Comparing Options for Greenhouse and Workday Integration: Features, Benefits, and Pros & Cons
Ever found yourself trying to explain to Finance why your headcount numbers in Workday don't match what your recruiters see in Greenhouse? 🤔
It’s a frustrating disconnect that’s a common symptom of integration challenges between the two systems. Workday is great at position management and general HCM processes. And Greenhouse streamlines your recruitment process.
But getting them to work together seamlessly? Now that can be surprisingly complex.
Currently, organizations have two main options for integration: Workday Studio integration and Greenhouse's HRIS Link. Each approach comes with its own technical considerations that can significantly impact your recruitment operations and data accuracy.
As a certified Greenhouse partner with over 50 years of collective experience, we've helped dozens of organizations navigate these integration challenges. We've learned that success is all about understanding each option’s technical nuances and how they align with your organization’s specific needs, especially when it comes to position management and headcount management workflows.
In this guide, we’ll examine the pros and cons of each option, explore their technical features, and share insights about a revolutionary new headcount planning solution that's making this integration process more streamlined than ever before. We hope it will help you make an informed decision about which approach best suits your organization's needs.
How Do Workday and Greenhouse Integrations Work, Anyway?
Before we get into the nitty-gritty of the specific integration options, let’s break down what actually happens when Workday and Greenhouse talk to each other. Understanding this flow highlights why integration isn’t just a simple “connect and go” process, but a sophisticated dance of data moving bidirectionally between systems.
Here’s the end-to-end process of how position data flows between Workday and Greenhouse:
Position Creation in Workday: The process kickstarts with position management in Workday, where you create a position to establish the headcount. This creates the foundation for your hiring process.
Job Requisition Process: A job requisition business process is initiated in Workday, which marries the position data with the recruiting requirements. This is where your hiring needs get formalized.
Data Transfer to Greenhouse: The integration sends position and job requisition data to Greenhouse, including details like compensation, manager information, job level, and other headcount metadata. Any changes to these details trigger updates through the integration.
Recruiting Activities in Greenhouse: Recruiters work within Greenhouse to manage the candidate pipeline and hiring process. This is where the actual recruitment magic happens.
Offer Creation: When a candidate is selected, an offer is created in Greenhouse with all the necessary details about the position and candidate.
Data Return to Workday: The final step involves sending the candidate and offer data back to Workday through an inbound integration. This completes the hiring process in your HR system and generally kicks off onboarding, where HR Operations teams pick up the process ownership.
Different integration options handle these steps differently—and some don't handle all of them at all. Let's explore your current options.
Workday Studio: The Workday Customizable Integration Framework
Workday Studio is a heavy hitter when it comes to complex integrations in Workday. It's the most sophisticated integration type, designed to handle complex data flows that require extensive customization and/or multiple data sources—and the Greenhouse integration definitely falls into this category.
Think of Workday Studio as your integration command center. It’s typically the go-to solution when you're scoping out a project that involves connecting Workday with any Applicant Tracking System (ATS), including Greenhouse.
So how does it work? Well, Studio allows developers to build custom integrations that can handle both outbound data (sending job requisition and position data from Workday to Greenhouse) and inbound data (bringing candidate and offer information from Greenhouse back into Workday).
This involves:
Creating specific reports (Report-As-A-Service, or RaaS reports)
Building transformation files to format the data properly
Establishing detailed mapping between the two systems.
Developers have to understand both Workday's integration framework and the nuances of ATS integrations to develop this Workday integration properly.
Notable Features
Workday Studio provides robust development tools that allow you to create highly customized integration solutions. Key features include:
Complete integration framework for building complex, custom solutions
Ability to create detailed transformation mapping for data fields
Support for multiple integration types and data formats
Built-in testing and debugging capabilities
Custom report-building functionality for data extraction
Pros
While Studio is complex by nature, there are some major advantages to using Workday's native integration framework:
Maximum customization: You have complete control over how data flows between systems so you can tailor the integration to your exact business requirements and unique position management needs.
Full bidirectional capability: Studio handles both outbound (Workday to Greenhouse) and inbound (Greenhouse to Workday) data flows in one cohesive solution, ensuring complete data synchronization throughout the hiring process.
Cons
Just like any complex software solution, Workday Studio does have its limitations. Here’s where things get interesting (and potentially challenging):
High implementation costs: The need for specialized developers at around $200 per hour, combined with the approximately $50,000 upfront cost and $10,000 annual maintenance, makes this a significant investment. Consider phasing your implementation to spread costs over time and ensure you're only building what you absolutely need.
Requires technical expertise: You can’t hire a general developer—you need someone specifically trained in Workday Studio who also understands ATS integrations. This is because Studio integration requires deep knowledge of Workday’s proprietary integration framework. You should partner with firms like Kandor Solutions that have certified Workday Studio developers or invest in training your internal team if you plan to maintain the integration long-term.
Limited flexibility for updates: When you need to add or modify fields in your integration—like adding new compensation data or updating position attributes—you can't simply have an administrator make the change. Each modification requires a Workday-specific developer to update the integration logic, reports, and transformation mappings. So you need to plan your integration architecture with future scalability in mind by building in flexibility where possible and documenting all customizations thoroughly for easier updates.
HRIS Link: The Greenhouse Solution for Workday Integration
[Sourced from Greenhouse]
Greenhouse’s HRIS Link takes a streamlined approach to the Workday integration challenge. Unlike the full-scale development Workday Studio requires, HRIS Link offers a pre-built solution specifically designed to handle outbound data flow from Workday to Greenhouse.
