Central
First deployment stage and initialization of the Foundation Tenant
Plan
Migrates between tenants
Object Transporter
Tool that moves data from WDSetup in mass to a new impl tenant
Foundation Recipe
Config iLoad task
Sets the password in the tenant. This password matches the PW in the file. Only do this once.
What is the primary purpose of Advanced Load in Workday?
Advanced Load is a data migration tool for loading and extracting data to and from Workday tenants. It supports loading various data types, including setup, configuration, and operational data.
Only available to consultants and implementers
What type of view does Advanced Load provide for Workday data?
Advanced Load provides a web service view of Workday data, presented in a normalized, tabular representation.
What is the staging area in Advanced Load used for?
The staging area in Advanced Load is used for data validation before loading data into the target tenant.
What file formats does Advanced Load support?
Advanced Load supports XLSX, CSV, zipped CSV, and XML file formats.
How do you access the Advanced Load Dashboard?
You access the Advanced Load Dashboard from Customer Central.
What are Advanced Load Sets?
Advanced Load Sets group files together for loading similar types of data. They help organize and manage data loads. Consist of multiple advanced loads.
What are the three primary use cases of Advanced Load?
The three primary use cases are:
1. Augment setup and configuration data outside of the recipe process.
2. Fix errors that occurred as part of recipe processing.
3. Bring customer-provided legacy data, such as companies, locations, and worker data, into a customer tenant.
What happens to data when it is first brought into Workday via Advanced Load?
When data is brought into Workday via Advanced Load, it is initially loaded into a staging environment where Workday performs initial validations based on schema requirements and highlights any errors.
What does ‘normalized’ mean in the context of how Advanced Load displays data?
‘Normalized’ means that Advanced Load displays data in a tabular representation of a web service, making the templates easier to populate and manipulate.
Is Advanced Load bi-directional? What does this mean?
Yes, Advanced Load is bi-directional. This means users can extract data, edit it, and load the revisions back to the target tenant without needing to reformat, manipulate, or delete columns of data.
What are the three main components of an EIB?
Get Data, Transform, and Put Data.
What does ‘Get Data’ specify in an EIB?
Get Data specifies the data source and format (e.g., file, report).
What is the purpose of ‘Transform’ in an EIB?
Transform transforms data using XSLT or spreadsheet templates.
What does ‘Put Data’ do in an EIB?
Put Data sends data to the target system (Workday or external).
What is an Inbound EIB used for?
An Inbound EIB brings data into Workday and uses Put web service operations.
What is an Outbound EIB used for?
An Outbound EIB extracts data from Workday and uses Get web service operations or reports.
Information classification categories for security
Public
Internal
Restricted
Customer
Key Security Rules
Encrypt internet transmissions
Avoid email
No Mobile storage
No fax usage
A VCR does:
- Allows access only to approved URLs and third-party applications that are required for the implementation.
- Limits the ability to email or print from within the VCR.
- Only permits one-way drive mapping (from laptop to VCR only).
- Prohibits clipboard redirection to the local laptop
Operational Data
Similar to setup data but is specific to the customer; commonly used in transaction data. Organizations, suppliers, customers, or locations. A list of valid values entered by the customer. Does not define a behavior.
Transaction Data
Represents past events. Workers, worker history, accounting journals, or unpaid supplier invoices
Configuration Data
Defines behavior in Workday; changes based on customer requirements. Business processes, security, integrations, or tenant setup
Setup Data
Defines the structure of Workday; follows common standards and is generic for all customers.
Genders, address types, or government IDs
Factory Default Data
A cohesive set of standard configuration values based on product design.
How does the Integration IDs Report differ from the Reference IDs report?
The View Reference IDs report only contains the reference IDs. The Integration ID report gives
reference IDs and other ID types (i.e. WID).
The HCM loading sequence
Orgs
Locations
Jobs
People
What role does Customer Central play in the data loading process?
Customer Central is not a Workday tenant with data; it’s a tool for managing advanced loads. It serves as a staging area where data is prepared before being loaded into the actual tenant.
