The Sightline Program this month launches a network of more than 90 Workday Transition Teams, made up of more than 1,000 colleagues across the university and health system, to lead local change efforts as the enterprise moves to Workday in July 2027.
These teams will play a key role in the Johns Hopkins transition to Workday by helping implement a standardized technology platform in a way that reflects local operational needs and ensures meaningful, tailored support for the diverse Johns Hopkins community.
"The Workday Transition Teams serve as the bridge between this significant enterprise change and individual experiences," says Natalie Palugyai, executive director of change management for Sightline, an enterprise initiative to modernize business processes and introduce advanced technology solutions. "These teams are vital to supporting change, ensuring that the implementation of Workday and readiness activities are thoughtfully shaped by the needs of our people."
In April, Sightline entered its Design and Build Phase, moving closer to the goal of launching Workday to replace SAP by July 2027. The technology upgrade will introduce a new, integrated administrative system with updated processes and a more intuitive technology experience for human resources, finance, sponsored projects, and supply chain.
All community members, including student workers, will experience new ways of working, starting with self-service tasks such as updating personal information or checking paystubs (called payslips in Workday).
A new opportunity for Johns Hopkins
In the broadest change network of its kind across the enterprise, Sightline has organized the transition teams into three communities—one for the Johns Hopkins Health System, currently made up of 34 teams; one for Johns Hopkins University, excluding the School of Medicine, composed of 33 teams; and one for the School of Medicine, currently with 24 teams. Health system and university leaders selected team sponsors, who, in turn, tapped local colleagues known for their leadership and administrative expertise to serve as Workday transition "leads."
Transition teams will play an important role in disseminating Workday transition communications, promoting learning opportunities, supporting data validation, and collecting important community feedback through surveys and direct engagements.
Erika Lance, lead for the Whiting School of Engineering's Transition Team and senior director of Operational Excellence and Analytics, says, "Our Transition Team will be a trusted support system. It will help to explain what's changing and why, guide colleagues as they learn the new system, and advocate to ensure that specific needs and challenges are heard in the larger conversation."
Getting ready: Preparing local units
The teams' first task will be taking a pulse of Johns Hopkins sentiment by encouraging colleagues to complete the first of five brief Workday readiness surveys to assess awareness, preparedness, and specific support needs. Responses will help local teams with their readiness planning and engagement strategies.
In late fall, the teams will begin to promote 2026 as the Year of Learning, providing opportunities for faculty and staff members to become familiar with Workday's look and feel before role-based training launches closer to the software's "go live" date in 2027. Learning opportunities will include a self-paced Introduction to Workday series, live monthly What's Changing With Workday webinars, and short, self-paced videos called myWorkday Demonstrations.
For more information on Sightline and the Workday Transition, visit the Sightline website.
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