Absorb LMS vs. Workday Human Capital Management

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Absorb LMS
Score 9.0 out of 10
Enterprise companies (1,001+ employees)
Absorb LMS aims to empower organizations to train employees with the skills needed to stay modern and relevant in today's fast-paced world. The LMS software focuses on aligning learning needs with business demands.N/A
Workday HCM
Score 8.2 out of 10
N/A
Workday Human Capital Management is a cloud-native system offering a globally consistent user experience. Workday HCM is part of an intelligent, unified system with other Workday products.N/A
Pricing
Absorb LMSWorkday Human Capital Management
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Absorb LMSWorkday HCM
Free Trial
YesNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
YesNo
Entry-level Setup FeeRequiredNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Absorb LMSWorkday Human Capital Management
Considered Both Products
Absorb LMS
Chose Absorb LMS
We were very disappointed with D2L and Workday's ability to customize what or how content is shown to users. The platforms can be robust but the onboarding time for new administrators is much longer than Absorb. Workday's current offering (2023) for external learners is …
Workday HCM

No answer on this topic

Features
Absorb LMSWorkday Human Capital Management
Learning Management
Comparison of Learning Management features of Product A and Product B
Absorb LMS
8.6
159 Ratings
5% above category average
Workday Human Capital Management
-
Ratings
Course authoring8.6125 Ratings00 Ratings
Course catalog or library9.3138 Ratings00 Ratings
Player/Portal8.3143 Ratings00 Ratings
Learning content9.0116 Ratings00 Ratings
Mobile friendly7.7113 Ratings00 Ratings
Progress tracking & certifications9.6151 Ratings00 Ratings
Assignments9.9130 Ratings00 Ratings
Compliance management9.7125 Ratings00 Ratings
Learning administration9.5155 Ratings00 Ratings
Learning reporting & analytics8.6152 Ratings00 Ratings
Social learning6.484 Ratings00 Ratings
Gamification5.681 Ratings00 Ratings
Single Sign On (SSO) Enabled Learning9.8117 Ratings00 Ratings
Human Resource Management
Comparison of Human Resource Management features of Product A and Product B
Absorb LMS
-
Ratings
Workday Human Capital Management
8.5
98 Ratings
5% above category average
Employee demographic data00 Ratings8.483 Ratings
Employment history00 Ratings8.793 Ratings
Job profiles and administration00 Ratings8.695 Ratings
Workflow for transfers, promotions, pay raises, etc.00 Ratings9.290 Ratings
Organizational charting00 Ratings9.289 Ratings
Organization and location management00 Ratings8.986 Ratings
Compliance data (COBRA, OSHA, etc.)00 Ratings6.761 Ratings
Payroll Management
Comparison of Payroll Management features of Product A and Product B
Absorb LMS
-
Ratings
Workday Human Capital Management
8.9
81 Ratings
9% above category average
Pay calculation00 Ratings8.569 Ratings
Support for external payroll vendors00 Ratings8.757 Ratings
Off-cycle/On-Demand payment00 Ratings9.819 Ratings
Benefit plan administration00 Ratings8.564 Ratings
Direct deposit files00 Ratings8.770 Ratings
Salary revision and increment management00 Ratings9.167 Ratings
Reimbursement management00 Ratings9.244 Ratings
Leave and Attendance Management
Comparison of Leave and Attendance Management features of Product A and Product B
Absorb LMS
-
Ratings
Workday Human Capital Management
8.6
76 Ratings
5% above category average
Approval workflow00 Ratings8.575 Ratings
Balance details00 Ratings8.475 Ratings
Annual carry-forward and encashment00 Ratings8.861 Ratings
Employee Self Service
Comparison of Employee Self Service features of Product A and Product B
Absorb LMS
-
Ratings
Workday Human Capital Management
8.4
96 Ratings
2% above category average
View and generate pay and benefit information00 Ratings8.885 Ratings
Update personal information00 Ratings8.694 Ratings
View company policy documentation00 Ratings7.574 Ratings
Employee recognition00 Ratings8.157 Ratings
View job history00 Ratings8.885 Ratings
Asset Management
Comparison of Asset Management features of Product A and Product B
Absorb LMS
-
Ratings
Workday Human Capital Management
8.4
25 Ratings
4% above category average
Tracking of all physical assets00 Ratings8.425 Ratings
HR Reporting
Comparison of HR Reporting features of Product A and Product B
Absorb LMS
-
Ratings
Workday Human Capital Management
8.3
80 Ratings
10% above category average
Report builder00 Ratings8.776 Ratings
