Just wrapped my Workday EM loop last month and wanted to write this up while it was fresh because there wasn't much specific info out there when I was prepping.
Background: I'm a first-time manager, 2 years in, team of 6 backend engineers. Applied for a Senior EM role on their HCM platform side.
The rounds (what I actually got) Recruiter screen. Standard. They care a lot about whether you've managed cross-functional relationships, not just your direct reports. Keep that in mind for your stories. Hiring manager call (45 min). This one surprised me. It felt like a peer conversation, not an interrogation. She asked mostly about how I handle underperformers and how I build roadmaps with limited headcount. Very practical. Technical conversation with a staff SWE. Not a coding interview, but they wanted me to walk through a real architectural decision I'd made with my team. I picked a database migration we did under time pressure. Lots of follow-up on tradeoffs. Leadership panel (3 interviewers back to back, 45 min each). This was the heavy part. Behavioral questions, all STAR format: "Tell me about a time you had to make a call with incomplete information." "Describe how you've handled a high performer who wasn't meeting expectations." "How do you prioritize when engineering and product have competing deadlines?" Final exec chat. More of a culture fit, less formal. The director asked me what I look for when I hire engineers.
Overall vibe: Workday interviews are slower paced than FAANG. They really do value stability and process. Candidates who come in hot with "I move fast and break things" energy don't land well here. They want someone who can operate in a matrixed enterprise environment and keep teams calm.
Total loop was about 4 weeks from initial contact to offer. No LC-style coding for EM roles from what I can tell. Be ready for a lot of org-design and people-management scenarios.
Feel free to ask questions, happy to share what I can.