“My metamorphosis has replaced pessimism with enthusiasm.”

Before participating in Prosci training during the first week of December, Patrick Sevigny (Statewide Audit and Budget Reporting Section Analyst, Department of Administrative Services) had only heard of the ADKAR model in passing. Patrick not only thoroughly understood what “ADKAR” meant regarding change management methodology after becoming Prosci-certified but also knew just after the first day of Prosci training that it was “one of the better state [government] trainings” he had experienced during his 17 years of Oregon state government service.

State government has tried to implement an enterprise-wide HRIS two previous times over the past fifteen years. Even though Patrick has known for approximately two biennia that human resource information system (HRIS) replacement has been a priority on HR’s radar, it was when he was invited to serve on the Request for Proposal (RFP) evaluation process for the Workday Project (then called the “HRIS Project”) last fall that he realized the third time was the charm – replacement actually had liftoff. To say Patrick was skeptical of the HRIS replacement at first is an understatement; after RFP evaluations were completed, he felt “bad” for not being as excited for the change as many of his co-workers were. Patrick admits his lack of excitement for Workday was driven by the fact that Workday wasn’t his first choice for the HRIS solution because his initial perceptions of the system were based on a very narrow, budget-oriented viewpoint. The Prosci certification course during the first week of December, however, provided Patrick one especially bright lightbulb moment: “The bigger the change, the more resistance it faces.” The course highlighted the fact that Patrick wasn’t unique when it came to facing Workday implementation with resistance; in fact, Prosci research continues to show that feelings of resistance toward change are quite common.

As a member of the team responsible for performing daily budget audits for state government’s Position Inventory Control System (PICS), Patrick sits on the business side of enterprise-wide position management. Workday will have an “extreme impact on budgeting” within state government, and the HRIS transition is relevant to projects that budget personnel are working on, says Patrick. Positions are created within state government’s budget realm before HR can even begin onboarding processes for new employees and maintain workforce development processes for current employees. Patrick lauds both the Workday Project team at large for striving to make the transition as smooth as possible for budget personnel and Sue Williams (Position Data & Budgeting Consultant, Workday Project), in particular, for involving Statewide Audit and Budget Reporting Section (SABRS) personnel in the Architect & Design phase of the project and for keeping them in the loop on at least a weekly basis.

On December 14, Patrick joined Workday Project team members, Workday, Inc. representatives, IBM consultants to the project team, and other SABRS staff for a video conference during which a Workday tenet (i.e. samples of the system) was shown. Patrick is encouraged by the fact that Workday, Inc. was present at the meeting to hear feedback that the company will take to heart for future system updates.

“About a month ago, my son-in-law applied for a position with Toys-R-Us. The company uses Workday to streamline the entire application process, and it looked impressive,” Patrick explained. According to Patrick, who contends that Microsoft Outlook is the most modern system he has had contact with throughout his service with state government, Workday is a “nice, new, modern system.” Looking to the future, Patrick hopes to see more of the tenet before Workday is implemented during June 2018. Now that he is “really looking forward to Workday implementation,” Patrick also hopes to use Prosci methodology to “help alleviate anxieties” fellow state government employees may still feel about Workday.

Miguel joins the Workday Project team on rotation from Department of Human Services Self-Sufficiency Programs (DHS-SSP). Miguel calls the Corvallis SSP branch home, where he has held multiple positions over the course of four years. His valuable experience at the Corvallis SSP branch spans Support Staff member, Eligibility Worker and Case Manager. Miguel most recently served as Lead Worker over the past year. Part of his duties as Lead Worker included training both new employees and current employees on policy and procedural changes. Miguel has recently received Prosci Change Management certification. His optimism and familiarity with public service will serve the team well.

With over three years of training and development experience, Jessi joins the project team from the private sector. Previously, as a Training Specialist at a local credit union employing almost 200 employees, Jessi and her team developed, trained and provided ongoing support to all staff in order to ensure a successful system conversion. The conversion combined the two existing systems into one user friendly system that all departments, front office and back office now use to complete daily work. Newly certified through Prosci in Change Management, she brings a bright and professional excitement to the team.

Save the date!

Who: Workday Project sponsors (featured from left to right) Lisa Sumption (Director, Oregon Parks & Recreation Department) and Madilyn Zike (Chief Human Resources Officer)

What: Workday Webinar series "Note from our sponsors" livestreaming event

When: Thursday, January 25, 2018 between 9:00 AM and 11:00 AM

Where: On your computer screen! More details will be shared soon.