Business Process Framework

Overview

The business process framework consists of a powerful set of tools that enable automation of processes and delivers timely information to the right people. While you already explored business processes related to staffing, such as

Create Position

and

Set Hiring Restrictions

, this chapter delves deeper into the business process framework, giving you insight into the terminology, design, configurations, and uses of HCM business processes. You will explore the different configuration options, such as approvals, to do steps, and condition rules that drive the business process workflow accurately and efficiently.

Specifically, you will explore the

Hire,

Propose Compensation for Hire

, and

Change Organization Assignements

business process definitions. These examples are the most commonly used business process types in Workday HCM. You will configure these processes before staffing the workforce. Use the

Business Process Configuration Options

report and security policies for each respective process to support unique configuration requirements.

Objectives

By the end of this chapter, you will be able to:

Define the business process framework, terminology, and step types.

Explain the relationship between business processes and organizations.

Edit and test a business process definition using an appropriate effective date.

Configure and deploy condition rules that apply further logic to a business process.

Business Processes Definition Overview

Business process definitions include many different characteristics. The header section displays the effective date, security groups allowed to initiate the process, and a button to view a visual representation of the process flow. The body of the business process definition includes the following tabs of information:

Tab	Definition
Business Process Steps	This tab defines the order of steps that will execute. Use alphabetical ordering for ease of maintenance. Steps can be sequential or happen in parallel.
Notifications	You can send notifications to participants specified in the definition or other system users and security groups based on configuration. This tab displays both system and custom notifications for the business process. You can configure notifications to trigger on process status changes, or upon entry or exit of a step in the workflow. Notifications can also send to the user's email, or within Workday, based on configurations and preference settings.
Allowed Actions by Role	This tab lists the actions (e.g., review, subprocesses) allowed in the business process.
Allowed Services	This tab lists the services (e.g., create or reset Workday accounts) allowed in the business process.
Related Links	Related links reference to external web pages. This tab lists the external links.
Available Rules & Fields	This tab lists the condition rules and fields that you can use in conditional rule logic on the business process.

Below is an example:

An example of the Hire for Global Modern Services Business Process Definition.

Business Process Columns

You can configure the same fields for all business processes, though fields may not appear in the definition if you do not use them. For example, only a business process with documents configured will have the Documents Included field in its definition. These are common business process fields:

Field	Definition
Step	Lists the tasks in the business process.
Order	Identifies the order of execution for steps within a business process.
If	Lists conditions that the event must satisfy for the step to occur.
Type	Identifies the type of step (e.g., Action, Service, or To Do).
Specify	Further defines certain step types (e.g., Action - Propose Compensation Hire).
Optional	If selected, this allows the assigned user to skip the step. The next step will not begin until the user completes the optional step or marks it as skipped.
Group	Identifies security groups responsible for the step. The business process security policy limits the available security groups.
All	If selected, this requires all users in the security group to approve the step.
Run As User	Identifies the user for a Batch or Integration step type.
Due Date	Identifies the elapsed time from step initiation until completion. Workday does not automatically enforce due dates.
Due Date is Based on Effective Date	Identifies the elapsed time from the event effective date until completion. If there is no specified due date, the date references the business process initiation date.
Complete	Identifies the completion step and makes the business process data available to other systems, like payroll or general ledger.

Business Process Step Order

Configure the order in which business process steps execute using letters since Workday sorts alphabetically. We recommend using letters as numbers sort sequentially, meaning 10 and 100 will list before two, and 2,000 will go before three. Consider:

All business processes start with step a, the Initiation step.

Use multiple letters to insert new steps in an existing order. For example, "a, b, ba, bb, c"
will run in that order.

Skip letters if necessary. For example, "a, b, d" will run in that order.

Use all lowercase or uppercase letters as mixing case can complicate the order of your process. Lowercase-lettered steps will list before steps with the same letter in uppercase, but they will still run in parallel, regardless of their case.

Business Process Step Types

Business process framework groups common step types into one of three categories, based on their purpose.

Important
: The step type categorization in this course is a resource for you to understand the different step types. This classification does not exist in Workday.

Business processes use different step types to accomplish tasks in Workday. Not all step types are available on every business process type.

Report
: The Business Process Configuration Options
report displays the step types available for each business process type.

