IP&O Insights Newsletter February 2024 issue

Employee Services (ES) was among the first groups to go live in the ServiceNow multiphase implementation. This strategic decision was made so that we have plenty of time to access and then finesse how Employee Services operates in ServiceNow while we are integrating the rest of the division into the software platform. It is important to recognize that the initial roll out is just the first step of our evolutional ServiceNow journey.

Employee Services is a very complex group. This group’s ability to operate seamlessly in ServiceNow is key to their transformation into a highly focused and efficiently functioning asset for our employees. Since the beginning of the year, we have been reviewing two key areas within ES: Its standard operating procedures and its ability to operate efficiently in ServiceNow.

To refine our ServiceNow instance, ES staff has been working collaboratively with our ServiceNow Project Manager, the OIT ServiceNow Platform team, our Business Analyst, and IWMS Administration to increase both agent (the ES Staff) and end user (our employees) satisfaction when using the Customer Service Module (CSM) of ServiceNow.  

Our colleagues have expressed challenges while working with ES within ServiceNow. We met with these colleagues to understand their respective challenges. These include, among other things, receiving too many notifications, not receiving enough notifications, receiving messages which are unclear, and the lack of reports and dashboards.  

ServiceNow maintains a structured cycle of 6-week updates as well as twice annual upgrades. Since our roll out on October 31, 2023, we have had an opportunity to see what functionality has worked for ES and our IP&O colleagues, and what has not worked so well. As a result, we have generated a list of agent and end-user pain points within ServiceNow for ES cases. Here is what we learned, implemented, or are in the process of implementing to improve the experience:

• Since only one person, the Internal User (the person who has submitted the request), can access a case, we have learned that other colleagues may need information regarding the case as well. The solution to this problem was to use the Watchlist field functionality.  This enhancement to ServiceNow has been implemented. If you are submitting an ES case, please add the name of the person(s) you wish to have added to the Watchlist field in the description field when initiating a request. That person will be able to view the information for that case. 
   
• For every transaction requested, a series of tasks must be completed. Initially, we believed that notifying the requester as each check-listed item is completed would support our goal of communicating with our Internal Users. We have since learned, that requestors were receiving too many notifications and because the notifications were computer generated, they lacked clarity. This functionality will be turned off and instead, status communications and comments will be delivered via email from within the portal.
   
• We also learned that ES staff was not receiving notifications when Internal Users submitted a comment back to the ES staff, which meant that Internal Users questions were going unanswered. We are putting measures into place so that ES staff is notified when a comment is added to the case. 

These are just some of the examples of a myriad of enhancements that we are making to ServiceNow. These are situations that we did not anticipate, but with tweaks to the system, we hope to increase Agent and end-user satisfaction. Other changes currently underway include the development of dashboards and reports for ES staff and the creation of standardized messaging using templates. We will institute the creation of “PowerUsers” within the ServiceNow portal. Specifically designated heavy users within our ServiceNow portal will have full access and functionality within the portal, mirroring the functionality of ES agents, as well as having reporting capabilities.  

ES has been operating with ad hoc Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) for each of its 17+ transactional activities, which are further complicated by unique RU and RBHS UHR requirements. With the implementation of ServiceNow, we now have an opportunity to develop consistent SOPs that will align with ServiceNow processes and workflows.  The ES SOPs are grouped into four distinct buckets: Recruitment, Existing Employees, On-Boarding, and Off-Boarding. These are further broken down into applicable sub-categories.  The formal SOP’s are in development and will be published when completed.  

Look for ES updates and progress in every newsletter. We welcome any feedback and ask that you email Sarah DiFrancesco, Assistant Director, Employee Services, with your suggestions and or concerns: sarah.difrancesco@rutgers.edu.