Agent Workspace for HR Case Management contextual side panel

  • Release version: Zurich
  • Updated March 12, 2026
  • 2 minutes to read
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    Summary of Agent Workspace for HR Case Management contextual side panel

    The contextual side panel in Agent Workspace for HR Case Management is designed to enhance HR agents' efficiency by providing quick access to relevant information and tools while handling HR cases. The panel displays a column of icons that vary depending on the HR case type, allowing agents to easily access employee details, case-related documents, templates, and instructions to streamline case resolution.

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    Key Features

    • At a Glance: Displays essential HR profile details for quick reference, helping agents understand the employee they are assisting.
    • Agent Assist: Offers relevant knowledge articles, enables adding comments (visible to employees) or work notes (private), and shows all case activities. This feature also supports HR interactions.
    • Employee Documents: Lists documents linked to the current case, with options to download or rename. Requires the Employee Document Management plugin to function.
    • Attachments: Shows documents related to the case that can be moved to Employee Document Management for archival. Provides options to add, download (individually or all), or delete attachments. A green dot indicates presence of attachments.
    • Templates: Enables auto-filling case fields using reusable templates, speeding up data entry.
    • Response Templates: Contains predefined messages for responding to employee queries efficiently and consistently. Agents can copy these messages into case comments or work notes. Configured by HR service teams.
    • Fulfillment Instructions: Offers targeted guidance such as specific instructions, knowledge base articles, or checklists to help complete cases faster and more effectively.
    • Checklist: Provides a structured list of tasks to ensure thorough and timely case resolution.
    • Personal Notes: Allows agents to record informal or preliminary information that is not tracked in the official case history.

    Benefits for ServiceNow Customers

    This side panel functionality equips HR agents with contextual, role-specific information and tools to improve case handling speed and accuracy. By consolidating key resources and documents in one accessible area, agents can provide more informed and consistent support to employees. Features like templates and checklists promote efficiency and standardization, while Agent Assist and fulfillment instructions ensure agents have the guidance needed to resolve cases effectively.

    The contextual side panel in Agent Workspace for HR Case Management provides information designed to help you work an HR case and interact with your employees.

    The contextual side panel provides a column of icons that provides you with information. Use the information when you interact with your employees or to complete the case.

    Contextual side panel in Agent Workspace showing column of icons for case information and employee interaction

    The icons that appear depend on the type of HR case you are looking at.

    Table 1. Agent Workspace contextual side panel icon descriptions
    Icon Description
    At a Glance: Provides key HR profile details for fast recall. Having this information readily available helps agents understand who they are trying to help when communicating with an employee.
    Agent Assist: Provides relevant knowledge articles about the case. You can also provide comments (visible to employee) or work notes (not visible to employee) or view all activities related to the case.
    Note:
    Agent Assist is also available for HR interactions.
    Employee Documents: Lists documents related to the case you are on. Select the document and you can download it or rename it.
    Note:
    The Contextual side panel requires the Employee Document Management [com.sn_employee_document_management] plugin to display the employee documents. For more information, see Employee Document Management.
    Attachments: Documents relevant or related to the HR case are displayed as attachments. These documents can be moved to Employee Document Management (EDM) for archival and historical purposes. For example, receipts for tuition reimbursement are attachments to an HR case. After you move attachments to Employee Document Management, they will be employee documents.
    • To add attachments to a case, click Select File.
    • To download all attachments at one time, select and select Download all.
    • To download only a specific attachment, select a specific attachment, select , and select Download.
    • To delete all attachments at one time, select and select Delete all.
    • To delete only a specific attachment, select a specific attachment, select , and select Delete.
    Note:
    A small green dot indicates there are attachments .
    Templates: Displays reusable templates that you can use to auto-fill certain fields of a case.

    Select the required template so that the template values are auto-populated on the case.
    Response Templates: Displays reusable messages that you can use when responding to an employee that has a question about their case.

    Copy the text from the response template you want to use and paste the text into the Comments or Work notes section of the HR case.

    An HR service configures response templates and are a fast, consistent, and efficient way to respond to common questions related to HR cases.

    For more information, see Response templates for HR Service Delivery.
    Fulfillment Instructions: Provides you with focused and targeted information on how to complete an HR case faster and more efficiently.

    Can include specific instructions, KB articles, or a checklist of what to do on the case.

    For more information, see HR fulfillment instructions.
    Checklist: Provides you with a list of things that need to be checked or done. Checklist helps you in resolving an issue efficiently and in a quicker way.

    For more information, see Using checklists in HR Service Delivery Agent Workspace.
    Use personal notes to add information that is not finalized and must not be tracked within the case history.

    For more information, see Add personal notes