Step Type	Definition
Initiation	Defines who can start the business process. It is always the first step in a business process and you cannot remove.
Action	Either prompts users to review the process or initiates a subprocess.
Approval	Allows the user to approve, send back, or deny the entire business process, depending on the business process configuration. Approval step recipients cannot edit any information. Note : On all approval-related steps, including consolidated approvals and approval chains, if an approver denies the approval, they deny the entire business process.
Approval Chain	Seeks approval up a management hierarchy or organization, starting with users in the assigned security group. The chain continues until it reaches the top or meets an exit condition. A common exit condition requires approval from only two workers in the management chain.
Batch/Job	Runs the selected batch process as a business process step.
Checklist	Sends selected users a collection of To Do steps.
Complete Questionnaire	Distributes questionnaires to gather information relevant to the business process. Not available on all business process types.
Consolidated Approval	Combines multiple approvals for the same worker into a single approval task notification. Approvers can view simplified information for each step with a link to further details if needed.
Consolidated Approval Chain	Combines the properties of an approval chain with a consolidated approval.
Edit Additional Data	Allows assigned users to provide data for custom fields within the context of a business process. Note : Business process validation rules do not apply to this step.
Integration	Triggers a Workday system operation that transfers data to or from an external application. An Integration step also initiates a separate processing thread.
Report	Runs a report to inform your users' business decisions. The report appears in My Reports for the assigned users. You can also use a To Do step to consolidate links to one or more reports for the business process.
Report Group	Functions the same as a Report step, but for a report group, which allows multiple reports (e.g., financial reports) to run as a single unit.
Review Documents	Distributes documents to workers, including custom or standard reports. You can require electronic signatures or acknowledgment.
Service	Starts a separate processing thread for a Workday-delivered service (e.g., the creation of a Workday user account).
To Do	Sends an Inbox task to the assigned workers with instructions for a task inside or outside the Workday system. Workday does not deliver To Dos, so configure your own as needed.
Mass Approval	Provides a dashboard for multiple approvals from a single process. This step is only available for processes that deal with multiple organizations, like bonus, merit, and salary actions.
Shared Participation	Notifies and requires several workers to complete specified actions. Each of these actions is a participant detail event.

Basic Step Types

Action steps either send users reviews of information or start a subprocess. Review steps allow the user to edit the business process data and approve it.

Examples
:

In the Expense Report Event
business process, the expense partner reviews every fifth expense report.

In the Customer Invoice Email Event
business process, the accounts receivable specialist reviews the customer invoices.

In the Change Organization Assignments for Worker
business process, the employee (Employee As Self) changes their benefit elections if there is also a company change.

In the Change Business Title
business process, the manager reviews a change in a worker's title before the HR partner's approval.

To Do steps are reminders or activities that the worker must do inside or outside Workday. You can add, configure, and delete To Dos with the

Maintain To Dos

task.

Examples
:

In the Period Close Event
business process, the accounting manager has to close ledgers for operational transactions.

In the Hire
business process, an employee (Employee As Self) has to submit a W-4 form.

In the Change Job
business process, the security administrator has to review any changes to user-based security group assignments.

You can embed Workday tasks in To Do steps. The To Do step will provide a link to the task in the recipient's Inbox.

Security Note
: You can assign To Do steps to any active security group in the tenant; they do not need to be on the business process security policy. However, if you associate a Workday task with a To Do, verify that the assigned security group can access the task.

You can include Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML) links in your To Do steps as well. SAML links have additional security authentication. For example, an SAML link in a recruiting business process can automatically sign a user in to a job website and fill in relevant data from Workday.

Resource
: For more information, navigate to the Administrator Guide and search for the topic on SAML configuration.

Run the

To Dos

report to view which business processes use which To Do steps.

You will frequently use Approval steps in business process definitions to share data with and get approval from necessary users. There are several different types of Approval steps:

Approval

Approval Chain

Consolidated Approval

Consolidated Approval Chain

Mass Approval

Approval steps allow the assigned user to approve, send back, or deny a task, depending on the business process configuration. As always, you can check what options a business process type allows with the

Business Process Configuration Options

report.

Note
: Approval steps do not allow the user to edit any of the business process data. An Action: Review step allows for both editing and approval.

A Service step starts a Workday-delivered, automated process as part of the business process.

Examples
:

The Create Workday Account service automatically creates a user account and emails a temporary password to the new user.

The Document Delivery service transports an integration output file to an external server.

Business Process Security Recap

Workday defines the business process types delivered in each functional area. Every business process type has its own business process security policy. The business process security policies secure the permissions that members of security groups have for a specific business process type. Some examples of these permissions include initiating, approving, delegating, and canceling business processes. Each business process type has a single security policy that secures all business process definitions of its type.

In Workday HCM, there are several common business process types that you must configure in order to process staffing transactions, like hiring, terminating, or promoting employees. You can have multiple business process definitions for a given business process type, but they will share a single security policy. You can configure each definition to route steps to different security groups, as long as you include those groups in the security policy for the business process type.

