HCM – Talent & Skills Cloud¶
Source: Admin Guide – Human Capital Management (May 14, 2026), pp. 1546–1917
Overview¶
Talent covers goal management, career development, talent reviews, employee reviews, succession planning, feedback, and workforce metrics. Skills Cloud provides AI-driven skill taxonomy and matching across HCM functions.
Goals¶
Organization Goals¶
What They Are: Goals applied to a supervisory org and all workers in it. Don't cascade to subordinate orgs by default but can be linked through the hierarchy.
Setup Considerations: Decide how managers link org goals through the hierarchy; whether individual goals in reviews align to org goals; how to track progress.
| Task | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Steps: Set Up Goals | Configure goal fields, statuses, and business processes |
| Set Up Individual Goals | Configure individual goal templates and fields |
| Set Up Goals for Employee Reviews | Link goals to review templates |
| Set Up Organization Goals | Configure org-level goal management |
| Set Up Goal Completion Statuses | Define custom completion status options |
| Steps: Configure Goal Templates | Create reusable goal templates |
| Steps: Manage Organization Goals | Create, edit, cascade org goals |
Individual Goals¶
| Task | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Create or Edit Individual Goals | Workers/managers create and maintain goals |
| Cascade Goal to Employees | Manager distributes org goal to direct reports |
| Add Additional Employees to Goal | Expand goal audience |
| Enable Archiving Goals | Allow historical goal archival |
| Mass Archive Individual Goals | Bulk archive completed goals |
Development Items¶
Concept: Development Items — structured development actions tracked on worker profiles (courses, experiences, stretch assignments).
Concept: AI-Generated Development Items — Workday AI suggests development items based on career goals and skills gaps.
Steps: Set Up Development Items — configure development item types and business process.
Steps: Enable AI-Generated Development Items — activate AI suggestions.
Career Interests¶
| Task | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Steps: Set Up Interests | Define interest categories for workers to select |
| Steps: Set Up Opportunity Graph | Configure AI-driven career opportunity recommendations |
| Create a Public Job Catalog | Make job profiles visible for career exploration |
| Set Up Career Interests | Worker self-service career interest selection |
| Set Up Travel Preferences | Configure willingness-to-travel options |
| Set Up Relocation Preferences | Configure relocation willingness options |
Concept: Opportunity Graph — AI-powered graph connecting workers to internal opportunities based on skills and interests.
Career Hub¶
Setup Considerations: Configuration decisions for career path visibility, skill matching, opportunity marketplace, and career path builder.
| Task | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Steps: Set Up Career Hub | Enable and configure the Career Hub experience |
| Configure Career Path Builder | Define typical career progressions between job profiles |
| Process: Refine Maintained Skills for Career Hub Matching | Optimize skills data for AI matching |
Concept: Career Hub — centralized worker experience for career exploration, skill development, and internal mobility.
Concept: Career Path Builder — visual tool showing typical career progression paths.
Concept: Career Hub and Opportunity Marketplace Activity Metrics — analytics on usage and engagement.
Reference: Career Hub Security — domain requirements for Career Hub access.
Talent Marketplace¶
Setup Considerations: Configuration for gig work, flex teams, and internal opportunity posting within the organization.
| Task | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Steps: Set Up Talent Marketplace | Configure marketplace settings and access |
| Steps: Set Up Security for Talent Marketplace | Domain and security group configuration |
| Steps: Set Up Flex Teams | Enable short-term internal gig teams |
| Create Flex Teams | Define and post flex team opportunities |
| Promote Flex Teams | Increase visibility of open flex teams |
| Cancel Flex Teams and Flex Team Roles | End flex team assignments |
| Process: Refine Maintained Skills for Talent Marketplace Matching | AI matching optimization |
Concept: Flex Teams — temporary internal project teams; workers can join based on skills and availability.
Career Profile¶
Setup Considerations: Decide which career profile sections are visible to the worker, manager, and HR roles.
Steps: Set Up Career Profile — configure visible sections and field visibility.
Reference: Security for Career Profile Sections — per-section domain requirements.
