Application Development
How we’re workflowing a better world with ServiceNow ESG solutions
Every day, employees at companies big and small are tasked with tracking, auditing, analyzing, and generating reports on the impact of their business on the world. Increasingly, companies are prioritizing their environmental, social, and governance (ESG) efforts to create value and take actions that matter to their customers, partners, employees, investors, and communities while being held accountable by customers and nonprofit advocacy organizations.
ThoughtLab research co-sponsored by ServiceNow shows ESG is now a business imperative. Leaders report ESG has helped them deliver better financial results. Unfortunately, prioritizing this body of work is often bogged down by a web of spreadsheets, documents, duplicative workflows, and even missing information.
That reality was no different for ServiceNow until we developed, launched, and began to use our ESG solutions on the Now Platform®.
Our first customer: Ourselves
Shilpa M., a manager in software engineering management at ServiceNow, was proud to work on the project. “I’m very passionate about environmental sustainability,” she says. “I love gardening and like to make as little carbon impact as possible.”
On the implementation team, she tweaked the product based on feedback from various teams and internal clients. “We got feedback from the digital technology, global impact, and product teams. It was a very collaborative effort,” she notes. “ServiceNow is always customer zero. We want to drink our own champagne first, then demo the product to customers.”
Vilasinee B., a senior manager of ESG reporting and disclosure at ServiceNow, saw the ins, outs, and process maturity of ESG at various companies before joining ServiceNow. “I’ve never been part of a customer zero program before,” she says. “It’s really interesting. We’re helping to create an ESG tool by giving feedback to the engineering team and adapting it for the market. It’s a lot of work: I now have a huge appreciation for the product managers and tech side of things.”
Efficiency for the win
Today, ServiceNow tracks, analyzes, and reports on more than 300 ESG-related metrics. “If we want to see the increase in the percentage of women working at ServiceNow, we can do that quickly,” says Rati K., a senior software engineer at the company and the main developer for the project. “Then we can generate a chart, even a ‘donut’ graph.”
“The coolest part is that we’re the underdog in a competitive market,” adds Varun G., who is early in his career and in the ServiceNow rotational program. “We get to build something as an outside player. We get to show what ServiceNow can do. We’re getting feedback on the product and iterating on its features constantly. There’s a lot in the roadmap, and we’re making it better every day.”
He emphasizes the impact ESG workflows can have on any company, including ServiceNow. “We don’t want to deal with 40 different systems for ESG and figure out pricing and integrations—and neither do our customers,” he explains. “We make it all work. That‘s one of the reasons our ESG solutions are so powerful. They also help employees make sense of ESG and can show them the journey from where the company is to where it will be in 10 years.”
Accounting for areas such as carbon emissions can include dozens of inputs throughout the year, Rati adds, from office refrigerators and laptop use to transit use and more. The information must be divided by categories, such as geographical region. “Now, appropriate employees are automatically alerted to enter their information,” she says. “Then, the tool aggregates it for the year or however we wish.”
Preparing for a brighter future
Working on this project was a good reminder for Rati and her family to do their part for the environment. “Caring about environmental sustainability is so important right now,” she says. “In India, temperatures are rising. My family and I started to think about the little things we can do to help, like recycling our old laptops.”
Edua D., vice president of ESG and finance strategy at ServiceNow, recently presented at Knowledge, where she provided insight into the magic of our ESG strategy: “2020 changed everything. It's the year that ESG became an even more intentional part of our organizational culture and our objectives,” she says.
“Our efforts were fragmented...so we needed to create a cohesive and purpose-driven strategy. Our ESG strategy is grounded in our platform and our solutions. The world works with ServiceNow.”
Find out more about our ESG journey.
We’re hiring. Browse ServiceNow careers.
© 2022 ServiceNow, Inc. All rights reserved. ServiceNow, the ServiceNow logo, Now, and other ServiceNow marks are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of ServiceNow, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries. Other company names, product names, and logos may be trademarks of the respective companies with which they are associated.