The

Business Process Security Policies for Functional Area

report provides the description of a business process type and all business processes and sub-processes for that functional area.

To edit a business process security policy, use the definition's Related Actions, then select Business Process Policy > Edit. Before any security policy changes take effect, you must run the

Activate Pending Security Policy Changes

task. Once the security policy updates, you can then edit a business process definition. To edit a business process definition, use the definition's Related Actions, then select Business Process > Edit Definition.

Business Process Effective Dates

The effective date for a business process definition is the date on which a proposed change in the business process definition becomes available. If the effective date is in the future, the proposed change does not take effect until that date. Effective dates apply to items such as business processes, consolidated approvals, and condition rules.

When you view a business process definition, it displays as of today's date. You can also use a future date to view a definition that is not yet in effect. When creating or editing attributes of a business process definition, Workday prompts you to specify an effective date for your changes.

When executing a business process, the effective date is the date when the event will take effect. For example, for a business process that gives a pay raise, the effective date is when the raise begins.

The initiation date of when you submit a transaction determines which "version" of the business process to use. To view business process definitions of varying effective dates, use the business process definition's Related Actions menu and select the

View Definition

report.

Business Process Configurations

Business Process Configuration Options Report

Each business process type has different allowed configurations. You can view the allowed features for each type in the

Business Process Configuration Options

report.

Use this report to plan and configure your business processes. The report provides information on process configuration, including:

Organization types for which the business process is valid

Allowable actions and approvals

Options on saving after an available action

Restrictions; for example, you cannot have a

Change Benefits for Life Event

subprocess before the completion step

Prerequisite actions

Business processes that are strictly subprocesses

Allowed subprocesses for business process types

Allowed mass actions, like rescind, correct, cancel, and approve.

Incomplete business processes that are cancelable

Edit and View a Business Process

You can interact with business process definitions in Edit or View mode.

Edit Mode	View Mode
Add, modify, or remove steps. Configure the order, group, due date, and if required or optional.	Assign completion step. Add and maintain features such as condition rules, step delays, advanced routing, and step labels.

To edit the business process, go to its Related Actions and select Business Process > Edit Definition.

Business Process Step Configuration

Much of business process configuration is done by editing the steps themselves. Each step in the business process has its own Related Actions menu, allowing you to configure that particular step. You can configure a step while viewing the business process definition. The table below defines some of the more common step configurations.

Configuration Option	Definition
Create Condition Rule	Allows creation of a condition rule, which saves the new rule to a library of rules. This task just creates the rule, but does not add that condition to the step in the process.
Maintain Step Conditions	Allows you to select and apply a condition rule to the step.
Maintain Step Delay	Allows you to build a delay in time before the next sequential step executes in the process.
Maintain Advanced Routing	Use advanced routing to prevent approvals on one's own behalf if they are the initiator, prior approver, or the subject of the event.
Maintain Step Label Override	Allows you to define a label for the step, which overrides the way it displays in My Tasks.
Maintain Step Help-Text	Allows you to configure instructional text to help guide users through the step in the process.
Set as Completion	Indicates the step is the Completion step.

Setting the Completion Step

The completion step designates when to save or commit information to Workday. The process may contain other steps after the completion step, but the status of the business process will change to Successfully Completed.

Completion makes the data in the business process available to other areas of Workday.

Example
: A person will list as "hired" even if they have not yet done several new hire To Do steps so long as the completion step has successfully finished.

Keep in mind:

All Approval steps and Review steps must come before the completion step.

You cannot have more than one completion step in a business process.

If there is no completion step, the business process marks as complete when the last step finishes.

Set the completion step by selecting a step's Related Actions, then Business Process > Set As Completion.

Business Process Condition Rules

Condition Rules and Validation Conditions

Condition rules allow you to configure a business process to behave differently in certain situations. The rules use logical statements connected to data in Workday to determine when an event meets the specified criteria. As shown below, there are four types of condition rules.

Condition	Description
Entry Conditions	Determine whether a step needs to occur. If the condition applies, the step runs. If not, the process skips this step. You can configure an entry condition on all step types, excluding initiation steps.
Validation Conditions	Check the accuracy of data in Workday. If any condition applies, the process will not continue. If no conditions apply, the step exits, and the process continues. Only Initiation and Action steps can have a validation condition.
While Running Conditions	Only available on Approval Chain and Consolidated Approval Chain steps. While running conditions determine whether the next user in the management chain needs to approve the step. If they do not, the process skips that user and evaluates the next.
Exit Conditions	Determine whether a step should complete. If the condition applies, the step completes, and the process continues. If not, the step continues. Only Approval Chain, Consolidated Approval Chain, and Integration steps can have exit conditions.

