Making delegate management effortless in ServiceNow Employee Profile without customizations

When one of our key clients, completely new to ServiceNow and unfamiliar with ITSM, asked for help implementing delegation functionality, we saw an opportunity to deliver a clean, intuitive solution without overcomplicating things. Let me inspire your ServiceNow journey and explain how we’ve solved the challenge without customization.

Delegation is essential—it lets employees temporarily hand over responsibilities during vacations or unexpected absences. ServiceNow supports this through a built-in table called `sys_user_delegate`, which handles the logic behind the scenes.

Our goal was twofold:
- Allow users to request a delegate through a simple catalog item
- Show a clear, manageable list of their delegates within their personal profile

Sounds simple, right? But here's the twist: While the ServiceNow community typically offers solutions involving custom pages or portal header buttons (mainly tailored for the Service Portal), we work with the Employee Center—a streamlined, user-first environment, and we wanted to keep it that way.

The challenge: simplicity without sacrificing UX

In the past, we embedded an "Instance with Table" widget in a user profile for a different client. But this time, the client was using a custom page: `hri_user_profile` instead of the default `user_profile`. Why? Aesthetic preference and functionality. But this change introduced a layout challenge: a delegate list doesn’t quite fit into the visual design of the Employee Profile.

"Default Employee Profile layout – no tab or section for delegate management."

That led us to the real question: How can we elegantly add a delegate list into the Profile Tabs without writing custom code?

The solution: a native, tabbed delegate list

We chose tabbed navigation instead of a long, scrollable list. Under All > Employee Profile > Profile Tabs, we created a new tab called “My Delegates”, mapped to a custom widget named Delegates.

"Tab configuration for 'My Delegates' in Employee Profile. No code required—just native setup through the Tab Widget Mapping."


Here’s how we configured it:
- Name: My Delegates
- Tab: where the widget appears
- Accessible By: employee only (makes sense, right?)
- Order: sets its position among other tabs

"Widget configuration for the 'Delegates' tab using the Simple List widget. Parameters define fields to display, the table to use, and a dynamic filter showing only current and future delegate assignments for the logged-in user."

For the widget itself, we opted for Simple List—it hit the sweet spot between simplicity and function. Here are the key parameters:

- table: `sys_user_delegate`
- secondary_fields: `starts`, `ends`
- display_field: `delegate`
- filter: user is dynamic “Me” AND ends on or after Today
- sp_page: `form` (so clicking a delegate opens their details)

Now, when an employee clicks on a delegate, they’re taken to a form that shows the rights granted—and they can edit them as needed. "The delegate form that opens upon clicking a delegate. Users can review and update assignment dates, permissions, and notification settings—all within a simple interface."

The final touch? Assigning the new tab to the Portal Configuration. "Final result: the new 'My Delegates' tab embedded directly in the Employee Profile. Users can easily view and manage active delegate assignments in a familiar and structured interface—fully built using native ServiceNow features."

What about the granular delegate plugin?

We explored it. This plugin offers more precise control by letting users delegate specific roles or permissions. It’s flexible and secure—but comes at a cost.

Why we didn’t use it:
- Requires setup of Delegation Rule Tables and configurations
- Adds complexity that could overwhelm users
- Not cost-effective for a client that just wants basic delegation

The result: elegant, native, and no headaches

Our client now has a clean, intuitive way to manage delegates—right inside their Employee Profile, using only native ServiceNow features. No code. No unnecessary plugins. No steep learning curve.

And most importantly—it works exactly the way they need it to. This approach gave our client a seamless, easy-to-use interface for managing delegates—without custom code, plugins, or complexity. It’s a perfect example of how powerful native ServiceNow features can be when combined with thoughtful design and a clear understanding of user needs.



Written by Romana K.