Employee Resource Groups - what, where and why?

[#1]

Last week I was able to join an awesome three day conference centered around Employee resource groups hosted by Five to Nine. 

A few topics discussed were:

• Why are employee resource groups needed?
• Should employee resource groups be sponsored?
• Is executive sponsorship required for each ERG?
• What ERG's are there besides gender and race related ones?
• How do you measure ROI in an ERG?

Speakers ranged from companies like Etsy, Coursera, Airtable, Headspace, Zendesk and more. 

Are there any DEI, ERG Leads or ERG participants in our community? I think it would be valuable for us to share our perspective thoughts on Employee resource groups. What does that look like in your organization? What would you like that to look like?

[Taranjeet Singh]

@Mary Ramirez this sounds like a great idea, but I personally haven't heard of ERGs before and would be interested to know more about what they are, what is their purpose, and where do they exist? Are these personal groups in a community or professional groups in companies?

[Mary Ramirez]

Hi @Taranjeet Singh -

What they are?

Employee Resource Groups are voluntary, employee-led groups whose aim is to foster a diverse, inclusive workplace aligned with the organizations they serve. 

 Three ways it can assist:

• First, they make sure employees have an opportunity to be heard, valued and engaged.
• Second, they gain a better understanding of who their customers are.
• Last but not least, they get insight on business performance, because smart companies understand that if they don’t grow, they won’t be around very long.

Where do they exist?

They exist in a workplace.

Are these personal groups in a community or professional groups in companies?

They are groups in a company. 

Below are a few examples listed by Fairygodboss:

1. Women

These ERGs for women are inclusive, but tailored to women, specifically.

2. Veteran

These ERGs are for military veterans.

3. Disabled

These ERGs are for anyone who is differently abled, both physically and mentally.

4. People of Color

These ERGs are for people of color. There are similar groups for Latin Americans, Asians and other marginalized groups.

5. Remote Workers

These ERGs are for anyone who works out of the office.

6. Caregivers

These ERGs are for both women and men who are the primary caregivers in their families, whether they're caring for children or parents or anyone else.

7. LGBTQ

These ERGs are for anyone who identifies with the LGBTQ community or are curious.

8. Multi-Faith

These ERGs are for all different faith groups.

[Taranjeet Singh]

@Mary Ramirez Thanks for the information and insights @Mary Ramirez ! The ERGs seem like an important part of any organization that promotes them and diversity & inclusion in a workplace.

[Kat Warner]

This is an interesting topic. I cannot recall any ERGs at my current or previous employers - though that could be because I have mostly worked for organisations with less than 20 employees.

Some employers have encouraged participation in MeetUp groups that would cover similar topics but would not have the focus on how the organisation interacts with particular demographics. 

[Pedro Silva]

Thanks for sharing @Mary Ramirez 

[Dean Pianta]

Thanks for sharing @Mary Ramirez 

I'm tasked at supporting ERG for my company... and I'm new to Confluence.  I think Confluence could be a solid foundation to support an ERG.  Wondering if you've seen anyone use it this way?