Compare the types of condition rules with the chart below.

Overview of Condition Rules.

Some business process steps have Workday-delivered entry conditions that you cannot edit. However, you can configure additional entry conditions for these steps. The process evaluates both the Workday conditions and your conditions, skipping any step that does not satisfy all entry conditions.

To add or change the conditions on a business process step, navigate to the business process in View mode. From the desired step's Related Actions, select Business Process > Maintain Step Conditions.

Creating Condition Rules

When you create a condition rule, it can include one or more "and/or" statements. These statements may be complex and can include parentheses to control the order of operations.

Complete the following fields to control the behavior of the condition rule:

Field Name	Description	Example
And/Or	Logic between conditions	And
Source External Field or Condition Rule	The field or condition rule used to validate the condition	Worker Location
Relational Operator	Determines how to compare the source to the comparison values you choose	in the selection list
Comparison Type	Determines whether to compare the source to another field or to a value that you enter in the Comparison Value column	Value specified in this filter
Comparison Value	A comparison field or values to compare to the source	Sweden

Condition Rule Tester

You can troubleshoot condition rules with the

Rule Tester

task. Access the

Rule Tester

task through a business process event's Related Actions > Business Process > Test Rule. You can only access this task from events that use a condition rule. You will also need access to the Business Process Administration domain.

The

Rule Tester

task displays:

A description of the condition rule.

An evaluation grid for each condition in the rule.

Whether other rules use it as a subrule.

Creation details of the condition rule.

Which business processes use the condition rule.

When condition rules do not act as you expect, consider the following:

Always build and test one condition at a time.

Find available fields through the

Business Object Details

or

Workday Data Dictionary

report.

Choose specific fields that narrow down your condition rule as much as possible.

Run the

Report Fields and Values

report to determine what fields have values at the time an event executes.

Understanding Subprocesses

Some of your business process steps may be subprocesses. Subprocesses follow the same rules regarding order, parallel execution, and effective dates as other steps in the process. However, subprocesses also contain their own steps and configurations.

The illustration below demonstrates the relationship between the parent

Hire

business process and the

Propose Compensation for Hire

business process interact as part of the transaction.

An example of the relationship between a parent business process workflow and a subprocess.

Business Process Inheritance

You can decide how to use business process definitions. While we recommend you configure and use a default business process definition, it is occasionally necessary to create organization-specific definitions. In some situations, it is preferable to create separate definitions for different organizations if the execution steps vary greatly.

Compare default and organization-specific processes below:

Default Business Processes (Recommended)

Pros	Cons
Maintenance is easier and more straightforward.	Complex condition rules in business process definitions can slow processing.

Organization-Specific Business Processes

Pros	Cons
Cleaner and easier to analyze.	Maintenance is more challenging if you use common steps are across all copies.
Better performance with complex conditions.	Testing the right business process definition may be a challenge if you have multiple copies.

When you create a copy of a business process definition for an organization, you can edit the steps independently of the copied definition. You can add steps and logic that pertains to the organization-specific business process. You can also link a definition to multiple organizations so that they share the same configuration.

Note
: You will not often copy or link business process definitions unless the execution steps vary greatly for a particular organization.

Since you can configure organization-specific business processes in addition to the default definition, Workday uses a process hierarchy to determine which business process to use.

When you initiate a business process, Workday checks for a unique business process associated with the organization the transaction is for.

If there is a specific business process for that organization, then Workday will use that definition.

If no specific business process exists for that organization, Workday will check for a unique definition for the superior organization.

If there is no unique business process for any superior organizations in the hierarchical chain, Workday will use the default business process definition.

Workday will not use a business process definition if it contains errors. If the business process for a specific organization contains errors or is inactive, inheritance will determine which business process to use.

You can have multiple definitions for one business process type in Workday, including the default and organization-specific ones. The illustration below demonstrates how Workday evaluates and executes a business process based on which organization the transaction is for.

An example of the Hire (Default Definition) business process inheritance.

In the above example, if an employee in the IT HelpDesk department hires a new employee, Workday will use the

Hire for IT HelpDesk

business process definition. If an employee in the Sales & Marketing organization hires a new employee, Workday will use the

Hire for GMS

business process definition.

Tip
: To determine what business process definition an object uses, navigate to the business object and choose Business Process > Business Process Definitions for Business Object.

Initiating Hire

Hiring an employee includes recording information about the worker, assigning the worker to a position or job, and defining terms of employment such as location, hours, or compensation. When hiring, you can use an existing pre-hire or create a new pre-hire.