Pre-built reports00 Ratings8.578 Ratings
Ability to combine HR data with external data00 Ratings7.866 Ratings
Onboarding
Comparison of Onboarding features of Product A and Product B
Absorb LMS
-
Ratings
Workday Human Capital Management
8.5
58 Ratings
6% above category average
New hire portal00 Ratings8.453 Ratings
Manager tracking tools00 Ratings8.754 Ratings
Performance and Goals
Comparison of Performance and Goals features of Product A and Product B
Absorb LMS
-
Ratings
Workday Human Capital Management
8.4
62 Ratings
5% above category average
Corporate goal setting00 Ratings8.652 Ratings
Individual goal setting00 Ratings8.661 Ratings
Line-of sight-visibility00 Ratings7.952 Ratings
Performance tracking00 Ratings8.660 Ratings
Performance Management
Comparison of Performance Management features of Product A and Product B
Absorb LMS
-
Ratings
Workday Human Capital Management
8.8
65 Ratings
11% above category average
Performance plans00 Ratings8.964 Ratings
Performance improvement plans00 Ratings8.856 Ratings
Review status tracking00 Ratings8.760 Ratings
Review reminders00 Ratings9.059 Ratings
Multiple review frequency00 Ratings8.852 Ratings
Succession Planning
Comparison of Succession Planning features of Product A and Product B
Absorb LMS
-
Ratings
Workday Human Capital Management
7.9
42 Ratings
1% above category average
Create succession plans/pools00 Ratings9.136 Ratings
Candidate ranking00 Ratings7.636 Ratings
Candidate search00 Ratings7.940 Ratings
Candidate development00 Ratings6.838 Ratings
Recruiting / ATS
Comparison of Recruiting / ATS features of Product A and Product B
Absorb LMS
-
Ratings
Workday Human Capital Management
8.2
50 Ratings
5% above category average
Job Requisition Management00 Ratings8.047 Ratings
Company Website Posting00 Ratings8.340 Ratings
Publish to Social Media00 Ratings8.635 Ratings
Job Search Site Posting00 Ratings8.441 Ratings
Duplicate Candidate Prevention00 Ratings7.741 Ratings
Applicant Tracking00 Ratings8.141 Ratings
Notifications and Alerts00 Ratings8.445 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Absorb LMSWorkday Human Capital Management
Small Businesses
iSpring LMS
iSpring LMS
Score 9.5 out of 10
Dayforce Powerpay
Dayforce Powerpay
Score 9.3 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
iSpring LMS
iSpring LMS
Score 9.5 out of 10
Paypro Workforce Management
Paypro Workforce Management
Score 9.1 out of 10
Enterprises
Axonify
Axonify
Score 10.0 out of 10
PeopleStrong
PeopleStrong
Score 10.0 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Absorb LMSWorkday Human Capital Management
Likelihood to Recommend
9.0
(156 ratings)
9.0
(130 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
8.2
(9 ratings)
9.0
(18 ratings)
Usability
7.7
(61 ratings)
7.9
(15 ratings)
Availability
9.0
(5 ratings)
6.6
(8 ratings)
Performance
8.5
(5 ratings)
7.3
(7 ratings)
Support Rating
9.7
(143 ratings)
8.0
(27 ratings)
In-Person Training
8.2
(1 ratings)
9.6
(6 ratings)
Online Training
8.6
(3 ratings)
7.0
(7 ratings)
Implementation Rating
7.5
(4 ratings)
8.0
(11 ratings)
Configurability
8.2
(3 ratings)
7.5
(2 ratings)
Contract Terms and Pricing Model
4.6
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
6.4
(2 ratings)
8.2
(1 ratings)
Product Scalability
7.2
(5 ratings)
7.3
(1 ratings)
Professional Services
9.6
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
8.6
(4 ratings)
7.0
(1 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
8.6
(4 ratings)
5.0
(1 ratings)
User Testimonials
Absorb LMSWorkday Human Capital Management
Likelihood to Recommend
Absorb Software Inc.
As a way to deliver eLearning content and track completion, I think Absorb handles our 7000+ users competently. In addition, their support team was always extremely helpful and responsive. When we went through the process of integrating Absorb with Skillsoft Business Advanced library, Absorb's team was very knowledgeable and helpful. I think teams needing more streamlined checklist-style OJT skills tracking will be disappointed by Absorb's feature. It takes 4-5 clicks for a user to trainer to sign off on one skill.
Read full review
Workday
I would say it's well suited in every environment because I think it does so much. It's like the holy grail of HRIS systems is what I like to call it because thinking about all parts of the employee lifecycle, it lives here in Workday Human Capital Management. So I love the fact that you can do the people data analytics, you can store employee records, the talent acquisition pieces there. I'm thinking I can't think of anything negative right now except for the fact that I can't drill down into the data for the people analytics side. Other than that, I think it's literally, yeah, the holy grail of HRIS systems, I love it and I would highly recommend it.
