Material topic workflow and states
Summarize
Summary of Material topic workflow and states
Material topics serve as the foundation for sustainability initiatives within your organization. Identifying a material topic is essential before it can be tracked, measured, and managed effectively. The workflow states for a material topic vary depending on whether the topic was created directly in ServiceNow or imported from Socialsuite.
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Default Workflow
Material topics created within ServiceNow follow a structured workflow with these key states:
- Draft: Initial state for all material topics where key fields such as Name, Classification, Importance to business success, Importance to stakeholders, Priority, and Approver can be updated.
- Approval: The Operational Sustainability program manager reviews and validates the material topic details for accuracy and completeness, then moves the topic to the Monitor state.
- Monitor: Material topics remain here for ongoing tracking. If updates are needed (e.g., changes in Priority or Significance), the topic can be reverted to Draft without impacting downstream goals and targets. Only topics in Monitor appear in the Materiality matrix on the Operational Sustainability Workspace home page.
- Retired: Topics no longer tracked as relevant sustainability issues are moved here.
Socialsuite Workflow
Material topics imported from Socialsuite follow a different workflow and state mapping within ServiceNow:
- Topics imported as Not started in Socialsuite appear as Draft in ServiceNow, but these are read-only and cannot be edited.
- Materiality Assessment: This state corresponds to validation and review of materiality assessment data by the ESG program manager.
- Monitor: Topics in this state appear in the Materiality matrix and are actively tracked.
Socialsuite topics do not require approval within ServiceNow and cannot be moved back to Draft once imported.
Additional Details for Socialsuite Topics
Imported Socialsuite material topics include extra fields for materiality assessment data, which are read-only in ServiceNow and managed entirely within Socialsuite.
Practical Implications for ServiceNow Customers
- Use the default workflow to create and manage material topics directly in ServiceNow, controlling their lifecycle from Draft to Retired.
- For topics imported from Socialsuite, understand their read-only nature and different lifecycle states to ensure proper tracking without editing within ServiceNow.
- Monitor state topics are the focus for sustainability tracking and reporting, as they appear in the Materiality matrix on the Operational Sustainability Workspace home page.
- Changing key attributes in Draft or Approval states allows you to maintain accurate and relevant sustainability topics aligned with business priorities and stakeholder significance.
Material topics are the point of origin for sustainability initiatives. A material topic must be identified before it can be tracked and measured for success.The workflow states for a material topic depend on how the material topic was created.
Default workflow
- Draft: All material topics begin in this state. The following fields can be updated in this state:
- Name
- Classification
- Importance to business success
- Importance to stakeholders
- Priority
- Approver
- Approval:The Operational Sustainability program manager reviews the material topic and ensures that all fields are accurate and complete. After the review completes, the material topic moves to Monitor.
For example, if the material topic is Carbon emissions, the reviewer might verify:
- The material topic is accurately defined.
- The description of the material topic is accurate.
- Monitor: The material topic remains in this state until a modification is needed. If an update is necessary, you can return the material topic to the Draft state. This may occur after a subsequent
materiality assessment, where there could be a shift in the following attributes:
- Priority
- Significance to business success
- Significance to stakeholders
Moving a material topic back to the Draft state does not affect downstream goals and targets.
Only material topics that are in the Monitor state are shown in the Materiality matrix on the Operational Sustainability Workspace home page.
- Retired: The material topic is no longer tracked by the organization as a relevant sustainability issue.
Socialsuite workflow
Material topics imported from Socialsuite do not require approval in your ServiceNow instance. These topics use different workflow states than the default workflow. The following table shows how Socialsuite states map to states in your ServiceNow instance:
| Socialsuite state | ServiceNow instance state |
|---|---|
| Not started | Draft |
| Open for input | Materiality Assessment |
| Input closed | Materiality Assessment |
| Complete | Monitor |
| Historical | Monitor |
Material topics imported from Socialsuite progress through the following states in your ServiceNow instance:
- Draft: Material topics in the Not started state in Socialsuite appear in Draft. The material topic details are read-only and cannot be updated.
- Materiality Assessment: The ESG program manager validates and reviews the materiality assessment data in this state.
- Monitor: Only material topics in Monitor appear in the materiality matrix on the Operational Sustainability Workspace home page. Material topics imported from Socialsuite cannot be moved back to Draft.
Fields for Socialsuite material topics
Material topics imported from Socialsuite include additional fields that store materiality assessment data. These fields are visible and read-only for topics imported from Socialsuite. All data for these fields is managed through Socialsuite. For a complete list of fields, see Socialsuite material topic fields.