Safety researcher launches business with Workday ERP
At a glance
Client
Safety researcher
Industry
Not-for-profit
Our role
Model and guide ERP selection
Our solution
Workday for new entity
Designed and de-risked a standalone enterprise launch
Scenario
A safety standards and research organization separates to form a new entity, requiring a full operating model and enabling technology from day one.
Approach
Cross-functional team designed the future-state model, led ERP selection and prepared stakeholders for Workday implementation.
Result
Detailed requirements and Phase 0 planning led to a green risk rating and a lower-risk Workday deployment.
Scenario
Designing a standalone organization from scratch
A safety standards and research organization set out to separate its not-for-profit entity from its commercial enterprise. The new organization would need its own governance structure, processes and enterprise systems to operate independently from day one.
Leadership faced a dual challenge: define how the business would run while simultaneously selecting and preparing to implement an ERP platform to support finance, accounting and human resources. With key roles still vacant, the organization needed a partner that could help design the future state, stabilize operations and reduce execution risk during a high-stakes transition.
Approach
Aligning operating model and technology strategy
Grant Thornton assembled a cross-functional team spanning Finance, Human Capital, Operations, Project Management, Technology Strategy and Risk Advisory to design the organization’s future-state operating model.
“We weren’t just selecting technology,” said Grant Thornton Technology Modernization Senior Manager Stuart Reeves. “We were helping them define how the new organization would operate so the system would reinforce clear ownership and accountability.”
The team facilitated functional requirement discovery sessions, documented ERP needs and led a structured RFP process. After coordinating vendor demonstrations and scoring, the organization selected Workday. Grant Thornton then supported Phase 0 planning and prepared stakeholders for unit testing and customer confirmation sessions, ensuring design decisions were documented and aligned before implementation accelerated.
Result
De-risked implementation and launch readiness
Because the organization clarified its functional requirements before implementation began, it entered the Workday deployment with strong alignment across business stakeholders. Detailed design documentation was handed off to the system implementer, reducing ambiguity and limiting rework risk.
At the conclusion of foundation alignment sessions, unit test script development began. Based on the structured discovery and Phase 0 preparation, Workday Delivery Assurance rated the implementation green, indicating its low risk.
With a defined operating model and implementation risk reduced, the new standalone entity was positioned to launch with the governance, systems and execution discipline required to support its mission long term.
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