Five critical factors for a successful Workiva implementation

The reporting landscape involves many internal stakeholders: from the finance department to HR, and from sustainability colleagues to the writers of the text. Each has their own way of working and their own data sources, with many interdependencies. A common pitfall in such a complex environment is wanting to arrive at solutions too quickly. Taking a step back is usually better: take the time to understand what others need in order to make a successful contribution to the project. In this way, we built mutual understanding and trust. During the project, it became clear that the same way of working did not work for different data owners, and that a tailored approach was needed. This adjustment was made during the project and proved to be a positive outcome for everyone involved.

“Not invented by us” is a sentiment that can derail many change initiatives. It becomes a risk when one team has already devised the solution to a problem on behalf of everyone else. In PwC’s Workiva implementation, we took a different approach: project team members from different parts of the organisation actively contributed to developing components of the Workiva environment, such as the data structure. This approach strengthened ownership and understanding of how the platform had been built, which also makes it easier to improve the platform in the future.

The implementation of Workiva was not only a technical change; for many colleagues involved, it primarily meant a different way of working. Successfully implementing Workiva requires those involved to be willing to change, including colleagues who, at the start of the implementation project, saw little or no need for change. This aspect should not be underestimated.

Real, sustainable change requires a step-by-step approach. Rome was not built in a day, and the same applies to implementing Workiva. By not trying to present the entire implementation as a ready-made solution all at once, but instead introducing improvements step by step, the colleagues involved and their teams were able to learn, adapt and improve the platform along the way. At PwC, this step-by-step approach meant that more progress was made in the first year of implementation than had been expected in advance. We are proud of that, and it is already showing the first efficiency benefits.

Sometimes taking the plunge leads to new and surprising outcomes that had not yet been foreseen. Take the integration of a design solution into the platform. This solution was developed by the project team in collaboration with PwC’s marketing department. Simply by getting started, without having all the answers to countless questions in advance. With the right design already integrated into the platform, we are gaining further efficiency later in the reporting process.