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Pros
Absorb Software Inc.
  • Overall, Absorb LMS is pretty easy to use for learners and especially for admins. It's practical to create and manage course content - it provides the most crucial options and yet is lean enough not to overcomplicate the admin's life. The consistent and customizable "table-view" in most of the admin-areas is very helpful and easy to follow.
  • Using Enrollment Rules, Absorb LMS let you define who a course applies to and how they get enrolled. You can build rules based on learner attributes, such as department, location job role, group, to include or exclude specific audiences. The way Absorb LMS is using enrollment attributes, no other LMS actually can fulfill our requirements easier. Enrollment rules are mainly embedded in individual course options (you can also create scheduled enrollments outside of the courses).
Read full review
Workday
  • Groups employees in management hierarchies and creates Org Charts that are easy to navigate and allow for visualizing management chains regardless of employee locations
  • Intuitive and easy to use. The Workday search functionality works very much like Google; one can search for anything that they have access to in the database and drill down into the various details. All information is connected through hyperlinks and users can easily keep digging into the details for as far as their security access would take them.
  • Tasks such as to do, review or approve items are sent to the user's Workday Inbox, very much resembling email. Notifications about outstanding "to do" items are also sent to each the user's work email address on a daily basis.
Read full review
Cons
Absorb Software Inc.
  • The "And" and "Or" rules for self + automatic enrollment could be spelled out more to clarify who we're enrolling into courses
  • The thumbnail and poster "Upload photo" section is confusing. There should be a "Favorites" folder where we can easily find most commonly used posters and thumbnails
  • more education around Absorb analyze essentials
  • How the Featured courses section ranks courses is confusing on the back-end. I need to switch the primary one to second place to feature the new one first. But if the previous one now becomes second place, what happens to the old course that was in second place? I've noticed the order you select on the back-end for this isn't always reflected on user side
  • Same comment as Featured Courses but for appearance of billboards. Hard to position each in the right order
Read full review
Workday
  • Should have more option in time sheet like choose project code or something.
  • On The pay page, it should have options to view past salaries; it may be there already but not in the version that I use.
  • The employee information page does not have a back button to navigate to the previous page.
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Likelihood to Renew
Absorb Software Inc.
We love the ability to have a user-friendly system that integrates well with our different HR interfaces (we have 3 systems that feed data/employees into the system). It makes it easy to track course completions and report out on metrics enterprise-wide. In addition, the ability to provide consistent education to staff who are geographically dispersed is a huge incentive for us, and Absorb LMS does this seamlessly.
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Workday
It is work to make one system the source of truth for our data, but now that it is done, there is less work involved in staying on this path. This means for us that maintaining and/or implementing new modules like performance, finance, talent, etc. is simple. It's a no-brainer
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Usability
Absorb Software Inc.
I have never built/managed an LMS platform before and I find it very user friendly and capable of doing 98% of what I need it to do. We have been in the system almost a year and one of the struggles I had using the reporting tool has already been resolved and updated!
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Workday
