The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) is a UK government department focused on protecting the environment, supporting agriculture and fostering a sustainable rural economy. By working with various stakeholders, DEFRA balances economic growth with environmental responsibility, ensuring a healthier, sustainable future.

ServiceNow is a key platform for DEFRA, streamlining both internal and citizen-facing services. While DEFRA initially started out with ServiceNow IT Service Management (ITSM), it has grown the platform to include IT Operations Management (ITOM), IT Asset Management (ITAM), Strategic Portfolio Management (SPM), Customer Service Management (CSM) and HR Service Delivery (HRSD).

Intense competition for ServiceNow resources created resourcing challenges

To support its ServiceNow deployment, DEFRA decided to establish a core platform team to serve as a centre of excellence. However, recruiting ServiceNow resources for that team proved to be a significant challenge. Gary Kinsella, ServiceNow Platform Owner at DEFRA, explains, "It's difficult to attract experienced ServiceNow talent because we're competing with the private sector. That's not unique to DEFRA—it's the same story across the whole UK government. So, we needed to think outside the box. That's when ServiceNow introduced us to the RiseUp with ServiceNow program".

RiseUp with ServiceNow delivered a pipeline of emerging talent to fuel team growth

RiseUp with ServiceNow is a structured program that allows people to build critical entry-level ServiceNow skills and begin a fulfilling career in the ServiceNow ecosystem. By making ServiceNow training available at no cost to participants, RiseUp with ServiceNow opens up employment opportunities and gives ServiceNow customers access to a pipeline of emerging talent.

For Gary, RiseUp with ServiceNow looked like a perfect fit. He says, "It was a great opportunity to bring in resources with ServiceNow knowledge and develop that talent. Not only did it give us a way forwards to build the skills we needed, but it also allowed us to open up career paths for people who would otherwise struggle to get into a tech job. That's something I'm very passionate about".

Motivated people with huge potential

According to Gary, the results have been overwhelmingly positive. He enthuses, "We've found some real stars. I now have four RiseUp with ServiceNow graduates on my team, and there are another three on other ServiceNow teams at DEFRA. For example, one of the first people we brought in was Diana, who was originally from Bulgaria and transitioning from a career in HR. We started her out on relatively simple tasks, but she quickly came up to speed. Now, she's completing a ServiceNow Degree Apprenticeship at Northeastern University London, which is part of the apprenticeship opportunities we offer, and she's on track to get a first. She's also expressed an interest in becoming a developer, and of course, we'll support her with that. But she's not the only example. What we've found is that the people are incredibly motivated—they really want to do the job and go the extra mile".

Note that the ServiceNow Degree Apprenticeship program is a partnership between ServiceNow and Northeastern University London. It allows employers to recruit talent via RiseUp with ServiceNow and then accelerate development of that talent through the degree program. The degree apprenticeship program is available at no cost to ServiceNow employers in the UK, funded by the UK Government's Apprenticeship Levy scheme.

Freeing up experienced ServiceNow resources to accelerate innovation

Gary continues, "Of course, you need to help them to succeed. We use a buddy system where we pair up each RiseUp with ServiceNow grad with an experienced ServiceNow resource on the team. That really helps them to come up to speed. However, this isn't a drain on our experienced resources—far from it. What we found is that RiseUp with ServiceNow people already have baseline skills when they come out of the program, which means that they are able to bring value quickly. And because they take on the simpler tasks, this frees up bandwidth for our experienced people to focus on bigger challenges and drive innovation".

A true partnership with ServiceNow

So, how does Gary sum up his RiseUp with ServiceNow experience? He says, "I'd recommend RiseUp with ServiceNow to anyone who is looking to recruit junior ServiceNow resources. In fact, I'm constantly telling other colleagues in the UK government just how great it has been for us. We get passionate people with entry-level ServiceNow skills that we can then develop. My team wouldn't be where it is today without RiseUp with ServiceNow. And ServiceNow has been incredible as well—they've worked with us every step of the way to help us identify great candidates and bring them on board. It's a real partnership, and we're going to continue to take advantage of the RiseUp with ServiceNow program for the foreseeable future".