While this is Greenhouse's proprietary solution, it focuses on simplifying the integration process through standardized data mapping and automated synchronization.
Notable Features
Key technical features of HRIS Link include:
Automated 15-minute sync intervals for real-time data accuracy
Built-in data mapping templates for Workday fields
Web service-based integration using RaaS (Report-as-a-Service)
Customer-controlled report modifications
Built-in error handling and notification system
Support for custom field mapping and updates
Pros
HRIS Link shines in a few areas:
Simplified field management: Administrators can add and modify column headers and field mappings without developer intervention using RaaS (Report-as-a-Service).
Semi-automated integration: HRIS Link essentially provides a pre-built framework for the Workday outbound integration. Instead of writing custom Studio code, it reduces implementation complexity by using Workday's reporting capabilities to extract and transform data according to predefined templates.
Streamlined user management: Automatic synchronization of user accounts, departments, and office structures helps maintain data consistency without manual intervention.
Cons
While it makes integration simpler and more streamlined, HRIS Link does have its limitations:
Partial integration: The biggest limitation is that HRIS Link only handles outbound integration (Workday to Greenhouse). For a complete solution, you'll still need to implement a Workday Studio integration for the inbound flow (Greenhouse to Workday), so you’re not entirely avoiding the complexity of Studio development. Therefore, you need to plan for adequate testing time and consider phasing the implementation.
Position management constraints: Recruiters still need to manage job requisitions in Workday, which can create a disjointed user experience. This means maintaining duplicate data entry points and potential synchronization challenges. You should establish clear workflows and validation processes to keep your data consistent.
Data reconciliation challenges: With data flowing between systems every 15 minutes, discrepancies can arise when changes occur simultaneously in both systems. You can combat this by implementing regular data audits and establishing clear process ownership for data conflicts.
Kinnect: Your Comprehensive Position Management Software Solution
While exploring integration options, we feel we’d be remiss not to mention an emerging solution in the ecosystem: Kinnect, our comprehensive headcount management software solution for Workday and Greenhouse users. Kinnect offers a fresh approach to position management and integration challenges by reimagining how these systems can work together. We’ve solved position and headcount management for Workday customers!
Notable Features
Kinnect brings several innovative features to the position management landscape:
Unified position management framework
Bidirectional integration capabilities
Drag-and-drop field mapping interface
Real-time data synchronization and updates for HR, Talent Acquisition, and Finance teams
Built-in data reconciliation tools
Streamlined recruiter experience
The Benefits of Kinnect
Position management doesn't have to be complicated. Here's how Kinnect approaches common challenges:
Greenhouse integration: Kinnect enables direct point-to-point integration with Greenhouse (or any ATS) all while maintaining the functional benefits of a streamlined headcount management process. You get the best of both worlds—the flexibility of custom integration with the reliability of standardized processes.
Workday Integration: Kinnect ingests data from Workday (foundation data, organization data, compensation data, position data, and worker data) and keeps the data reconciled with downstream systems. It also sends offer and candidate data to Workday to hire employees and effectively manage the onboarding process.
Simplified integration: Rather than requiring multiple integration points and complex data mappings, Kinnect provides a centralized platform where data flows naturally between systems. Administrators can map fields and establish connections in minutes rather than weeks.
Built-in automation: Kinnect comes with automation capabilities built into its core. The platform automatically handles data synchronization, field updates, and position status changes, reducing manual intervention and potential errors.
A unified headcount system of record: Kinnect establishes a single source of truth for position data outside of Workday, eliminating the common headaches of maintaining position data across multiple systems. This approach significantly reduces data discrepancies and simplifies the overall position management process. It’s a great solution that enables effective governance for position management.
An enhanced recruiter experience: Recruiters can work primarily in their preferred system (Greenhouse or any other ATS) while Kinnect handles the complex position management tasks behind the scenes. This means less context-switching and more focus on finding great candidates.
Improvements for the Future
As with any new software solution, Kinnect continues to evolve based on real-world usage and customer feedback. Here’s what’s coming up:
Better data reconciliation: We're building robust data reconciliation capabilities into the core product to ensure data accuracy across systems. This will help address the common challenge of maintaining consistency when data changes occur in multiple systems.
Volume testing: As we work with beta customers, we're carefully monitoring how the system handles increasing data volumes and transaction loads so we can optimize performance and scalability.
Expanded reporting: Based on early customer feedback, we're developing additional reporting capabilities to provide deeper insights into headcount management, recruiting capacity, and hiring trends.
Our commitment to continuous improvement means we're actively gathering feedback and enhancing the platform to meet emerging customer needs. We look forward to working closely with early adopters to shape the future of position management!
Finding the Best Headcount Management Software Solution for You
Choosing the right Workday integration solution isn't a one-size-fits-all decision. Your organization's specific needs, technical resources, and long-term headcount management strategy should all factor into your choice. Here's what to consider:
If you need highly customized workflows and have strong technical resources and large budgets, Workday Studio might be your best path.
If you're looking for a simpler outbound integration and don't mind maintaining some Studio development for inbound processes, HRIS Link could be a good fit.
If you want to simplify position management and headcount management entirely while maintaining seamless integration between systems, you’ll want to explore newer solutions like Kinnect.
Headcount management is evolving, and new approaches are emerging that challenge the traditional integration paradigm. Workday Studio and HRIS Link are great options, and we're also seeing increasing demand for comprehensive solutions that can streamline the entire position management process while maintaining robust integration capabilities.
If you’re ready to explore these newer options, get in touch with our expert team to walk through your current challenges so we can discuss a customized integration strategy to optimize your position management in Workday.