Key takeaways
Workday vs. SAP SuccessFactors: Which is better?
| Workday HCM | SAP SuccessFactors HXM | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing Jump to comparison ↓ |
Module-based quote. | Module-based quote. |
| Payroll Jump to comparison ↓ |
Global payroll limited to U.S., U.K., France, and Canada. | Payroll support for over 48 countries. |
| Benefits administration Jump to comparison ↓ |
Full ACA compliance help included. | ACA compliance tools require the Benefitfocus add-on. |
| Workforce management Jump to comparison ↓ |
Focus on up-skilling and recruiting internal teams to cover workforce skills gaps. | Recruiting capabilities in over 80 countries with 4000+ source channels. |
| Performance management Jump to comparison ↓ |
Emphasis on analytics and AI to identify top performers and flight risks. | Emphasis on on-the-go goal completion and learning through mobile app. |
| Visit Workday | Visit SAP |
Workday: Best for mid-to-large businesses requiring in-depth reporting analytics
Workday HCM is one of the most popular cloud-based HR platforms in the U.S., with modules supporting the entire employee life cycle. Outside of core HR functions like document retention, payroll, and benefits administration, Workday also features the following:
Although Workday has started to expand its capabilities beyond human resources (HR) to include finance and IT, it remains a very U.S.-centric HR software compared to other HCM solutions.
Nevertheless, large companies looking for meaningful insights on employee performance, benefits, and workforce data should consider Workday. With its user-friendly analytics and reports, Workday makes it easy to strategize for future company endeavors.
Pros
Cons
Watch our Workday demo:
SAP SuccessFactors: Best for global enterprises looking to consolidate their HR tech stack
SAP SuccessFactors is a cloud-based HCM suite comprised of several stand-alone HR products for global, enterprise-level businesses. In addition to all of Workday’s features, SAP offers a vast library of enterprise resource planning (ERP) software to support company operations, including:
However, what differentiates SAP SuccessFactors from Workday is its features specifically for multinational corporations. With multiple language capabilities in its payroll, recruiting, and benefits administration modules, companies with SAP SuccessFactors do not have to rely on various HR solutions to support core HR functions for their international teams.
Moreover, SAP SuccessFactors’ array of solutions can help executives and HR leaders consolidate their entire companies’ tech stack into one. With APIs and connectors for enterprises juggling on-premises and cloud software, SAP SuccessFactors can streamline the business and workforce experience into a single source of truth.
Pros
Cons
SAP isn’t the only ERP system on the market — check out our Top 6 SAP ERP Alternatives for comparable products for your business.
Workday vs. SAP SuccessFactors: A detailed comparison
| Workday HCM | SAP SuccessFactors HXM | |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription cost | Module-based | Per-user, per-month model |
| Domestic payroll | Yes | Yes |
| Global payroll | Yes (limited native options) |
Yes |
| Recruiting | Yes | Yes |
| Onboarding | Yes | Yes |
| Time-tracking | Yes | Yes |
| Performance management | Yes | Yes |
| Employee engagement | Yes | Yes |
| Sentiment analysis | Yes | Yes (Qualtrics partnership) |
| Reporting and analytics | Yes | Yes |
| Advisory services | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile app | Included | Included |
| Support for contractors | Yes (VNDLY integration) |
Yes |
Watch our video comparison of Workday and SAP SuccessFactors:
Pricing
Like most HCM solutions, neither Workday nor SAP discloses their prices for Workday HCM or SAP SuccessFactors HXM Suite. Additionally, neither company offers trials or free versions.
You’ll have to contact the sales department of the respective companies for a detailed quote based on your number of employees, required modules, software implementation requirements, and advisory services needed.
Need a better idea of how to budget for your HR software investment? Read: How Much Does HR Software Cost?
Payroll
Workday HCM and SAP SuccessFactors include payroll as a core HR feature in their software. However, where Workday HCM focuses on providing the tools and guidance for employees to remain in control of their pay, SAP SuccessFactors emphasizes its global payroll functionality to support multinational corporations.
| Workday HCM | SAP SuccessFactors HXM | |
|---|---|---|
| International payroll support | Yes (U.S., Canada, U.K., and France included, third-party add-on needed for all other countries) |
Yes (support in over 48 countries) |
| Employee self-service | Yes | Yes |
| On-demand pay | Yes | No (requires 3rd-party integration) |
| Paycards | No (requires 3rd-party integration) |
No (requires 3rd-party integration) |
| Tax compliance | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile app | Yes | Yes |
Workday provides companies with basic functionality for payroll, including accommodating multiple payroll schedules and structures while keeping companies up to date with tax and payroll compliance in varying jurisdictions.
