4 Workday Position Management Best Practices Every Organization Should Follow

Position management should be one of your organization’s most powerful tools for headcount planning and control in Workday. 

But instead, for many companies, it’s become a source of constant friction between HR, Finance, and Recruiting teams. Positions get created without proper approval, headcount numbers don’t match across departments, and what should be simple processes turn into complex data cleanup projects that take days or weeks—sometimes even months!—to finish.

But it doesn’t have to be this way. 

After completing over 40 successful Workday implementations across various organizations of all sizes, we’ve discovered that successful position management goes beyond system configuration. It’s about having the right framework, clear ownership, and proper controls in place.

In this guide, we’ll share four best practices to help you avoid position management mistakes and transform position management from a headache into a strategic advantage. Whether you’re implementing Workday for the first time or looking to optimize your existing setup, we’re here to help you take control of your position management and drive better business outcomes.

What is Position Management in Workday?

Position management is the most robust staffing model in Workday. It provides organizations precise control over their workforce planning and hiring processes because it requires you to create, define, and get approval for positions before filling them. Think of it as designing the structure of your organization before placing people within it. 

It’s like an apartment building. Each apartment unit represents a position, and tenants represent employees. You can’t house tenants without available units, and building new floors or buildings (creating positions) requires proper planning, budget approval, and proof that existing units are occupied or soon to be occupied.

A Quick Look at Position Management vs. Job Management

Organizations typically choose either position management or job management as their staffing model when implementing Workday. But there’s a lot of confusion about the difference between the two and which is best.

To put it simply, position management offers granular control by requiring pre-defined positions with specific restrictions and rules, while job management provides more flexibility by allowing hiring within supervisory organizations without predefined positions. 

Here’s a simple table comparing specific features within each model:

Because of these differences, position management is best for organizations that need strict hiring controls, detailed workforce planning, and precise budgeting, making it the preferred choice for 80% of Workday customers.

On the other hand, job management can be ideal for fast-growing startups or organizations prioritizing hiring flexibility over strict position control. The key to choosing is matching your staffing model to your organization’s unique needs and growth strategy.

4 Position Management Best Practices You Should Follow for Success

Every time we partner with a new Workday customer, we notice something interesting: organizations often jump straight into position management without laying the proper groundwork. They focus on technical configuration while missing the fundamental elements that make position management truly effective.

Think of your position management framework like a house’s foundation—no matter how impressive your technical implementation may be, cracks will eventually appear if your foundation isn’t solid. Here are four key practices that we’ve found work consistently across successful, stress-free Workday implementations. With these, you can avoid the common mistakes most organizations make when rolling out Workday.

1. Define a Clear and Efficient Position Management Framework

When building your position management framework, you need to address four key elements of position management: the who, what, when, and why. We see many organizations rush to build processes and implement controls, but building on solid ground means starting with these fundamentals. 

Without it, you can’t define ownership across teams, which means you can’t define the position management process. And you can’t implement system guardrails without a process, so then you run into a ton of problems.

Let’s break the framework’s four Ws down:

• Who: Identify your key stakeholders upfront—from finance, recruiting, and HR teams to end users like managers and business partners. Each plays a key role in your position management ecosystem, so you must consider their needs in your framework.

• What: This is where you define a structured approach to defining, managing, and optimizing positions within your organization. Some examples include job descriptions, workforce planning, position control, and performance management. Being crystal clear about these definitions prevents confusion and keeps your Workday implementation consistent.

• When: We can’t stress this enough—timing is everything in position management. Your framework needs to clearly establish when positions should be requested, created, modified, or closed. This includes defining triggers for position changes throughout the entire employee lifecycle, from hiring and promotions all the way to terminations and backfills.

• Why: Finally, you need to understand and document the purpose, or the “why”, behind your position management decisions. Why do you create new positions versus backfilling existing ones? Why do certain roles require specific approval workflows? These “why” factors help align your framework with your organization’s strategic goals,  differentiating your organization from headcount planning to strategic workforce planning.

We’re not saying you have to build the most complex framework possible here. You just need to create clear, consistent guidelines that your teams can follow easily. When your framework effectively addresses these four elements, you’ll have the foundation needed to implement the remaining three best practices.

2. Define Clear Ownership of Position Management Across the Hiring Process

One of the most important aspects of successful position management is establishing clear ownership across your organization. A transfer of ownership happens across the headcount management and hiring process, from annual planning with finance to day-to-day position changes in Workday. 

There are different elements of ownership within the headcount planning process, so understanding who owns what can make the difference between streamlined operations and constant confusion. Here are four users whose responsibilities you need to define clearly:

• Finance: Finance teams typically own the annual planning process, so they set the foundation for position management in Workday. They’re responsible for translating budgetary plans into actionable position strategies. Clear ownership here is crucial because every position decision ultimately has financial implications.