Touchpoint
: The worker indicative data below is tied to an employee's position. The data drives other areas of the system (e.g., eligibility for benefits, compensation, and time tracking) and has downstream impacts in many areas (e.g., Payroll, Expenses). During your design phase, consider how other system areas use this data.

Information required to complete an employee hire includes:

Hire Date

Position

Employee Type

Job Profile

Time Type (full time or part time)

Location

Additional data that includes service dates and other details may default from the location and job profile selected. You can also manually enter this data:

Job Title (from job profile)

Business Title (from job profile)

Default Weekly Hours (from location)

Scheduled Weekly Hours (from location)

Management Level (from job profile)

Job Classification (from job profile)

Company Insider Types (from job profile)

Work Shift (from job profile)

First Day of Work (from hire date)

Continuous Service Date (from hire date)

End Employment Date

Benefits Service Date

Company Service Date

You can auto-populate service dates when running staffing business processes. To do so, add the

Service Dates Change

business process as a subprocess of any staffing business process you want to default service dates for. (For example,

Hire

or

Change Job

.) Then, configure your defaulting rules and values using the task

Maintain Staffing Field Defaults

in the Service Dates Change section. You can also select the Enable Autocomplete checkbox on the

Service Dates Change

business process definition. If enabled, Workday will automatically complete the

Service Dates Change

event.

Touchpoint
: Make sure to build your rules correctly in order to avoid overriding existing service date values, as this can impact other processes such as recruiting and benefit eligibility. You can find additional information on this in Workday Community.

Hire Date Corrections

When making a correction to a worker's hire date or contract start date, error messages will appear on Correct Hire and Correct Contract Contingent Worker events. The errors list any worker-related business processes that prevent the date correction. Workday provides an actionable report, accessible via the hire or contract contingent event's Related Actions, called

View Hire or Contract Start Date Correction Conflicts

. This report lets you view, correct, or rescind each blocking business process.

Supervisory Organization Hire Corrections

To correct a completed Hire event, use the event's Related Actions, then select Business Process > Correct. If you need to change the Hire event's supervisory organization, both organizations must use the same staffing model. To enable supervisory organization corrections, navigate to the Hire business process security policy, and configure security permissions for the Correct action.

Note
: If you correct the supervisory organization for a future hire, the original supervisory organization will display on the worker's position restrictions up until that future effective date. The new supervisory organization only displays once the hire is effective.

When you change a Hire event's supervisory organization, users in role-based security groups may lose access to My Tasks items awaiting action, resulting in unassigned tasks. In this case, you must manually reassign the items or use the

Mass Operation Management

task.

From this task, select the Reassign Business Process Steps mass operation type. You can copy the

My Tasks Items to Reassign After Correcting Supervisory Organization on Hire

report and modify as needed for use in the

Mass Operation Management

task.

Positions and Role Assignments

Role assignments involve associating a worker's position or job with a given assignable role for a given organization or role-enabled instance (e.g., project, fund, supplier contract).

You can assign roles in several ways:

At the organization or role-enabled instance level.

At the worker position or job level.

To an unfilled position.

As a step in a business process.

Via a web service (e.g., integration).

Assign Roles to an Organization

To assign roles for a given role-enabled instance (e.g., an organization): Navigate to an organization's Related Actions, then select Roles > Assign Roles.

When assigning roles using this method, keep these considerations in mind:

Only members of the Role Maintainer security group can assign roles at the role-enabled instance or organization level.

Users can only access roles they can assign.

The assignment does not involve a business process. Therefore, you cannot enforce approvals with this method.

An example Assign Roles page for a supervisory organization.

Chapter Summary

The business process framework is a powerful tool available to leverage automation and efficiency to meet customers' business needs. You have the option to design step order, configure condition rules, and specify security groups. The

Business Process Configurations Options

report defines the features and allowed configurations for business processes. Business processes can be linear or complex with subprocesses. You can decide how to use businesss process definitions. You can also determine if you need to modify a default business process or configure an organization-specific definition.

For example, a customer can determine the business process type and steps needed to complete their hiring process. They may require both a definition for multiple organizations and the assurance that workers will receive all relevant compensation components. In response, you plan to to configure a default definition of a primary business process type in Workday HCM, the

Hire

business process. You will also include a step to initiate the

Propose Compensation Hire

subprocess to meet the customer's needs.

In addition to learning more about the business process framework, you also examined the significance of assigning roles to new hires. A new hire is in the system, and they need to be associated with their position or job to access tasks and view reports. Assigning roles can be a step within a business process, too.