As LMU makes progress in Propel LMU, the implementation project that will bring Workday to the bluff next June, the university will spotlight a series of colleagues who are working behind the scenes to lead development and implementation efforts. Propel LMU, the multi-year project responsible for implementing Workday as the university’s new finance and human resources software platform, continues to progress toward the June 27, 2021, go-live date.
In this first installment, we caught up with program leads Chad Slapnicka and Tracy Stewart, who are managing the Finance and Human Capital Management (HCM) projects, respectively.
What is your role at LMU outside of the Propel implementation, and how does that role prepare you for this project?
Chad Slapnicka: I’m the assistant controller at LMU, where I oversee all financial reporting, the AP group, general accounting team, etc. I interact with a lot of different financial functions in my role, and have a good idea of the overall system and how the different pieces interact and work with each other. Having that knowledge helps me visualize how Workday will be laid out for LMU, since we are consolidating a bunch of different systems into one. We have to make sure we’re configuring things to not break when they start interacting with each other.
Tracy Stewart: I’m the senior director for HRIS and Compensation. A big part of my job is implementing HR systems, which was right up the alley of this project. Everything I’ve done at LMU was the warmup that’s prepared me for the Workday implementation, which is rolling everything at once into one system.
What are your day-to-day responsibilities with Propel LMU?
CS: As FIN lead, I’m overseeing various financial work streams and making sure we’re configuring and ready to go live successfully. I also work closely with the HCM and Payroll teams, to make sure everything interacts smoothly when we go live.
TS: In summary? I’m trying to solve all of the various HR business processes that currently exist for faculty, staff, and students, and maneuver them into one streamlined system.
Up to now, what’s been the biggest challenge with the project?
CS: Definitely the remote environment in which we’re working. The knowledge transfer when you’re not sitting in the same room, and have the ability to ask questions as quickly and easily, takes a lot more scheduling and coordinating. Things just take longer to get resolved. With that said, I think it’s going really smoothly so far, all things considered.
TS: Hands down, the face-to-face element; just being able to turn around and have a conversation with all the folks working on the project. That’s definitely one of the bigger challenges, working and navigating through COVID. It’s resulted in very long days and evenings, and I’ll be juggling several calls and meetings at the same time.
What was the biggest surprise you’ve encountered with this project?
CS: Workday is continually evolving. Even in the short window that we’ve been working on implementation, they’ve already put out new releases that we were able to take in and enhance procedures already in place. They really do listen to their customers and make changes to keep enhancing the product. I’ve always heard that about Workday, but it’s been nice to see it in action.
TS: Just trying to keep in mind the 80/20 principle as we work through integrating all these systems. You’d think 80/20 would make it easy, but it was surprising how difficult it’s still been.
How do you see Workday benefiting LMU?
CS: Workday will link all our info together in one place, which has been lacking up until this point. Just having real-time data and clean reporting will really help streamline our work. It will help us make better, more informed decisions, and expedite all of our processes.
TS: Individuals being able to access all their information under one roof is huge. It has both sides, for employee and supervisor perspectives, and gives the individual greater control through the self-service element.
Why are you excited about transitioning to Workday?
CS: I know I keep stressing having all info in one place, but it’s so important. It will streamline university processes, eliminate the need for integrations between different systems, and really just give us a cleaner, better picture of what’s going on.
TS: There are fewer systems for me to try to manage! Plus, the access to information that people ask for consistently. Now, they’ll have it available at their fingertips as an every day user, rather than having to request it through HR.
Anything you would like the LMU community to know, or ask of them, ahead of implementation?
CS: There will be operational changes as a result of implementation; we aren’t just doing a “lift and shift” from old processes and systems. So, please keep an open mind with these changes, as they’ve been made with the larger LMU benefit in mind. Of course any new system takes some learning, but when you get the hang of it, you see how easy and intuitive Workday really is.
TS: There’s a lot of clicks and a lot to learn in Workday. It’s not going to be learned in one day, because it’s a robust system that has a lot of power. It will take all of us time to learn and enhance it, as we continue to fit the needs of our end users. Understand that patience will be needed by all because of the robustness. Just take some time to live in it and do what you currently do in a self-service environment, and you’ll pick it up pretty quickly.
How are you going to celebrate after the go-live?
CS: [laughs] We will be in the middle of our annual financial audit! So there will be no celebrating. Definitely a delayed celebration after August.
TS: I’m going to go on a vacation where there’s no internet access. As soon as I see that first payroll period completed and everyone gets paid!
To learn more about the Propel LMU project and implementation timeline, please visit lmu.edu/propel.