Workday's on a great path in terms of user experience. Their goals is to deliver a use experience that doesn't require training or instruction, like Amazon on the consumer side for example. That's hard to do when you're talking about complex business processes and important and sensitive employee information, but they're doing it well
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Reliability and Availability
Absorb Software Inc.
We have never had any major issue with Absorb's availability. Any outages that have occurred have been planned an communicated. Any small issues that occur within the Absorb platform have been addressed efficiently and quickly by support and the development team
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Workday
In 2014, Workday has changed the update process. There will be two updates a year; the updates will be delivered to customers typically in a 24 hour window during these two weekends a year. They also keep the Community up-to-date about any planned outages, etc. There is weekly scheduled downtime on Friday night.
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Performance
Absorb Software Inc.
We have experienced infrequent issues with things like load times on reporting, or pages timing out, but for the large majority of our time within the system things have worked as they should
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Workday
From my perspective, the system runs like a well oiled machine and I have not had any issues with customers complaining about speed. If a report is taking long to run, the report can run in the background and you can go about your business. For larger enterprises, there is additional space and machines to process the application in what Workday refers to it as Extended Configuration Tenant
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Support Rating
Absorb Software Inc.
We absolutely loved both our sales representative, Mike Kuphos, and our Implementation manager, Joe Zizian. Joe has continued to be a great resource, even since we went live with our LMS and were moved into the maintenance stage! I sent over a quick question recently when I was stuck in the platform... within hours, he responded with a video walking me through how to do what I was having trouble with. I truly cannot say enough wonderful things about Joe and the level of customer service he has provided throughout implementation and beyond. I haven't really had to use alternate support methods.
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Workday
Workday is still learning about the needs of higher education. I have seen rapid improvement in support and knowledge over the last year so am confident this will continue to improve. Overall however, I have found the Support Team to be extremely responsive and Workday offers the advantage of having support across several timezones so that we never wait more than a few hours for a response.
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In-Person Training
Absorb Software Inc.
No answers on this topic
Workday
Some training is offered online. Cost is per-person. This also gets quite expensive. Training doesn’t follow a logical path A to B. Starts in middle. When you try to do it afterwards at your desk, difficult.
• Training scenarios are not very real
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Online Training
Absorb Software Inc.
The training was comprehensive - there were existing modules to learn functionality but working with Absorb staff, and receiving recordings of those walk-throughs, made a rapid understanding of the LMS achievable and covered the necessary material that was needed and allowed for specific questions to be addressed.
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Workday
I have done for report writing and mass imports (EIBs). They give materials and you run through examples, i.e. you don’t just watch them do tasks, so that is helpful. Training is expensive – a single reporting writing class is $600 per person for virtual training
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Implementation Rating
Absorb Software Inc.
The implementation of Absorb went very seamlessly. We previously had the Oracle LMS and importing user data and getting the new system up to speed was painless. The smooth transition helped leaders and staff gain confidence early in the application/company and we have had a successful partnership with Absorb since.
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Workday
It was implemented before my joining the company. At my last company, we used Workday professional services.

