ServiceNow is making the world work better for everyone by delivering digital workflows that create great experiences and unlock productivity for employees and businesses of every size.
At our Tech in India Summit, ServiceNow’s Puneet Haldipar, Sales and Partner Analytics Team Lead, and Nishar Fatema, Global Workplace Strategy Lead, discussed the game-changing nature of the ServiceNow platform, and why now is a great time to be a woman in technology. Here are our biggest takeaways from the discussion.
The power of the ServiceNow platform
As a leader in the data and analytics space, Puneet witnesses the power of the ServiceNow platform daily.
“The list would be endless if I wanted to talk about our platform,” she says with a smile. “But I’ll focus on one area… We’re enterprise-wide. We don’t take just one aspect of your business and say, ‘Hey, let’s digitize this.’ We can operate in every stream of your process.”
Puneet also highlights how ServiceNow puts people at the center, which, married with their groundbreaking technology, allows them to be transformers in their space.
“I joined ServiceNow right as the pandemic started, and we shifted to working from home. But my entire onboarding experience went really smoothly because it was built and executed through the ServiceNow platform… It was that, and the fact that I joined with this feeling of belonging, despite not going into the office for my first two years,” she shares.
“And I think that’s key, right? Technology needs to have an impact on people.”
Creating connection through technology and hybrid experiences
Nishar explains how ServiceNow’s growth strategy revolves around ensuring their people can live their best lives while doing their best work.
One way ServiceNow fosters an experience of belonging is through exploring innovative technology, and Metaverse is the recent one they explored.
“You can't underestimate the power of coming together in person. But at the same time, we can’t ignore that almost one-third of our workforce is hybrid,” Nishar explains. “So we are pushing the threshold to think of alternate ways of collaborating, and that's where the metaverse came into the conversation.”
She shares how during the pandemic, she and her colleagues piloted the metaverse with “marshmallow moments by the fire,” a bonding activity, as well as virtual games.
“After that, I felt like I actually met my colleagues ‘in person’ for the first time. And that made me think, how about exploring this tool to see if we could increase the level of connection between employees and boost interpersonal connection?” Nishar says.
They ran a wider pilot program across various departments, with promising results.
“One in three users actually said that the metaverse strengthened their interpersonal connection and relationship with their colleagues,” Nishar discloses. “43% of users said that they had better experiences when they met in the metaverse compared to the legacy tools we use, and about half of them said that they would recommend this tool to their friends and colleagues.”
ServiceNow also fosters in-person connections for all of its employees from their engineering and product organizations through their annual global event held internally called “UTG (Unified Technology Group) Connect.” The event includes a keynote presentation by ServiceNow’s engineering leaders, product demos, learning tracks focused on technical and career topics; community-building activities, tech simulations, food, music, games, and more. Through the event, employees get to connect with colleagues, meet new people, drive new innovations, and expand their knowledge base.
Upskilling teams (and where AI fits in)
Alongside employee connection, ServiceNow is also hyper-focused on upskilling.
“It’s very important to invest in learning and development,” says Puneet. “And in our world, we are constantly talking about AI. But we're not going to just pick up the technology and say, ‘Hey, you know what? Everyone's exploring AI, so let's plug it in.’ We're going to make sure we apply it where it'll benefit our people and products the most.”
For example, Puneet believes that AI is an excellent tool for boosting productivity and assisting with repetitive tasks — but she emphasizes the importance of pairing this with soft skill development.
To develop soft skills, she advises people to, “Explore more areas within the organization. Explore job rotations. Don’t hesitate, even if you’ve mastered a certain area, to get out of your comfort zone. Also, consider peer coaching and mentoring. There’s nothing like talking to someone else about what they’re doing.”
In 2022, ServiceNow launched their enterprise Learning Experience Platform, frED, which makes learning more accessible and personalized for all its employees. Built on the ServiceNow platform, frED uses AI to match and suggest courses from ServiceNow content and their education partner, Udemy. Employees can also map their career paths—Where am I now? Where do I want to be next? What’s my skill or experience gap? How do I bridge it?—with AI recommending courses and programs to develop the necessary technical and soft skills.
Nishar also emphasizes the importance of breaking down biases in the workplace. And at ServiceNow, they’re making noticeable progress through their Praxis Lab, which she describes as a “Virtual Augmented reality platform by DE&I initiatives.” We go through the courses to learn how to break down biases and what others might be feeling through their own stories and journeys.
The experience is “eye-opening” — and Nishar already notices improved collaboration among her colleagues.
Why it’s a prime time for women in technology
With all of this exciting transformation, both Puneet and Nishar agree that it’s an incredible time to be a woman in technology.
Why?
“62% of employers intend to hire more women in STEM in the upcoming year,” says Puneet, according to NTT Data and Next Level Business. “38% plan to increase their women representation by up to 20%. Both of these statistics really show that there’s a focus to improve representation in job hiring.”
She adds that India boasts the highest number of companies helping women technologists to upskill and advance their skill set.
“There couldn’t be a better time to be in the world of tech. Not only do the highest level of opportunities exist right now, but also an increased level of flexibility, which is the best of both worlds.”
For even more insight into why now is an exciting time to break into technology with ServiceNow, watch the full conversation with Puneet Haldipar and Nishar Fatema here.
____________________________________________________________________________________
Interested in growing your career with an employer that prioritizes diversity, equity, and inclusion for its employees, and is recognized amongst India’s Best Companies to Work For by Great Places to Work? Explore career opportunities with ServiceNow here.
