Improve Data with Duplicate Management Framework in Workday

 

08.28.2025 | Technical Articles

 

Duplicate records are a headache in any large enterprise system. Multiple data entry points, third-party integrations, and human error can create redundant person records, resulting in overlapping or conflicting details. Left unaddressed, these duplicates can undermine reporting accuracy, complicate compliance, and hinder effective data management.  If your organization does not have processes in place to cull duplicates, you may end up with a significant amount of unwanted data in your Workday system.

Though Workday Recruiting and Workday Student have their own methods for removing duplicates, the Workday suite lacked a cohesive means of finding and merging assorted record types. Now, organizations can use the duplicate management framework within Workday to quickly, consistently, and safely review and update their entire system.

Understanding the Duplicate Management Framework

The duplicate management framework in Workday is designed to give administrators and authorized users the ability to detect, review, and manage duplicate person records. It combines configurable matching logic, automated processes, and secure access controls to ensure that data cleanup is both effective and safe.

In addition to being fairly easy to set up, this framework provides several advantages that make it a powerful tool for organizations looking to maintain clean, accurate data:

• Fully configurable match results – Duplicate management defines the rules and criteria that determine what constitutes a duplicate based on your organization’s needs.
• Automatic merge – Organizations can easily streamline workflows by enabling the system to merge matching records automatically when rules are met.
• Match on almost all person types – Administrators can apply matching across a wide range of person records, including employees, contingent workers, and candidates.
• Identify real-time matches – Right as data is entered, Workday can use this framework to detect duplicates and prevent problems before they spread.
• Secure access based on permissions – Administrators can use this framework to ensure only authorized users can view or manage duplicates, aligning with the role-based security model in Workday.
• Mass action on merge or remove as duplicate – The ability to take action on multiple records empowers administrators to complete much faster cleanup.
• Faceted search reports – Organizations can use filters and facets to drill down into specific duplicate sets for targeted review.

With these capabilities, the duplicate management framework in Workday can turn what used to be a manual, error-prone process into a controlled, efficient, and secure workflow. Plus, organizations can do so without extensive technical overhead.

The Duplicate Management Process Workflow

As organizations strive to streamline their Workday operations, the duplicate management process can be a quick and decisive win. While the specifics depend on your organization’s setup, the general flow looks like this:

Configuring Workday for Duplicate Management

How do you configure Workday to support the duplicate management framework? There are several essential steps your Workday experts or your Workday application management support partner need to complete:

• Enable Duplicate Management Functional Area
• • Go to Maintain Functional Areas and enable Duplicate Management.

 

• Enable and Configure Domain Security Policies
  • Adjust the relevant domains to ensure that only authorized users can access and manage duplicates.

• Set Up: Duplicate Management
  • This includes defining the settings for the framework in your tenant.

 

• Manage Duplicate Records
  • There are two scopes:
    • For a Person – Focus on individual duplicate reviews.

1. • • For the Tenant – Run global duplicate searches.

 

 

• Opt-In to Duplicate Management
  • Important: Once you opt in, you cannot opt out. Always test in a sandbox first to validate your rules and processes.

 

• Manage Match Rules and Schedule the Find Duplicates Job
  • Create the rules that determine duplicate matches.

• Schedule regular duplicate searches using View Scheduled Runs for Find Duplicates to ensure your data remains clean.

 

By following these steps, you establish a secure, well-defined framework that can be maintained and adjusted as your organization’s needs evolve.

Security Considerations and Expert Support

Because duplicate management involves sensitive data, security is paramount. The role-based model in Workday ensures that only authorized users can act on potential duplicates, preventing malicious or reckless edits from being made.

As we mentioned earlier, your administrator needs to know that once you opt in for duplicate management, you cannot opt out. This particularly impacts users of Recruiting Match and Merge functionality. Though the duplicate management framework provides tenant-wide functionality, it does not provide the same type of instant notification after a candidate submits job application.

Impacted stakeholders should be involved in the decision-making process and should test the new capabilities before the transition is made.

Though the causes of duplicate data may be unavoidable, your organization doesn’t need to waste time and money resolving the issue. Using the duplicate management framework in Workday can automate the process, turning reactive cleanup into proactive prevention. With greater quality across your Workday data, you can make smarter decisions that elevate your people-management process.

Does your organization need help implementing the duplicate management framework? Agilysis can support your Workday tenant to streamline your operations.