Change communications · Technology adoption
Helping a global workforce transition to Workday
Moving to a new HR system changes the everyday tasks employees depend on, from updating personal information to requesting time off and managing payroll details. When Thumbtack introduced Workday as its global HR information system, I led the employee communications strategy to help teams understand what was changing, why it mattered, and what they needed to do.
- Company
- Thumbtack
- Focus
- Global change communications, HR technology implementation, employee education
- My role
- Communications strategy and plan owner
- Geography
- United States, Canada, and the Philippines
- System
- Workday HRIS
- Launch period
- 2021; launch communications targeted July 8, 2021
- Measured communications reach
- 80,000+ impressions across communications and educational resources within six months
The challenge
Thumbtack was rolling out Workday as its new HR system across the U.S., Canada, and the Philippines, replacing several different platforms.
With employees in three countries and different processes for payroll, time off, and time tracking, there was a lot to communicate. Employees needed to understand what was changing, when it was happening, and what they needed to do. Managers also needed guidance to help their teams through the transition.
My challenge was to take a complicated rollout and make the information clear, timely, and easy for employees to act on.
My approach
I owned the Workday onboarding communications plan, coordinating messages and resources with People, HR operations, IT, payroll, project partners, and leadership. The plan combined early awareness with practical support as launch approached.
1. Explain the change and the why
Communications introduced Workday, explained the move toward a shared global system, and gave employees advance notice of key milestones, including the data freeze and launch.
2. Make the information relevant to each audience
The plan accounted for employees and managers, as well as differences across the U.S., Canada, and the Philippines. Messages clarified which actions were universal and which varied by location or role.
3. Meet employees where they already looked for information
The communications plan used leadership announcements, employee newsletters, Slack, All Hands touchpoints, and an internal wiki with self-service resources. The mix gave employees several ways to encounter the information and return to it when needed.
4. Support the behavior change with usable resources
I coordinated the communications around checklists, job aids, how-to materials, videos, and learning sessions, including brown-bag training. The focus was helping people complete real tasks in the new system, not simply announcing that it existed.
5. Reinforce key actions through launch
As Workday went live, communications directed employees to verify their profiles, check personal details, understand relevant time-tracking and payroll transitions, and find help when questions came up.
The result
Workday communications and educational resources generated more than 80,000 impressions in the first six months.
The work demonstrates how I approach large-scale change: explain the business context, anticipate practical questions, coordinate across teams, and give employees clear next steps at the moment they need them.
What this work demonstrates
Global change communications require both consistency and attention to the details that affect different audiences. For Workday, that meant connecting the big-picture rationale to the everyday actions employees and managers needed to take, across three countries and several existing systems.