Talent Reviews¶
| Task | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Steps: Manage Talent Reviews | Configure talent review events |
| Create Talent Review Rules | Define evaluation rules per review type |
| Create Talent Review Templates | Build review forms (ratings, questions, notes) |
| Start Talent Reviews | Initiate a talent review cycle |
| Add Logo to Talent Cards | Branding for talent card output |
| Mass Print Talent Cards | Bulk print worker talent summaries |
| Steps: Create Custom Talent Card Layouts | Customize talent card display |
Concept: Talent Reviews — manager-driven assessment of worker potential, performance, and risk.
Concept: Talent Cards — printable/viewable summary of worker talent data used in calibration sessions.
Employee Reviews¶
Common Employee Review Setup¶
Configure review templates, rating scales, review sections, and business processes shared across review types.
Key configuration objects: - Review template sections (goals, competencies, development, overall rating) - Rating scales and weighting - Eligibility rules for review population - Routing (self-evaluation → manager → calibration → acknowledgment)
Employee Review Process¶
Configure the employee review business process with steps for: self-evaluation, manager review, skip-level review, calibration, acknowledgment.
Performance Reviews¶
Configure performance-specific review templates. Supports: - Goal achievement ratings - Competency ratings - Overall performance rating - Manager and employee comments
Development Plans¶
Configure development plan templates for formal development tracking linked to reviews and career goals.
Disciplinary Actions¶
Configure disciplinary action types, business process, and security. Supports formal performance improvement tracking.
Performance Improvement Plans (PIPs)¶
Configure PIP templates, milestones, and business process routing.
Employee Review Ratings and Weightings¶
Configure rating scale components and weighting formulas for composite scores.
Talent and Performance Calibration¶
What It Is: Cross-manager review of talent ratings to ensure consistency and fairness across the organization.
| Task | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Steps: Calibrate Talent and Performance Ratings | Initiate calibration process |
| Configure Custom Organizations for Calibration | Define calibration scope |
| Setup Considerations: Calibration nBox Reports | Configure 9-box and nBox grid settings |
| Create Calibration nBox Reports | Build nBox visualization templates |
| Set Up Calibration nBox Reports | Configure axes (performance, potential) |
| Define Calibration Program Rules | Set calibration rules and constraints |
| Set Up Calibration Programs | Define calibration programs by org and review period |
| Steps: Set Up Calibration | Full setup workflow |
| Hide Calibration Workers | Restrict visibility of specific workers during calibration |
Concept: Calibration nBox Placement — how Workday places workers on the nBox grid based on ratings.
Concept: Calibration Results — output of the calibration process and downstream impacts on pay/talent decisions.
Feedback¶
Feedback Types¶
| Type | Description |
|---|---|
| Anytime Feedback | Spontaneous, unprompted feedback given at any time |
| Requested Feedback | Structured feedback requested by worker or manager |
| Confidential Feedback | Visible only to specified roles |
| Anonymous Feedback | Giver identity hidden |
Setup¶
| Task | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Steps: Set Up Feedback | Configure feedback types and business processes |
| Set Up Feedback Security | Define who can give, view, and manage feedback |
| Set Up Feedback Business Processes | Configure routing and approval workflows |
| Feedback Templates | Create structured question templates for feedback requests |
| Set Up Anytime Feedback Notifications | Configure notification triggers |
| Steps: Set Up AI-Generated Feedback Suggestions | Enable AI-assisted feedback drafting |
| Steps: Set Up Mass Operation Feedback Events | Configure bulk feedback collection |
Reference: Feedback Security Domains — full list of feedback-related security domains.
Reference: Feedback Business Processes — all configurable business processes for feedback.
Check-Ins¶
Setup Considerations: Informal manager-worker conversation logging; linked to goals and development.
Steps: Set Up Check-Ins — configure Check-In templates, frequency, and business process.
Succession¶
Setup Considerations: Configuration for succession pools, candidate assessment, and plan management.
| Task | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Steps: Set Up Succession | Configure succession planning features |
| Steps: Set Up Assess Potential | Configure potential assessment tool |
| Steps: Set Up Mass Operations for Assess Potential | Bulk potential assessments |
| Steps: Set Up Succession Pool Security | Restrict pool visibility |
| Steps: Manage Succession Plans | Create and maintain plans for key positions |
| Steps: Manage Succession Pools | Manage candidates in succession pools |
| Steps: Manage Succession Candidates | Individual candidate management |
| Steps: Set Up Succession Planning in HR Partner Hub | Configure Hub integration |
Concept: Skills in Succession Planning — how skill profiles inform succession candidate matching.
