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Employee Resource Groups/Employee Networks
One of the most effective strategies to attract and retain employees is investing in operationalizing Employee Resource Groups (ERGs), otherwise known as employee networks or employee committees. Companies that operationalize their employees' networks and that invest in educating their ERG Leaders attract and retain talent significantly better than companies that do not.
ERGs have been around for many years, with the first ERG, The National Black Employee Caucus at Xerox created in 1970, but in recent years they have increased significantly in popularity. According to a report by McKinsey around 90% of Fortune 500 Companies have an ERG.
So first off, how exactly is an Employee Resource Group (ERG) defined? Well, an ERG is a group led by employees often on a voluntary basis, which aims to support the creation of a diverse and inclusive workspace. An ERG connects members who share similar backgrounds, identities and interests. ERGs, sometimes known as employee networks or affinity groups, can have varying objectives, but their main aims are to foster a diverse and inclusive workplace culture and to build supportive communities at work.
The benefits of Employee Resource Groups
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ERGs can promote inclusion because they help their members to feel like they are part of a community and instil that sense of belonging that employees strive to feel. Employees feel heard, accepted and represented. This can have a potentially positive impact on the organisation as employees have improved morale and employee retention is higher.
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Employees in an employee resource group can meet and connect with other employees including leaders which can support their professional development through mentoring, improved visibility and career progression opportunities.
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ERGs can give members a shared voice to communicate about issues within the workplace and advocate for change.
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Some ERGs work closely alongside HR in order to support talent attraction initiatives particularly of underrepresented groups by participating in interviews and recruitment events.
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Nearly all respondents in a survey by Salesforce found that “ERGs boost company culture and champion DEI initiatives.”
Employee Resource Groups - are they working for you?
Diversity, equity and inclusion have no doubt been a key topic on the agenda in many workplaces over the last 2 years, and given the increasing focus on DEI initiatives, it’s no wonder that Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) are on the rise.
Services for ERG support
ERG leadership workshop
Collectively the ERG Leads will learn how to operationalize their ERGs, how to increase membership and
participation, how to decide on their engagement strategy, how many topics to focus on, what concrete
steps to take in their ERG Lead roles, how to capture membership metrics, how to promote the ERG to
members and how to become an ERG Lead expert. ERG Leads will refocus their programming and
events to be more high impact, high results oriented. This will result in an increase in senior leadership
engagement and an increase in new members and participation.
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Positioning your ERG as a strategic resource
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Meeting the needs of the organisation
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Gaining the support needed from leaders to deliver on desired objectives and ROI
Coaching for ERG leads
Weekly access to our expert team of ERG consultants who can advise ERG heads on how to maximise
the ERG’s business impact by increasing membership, expert guidance on how to build champions etc.
Gaining organisational support to lessen the burden on ERG leaders workshop
In this session, ERG leaders will learn how to recognize and reward key members of their ERGs. This
session will discuss how some companies compensate key ERG members for their ERG work and make
ERG responsibilities a formal part of leaders’ roles. ERG leaders will also learn how to provide key ERG
members with professional-development options, networking opportunities, and access to company
leaders. ERG leaders will discover how to ensure alignment among senior leaders about the role of
ERGs as an important and necessary part of both employee experience and retention, particularly for
traditionally underrepresented demographics. This session will also discuss how leaders should
educate key leaders about how ERG participation and involvement are net benefits for both the
employees themselves and for the company as a whole—and provide ERG leaders the room to carve
out time for their ERG responsibilities.
Creation of ERG leaders resources
Doing research and creating valuable resources such as recorded webinars on how ERG members
positively impact the organisation and on-demand webinars on how all leaders will benefit from having
team members being ERG members.
ERG branding workshop
You will learn what ERG branding is and how to incorporate ERG Branding into your internal marketing
strategies to increase your ERGs impact. You will also build an action plan to improve your ERG
branding efforts in the years ahead.
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Understand and prioritise ERG branding strategies - and why this matters
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Explore a multi-channel approach to ERG branding that's both effective and authentic
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Develop measurement plans aligned to your business DEIB objectives
Why us? Combining real life work experience with culture change
We do not believe in simply applying the latest academic and scientific research to your workplace. Our team of experts has real life work experience working with the private sector and uses their experience, as well as educated academic research to transform the culture of your organisation in the most effective way. All of our suggested project team have direct experience of building global ED&I strategies and action plans to the private sector.