How Kinrise connected Workday and Reward Gateway | Edenred to create a more seamless employee experience

The challenge

Before the integration, Kinrise transferred employee information from Workday to Reward Gateway | Edenred through a once-daily, one-way data feed. Although the feed was already in place, some changes still needed to be updated manually in Reward Gateway | Edenred to prevent discrepancies between the two systems.

“We wanted Reward Gateway | Edenred to operate as an integrated part of our broader people technology ecosystem, rather than as a standalone platform,” says Corina Loro, People Systems & Data Manager at Kinrise.

The opportunity was to make the connection work in both directions: keep employee information aligned across platforms, and make recognition given through Reward Gateway | Edenred easier to access in Workday.

“Bringing recognition into Workday connects these experiences and makes meaningful recognition more accessible in the context of performance and development.”

The approach

Kinrise implemented a bi-directional integration between Workday and Reward Gateway | Edenred. Employee information flows from Workday into Reward Gateway | Edenred, while recognition activity flows back into Workday.

Kinrise already had a data transfer process, so only minimal additional work was required. The project focused on enabling Reward Gateway | Edenred-specific data and creating custom reporting fields. Testing confirmed that employee updates, including new hires and job changes, were processed accurately and promptly

Corina led the configuration, testing, and troubleshooting, working with Reward Gateway | Edenred and Kinrise’s IT team when needed.

"That meant setting up and reconfiguring the integrations in the two sandbox environments (one for Reward Gateway | Edenred and the other for Workday), validating data mappings, testing different employee scenarios and working through issues as they arose. I tested practical scenarios, such as hires, terminations, job changes, and recognition activity until I was confident the integrations behaved as required. Once I was ready to move the configuration into production, the process quite literally took about five minutes to recreate."

“The configuration guide provided by Reward Gateway | Edenred was comprehensive and enabled me to work through most of the steps on my own, at times that suited me.”

Secure data exchange was also a key consideration. “The integration handles sensitive employee information, so securely connecting the platforms through Workday’s API was fundamental,” she says.

"The API-based approach allows employee data to move directly between the systems, reducing the need for manual handling and the risks that can arise when information is transferred or maintained separately. It also supports our broader data-governance principle that Workday remains the source of truth, giving us greater confidence that Reward Gateway | Edenred receives accurate, current information through a controlled and reliable process."

The results

The integration reduces repetitive administration and the need to monitor both platforms separately to keep employee information aligned. More frequent synchronisation gives Kinrise greater confidence that employee data is consistent and current across its systems.

“From an administrator perspective, employee information remains consistent and fresh across multiple systems,” Corina says.

“The reduction in manual intervention and increase in sync frequency provides significantly greater confidence in the consistency and accuracy of our data.”

For employees and managers, recognition is more closely connected with the wider employee experience. Recognition given through Reward Gateway | Edenred can become part of an employee’s Workday record, making it easier to view alongside other relevant employee and performance information.

“This is a highly valuable aspect for us. Recognition captures examples of employees living our values, making an impact, and being acknowledged by their colleagues throughout the year. Bringing this recognition into Workday connects it more directly to performance and development processes, rather than relying solely on what a manager or employee can remember at review time. ”

Having those examples available in Workday can help managers and employees bring a richer, more balanced view of contributions into performance and development conversations.

For Kinrise, the broader benefit is a more connected experience; “the biggest value is the creation of a seamless, integrated experience for employees.”