Workday : How DXC Embraced Digital Transformation to Become a Truly Merged Organization

Things started to change in 2020 when Berry joined DXC. We spoke with Berry about how she and her team are leveraging Workday to integrate their processes and align all employees into a single, cohesive organization. She shares lessons learned and practical tips for navigating mergers.

Can you share how you deal with the challenge of adding new technology while also working on an ongoing merger?

We were two large companies that merged, so it's a journey. But whether you do it immediately or five years down the line, it's still possible to implement new functionality even though you're not fully merged.

We're doing both in parallel. We're introducing new functionality to our employees and managers, while we continue to harmonize and streamline in the background. It's about running these two parallel paths while having the long-term vision to know where we want to be. It's about what I can deliver every quarter, every six months, every year to keep everyone excited and to keep showing what Workday can do for them.

How have the legacy companies' separate processes impacted DXC and its people?

DXC needed to harmonize its disparate processes, including HR. The design of our systems was so complex, and we were missing out on the benefits of fully integrated processes. My internal customers were frustrated because I couldn't deliver something that, to them, seemed so easy.

If an employee asked me about a process or code, I'd have to first understand if they were a legacy CSC employee or legacy Hewlett Packard employee. Each legacy company had completely different business rules, reason codes, and eligibility rules.

It's like we were roommates instead of in a marriage.

How did that situation begin to change?

DXC's new chief executive officer, Mike Salvino, and new chief human resources officer, Mary Finch, brought me in and said, "You've implemented Workday from scratch at your previous company. Come in and help us implement Workday so we're one DXC-instead of legacy this, legacy that."

I have a two-year road map to drive the harmonization and simplification of processes, and it's a massive undertaking. What I'm trying to do is foundational. If we don't tear down this old house and build it back up, we're never going to get the big, new, beautiful house we want.

Where did you start?

A year ago, I stopped my team from taking change requests and from "Frankenstein-ing" Workday. We stopped doing anything not in line with the principles of harmonization and simplification. Workday is continuously improving the Workday system, and that's what I want to take advantage of. That's the journey we've been on.

The back-end configuration and testing are complicated because we have to make sure that if we make one change for legacy CSC employees, we don't inadvertently impact legacy ES employees.

How do you merge two strong cultures like HPE and CSC?

We had different cultures, ways, and systems, but most of DXC is welcoming the change because it's very positive. We emphasize that although people came from one legacy company or another, someday we're all going to feel like we're DXC. The important thing is that we work together to evolve into our new company. And everyone is an active participant in helping shape our company. We are all helping to design and configure and implement a new DXC.

To create the new DXC, we're putting new things in place: culture, recognition, processes, financial, and social. We used to be two different entities under the same roof. Now, it's quite different. We understand what the "new DXC" really means and are applying that mindset to everything we do.

How do Workday products influence the business at a higher level?

Our managers, employees, and even HR used to see Workday as a once- or twice-a-year tool. We're championing the culture and mindset for everyone to understand that Workday is more of an everyday asset and facilitator of employee-related processes. We can look at our talent, see what they're doing, schedule a touchpoint with employees, and review records. I want our people to see Workday not as a transactional system, but as a way of life for anything employee related.