Reference: Succession Planning Reports — available standard reports.
Mentors and Connections¶
Steps: Set Up Mentorships — configure mentorship program, request workflow, and matching.
Concept: Connections — informal peer-to-peer connection feature for networking and collaboration.
Talent Highlights¶
Setup Considerations: Configure which worker talent signals surface on Talent Highlights cards.
Steps: Set Up Talent Highlights — configure data sources and display rules.
Concept: Talent Highlights — at-a-glance summary of a worker's talent signals (skills, certifications, goals, feedback).
Reference: Talent Highlights Source Data — data sources powering the Talent Highlights display.
Talent Matrix Reports (9-box / nBox)¶
| Task | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Steps: Set Up Talent Matrix Reports | Configure nBox report templates |
| Steps: Enable Manual Talent Matrix Placement | Allow manual override of grid placement |
| Configure nBox Reports | Define axes and quadrant labels |
| Run Talent Matrix Reports | Execute and view talent matrix |
| Set Up Talent Matrix Placement Indicator | Visual indicators on worker profile |
Concept: Talent Matrix Reports — how nBox grids are populated from ratings data.
Talent Pools¶
| Task | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Steps: Manage Talent Pools | Configure pool types and security |
| Create Talent Pools | Define static or dynamic talent pools |
| Add Members to Static Talent Pools | Manual addition of workers |
Concept: Talent Pool Security — public, private, and restricted pool access models.
Workforce Metrics¶
Create Custom Metrics for HCM — define org-specific metrics using report fields and calculated fields.
Concept: Management Reporting Dashboard — pre-built dashboard for HCM metrics.
Reference: Workforce Composition Dashboards — available workforce composition worklets and reports.
Talent Insight Apps¶
Steps: Set Up the Retention Risk Insight Application — configure AI-driven retention risk scoring.
Configure Talent Insight Applications — customize which insight apps are active and visible.
Concept: Retention Risk Insight Application — how Workday calculates and presents retention risk signals.
Professional Profiles¶
Steps: Set Up Professional Profiles — configure the professional profile experience (LinkedIn integration, external profile import).
Steps: Set Up Upload My Experience — allow workers to import resume/experience data.
Skills and Skills Cloud¶
Skills (Core)¶
| Task | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Steps: Maintain Skills | Create and maintain the skills catalog |
| Steps: Maintain Skill Categories | Organize skills into categories and groups |
| Steps: Manage Skill Profiles | Configure how skills appear on worker profiles |
| Steps: Set Up Skills Fit Analysis | Enable skill gap analysis vs. job profiles |
| Set Up Critical Skills | Designate skills critical to the organization |
| Manage Skills and Experience | Worker and manager skill maintenance |
Concept: Skills and Competencies Comparison — distinction between skills (specific abilities) and competencies (behavioral patterns).
Reference: Skills Terminology — definitions for all skills-related terms.
Skills Cloud¶
What It Is: Workday-managed AI skill taxonomy that standardizes skill names, suggests related skills, and powers cross-product skill matching (Recruiting, Talent, Learning).
Setup Considerations: - Whether to use Workday-delivered skill categories or custom categories - How to handle imported skills from external sources - Skill endorsement and rating configuration - Skill level framework
| Task | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Steps: Set Up Skills Cloud | Full Skills Cloud setup workflow |
| Enable Skills Cloud | Activate the AI-powered taxonomy |
| Steps: Enable Importing of External Skills | Allow skills from LinkedIn, resume parsing, etc. |
| Steps: Set Up Workday-Delivered Skill Categories and Skill Category Groups | Use Workday taxonomy |
| Steps: Set Up Mass Populate Skills for Workers | Bulk assign skills via workbook |
| Steps: Set Up Skill Endorsements and Ratings | Peer endorsements and proficiency ratings |
| Steps: Set Up Skill Level | Define skill proficiency levels |
| Maintain Skill Level | Update skill level definitions |
Concept: Skill Assessments — how Workday supports formal skill assessment linked to learning or manager review.
Concept: Skills Verification — workflow for verifying claimed skills.
Concept: Automated Skill Management — AI-driven skill suggestions based on job history, learning completions, and role.
Concept: Skills Cloud Translations — multilingual support for skill names.
Reference: Skill Sources — all sources from which skills can be imported or inferred (job profile, learning, external).