Workday Help isn’t just a ticketing system—it’s a strategic tool to centralize employee support, streamline HR operations, and automate everyday service requests.
Many organizations use the standard case submission features, but Workday Help also includes powerful, underused capabilities like business process case creation, email ingestion, and message templates. These tools enable faster resolution times, improved service team efficiency, and a more seamless experience for employees, all within Workday.
The Role of Workday Help in People Experience
Workday Help falls under the People Experience (PE) umbrella, which also includes features like Workday Home, Assistant, and Everywhere. These are included in your core Workday subscription, while tools like Workday Journeys and Workday Help are sold separately.
Within Workday Help, there are two key components:
- Knowledge Management: A searchable library of help articles to guide employees through common questions or tasks.
- Case Management: A native ticketing system that allows employees to submit requests and HR teams to resolve them within Workday.
Together, these features reduce reliance on email, improve visibility, and ensure consistent support experiences.
Smarter Case Deflection with Knowledge Management
Before an employee even submits a case, Workday Help uses machine learning to surface relevant knowledge articles in real time. These suggested articles appear as soon as a user begins typing a case title, helping to deflect tickets and promote self-service.
Employees still needing help can fill out a structured form, ensuring the HR team receives complete, actionable information to begin resolution immediately.
Automating Case Creation via Business Processes
One of the most effective yet underutilized capabilities in Workday Help is the ability to create cases automatically from any business process (BP). By inserting a “Create Case” service step into a BP, organizations can generate a help case based on a specific event or condition.
How It Works:
- The case can be assigned to the affected employee.
- You can specify routing rules using case type.
- Titles and descriptions can be static or dynamically generated.
- You choose whether the BP continues or pauses until the case is resolved.
Use Case Example: Leave of Absence
When an employee’s leave request is approved by HR, Workday can:
- Automatically create a help case.
- Assign it to the requesting employee.
- Route it to the benefits team with pre-filled context about the leave.
This streamlines communication and ensures key follow-up tasks are tracked within Workday.
Other Use Cases:
- Job Requisitions: Collaborate on comp requirements as roles are posted.
- Onboarding: Trigger IT access or equipment requests from onboarding workflows.
- Offboarding: Automatically flag badge returns, system access removal, or benefit communications.
- Contractor Management: Track off-platform actions like contract processing or background checks.
If you’re still managing follow-ups manually or outside the system, this functionality can significantly improve visibility and accountability.
Enable Simple Case Creation with Email Ingestion
Another practical way to enhance Workday Help is through email ingestion, which allows employees—or even external users—to create and respond to cases via email.
Key Benefits:
- Familiar experience: Workers can simply send an email to a configured Workday address.
- No login required: Employees can receive and respond to case updates directly from their inbox.
- One centralized workspace: Case solvers manage all responses within Workday, without toggling between platforms.
You can configure separate domains for:
- Case creation
- Case replies
Workday also provides a pre-built report that logs email ingestions, including successes, failures, and sender details, helping teams monitor usage and catch any issues.
Security Considerations:
You can control who can create cases via email, such as limiting it to employees and contingent workers, and even filter email traffic before it reaches Workday using an external triage inbox.
Speed Up Communication with Message Templates
While not a method of case creation, Help Case Message Templates are another valuable tool for standardizing responses and speeding up resolution.
These templates allow case solvers to insert pre-written responses into a case with one click. Templates can include:
- Static or dynamic text fields
- Linked Knowledge articles or tasks
- File attachments like PDFs or FAQs
For example, a template for employee exits might read:
“We’re sorry to hear you’re leaving. Attached is our FAQ outlining next steps.”
Only specific service teams can access each template, helping prevent mix-ups, like the payroll team sending benefits documents. This structure ensures messaging stays clear, accurate, and compliant.
Final Thoughts
Workday Help has capabilities that many organizations have yet to leverage fully. By taking advantage of:
- Business process case creation for automation
- Email ingestion for flexible access
- Message templates for faster replies
…you can streamline service operations and deliver a better support experience to your workforce.
If you’re currently managing follow-up tasks through email or off-platform systems, these features offer a direct path to improvement, with minimal effort and maximum ROI.
Want to learn how to implement these strategies in your own Workday tenant?
Reach out to your Intecrowd ACC or contact success@intecrowd.com.
