Data Governance Without the Drama: 3 Steps I’d Start With Tomorrow

We had 57 termination codes.

Yes, fifty-seven.

When I was doing a workforce admin system cleanup years ago, I came across entries like:

• Termination – Did Not Return From Lunch
• Termination – Left to Go to Target
• Termination – Reason Not Selected
• And of course, the legitimate ones like misconduct or voluntary resignation.

What that told me wasn’t just that we had a data mess. It told me that we never had a shared understanding of what our terms meant. Everyone had added their own logic, their own phrasing, and their own opinion on what counted as a reason for exit.

And it wasn’t just termination codes. It was job titles, business units, employee types. The systems were technically “working,” but nothing was aligned underneath.

That’s what a lack of data governance really looks like. Not as a compliance issue, but as something that slowly erodes trust in your tools, your reports, and your decisions. People stop relying on the systems and start relying on people instead, which defeats the whole point of process automation and shared services in the first place.

So let’s break this idea down. If I had to reboot data governance from scratch—without a giant program or steering committee—here’s where I’d start.

1. Clean the Top 20 First

Not every field, not every form. Just the top 20 most-used fields or values. Look at the ones that drive transactions, reports, or handoffs. Think job titles. Termination reasons. Locations. Supervisor fields. Cost centers. Business unit codes. These are the ones that show up again and again in reporting, workflows, and audits. When we took our 57 termination codes down to a short, validated list, it didn’t just make life easier for HR. It cleaned up our payroll feeds, helped managers select the right option during exits, and improved reporting across all entities. The secret wasn’t a massive cleanup effort. It was focusing on what got used the most and fixing what mattered first. You’ll never get to everything. But you don’t need to. You just need to fix what’s broken and visible.

2. Assign a “Search Experience Owner”

Most HR portals aren’t broken because of the data—they’re broken because no one owns how people find it. When an employee searches for “leave policy,” do they get the latest PDF? Or do they get five versions, one of which is from 2017? If the search experience frustrates people, they stop using it. They go back to calling HR. That adds friction, creates workarounds, and chips away at the credibility of your self-service tools. So, pick someone—anyone—to be the owner of the search experience. Even if unofficially. Their job is to regularly test how the system behaves, just like a real user would.

• Search “parental leave” or “bonus eligibility.” See what comes up.
• Check if outdated links are showing up higher than current ones.
• Look at the metadata. Are documents tagged using language your users actually use?

This isn’t about IT. It’s about curation. You need someone who treats the digital experience like a storefront. If the wrong items are in the front window, people won’t browse the aisles.

3. Define Your Words (Because One Word Can Mean Five Things)

This is the one I see trip teams up most often. Everyone uses the same term—but means something completely different. I’ve seen “contractor” used to describe:

• Staffing agency temps
• 1099 freelancers
• Statement-of-work vendors
• Interns
• And once, even a full-blown consulting firm

So when someone pulls a report on “contractors,” are they seeing the same thing as legal, payroll, or IT? Probably not. That disconnect can impact headcount reporting, security access, policy enforcement, and tax treatment. You need to define your terms and agree on how they’re used system-wide. It’s not enough to configure it once during a system implementation and hope for the best. Create a mini glossary for key fields. Share it with your partners. Put it in your training. Use it to validate data requests when someone asks for a headcount report or an org chart. This kind of clarity saves you more than just cleanup time—it prevents issues from happening in the first place.

Bonus Step: Add a Feedback Loop

Here’s the thing. You can’t fix what you don’t know is broken. Add a simple feedback loop to your portal. A form, a rating, even a “Was this helpful?” link. Give people a way to raise their hand when content is outdated, confusing, or incorrect. This doesn’t require a new tool. Just a process. Assign someone to review the feedback monthly and look for patterns. If five people in a week say they couldn’t find the time-off request form, you’ve got a findability issue. If users are bookmarking outdated PDFs, you may need to update naming conventions or remove old versions entirely. Feedback turns your portal from a static library into a living resource.

Final Thoughts

You don’t need a massive governance strategy to start making things better. You need:

• Clarity on what matters most
• Ownership of the user experience
• Consistency in how terms are used
• And a way to hear what’s not working If you get those right, you’ll start seeing better decisions, faster processes, and fewer confused emails. And maybe, just maybe, you’ll never again have to explain why someone was “terminated for going to Target.”

About the Author

Amy Wang shares real-world insights of organizational transformation across HR, IT, finance, and shared services. With experience spanning higher education, healthcare, and automotive industries, she brings a grounded perspective to leading change in complex environments. Amy also serves as a strategic advisor on AI integration, helping organizations align technology with workforce strategy. She started using #HRRealTalk to open up more honest conversations about leadership, change, and the human side of complex systems. She writes about what actually works, lessons learned, and how to lead with both clarity and empathy. Connect with Amy on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/amywang168 Amy Wang | Voice of Real Talk in HR and Organizational Transformation