At ServiceNow, we take wellbeing seriously. We’re always looking for ways to maximise the employee experience, make improvements where we can, and spread the word about why the welfare of our workforce is so important.
It’s one of the reasons we entered the UK Great Place To Work Survey for the first time last year, and we were thrilled to receive certification with a score higher than the average external benchmark.
We’re even more delighted to announce that we’ve officially been recognised by Great Place to Work as one of the UK’s best workplaces, earning 9th place in the ‘large’ category. If that’s not enough, we’ve also received an additional Excellence in Wellbeing certification.
With strong competition from over 50 other applicants, it’s no small feat. The last year has been a difficult one for everyone, but this news affirms all the good work we’ve been doing, despite the obvious challenges.
So how exactly did we get here? I believe our success is down to three things: our amazing employees and the culture they espouse, our technology and our business-level initiatives.
1. Our people
Perhaps the greatest key to our success is the passion of our people.
The role of employees at ServiceNow goes far beyond feedback. Employees not only have a voice, but they actively contribute to making a difference, provoking change, and fuelling growth, which is why the strength of employee initiatives at ServiceNow is a key differentiator for our business.
The past year is no exception. Employees at every level have worked together to set up initiatives that have helped us get through the pandemic, from weekly quizzes to virtual coffee mornings, and even mental-health check-in sessions.
More widely, our Culture Champion teams are constantly thinking of creative ways to give back. Our NextGen initiative is just one example, helping to identify previously undiscovered talent and equip people with the skills for tomorrow; on top of that, our strong culture of diversity, inclusion, and belonging helps ensure we fully integrate everyone into the team, whatever their background, career path, or identity.
All of this makes a huge difference, because you can only perform at your best if you’re allowed to be your authentic self. The pandemic is a case in point: we’ve had to deal with noisy kids, disruptive pets, bad internet, and much more besides. We’ve all had days where we’ve struggled.
Essentially, you can’t hide anything – and we’ve leant into that, rather than trying to make up for it. Because if we come to work as we are, and get help where we need it, we feel accepted, supported, and enabled to do great work.
2. Our technology
At ServiceNow, we’re proud to have an extremely high customer retention rate – 97% at the last count.
One reason that number remains so high is down to our employees feeling proud to be part of our purpose as a business – there’s a genuine love for the work we do for our clients, and it’s clear to see the positive impact our technology is having.
For example, we released our four new emergency apps just weeks after the arrival of the pandemic to keep people safe, happy, and well at work. Our Safe Workplace Suite followed not long after, to ensure a safe return to offices, when possible. And now, our Vaccine Management - to get citizens vaccinated and life back to normal.
Our technology doesn’t just serve our clients. As customer zero, our employees also see the benefits every single day.
Our onboarding system, powered by the Now Platform®, is just one example. Within this single online platform, delivered via mobile, employees can access the necessary new-starter forms, choose the tech they want, complete the necessary learning journeys they need, get their logins sorted, and much more.
Using our own technology to support employees has seen an overwhelmingly positive response. 25% of our employees in EMEA have now been hired entirely virtually, and 95% would recommend the experience. Not to mention, with employees seeing the value of our platform in their everyday lives, working for ServiceNow becomes that bit more inspiring.
3. Our business initiatives
As a business, we do everything we can to help our customers and we treat our employees the same way – it’s why our business initiatives are tailored around helping staff find purpose and excel.
One of our core business values is ‘enjoy the journey’, and we work hard to deliver on that by making employee wellbeing a huge focus for the business. After all, we spend much of our day working, so we should at least enjoy it!
Of course, that’s been a lot more challenging over the past year. The pandemic has had a real impact on how, when, and where work happens. So we’ve pulled out all the stops to make sure we continue to enjoy the journey during these tough times.
We understand the critical importance of taking time off and encouraged employees to share how they’ve been spending their time in lockdown – from daily walks to staycations. We even set up the Emergency Self Report app to help keep tabs on employee health and wellbeing, so we can support staff straight away if they’re struggling or recovering from illness.
We’ve also made concrete commitments to support our teams working from home. Our no lay-off pledge was a commitment to protect the jobs and salaries of our 11,000+ employees for the whole of 2020; we also provided a £250 stipend for every employee to spend on work-from-home essentials, as well as a £500 allowance to invest in perks like childcare, sporting equipment, nutrition support, and home-schooling resources.
We know we won’t always get it right, though. That’s why gathering employee feedback is a vital, ongoing process for us: we hold an employee voice survey twice a year to make sure we’re listening to what employees actually want and need. We’ve also held a monthly wellness survey during the pandemic which allowed us to quickly respond to changes in behaviour and requirements to help ensure we kept employees happy and healthy in these extraordinary times.
ServiceNow – a great place to work
At ServiceNow, we’ve always known we’re a great place to work, so we’re delighted to have been officially recognised for our efforts, today.
We don’t have all the answers, but a simple formula has served us well thus far. Hire talented people and enable them to thrive with the right tech; give them a job they can be proud of and offer them the support they need to bring their authentic self to work. If you can get that right, your employees will transform your company.
If you’re interested in joining us please check out our job site.