However, compared to SAP SuccessFactors, Workday’s native global payroll capabilities are limited to U.S., Canada, U.K., and France. Workday payroll compliance support is also limited to those countries.
Suppose your company requires payroll support in countries other than those four, or you already use a local payroll provider in certain countries. In that case, you will need either Workday Global Payroll Cloud or Workday Cloud Connect for Third-Party Payroll. With these, you can deploy, integrate, and manage payroll in an additional 100 countries.
Despite Workday’s lackluster global payroll, its payroll reports and employee-focused payroll features set it apart from SAP SuccessFactors. For example, Workday utilizes a continuous payroll functionality, where any HR changes that affect payroll are immediately recalculated and viewable in pay reports, such as the payroll calculation pipeline.
In addition, Workday allows U.S. employees to take advantage of on-demand pay from their mobile app, an excellent perk for employers to attract and retain talent.
SAP SuccessFactors HXM Suite includes all of the payroll capabilities of its stand-alone SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central Payroll product, including automatic tax calculations and compliance updates in multiple jurisdictions and off-cycle payroll support.
Like Workday, SAP SuccessFactors also offers continuous payroll functionality to reduce payroll processing time for company HR teams.
However, SAP SuccessFactors payroll features are more global-friendly than Workday. It has native, embedded payroll support for over 48 countries.
Moreover, SAP provides companies access to multiple, country-specific data during payroll, including seamless integration of global time tracking and benefits information to simplify cross-company payroll processing. International employees, in turn, receive a localized payroll feel while companies ensure compliance with varying countries’ laws and norms.
SAP SuccessFactors. Here’s why:
SAP SuccessFactors offers comparable payroll features to Workday, plus additional global options. Despite Workday’s native on-demand payroll option that SAP SuccessFactors lacks, users can easily leverage a third-party partner integration for this employee benefit.
Moreover, unlike Workday’s pre-built option, scaling companies can add international payroll support as needed with SAP SuccessFactors. That way, companies can save money by only paying for what they need as their payroll needs evolve.
Benefits administration
Workday and SAP SuccessFactors provide similar experiences for companies and employees wanting to take control of their benefit offerings, such as employee self-guided enrollment. But the main difference between Workday and SAP SuccessFactors benefits administration lies in the number of native benefits compliance support for U.S. versus international teams.
| Workday HCM | SAP SuccessFactors HXM | |
|---|---|---|
| Global benefits support | Yes (through Workday partners) |
Yes |
| Employee guided enrollment | Yes | Yes |
| Financial wellness | Yes (through “journeys”) |
No (requires 3rd-party integration) |
| ACA compliance | Yes | Yes (with Benefitfocus) |
Although Workday HCM can provide global compliance updates, companies must partner with a third party for international benefits administration. Workday can, however, centralize global benefits data on companies’ benefits dashboards to understand their benefits programs’ impact quickly.
Workday excels, however, in its medical, dental, vision, 401(k), COBRA, and FSA administration offerings for U.S.-based employees. HR teams can leverage Workday Cloud Connect for Benefits to automatically share and update employee benefits information with over 300 benefits providers and reduce the work associated with manually notifying these providers of benefits changes.
Likewise, companies can stay ahead of ACA compliance requirements for their variable-hour employees through Workday’s Affordable Care Act Dashboard. For the same functionality, SAP SuccessFactors’ customers must add on SAP U.S. Benefits Administration by Benefitfocus, making Workday an ideal solution for companies primarily operating out of the U.S.
SAP SuccessFactors caters to global enterprises by making it easy to manage international employees’ insurance plans, pensions, savings, and reimbursements all in one place. With compliance support in over 100 locales, SAP SuccessFactors can unify benefits management without resorting to multiple governance systems.
For example, within SAP SuccessFactors, companies can customize their benefits workflow processes to accommodate open enrollment in the U.S. or superannuation plans in Australia. SAP SuccessFactors even supports electronic data interchange (EDI) with overseas carriers to diminish data exchange administrative work for HR professionals.
SAP SuccessFactors. Here’s why:
Although companies with U.S.-based employees will have to purchase SAP U.S. Benefits Administration by Benefitfocus for additional ACA administration and compliance support, SAP SuccessFactors’ customizable international benefits administration capabilities are great for companies with diverse workforces. This versatility is valuable for companies that expect to expand and leverage talent in global markets.