What do you configure in SFTP settings in Customer Central?
You configure the SFTP URL, port, directory (folder path), username, and password. It’s important to get the path exactly right, as errors in the directory field will cause data load failures.
What does ‘directory equals folder’ mean in SFTP configuration?
In the SFTP settings, ‘directory’ refers to the folder where your Excel templates are stored. Leaving this field blank will cause the system to look in the wrong place and fail to find your files.
Why is using copy-paste critical when setting the SFTP directory?
Manually typing the path can introduce typos. Copying the exact path from the SFTP location ensures the Advanced Load tool can locate the correct files.
What is the Advanced Load tool used for in Workday?
It allows consultants to import, stage, validate, and load large sets of data into Workday from Excel files, using a secure and structured process.
What are the five main buttons (or steps) in the Advanced Load tool?
1) Download Template, 2) Import Data from File, 3) Load Data to Tenant, 4) Import from Tenant, 5) Import from Workspace (advanced). Most training only uses the first three.
What is the staging area in the Advanced Load tool?
It’s a temporary space within Customer Central where data is reviewed and validated before being loaded into a Workday tenant.
Why should you never type the name of an Advanced Load manually?
Because the name of the Advanced Load must match the filename on the SFTP server exactly. Typing increases the risk of mismatch errors.
What is the purpose of downloading an empty template?
To provide a structured Excel file to the customer for populating their data. It includes required fields and correct format.
What happens during the validation step of an Advanced Load?
The system checks all rows in the file for errors without loading them. If no errors are found, the data can then be loaded.
What are the three data load options in the Advanced Load tool?
1) Validate Only, 2) Load Only, and 3) Validate and Load.
Why is it best to use ‘Validate and Load’ instead of ‘Load Only’?
Because even if you use ‘Load Only’, the system still runs a validation. Using ‘Validate and Load’ ensures you’re aware of errors before proceeding.
What is the significance of the 10,000 error threshold setting?
It sets how many errors to display before stopping. Leaving it at 10,000 ensures you see all errors at once instead of resolving them one-by-one.
You cannot purge all data. Purgeable Data Types (PDTs) are related to these entities in Workday:
Active Workers
Candidates
Cases
Former Workers
Job Applications
Questionnaire and Survey Responses
Student Documents
Terminees
On the inbound EIB Get Data Step
Always change to SFTP
CREATE SIGNON CUSTOM MESSAGE
Edit Tenant Setup - System
What is the Enterprise Interface Builder (EIB) and what is it used for?
EIB is a Workday tool that allows users to build simple integrations to import or export data via spreadsheets or CSV files. It’s often used for data loading by taking template worksheets (generated by Workday) filled with data and loading them into Workday through web service APIs. EIBs are flexible and user-friendly, allowing customers and consultants to load mass data (like worker records, transactions, etc.) without complex coding.
What is an iLoad and what is its primary use in Workday?
An iLoad is a legacy Workday data loading tool (using “Integration Load” packages) that enables bulk loading of data. iLoads come as predefined XML/Excel templates for specific data (especially used historically for Payroll and some HCM setup data). The data is uploaded and then processed via a Workday iLoad task. iLoads are mostly used by Workday consultants/implementers and were common before EIBs and Advanced Load became prevalent.
What is the Advanced Load tool and what are its key features?
Advanced Load is a powerful data loading tool available to Workday implementers. It allows for flexible, multi-object data loads using Excel sheets placed on an SFTP server. Key features include a staging area where data is loaded temporarily for review or transformation before final load into the target tenant.
Which Workday data loading tools can customers use directly, and which are restricted to implementers?
Customers (tenant administrators) can use tools like EIB for data import/export (with proper security permissions) because EIB is a customer-facing tool. In contrast, Advanced Load and iLoads are restricted to Workday consultants/implementers.
What is the Customer Central tenant and how is it used in data loading?
Customer Central is a special Workday environment (tenant) used by Workday and partner consultants during implementations. It serves as a hub to access various project tenants and tools. For data loading, Customer Central is where certain tools like Advanced Load and configuration migration tools reside.
