Most tenants treat Workday Learning like a file cabinet for SCORM files and compliance videos. The result is predictable: low completion, annoyed learners, and business leaders who do not see value. The mindset shift is to treat Workday Learning like a product: structured, branded, targeted and measured. The core building blocks are Courses, Programs and Learning Campaigns, supported by good Topics, Audiences and reporting.
This guide walks through how to structure Workday Learning so people actually use it.
Start with a product mindset for learning
Before creating any content, answer a few product-style questions:
- Who is the audience for this learning: new hires, frontline managers, HR, finance, individual contributors?
- What problem does this learning solve in their day-to-day work?
- What is the smallest set of content that gets them from “stuck” to “confident”?
- How will you measure success – completion, reduced tickets, improved process adoption, certification rates?
Workday Learning can deliver Required Learning, skill development, or “in the flow of work” guidance, but only if content is designed around real workflows and not just course titles.
Structure Courses that feel focused, not bloated
In Workday Learning, Courses are structured learning experiences that bring together Lessons (videos, documents, quizzes, etc.).
Design principles for Courses:
- Keep each course focused on a single outcome, such as “Approve Time in Workday”, “Create Job Requisition”, or “Run Headcount Report”.
- Use digital courses for self-paced content and blended courses when you need instructor-led sessions with Offerings.
- Combine 3–7 short lessons rather than one long video; people prefer snackable units they can complete between tasks.
In configuration:
- Use Topics (e.g., “Workday for Managers”, “HR Processes”, “Compliance”) so courses are easy to discover.
- Make key lessons mandatory within the course where completion really matters (for example, policy content or core process steps).
- Add simple assessments or knowledge checks where you truly need proof of understanding, not just for the sake of a quiz.
Think of Courses as “features”: each one should solve a clear learner problem in 10–30 minutes.
Use Programs as learning journeys, not dumping grounds
Learning Programs in Workday bundle multiple Courses and other learning items into a sequence or pathway.
Good use cases for Programs:
- Onboarding paths: a sequence for new hires (e.g., “Welcome to Company”, “Workday Basics”, “Security & Compliance”).
- Role-based academies: “New Manager Program”, “HR Partner Program”, “Workday Champion Program”.
- Certification journeys: modules that lead up to an internal certification or badge.
Design tips:
- Limit each Program to a realistic volume of content – for example, 2–6 hours spread across several weeks instead of a huge one-time demand.
- Use prerequisites and optional items to differentiate between “must-do” and “nice-to-have” learning.
- Consider scheduling Dates or time windows (e.g., modules by week) for leadership or cohort-based programs to create momentum.
Programs are your “learning journeys”. If you build them as curated sequences with clear outcomes and timelines, they feel like real products, not playlists of random courses.
Learning Campaigns: your marketing engine inside Workday
Even good content fails without promotion. Learning Campaigns are how you market learning inside Workday – pushing specific content to targeted Audiences with notifications and dashboard placements.
What Learning Campaigns can do:
- Promote content on learners’ Learning app home page (for example, in Required for You or Announcements areas).
- Send notifications about new or required learning, with one-time or recurring schedules.
- Target specific Audiences based on attributes like Company, Location, Role, or even dynamic criteria (for example, new hires in the last 30 days).
Patterns that work:
- Required learning campaigns for compliance or critical change training. Pair a Required campaign with a “required” Audience so items appear in the “Required for You” worklet.
- Adoption campaigns around key Workday releases, new processes or seasonal events (e.g., performance review season, open enrollment).
- Onboarding campaigns that run on a daily or weekly recurrence and automatically pick up new hires based on a dynamic Audience.
Treat campaigns as ongoing “product marketing” for learning: each campaign should have a clear message, target audience and timeline.
