Workday Skills Data
Workday Skills Data: What HR Teams Should Check First
Introduction
A skills report can look precise and still rest on job data nobody has checked in years.
On 13 October 2026, Workday introduced Work Intelligence, which breaks jobs into tasks and links those tasks to skills. Leaders will soon use it, along with Sana Coach, to make decisions about people. Before they do, HR teams should check their Workday skills data.
This post explains how jobs, tasks and skills are mapped, how Sana Coach fits in, and the checks to run on data quality and reports. You will get a short checklist you can run in a sandbox.
Key takeaways
Work Intelligence breaks jobs into tasks and links them to skills. Trade press reports it is in early access for Workday HCM customers.
Its output depends on the job data you already hold, such as job architecture and requisitions.
Sana Coach is Workday’s coaching agent for performance, feedback and sentiment, and it can only work with what your tenant holds.
Check the data first: duplicate jobs, stale profiles, missing skills and wrong mappings.
Compare reports with a trusted source, and rerun the checks after each release.
Why Workday skills data matters now
What Workday announced
On 13 October 2026, Workday introduced Workday Work Intelligence, per Workday’s newsroom announcement. It breaks each job into tasks, connects those tasks to the skills they need, and helps leaders plan how to grow people as work changes. It draws on Workday Skills Cloud, which Workday says more than 3,450 customers use.
<!-- SOURCE NEEDED: confirm Work Intelligence early access scope (Workday HCM customers) and timing; reported by CIO.com, not in the Workday release -->
Where the data comes from
Workday says the tasks come from job data customers already hold, such as job architecture and the requisitions they are hiring for. That means the output is only as good as those records.
<!-- SOURCE NEEDED: confirm that tasks are derived from job architecture and requisitions; reported by Reworked, not in the Workday release -->
Where Sana Coach fits
Workday positions Sana Coach as an always-on coaching agent for performance, feedback and sentiment. Coaching depends on the records behind it, so weak job or skills data can lead to weak advice.
Why the next few weeks matter
Early access means pilot decisions are being made now. Skills reports and coaching will use whatever your tenant holds. A short data check before launch is cheaper than explaining a wrong skills gap later.
Example: a pre-pilot data check
Illustrative, not a real customer.
An HR team plans to pilot Work Intelligence and Sana Coach for its finance group. Before launch, an HRIS analyst runs Workday data validation in a sandbox. She picks ten roles and compares each job profile with what people in the role actually do.
She finds three duplicate job profiles, one profile that has not changed in years, and several employees with no skills recorded. She fixes the profiles, asks managers to update skills, and reruns the check. Then she runs Workday report testing: she compares a skills report with an export from a trusted source, row by row, and keeps the result.
Pre-pilot checklist
Check | What to look for | Pass looks like |
|---|---|---|
Job profiles | Duplicates, retired jobs, outdated descriptions | One current profile per role |
Task mapping | Tasks that do not match the real job | The role owner agrees the task list |
Skills records | Employees with no skills, or old skills | Key roles meet a coverage level you set |
Skill names | The same skill under different names | One name per skill |
Coaching prompts | Ask Sana Coach about growth for test personas | Advice fits the person’s role and permissions |
Reports | Compare counts and totals with a trusted export | Numbers match, or each gap is explained |
Access | Who can see skills and coaching data | Only the intended roles |
After release | Rerun the core checks | Same results, or a change you understand |
How PeopleFlow helps
Data you plan to act on needs a test behind it. PeopleFlow’s no-code Workday testing includes 1000+ pre-built tests for HCM, Payroll, Finance and Integrations. Use them to check the core HCM processes your skills reports depend on, and rerun them after each release. Our Workday AI agents include Configuration, Report, Support, Testing and Integration agents. See the Workday testing page and the AI agents page. PeopleFlow is a Workday Innovation Silver Partner.
Frequently asked questions
What is Workday Work Intelligence?
Workday describes it as a capability that breaks each job into the tasks people do, links those tasks to skills, and helps leaders plan how to grow people as work changes. It draws on Workday Skills Cloud. Trade press reports it is in early access for Workday HCM customers, so confirm availability with Workday.
What is Sana Coach and why does data quality matter?
Workday positions Sana Coach as an always-on coaching agent for performance, feedback and sentiment. Coaching depends on the records behind it, so weak job or skills data can lead to weak advice. Test what it can see and whether its replies fit each test persona’s role.
How do I check Workday skills data quality?
Start with job profiles: remove duplicates and retire old ones. Then check that employees in key roles have current skills, and that one skill has one name. Compare a skills report with a trusted export, row by row, and keep the result. Repeat on a schedule.
Should I retest skills reports after a Workday release?
Yes. Releases can change configuration, reports and how data is calculated, and early access features change quickly. Keep a short set of report checks with known expected totals and rerun them after every release, so a shift in numbers is caught in testing rather than in a leadership meeting.
Conclusion
Decisions about hiring, coaching and training will rest on Workday skills data, so check it before anyone relies on it. Clean job profiles, confirm skills records, compare reports with a trusted source and test what Sana Coach can see. Rerun the checks after each release. When you are ready to build that baseline, try PeopleFlow yourself or book a short demo.