What are Workday Configuration Workbooks and how are they used during data conversion?
Configuration Workbooks are Excel templates provided by Workday that mirror the structure of Workday’s data fields for specific setup/configuration objects. They are used to collect and organize customer data offline.
What is the role of a Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP) server in Workday data loading?
An SFTP server is used as a secure staging area for data files during Workday implementations. Customers or consultants upload the completed data worksheets to an SFTP location that Workday integration tools can access.
What are Foundation Recipes and Configuration Packages in Workday?
Foundation Recipes are predefined sets of foundational data provided by Workday. They include basic setup data like countries, currencies, regions, common security groups, etc. These recipes bundle that data into Configuration Packages.
What is the Configuration Catalog tool?
The Configuration Catalog is a Workday tool that acts like a ‘shopping cart’ for configuration items. It allows implementers to select specific configuration or data sets and copy them into a customer’s tenant.
What are Migration Recipes in Workday?
Migration Recipes are a set of instructions or grouping mechanism to move configured data from one tenant to another within the same customer’s environments.
What is the Object Transporter tool and when is it used?
Object Transporter is a tool that allows consultants to selectively copy or migrate specific objects or data sets from one tenant to another. It’s typically used for moving large volumes of configuration or foundation data quickly once they are validated.
How can configuration and data be moved between different Workday tenants during the project?
Workday provides several strategies and tools for tenant-to-tenant data movement. One common approach is to clone or copy an entire tenant. Beyond cloning, tools like Migration Recipes and Object Transporter allow targeted movement of configuration.
What is ‘Setup Data’ in the context of Workday implementation?
Setup Data refers to the highest-level, baseline data that underpins the system’s structure. This is generally universal reference data provided by Workday and not specific to one customer.
What is ‘Configuration Data’ in a Workday project?
Configuration Data is the data that represents the customer’s specific configuration choices and structural setup in Workday. This includes things like the organizational structure, job catalog, compensation structures, and other settings.
What is ‘Operational Data’ in Workday?
Operational Data refers to the day-to-day business data that the client needs in Workday to operate their business. It typically includes records like employee and contingent worker records, positions and assignments, and other master data.
What is ‘Transactional Data’ in Workday’s data conversion context?
Transactional Data is the historical or event-based data representing transactions that have occurred in the past. This can include completed business process events, payroll and financial transactions history.
Which category of data typically represents the largest volume to convert, and why?
Transactional data usually represents the largest volume of data in a Workday conversion because it can encompass multiple years of historical records and myriad individual transactions.
What is a Foundation (Implementation) Tenant?
The Foundation Tenant is the initial Workday environment provided for a project, which starts out blank and is used to build the groundwork of the system.
Why should sensitive data generally not be loaded into the foundation tenant?
In early project stages, you want to avoid sensitive or confidential personal data because these environments are often accessed by a broad project team for demos and configuration.
What is a ‘Gold Tenant’ and what is it used for?
A Gold Tenant is an environment that contains the fully validated configuration and data set ready for go-live. It is typically established after several rounds of configuration and testing.
What are the typical types of Workday tenants used in an implementation and their roles?
Throughout a Workday deployment, you will work with multiple tenants, each serving a role in the project lifecycle: Foundation/Implementation Tenant, Testing Tenant, Production Tenant.
What are the typical types of Workday tenants used in an implementation and their roles?
- Foundation/Implementation Tenant: The initial empty tenant where base configuration is loaded and early design/prototyping is done.
- Build/Test Tenants: One or more tenants (e.g., System Test tenant, UAT tenant) where expanded configuration and data are loaded for thorough testing cycles.
- Gold Tenant: The final pre-production tenant with all correct configurations and data, used as the source of truth for go-live.
- Production Tenant: The live Workday environment for the customer, created by copying the Gold tenant’s configuration and loading final delta data before go-live.
- After go-live, there may also be Sandbox or Post-Production tenants for trying out changes.
At what project phase is the foundation tenant built and populated?
The foundation tenant is generally built during the Plan/Architect (or early Configure) phase of the project. It serves as the starting point for iterative configuration and design.