Based upon my experience at my last company, I would rate the implementation experience an 8/10. There are different ways to set things up and we had different people telling us different things. It set us back a couple of times.

Regarding configuration advice, we could set things up where every manager has supervisory organizations, or have it financially based i.e. aligned to cost center/department. We chose the individual manager path and I think we should have chosen a department route. Going down the individual manager path, to maintain the information, we have to inactivate a supervisory org whenever a manager changes/leaves.
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Alternatives Considered
Absorb Software Inc.
Absorb LMS is feature packed with small but smart elements (can have a username that isnt an email, can change the core language used in the platform, can change the font and layout) that offer greater security and accessibility for learners.
Read full review
Workday
Workday is an incomplete product, by this I mean it must work alongside other products and does not work by itself. Trying to make several different products work smoothly together becomes very challenging. As compared to ADP products, when purchased all together work very well all together. Also, ADP has extensive Training programs and extensive Customer Support. So ADP's products are far superior to Workday's products in my opinion.
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Contract Terms and Pricing Model
Absorb Software Inc.
Seems very expensive for limitations we have experienced.
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Workday
No answers on this topic
Scalability
Absorb Software Inc.
We have already scaled our LMS from a couple hundred users to 1000 users and have plans to scale even larger. We use the LMS across multiple internal departments. countries and user types. Absorb has made it easy to integrate and scale and we will continue to scale in the near future.
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Workday
Workday has released Financials and is continuing to develop it's Human Capital Management footprint with the addition of Workday Recruiting. I think customers will find that is easy to add on additional functionality in the system. Workday does make it easy for customers to make changes without relying on IT resources. The Business Process framework is a visual tool that allows functional resources to make changes and see the flow of the transaction
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Professional Services
Absorb Software Inc.
We work directly with Kirsten Spak, who has continuously
provided timely and quality help for myself as the lead and our organization.
Kirsten has helped us ensure that we are going about things as efficiently and
is always willing to walk through things to demonstrate suggestions and
functions. As we look to expand our offerings further, Kirsten has helped
strategize for the best approach, which has helped our workflow and the
end-user experience. As we are still relatively new users, but using the LMS
every day, Kirsten has been very patient and provided clear instruction on
processes when we were unsure of what to do and has been able to troubleshoot,
with her team, functions that were desired but not availability at the time, to
provide us with solutions.
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Workday
No answers on this topic
Return on Investment
Absorb Software Inc.
  • Our ROI is yet to be determined as we haven't fully rolled it out yet. We hope that this will improve our customer loyalty and advocacy, set us apart from competitors, and appeal to prospects as something that is extremely valuable. ROI measurements will include customer participation, satisfaction from learners and their managers and any new customers who quote the platform as a reason they chose us.
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Workday
  • Positive ROI, we were one of the first organizations that went with Workday HCM, and we received numerous discounts. Cloud systems are the way to go and we feel the system is stable for our growing work force.
  • The user conferences have been helpful to network and learn more deepness in the modules and functionality.
  • Right off the bat, our implementation costs were lower than budgeted and we had less 'billing' surprises.
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ScreenShots

Absorb LMS Screenshots

Screenshot of a company's unique identity with a training interface that is custom-designed for the brand.Screenshot of a company's image and values with a training interface that is tailored to the brand's specific needs.Screenshot of the course creation workflow, that offer a diverse set of formats, including instructional videos, quizzes, and assessments.Screenshot of Absorb's course details page, accessible from the course catalog dashboard, used to give learners an understanding of the course material.Screenshot of learners' progress insights, used to make data-driven decisions with the reporting capabilities of Absorb LMS.Screenshot of course creation with Create AI Beta.

Workday HCM Screenshots

Screenshot of Workday Human Capital Management HomepageScreenshot of Workday Human Capital Management Manager Insights HubScreenshot of Workday Human Capital Management HR Partners HubScreenshot of Workday Human Capital Management Expense AnalysisScreenshot of Workday Human Capital Management Skills DashboardScreenshot of Workday Human Capital Management HR Operations and Compliance Dashboard