Workforce management
Workday and SAP SuccessFactors provide advanced recruitment, onboarding, and time-tracking features. Each vendor makes it easy to visualize and track changes at every point of the employee’s tenure while giving insight into workforce changes and process bottlenecks.
| Workday HCM | SAP SuccessFactors HXM | |
|---|---|---|
| Native recruiting | Yes | Yes |
| Native onboarding | Yes | Yes |
| Career site | Yes | Yes |
| Job posting distribution | Yes | Yes |
| Social recruiting | Yes | Yes |
| Job board integrations | Yes | Yes |
| Interview management | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile recruitment app | Yes | Yes |
| Self onboarding | Yes | Yes |
| Time and attendance | Yes | Yes |
| Reporting and analytics | Yes | Yes |
Workday includes talent management features to simplify day-to-day employee processes, including geofencing capabilities for time-tracking and voice-activated time-off requests. However, Workday’s contingent talent management features are especially attractive for enterprises with varying worker classifications.
For instance, through Workday’s VNDLY, companies can analyze their skill gaps and automate job requisition creation to source candidates quickly for varying projects. In addition, gig workers, independent contractors, and freelancers receive unified sourcing to offboarding experiences.
Finally, companies can monitor their budget spending and headcount to ensure their labor costs align with their bottom line.
SAP SuccessFactors’ talent management features, like its payroll and benefits administration, are heavily global-focused. For instance, SAP SuccessFactors’ time-tracking features are dynamic and based on the employee’s profile location. This allows companies to comply with differing break rules, overtime, and on-call regulations by country.
Recruiting teams also have an easier time with remote or global talent acquisition, as SAP SuccessFactors provides companies with access to 4,000 source channels in over 80 countries. Recruiting and onboarding practices are also supported in over 46 languages so that companies can source quality talent while accommodating local languages and customs.
Workday. Here’s why:
Workday can accommodate global workforces in both time-tracking and recruitment, even if it is less intuitive than SAP SuccessFactors. However, Workday’s worker-focused features and compliance monitoring across worker classifications make it an appealing choice for companies with complicated worker dynamics.
Performance management
Like most HCM solutions, Workday and SAP SuccessFactors invest in their talent optimization capabilities so companies can monitor and up-skill their internal workforces and stay ahead of the competition. Both provide performance tracking, goal setting, employee feedback, and learning modules but differ in their approaches.
| Workday HCM | SAP SuccessFactors HXM | |
|---|---|---|
| Performance review cycles | Yes | Yes |
| Goal setting and tracking | Yes | Yes |
| Continuous feedback | Yes | Yes |
| Career development support | Yes | Yes |
| Compensation management | Yes | Yes |
| Sentiment analysis | Yes | Yes |
| Succession planning | Yes | Yes |
Workday leverages AI and machine learning to organize and make sense of employee data from performance review cycles, employee feedback, and skills assessments to help companies identify top performers and align them with appropriate opportunities. Workday’s AI even monitors potential employee flight risks based on performance and feedback so companies can prepare necessary succession strategies.
Additionally, Workday software allows employees to record their skills so managers can track and validate skill sets over time. With this data, companies can quickly pinpoint skill deficiencies and provide upskilling opportunities aligning with an employee’s career goals. In doing so, businesses can close skill gaps and strengthen ties with employees by investing in their professional development.
Where Workday focuses on bigger-picture performance and engagement monitoring, SAP SuccessFactors focuses on optimizing these processes for more efficiency. Take, for example, the features embedded in SAP SuccessFactors’ performance management modules below.
Along with reporting adaptive insights to reduce bias, performance, and pay disparity, SAP SuccessFactors ensures businesses maximize their workforce potential and minimize administrative workloads.
SAP SuccessFactors. Here’s why:
Besides its time-saving functions, SAP includes a much more robust selection of products and features that promote continuous employee learning and development, such as mentoring and fellowship opportunities.
Businesses might appreciate Workday’s user-friendly performance analytics for quick insights into employee satisfaction and talent gaps. However, SAP SuccessFactors’ performance management features make it easy for employees to track goals and develop skills for a more holistic career development experience.
Workday vs. SAP SuccessFactors: Ready to choose?
Workday HCM and SAP SuccessFactors HXM Suite each have benefits and drawbacks that could make or break it as your business’s HCM solution.
Choose Workday if your company is based primarily in the U.S. and values data-rich, insightful reports across your workforce and finances. However, if you need to manage workforces and company HR processes across the globe, choose SAP SuccessFactors for its international support and diverse products.
If you’re still undecided with Workday or SAP SuccessFactors is the right fit for your company, take a look at our HR Software Guide for other solutions.
Featured partnersFeatured HR software partners