Why is early data loading in a foundation tenant important?
Early data loading is crucial because Workday implementations are iterative. It allows the project team to validate configurations and gather feedback in context, accelerating understanding and buy-in.
What does an ‘iterative approach’ mean in the context of Workday data loading?
An iterative approach means that data conversion and configuration are done in multiple rounds or cycles, allowing for incremental improvements and adjustments based on feedback.
When are historical transactions (transactional data) typically loaded during a Workday project?
Historical or transactional data is usually loaded in later phases of the project, often during end-to-end testing or just before user acceptance testing (UAT).
How are subsequent test tenants (e.g., system test or UAT tenants) built after the foundation tenant is ready?
Subsequent test tenants are created by migrating configuration from the foundation tenant and loading additional data to execute test scenarios.
What is the typical strategy to prepare the Production tenant for go-live in terms of data loading?
The best-practice strategy is to populate the Production tenant by copying over the final configuration from the gold tenant and then loading any remaining data needed.
In Workday’s Launch deployment methodology, who is responsible for building the foundation tenant?
In a Workday Launch project, Workday’s own Deployment Services team builds the initial foundation tenant, providing a jump-start with core setup.
Why is it important to follow a specific sequence when loading data into Workday?
Following a correct load sequence prevents errors due to data dependencies, ensuring that prerequisite records are in place before loading dependent records.
Give an example of a proper data load order in HCM to avoid dependency errors.
A correct load order might be: 1. Organizations and Setup 2. Positions and Jobs 3. Workers (Employees/Contingents) 4. Compensation and Benefits 5. Historical Transactions.
What are some best practices for data validation and preparation before loading data into Workday?
Best practices include using Workday templates, data cleansing, sample testing, peer review, and consistency checks to ensure data integrity.
How should errors encountered during a data load be handled?
When a load error occurs, review error messages, identify the root cause, fix the source data or configuration, and reload or re-run the integration.
What should you do about ‘bad data’ as you progress through multiple tenant builds?
Leave behind any bad or dirty data and ensure each successive environment has a higher quality of data than the last.
What security permissions or roles are needed for a user to load data via EIB?
Integration Developer
System Integration Administrator
to create and run an EIB.
How is sensitive data protected during the data loading process?
Protect sensitive data by using:
secure transfer methods
limiting access
using ISU accounts
ensuring tenant security
auditing data load activities.
Can all configuration and data setup be done via loading tools, or are there instances where manual configuration is required?
Not everything can be done via automated data loads; some setup steps must be done manually.
What should be taken advantage of for data load activities in Workday?
Take advantage of Workday’s audit logs and reports to confirm what was loaded and by whom, ensuring traceability for all data load activities.
How can confidentiality and integrity of data be maintained during the conversion process?
By combining secure processes with Workday’s security configuration.
Can all configuration and data setup be done via loading tools?
Not everything can be done via automated data loads – some setup steps must be done manually through the Workday user interface.
Certain security configuration, tenant-level settings, or complex business process setup might require manual configuration.
What is a common approach for data loading and configuration in Workday?
Load what you can using EIB/Advanced Load for items like organizations, jobs, and people, then perform manual configuration for quicker items or those only possible via the UI.
Recognizing what cannot be mass-loaded is important to budget time for manual configuration.
What is Workday Skills Cloud?
It’s a dynamic, continuously updated repository that leverages machine learning and external labor market data to define, standardize, and manage skills and competencies across the organization.
What are the main objectives of Workday Skills Cloud?
To enhance talent management by standardizing skill definitions, support personalized employee development, improve workforce planning, and optimize recruitment through skills-based matching.
How does Skills Cloud utilize machine learning?
It continuously refines skill definitions, identifies emerging skills trends, and matches employee competencies with job roles by analyzing both internal data (like training records and performance reviews) and external market data.
What types of data feed into Workday Skills Cloud?
Both internal data (employee profiles, learning records, performance data) and external data (labor market trends, industry benchmarks, certification standards) are integrated to maintain up-to-date and comprehensive skill profiles.