• Recruiting: The recruiting team plays a vital role in position management, especially in the job requisition management process, as they work to turn approved headcount into filled positions in Workday. They need specific permissions and clear guidelines about when and how to create or modify positions and/or job requisitions during the recruitment process.

• HR: HR teams often act as the bridge between different stakeholders in the position management process. They need clear ownership parameters for managing positions throughout the employee lifecycle, from promotions and transfers to terminations and backfills. For example, when handling terminations, HR Partners need to understand whether they have the authority to close positions or if they should only flag them for backfill by another headcount management owner in the process.

• End Users (Managers and HR Business Partners): These frontline stakeholders need clearly defined permissions for position management tasks. Sure, they might need to be able to request new positions or initiate position changes. However, their access should be carefully controlled through system guardrails (which we’ll discuss in our next best practice).

The key here is to create a clear transfer of ownership throughout the headcount planning process. For example, managers might initiate requests when using our Kinnect headcount planning software solution for incremental headcount requests, but specific personas such as HR or Recruiting leaders must be involved in the approval process. Each handoff has to be clearly defined to maintain data integrity and proper position management.

3. Implement System Guardrails

There’s no denying that creating frameworks and defining ownership is essential. But position management can still go off track without proper system guardrails—the practical implementation of your rules and processes within Workday.

The most effective way to maintain position management integrity is to implement strategic controls around any process where positions can be created, modified, or closed. Here’s how we’ve seen success.

First, establish robust domain security policies and business process security policies for each role. That way, stakeholders can only access the position management actions appropriate for their role.

You also need to add business process validations and condition rules that provide specific instructions for position-related actions. For example:

• When a worker termination is initiated, you can control whether an HR partner has the option to close the position or only allow for backfill.

• During position creation, you can require specific approvals based on the position type or cost center.

• For position modifications, you can establish rules about when and how positions can be edited.

You can then enforce them by creating a document that acts as a matrix of responsibilities outlining the rules. You can also go into the Workday system and configure guardrails. These guardrails are like your safety net. 

While these policies and documents might create some operational overhead, we’ve found that they prevent position management from breaking down and ensure data integrity across your organization.

Another important point to remember is that these controls should support—not hinder—your business processes. The aim is to prevent errors while remaining efficient. And while we could implement every possible guardrail, it’s more effective to focus on the ones that address your organization’s specific needs and pain points.

4. Train and Enable Your Team

A solid framework, clear ownership, and strong system controls are all essential, but none of it matters if your teams don’t understand how to work within these structures. That’s why comprehensive training and enablement is such a significant part of organizational change management. 

We find that this comprises the following three factors:

Go Beyond Basic Documentation

Many organizations make the mistake of creating extensive documentation and dusting their hands, considering their work done. But effective position management needs a strategic approach to change management and user enablement.

For example, here at Kandor we document and deliver training customized to your Workday design and solution. Our Kinspire change management solution leverages the Prosci change management methodology to ensure successful adoption. This entails:

• Conducting thorough stakeholder analysis to understand who needs what type of training

• Assessing current gaps and pain points in position management understanding

• Developing targeted training—whether recorded, live, or on-demand—for different user groups

• Providing hands-on support during your Workday rollout

• Measuring adoption and adjusting approach as needed

Make Sure to Measure Success

The true test of how effective your training is isn’t just completion rates—it’s whether your position management practices actually improve. You should be able to prove this with tangible metrics and outcomes within your organization. To measure success, ask yourself:

• Are teams adopting the established framework? Is it working or not?

• Has the number of position-related errors decreased?

• Are stakeholders confident in their position management responsibilities?

• Have position management pain points been reduced?

Prioritize Continuous Improvement

Position management isn’t a “set it and forget it” process. As your organization evolves, you’ll need to:

• Regularly assess your training’s effectiveness

• Update materials based on system/process changes and user feedback

• Provide refresher training when needed

• Adjust your approach based on changing business needs

While you want to train users how to perform tasks, the ultimate goal is to enable them to become confident, capable managers of your position management framework. When done right, this creates a sustainable system that grows and adapts within your organization.

Getting the Best Out of Your Workday Position Management

Position management in Workday doesn’t have to be a source of constant frustration. By implementing these four best practices, you can transform it into a strategic tool that drives your organization forward. But we understand that getting there isn’t always easy.

That’s why Kandor Solutions combines over 50 years of collective Workday expertise with innovative technology solutions to help organizations like yours succeed. Our team of Workday experts is here to guide you through implementing these best practices in every part of the position management process. And through our revolutionary Kinnect platform, we simplify headcount planning and position management into a streamlined, automated process that works seamlessly with Workday.

Are you ready to transform your position management? Let’s talk. Schedule a free consultation with our team to discover how we can help you design your perfect work day.