What are Workday HCM Business Objects?

1. The Core of Workday’s Data Model: Business objects are the fundamental building blocks of how Workday structures and stores Human Capital Management (HCM) data. Think of them like customizable virtual containers holding all the relevant information about a particular aspect of your HR processes.
2. Examples: Some common Workday Business Objects include:
1. Worker: Stores core employee data (name, hire date, address, compensation, etc.).
2. Position: Represents a job position within your organization (job title, description, department, etc.).
3. Organization: Defines the structure of your company (departments, locations, cost centers, etc.).
4. Benefits Enrollment: Contains employee benefit choices and related information.

Key Characteristics of Business Objects

1. Fields: Each business object consists of fields that hold specific data points. For instance, the “Worker” object might have fields like “First Name”, “Last Name”, “Job Title”, and “Salary”.
2. Instances: An instance is a single, unique occurrence of a business object. For example, each employee in your company would be represented as a separate instance of the “Worker” business object.
3. Relationships: Business objects are interconnected, creating a web of relationships that reflects your company’s structure. For example, a “Worker” instance is linked to a “Position” instance, which in turn could be linked to an “Organization” instance.

Why Business Objects Matter

1. Data Organization: Business objects provide a structured and logical way to store and manage vast amounts of HCM data.
2. Reporting and Analytics: You can query and analyze data across business objects to gain valuable insights into your workforce. For example, you might build a report showing average salary per department or track employee retention trends.
3. Process Automation: Workday’s business processes are built upon business objects. Events occurring within a business object (e.g., a worker changing jobs) can trigger automated workflows for tasks like approvals or updates to other systems.
4. Security: Workday has a robust security model that can be applied at the business object level, controlling who can access and modify various types of HR data.

Types of Reporting on Business Objects

1. Workday Reports: Workday provides a suite of pre-built reports as well as tools to create custom reports based on business objects.
2. Calculated Fields: You can create calculated fields within business objects to derive new data points (e.g., calculating length of service based on hire date).
3. Workday Prism Analytics: This tool allows for more complex data blending and analysis across multiple Workday modules (including HCM, Financials, etc.).