How can Skills Cloud improve employee development?
By providing personalized skill assessments, highlighting skill gaps, recommending targeted training and learning opportunities, and supporting career progression through clear skill mapping.
In what ways does Skills Cloud support recruitment?
It standardizes and aligns candidate skill profiles with job requirements, enhances the screening process by providing consistent skill criteria, and helps build a more agile, skills-based workforce.
How does Skills Cloud facilitate effective workforce planning?
It enables organizations to analyze the current skills distribution, forecast future skill needs, and design upskilling or reskilling initiatives to ensure the workforce meets evolving business demands.
How is Skills Cloud integrated with Workday HCM?
It is embedded within Workday’s talent management suite, seamlessly connecting with performance management, learning, career development, and recruitment modules to provide a holistic view of employee skills.
What challenges does Skills Cloud address in the context of HR?
It tackles inconsistent skill definitions, outdated competency frameworks, and the difficulty of recognizing emerging skills in a rapidly changing market, thus enabling a more agile and responsive HR strategy.
What benefits can organizations expect from adopting a skills-based approach through Skills Cloud?
Improved workforce agility, more accurate matching of skills to roles, enhanced employee engagement through tailored development plans, and better strategic decision-making based on real-time skill analytics.
How is the effectiveness of Skills Cloud measured?
Through improved alignment between job requirements and employee capabilities, enhanced recruitment efficiency, successful identification of skill gaps, and measurable improvements in employee development and workforce readiness.
What future trends could influence the evolution of Skills Cloud?
Advances in AI and natural language processing, deeper integration with external labor market data sources, and an increased focus on continuous learning and agile workforce management will further refine and expand its capabilities.
What are Skills Cloud Skills in Workday?
They are the standardized, global skills curated by Workday using machine learning and external labor market data. These skills serve as the universal baseline available to all tenants.
What defines Maintained Skills?
Maintained Skills are organization-specific skills that administrators create and update. They supplement the global Skills Cloud by addressing company-specific or niche competencies not covered in the global library.
How are Crowdsourced Skills characterized?
Crowdsourced Skills are user-suggested skills added by employees to their profiles. They remain unrecognized until either merged with an existing skill in the Skills Cloud or promoted to a Maintained Skill by administrators.
How do Skills Cloud Skills differ from Maintained Skills?
Skills Cloud Skills are globally standardized and continuously updated by Workday, whereas Maintained Skills are customized by your organization to capture unique or proprietary competencies that the global library doesn’t cover.
What is the process for a Crowdsourced Skill to become a Maintained Skill?
Employees suggest new skills (crowdsourced). Administrators then review these entries, and if a crowdsourced skill proves relevant and widely adopted, it may be approved and officially added as a Maintained Skill.
What role do table-based definitions play in Skills Cloud management?
Table-based definitions provide a structured list of standardized skill names, categories, and proficiency levels. They serve as a reference framework for mapping both global Skills Cloud Skills and organization-specific Maintained Skills to ensure consistency.
How does Workday handle duplicate or overlapping skills across these categories?
Workday’s machine learning continuously monitors skills entries, automatically merging duplicates within the global Skills Cloud. For crowdsourced and maintained skills, administrators review overlaps and adjust definitions to maintain clarity and consistency.
Why are Maintained Skills critical for organizations using Skills Cloud?
They allow organizations to capture and control unique competencies specific to their business, ensuring that important skills not covered by the universal library are formally recognized and reported.
What challenges can arise with Crowdsourced Skills in the system?
Crowdsourced Skills may introduce inconsistencies or overly granular terms if not moderated. They might clutter the system with variations of the same skill until administrators review and either merge or convert them into Maintained Skills.
How does the integration of Skills Cloud Skills, Maintained Skills, and Crowdsourced Skills benefit an organization?
This tiered approach provides a comprehensive view: the global Skills Cloud offers standardized terms, maintained skills add organization-specific nuance, and crowdsourced skills capture emerging or informal competencies. Together, they create a dynamic, adaptable skills framework for effective talent management.
