TraceLink operates a leading digital network platform for intelligent orchestration of the global pharmaceutical supply chain. With over 800 employees across 7 countries, maintaining internal agility is critical. To support this, TraceLink’s HR team recognized the need to modernize their workforce operations, replacing manual, siloed processes and spreadsheet-based workflows that had become embedded in daily activities.
To drive this transformation, the HR organization turned to Workday Extend in 2022 to automate administrative workflows, improve data visibility, and create a more scalable and efficient operating model for managing their global workforce.
A playbook for rapid innovation.
By focusing on high-impact, HR-specific use cases, TraceLink’s HR team—supported by a lean HR technology function—has deployed 10 Workday Extend apps with just two Extend developers. These applications are purpose-built to optimize the most complex and high-touch workforce processes.
Their approach is guided by three principles:
- Build small, iterate fast: Enables rapid experimentation and continuous improvement
- Adopt a test-driven development model: Ensures applications are resilient and production-ready
- Embrace continuous learning: Leverages insights from the Workday Developer Community
To date, applications built by TraceLink’s HR team have automated 6,500+ transactions and saved more than 500 hours of manual HR work annually, while increasing Workday self-service usage by 20%.
Workday Extend has bridged the gap between native HR functionality and our unique people requirements," says Marianna McGrath, Director, People Operations. "We now have the agility to build custom HR solutions that drive real impact.
Extend and creativity go together. Imagine the impossible. Things that weren’t possible with Workday a couple years ago are now possible with Extend..
Manager for HR Technology at TraceLink
Bringing speed and scale to contingent hiring.
TraceLink’s HR team is responsible for managing the onboarding and lifecycle of service partners who support global operations. Previously, this process relied heavily on disconnected emails and manual coordination across systems.
To solve this, the HR team built the Service Partner Management app in Workday Extend, creating a centralized dashboard to manage the full lifecycle—from request and onboarding to offboarding. Managers can initiate requests through a simple form, automatically triggering workflows that create positions, provision system access, and notify relevant stakeholders in real time.
At the end of a contract, offboarding is equally streamlined, with system access revoked automatically in just a few clicks.
By designing and implementing this solution, TraceLink’s HR team reduced service partner time-to-hire by 80%, enabling faster team scaling while maintaining compliance and a complete audit trail.
Driving payroll precision through seamless automation.
TraceLink’s HR and payroll team manages global payments for additional on-call hours, which were previously tracked and calculated manually using spreadsheets. This process required significant effort to compile, validate, and upload data each month.
Using Workday Extend, the HR team transformed this into a streamlined, self-service experience. Employees now submit on-call requests directly in Workday, where embedded logic automatically calculates the correct pay tier and amount. Managers approve requests within the system, triggering automated payroll processing through an ADP integration.
This HR-led automation ensures payments are accurate, timely, and fully traceable, while significantly reducing manual effort.
Today, the On-Call Payments app saves more than 20 hours per month and provides real-time visibility into workforce utilization and spend—strengthening planning, compliance, and audit readiness.
We were able to replace some of our biggest spreadsheets that required manual oversight with automated workflows in an Extend app.
Manager for HR Technology at TraceLink
Powering real-time support during emergencies.
TraceLink’s HR, Corporate Communication and Business Continuity teams needed a more effective way to communicate with employees during critical events. Existing processes relied on disconnected tools and manual tracking, limiting visibility and response speed.
To address this, TraceLink’s HR technology team built the Emergency Console app within Workday Extend, creating a centralized communication hub. The app enables leaders to send targeted alerts across SMS, email, and voice channels, while capturing employee responses in real time.
All responses are automatically logged within Workday, providing HR and leadership with a live view of employee status during emergencies.
By building this solution natively within Workday, the HR team ensured secure, role-based access to sensitive data while expanding communication capabilities through integrations with Twilio, Workato, and SendGrid—delivering a scalable and cost-effective crisis response solution.
Centralizing leadership principles in the growth process.
TraceLink’s HR team built the Promotion Nomination app to bring greater structure and consistency to talent advancement decisions. Previously, inconsistent formats and limited visibility made it difficult to evaluate candidates fairly.
The app is embedded directly within the Worker Profile, guiding managers through a structured evaluation process that aligns with TraceLink’s leadership principles. Managers provide ratings, supporting rationale, and detailed context, enabling HR business partners to make more informed decisions.
By designing this process within Workday, the HR team has created a more transparent, consistent, and equitable approach to promotions, while capturing historical insights that support long-term talent development and organizational growth.
With Extend, we’re bringing our leadership principles to life. By embedding them directly into the promotion process we recognize not just results, but the behaviors that shape our culture.
Chief People Officer at TraceLink
Scaling enterprise impact and empowering a global workforce.
TraceLink’s HR team has established a high-agility innovation hub using Workday Extend, continuously developing applications that improve both operational efficiency and employee experience.
Additional solutions—including Visa Management, In-Office Medical Accommodations, Tuition Reimbursement, and Charitable Donations—have enabled the HR team to eliminate manual processes, reduce reliance on external spreadsheets, and unlock real-time workforce insights.
This work demonstrates how TraceLink’s HR team, even with a small development footprint, is driving enterprise-wide transformation—modernizing workforce operations and delivering measurable impact at scale through Workday Extend.