Here’s tested advice to ensure that your employee resource groups reach their goals.
Creating an impactful employee or business resource group (ERG or BRG) can be complicated. The trajectory is rarely smooth, even when you have strong buy-in. Sometimes an ERG grows in fits and starts and other times it stagnates.
Catalyst enERGize 2024 brought together global ERG experts to outline the key elements and best practices for developing a well-defined ERG strategy.
- Start with the three C’s: Champion, Charter and Culture.
Don’t lift and shift your ERG strategy. Penny Concepcion, HR Director at Goodyear Business Services, Manila, used the example of starting a women’s ERG for Goodyear in the Philippines. Since women already greatly outnumbered men in leadership roles in the Philippines, increasing women’s representation was not a goal as it was in the United States. Knowing a new ERG’s cultural context and making sure the charter reflects it are crucial.“I would probably sum it up into three Cs. So, when you set up an ERG in another locale or country… three Cs: champion (an advocate, an influencer), charter (or the purpose), and then the last C is the culture.” - Set up ERG leaders for success.
Use ERGs to develop future leaders. When considering an ERG leader, Concepcion and Debora Gepp, D&I Manager at Thompson Reuters, Sao Paulo, agree — a strong champion is important but can come from any level. To ensure employees at all levels are prepared to lead Business Resource Groups (BRGs), Thompson Reuters created the “BRG Academy” to train these volunteers about “diversity and inclusion strategy, to understand better our company structure, how to manage teams…, how to communicate, how to develop communication in the company, how to do events, how to manage budgets.” Gepp shared that this training isn’t just for the benefit of the individual, or even the ERG. “These co-lead positions, they are so important and a big opportunity to be a talent incubator for leadership positions in companies. So, in these positions we can have volunteers that are part of underrepresented groups, that are analysts, people that are not leaders, still not leaders at the company [yet]. And they have this opportunity to volunteer as a leader in an ERG and […] to develop important skills to be a leader in the future.” - Link ERG goals to business imperatives. ERGs are not just about values. They’re also about results.Greg Russo, Managing Director at Berkeley Research Group and co-lead of their LGBTQ ERG wants ERGs to consider how they can also contribute to the business.“I like to think about diversity as something we need to move from being a cost to being a revenue,” Russo says. “How can we use it to further the organization and further the mission, the vision? That includes building revenue because of what we’re doing as an organization that’s focused on diversity.”
- Remember to celebrate all the wins.
Russo advises new and young ERGs to think small in their goals and let the results add up over time. “I remind people often that we are a tanker ship with respect to diversity issues. We are not going to turn on a dime. […] It’s important when starting an ERG and working through some of those early days to set small, measurable goals, and view those as a win.”
Creating an ERG is no easy task, but the rewards are well worth the effort. Don’t worry; you’re not alone. Catalyst has multiple ERG resources to help. If you’re truly at square one, start with our Supporter organization-only ERG launch guide.
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