Let’s be honest –
Customisation isn’t what breaks HRSD upgrades. Poorly planned customisation does.
HR teams need flexibility. Every organisation has different policies, regions, and exceptions. ServiceNow allows you to tailor HRSD deeply — but if you don’t do it carefully, every upgrade turns into a stress test.
The trick isn’t avoiding customisation.
It’s customising in a way that doesn’t come back to hurt you later.
Extend the Platform, Don’t Fight It
One of the most common mistakes is changing out-of-the-box HRSD logic directly. It might work today, but upgrades don’t forget.
A safer mindset is simple:
extend what ServiceNow gives you instead of rewriting it.
Use Script Includes for business rules. Add subflows instead of touching baseline flows. Configure HR Services instead of cloning case types.
Real example:
For onboarding, instead of editing the default flow, add a subflow that checks the employee’s country and injects local compliance tasks. When ServiceNow updates onboarding next release, your logic keeps working.
Keep Heavy Logic Away from the HR Case
The HR case should tell you what’s happening — not how every decision is made.
When approval rules, eligibility checks, and conditions live directly on the case table, things get messy fast. Debugging becomes painful. Upgrades become risky.
A cleaner approach is to move decisions elsewhere:
- Put rules in configuration tables
- Centralise logic in Script Includes
- Call them from flows when needed
Real example:
A benefits request checks whether someone is permanent, contractor, or casual. Instead of hardcoding this in the case, the logic lives in one Script Include. When HR policy changes, you update data — not rewrite code.
Treat Custom HRSD Like Its Own App
If you’re running HRSD at scale, keeping customisations scattered across the platform is a recipe for trouble.
A dedicated HRSD extension app changes everything.
All your custom scripts, tables, flows, and UI components live in one place. Ownership is clear. Testing is easier. Upgrades stop feeling random.
Real example:
Offboarding often involves payroll, legal, and asset recovery steps that are unique to each company. Keeping that logic inside your extension app means upgrades don’t accidentally break critical exit processes.
Add Just Enough Governance
You don’t need heavy bureaucracy — just enough structure to stay safe.
At minimum:
- Review upgrade impact every release
- Test critical HR services end-to-end
- Be clear about when customisation is truly needed
HRSD supports employees during sensitive moments — onboarding, parental leave, and exits. Stability isn’t optional.
Final Thought
Strong HRSD implementations aren’t the ones with the least customisation.
They’re the ones designed to change without chaos.
Customise with intent, keep logic isolated, and upgrades stop being something you fear.