Hot Take: How Sharing Reports in Workday is Like Living with a Messy Closet

This is one of the biggest mistakes I see often - sharing reports with all authorized users.

Now, security is very complicated in Workday reports.

It can seem like a quick shortcut to leave a report shared with all authorized users. You might think that the security behind the report should be correct and therefore you can just select that option instead of specific authorized groups.

In my work, I see that there might be part of a data source on the report may have security policies that include or exclude groups that should not see this (e.g. student as self). They can search the report, but because they don't have the other security needed to see the data, the search comes up empty.

Here's an Example

Student Charges Data Source is an example. The Student as Self has access to one of the security policies part of this Data Source. While they don't have access to other security policies that would display student charge information, if a report with that data source is shared with all authorized users then students can search that report.

And you don't want that.

You might think, "No big deal. They can search it but can't see anything." 

The Real Issue

The issue is that you're taking away from the value of the search bar in Workday.

The value of searching is that it returns relevant information. If you've created things that seem relevant, but are not accessible it frustrates the user. It's like telling a child to see, but not touch.

When they are trying to search for something they do have access to, these reports shared with all authorized users can make it harder to find the information they need and are authorized to view.

This frustrations impacts student satisfaction, system adoption rates, as well as student retention and student success. 

Don't make your Workday search bar like a messy closet in a house. Keep it clean and organized for users so that they can maximize the system.

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