Workday’s popularity continues to grow, with over 60% of Fortune 500 organizations utilizing Workday for their human capital management (HCM) or enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions. As a result, the demand for Workday-certified professionals is incredibly high, leaving many prospective consultants and healthcare IT professionals curious about whether or not they should become Workday-certified themselves.
Whether you’re looking to shore up your skills, secure a higher salary, or simply want to stay competitive in today’s market, here are a few key reasons why pursuing Workday certification might be the right choice for you:
1. Increased marketability
Global adoption rates of Workday continue to rise, which means the demand for Workday-certified professionals is skyrocketing. Organizations are eager to find top talent that can help them better leverage Workday’s capabilities, and this is particularly true in industries like healthcare, where Workday has ranked as the #1 Best in KLAS Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) vendor for the last seven years straight.
Translation? For many HIT professionals with ERP expertise, Workday certification is becoming a great way to stay competitive and boost their marketability.
2. Higher earning potential
There are upfront costs to be sure for Workday certification training, but it pays dividends throughout the course of your career. In fact, research shows that upskilling—or expanding your professional skillset—consistently boosts your earning potential, with data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics concluding that professionals with certifications earn an average of 35% more than those without.
Plus, these financial benefits typically compound over time. The more experience you gain, the easier it is to command a higher salary—or step into more lucrative consulting roles.
3. Career Advancement
If you’re looking to advance in your HIT career, Workday certifications can help. Employers are eager to work with experienced and certified professionals who can make the most out of their existing Workday systems, and—like we said before—the more experience you gain doing so, the more opportunities you unlock over the course of your career.
Over time, deepening your Workday expertise and earning a certification can help you create a foundation that will make it easier for you to take on more complex projects, step into leadership roles, or pave the way for you to transition into consulting.
4. Enhanced credibility
Apart from improving your career outcomes, earning a Workday certification is also a great way to improve your professional reputation and boost your credibility with colleagues, clients, and employers. Workday maintains a rigorous process for certification to ensure a high-quality consulting experience for its clients, which means becoming a certified Workday professional helps communicate to others that you have the skills and knowledge necessary to meet those standards.
Not only does this establish trust with prospective employers and clients, but it can make it easier to position yourself as an industry leader as well. As your expertise grows, you may be invited to speak at conferences, contribute thought leadership articles, or participate in advisory boards—all of which reinforce and strengthen your professional reputation.
5. Job security
With advancements in technology happening at warp speed, the World Economic Forum reports that over 50% of the global workforce may need to be reskilled by 2025—which means it’s more important than ever for professionals to ensure their skills match the current and future demands of the job market.
Not only are more hospitals and health systems adopting Workday for their HCM and ERP needs, but 85% of organizations across multiple industries identify technology adoption as a key driver of business transformation for the next five years—which means the demand for certified experts will only continue to grow. Add in the fact that Workday certifications are often transferable across multiple industries, and it’s clear that taking steps to become Workday certified is a great way to future-proof your career.
6. Networking opportunities
In today’s remote world, it has become harder to cultivate a strong professional network. While some companies have returned to the office, others maintain a fully remote or hybrid work schedule, which means opportunities to connect with other professionals at the workplace—or via networking events or industry conferences—are less frequent than in the past.
Believe it or not, pursuing Workday certification can help combat this by connecting you with a large community of peers, colleagues, and industry leaders. You can network with other Workday professionals by using tools like LinkedIn, by joining Workday Community and User groups, or by participating in industry events like Workday Rising to help you expand your professional network regardless of where your office is located.
7. Consulting opportunities
As your expertise with Workday expands, many HIT professionals find themselves considering the shift to consulting roles. Not only do these typically offer higher pay, but consulting can also allow you to gain a wider variety of experience quickly.
Because organizations engage consultants to work on many different types of projects—whether that’s managing certain aspects of implementation, providing training or legacy support, or performing ongoing system enhancements and optimization—this allows consultants to gain exposure to a diverse set of problems, projects, and organizations in a shorter period of time.
As an added benefit? This doesn’t just enhance your career long-term; it’s also a great way to keep your day-to-day work interesting and dynamic.
8. Flexibility and versatility
When you choose to become Workday certified, one of the biggest benefits is often unseen: a high level of flexibility and versatility. Workday certifications, especially those that involve a deep level of expertise, allow for a lot more flexibility in your HIT career. You can choose to pursue a traditional career path or opt for the consulting route, as we mentioned earlier, but it will also become easier for you to make that transition as your expertise grows.
Plus, Workday certifications—as well as the skills and experience gained by utilizing them—are quite versatile. Workday is used across many industries, not just healthcare, which means it’s relatively easy to transfer your expertise from one industry to another. As a result? Your career is far more adaptable, which doesn’t just create freedom—it also creates stability.
How do I become Workday certified?
Once you’ve decided that you want to become Workday certified, it’s time to consider the next steps. With over 100 certifications available through the Workday services catalog, there are many different certification paths you can choose from—including HCM, payroll, project management, integration, and more—but you’ll need to connect with an approved Workday Services or Staffing Partner first, as this is a required step in receiving and maintaining certification.
Ready to learn more? Check out our blog post on how to get Workday certified for more details, or—if you’re ready to start the process of getting certified—contact us today to learn more about how Healthcare IT Leaders can help support your Workday certification journey. If you’re already certified, please check out our open Workday roles!