As businesses strive to support a culture of employee belonging and engagement, Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) have emerged as an impactful resource for fostering a sense of belonging, supporting underrepresented groups, and driving positive cultural change within the workplace. This guide serves as a roadmap for understanding, establishing, and nurturing Employee Resource Groups within your organization.
Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) are voluntary, employee-led groups whose aim is to foster a diverse, inclusive workplace aligned with the organizations they serve. It can also be described as a group of people within an organization who voluntarily join based on shared identity, values, interests, perspectives, or goals.
The purpose of an ERG is to strengthen workplace relationships, foster a sense of belonging, promote personal and professional growth, encourage allyship, and nurture the entire company community.
Many ERGs are created to advocate for people with certain shared backgrounds or life experiences. These may include:
- Gender identity
- Parents & Caregivers
- Internationally trained
- 2SLGBTQIA+
- People with disabilities
- Neurodiversity
ERGs can also organize around shared experiences, interests, or values. For example:
- Developing or early career professionals groups
- Equity, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) Committee
- Corporate social responsibility
- Sustainability
- Community outreach
- Skill development
- Shared interests or hobbies
Individuals naturally build relationships with others in the workplace. ERGs can provide opportunities for people to connect with others, develop a support network, and work on shared goals. ERGs give employees a platform to connect, develop, and improve their workplace. There are numerous benefits of having ERGs including:
Fostering inclusion:
- Research has shown that belonging to an ERG also helps employees feel that they can be authentic at work.
- Nurturing and supporting talent within ERGs through professional development opportunities, mentorship, and leadership training can help to build a more inclusive leadership pipeline within an organization.
Improving workforce diversity:
- Having ERGs shows potential employees that a welcoming and supportive community exists within the organization they are considering joining.
- An effective way to attract and retain employees, contributing to a positive workplace culture where people feel that they belong and are engaged.
- Opportunities for individuals to develop a wide range of skills outside of their technical role, positioning them for career advancement opportunities.
Organizational benefits:
- Gives a voice and empowers decision making for underrepresented groups, providing opportunities to uncover inequities that may otherwise go unnoticed.
- Provide valuable insights into potential EDI strategies and actions that the organization can adopt, including engaging ERGs to have them provide input on specific programs and areas for improvement.
- Through their outreach and public engagement, they improve brand visibility and recognition.
- Increase employee productivity and engagement within all aspects of their roles, not just within the ERG activities.
Organizations with ERGs observed:
54%
observed an increased sense of belonging and community in employees
14%
noted an increase in employee retention
35%
“The transformative power of ERGs in driving positive business results”. Fast Company. December 21, 2023.
Anyone who wants to be involved can join an ERG! Individuals that identify with the group as well as allies of the group can be members of an ERG. For example, men can join ERGs that are focused on inclusion of women; experienced leaders can participate in an ERG supporting emerging leaders.
ERGs benefit from diversity, so it is good to aim for a mix between different business areas, such as operations and internal support staff, different ages, geographic location, and other factors that create diversity, providing the ERG with diverse insights and holistic perspectives for the cause.
ERGs are employee-led groups, but to thrive, they need support from organizational leaders. Shared experience from organizations of different sizes and complexities describe executive sponsorship:
- Be a vocal champion for the purpose and value of ERGs for your organization,
- Facilitate access to decision makers and help the ERG navigate organizational processes, and
- Support alignment of the ERGs plan with the organization’s purpose and values.
Executive sponsorship, including support for access to appropriate budget and resources, is needed for an organization and individuals to gain value from an ERG. Investment signals that the organization understands that ERGs perform work and bring benefit to the entire team; investment supports visibility, encourages participation, and acknowledges the broad benefits from connection. Investment is not the first step, but it is a critical step on the ERG journey.
ERGs can be started by anyone or any group that identifies a need. Once initiated, leadership or executive sponsorship is necessary to align the ERGs purpose with the organization’s strategy and gain access to appropriate resources that will support the ERG to thrive.
Open the discussion
If there is a cause that you feel particularly passionate about, identify other internal supporters or allies to discuss and help champion/sponsor the initiative. If you are unsure of these resources, have a simple conversation with your manager or someone who can help articulate your idea and identify possible supporters.
Create a plan
Outline the purpose and objectives of the group. Develop a vision (or vision statement), strategic plan or framework which can guide the ERG goals. Define SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Time-based) goals for the ERG to focus on. Treat the ERG as its own internal project with internal KPIs to track progress and to share with the organization.
Plan for continuous improvement
When you start out, keep it simple by setting a few goals and continue to develop new goals as the group builds momentum and organizational support. Celebrate successes as they occur and share those successes within the organization (leverage your leadership support) to raise the profile of the group and the positive impact it creates. Listen to employees to understand their needs and be agile to pivot as needed. Integrating corporate KPIs relating to ERGs can facilitate progress tracking of the ERG at a corporate level while also signaling to employees that the ERG is important.
Secure leadership/executive sponsorship
Leadership support is vital to starting an ERG. An executive sponsor can advocate for the ERG with other decision makers and facilitate allocation of appropriate investment. An executive sponsor is someone who recognizes and advocates for the organizational benefits gained through ERGs. The sponsor should raise the profile of the ERG through communications such as sharing progress updates of the ERG in townhall meetings or other organization-wide meetings as well as at executive meetings.
Need more information? Try these sources:
Canadian Society for Diversity and Inclusion: Employee Resource Groups
McKinsey & Company: Effective Employee Resource Groups are Key to Inclusion at Work
HiBob: What is an Employee Resource Group
CultureAmp: How to Start an Employee Resource Group at Your Company