Employee Resource Groups are really important. They create a space for connection at work and can exist in every kind of business, even small or medium sized companies.
Personally, I have always been part of ERGs in every organisation that I have worked in – I would encourage anyone who is thinking about joining (or starting!) an ERG to try it out! You will almost certainly learn lots, meet new people and build valuable skills for your career.
What is an Employee Resource Group?
An Employee Resource Group (or Employee Network) is an internal community created by colleagues who share particular interests or identities. You may have groups based around gender, sexuality, race and ethnicity, faith and religion, disability, being parents or carers, career stage or veteran status.
The list isn’t exhaustive – the idea is to create community in whatever way is needed for the people in your workplace. At neurobox, as a smaller business, we have two ERGs – one designed to encourage wellbeing and connection and another to facilitate continuous learning around a variety of DEI topics.
While ERGs serve as a place where colleagues can connect and learn, they are also often safe spaces where people can be themselves and share with those who understand their perspective through similar lived experiences. Often, allies are invited – and thoroughly encouraged – to come along to ERGs and the events that they run. A well-run ERG, therefore, can be an important force in creating stronger bonds and active, engaged communities.
Why are ERGs a Great Idea?
ERGs are great at creating a sense of community at work, helping colleagues find others who share their experiences but, they can also have many other benefits. ERGs can help:
Improve Work for All
By creating communities, colleagues may come up with great ideas to help make their organisation better for everyone. For example, your Disability Network might be able to advise if there is a process particularly affecting disabled colleagues. Working with ERG members to make improvements and changes can help your whole organisation to become fairer and more inclusive.
Nurture Belonging
When ERGs meet, they can create a safe space where people feel comfortable sharing their experiences. This connection and community strengthens bonds and builds a sense of belonging and trust. Developing belonging at work is both important for wellbeing but, it can have an impact on everyday performance too with research from BetterUp indicating high belonging can lead to an increase in performance, lower turnover and reduced sickness absence.
Gain New Skills
By leading or participating in an ERG, people can learn lots of new skills. Those who volunteer for ERG committees enhance their leadership skills, growing their network and influence across the organisation. Even those who just attend ERGs and their events gain knowledge from the activities as well as develop connections as people attend from across a business.
Give Back to the Community
ERGs may be interested in sharing their knowledge or skills with the local community. They may also want to engage in fundraising activities for charities linked to their cause. This can support with embedding your business into the local community and giving back.
How Do I Start an ERG?
You might now be thinking you’d like to start an ERG for your business. Getting the foundations right can help you build a successful group:
1.Understand the Need
Start by thinking about whether this group is something that others may be interested in. You might like to chat to your colleagues to gauge whether your new ERG would have enough interest to get going. You could also look at any data you might have available to build your business case further.
It may be worth checking in with your HR or People Team to see how they can support your idea and whether they have any upcoming initiatives which the ERG could support with.
2. Seek Sponsorship (and Budget!)
Identifying a senior sponsor for your group helps to show its importance and legitimacy in the business. You should look for an influential leader who is interested in supporting employee voice. If you are setting up a group linked to an identity, they don’t always need to be part of it in order to provide sponsorship – they just need to be willing to learn and committed to visibly supporting the group at a high-level and across the organisation.
If you are able to, it is always beneficial to seek a budget for the group too. This can help fund events, speakers and other costs associated with running the group.
3. Set your Principles
When you meet for the first time, it is helpful to ask group members what they think the ERG’s aims should be. Often, ERG Committees are elected or chosen through a system of voting or consensus – you may want to consider whether this is something that would work for your new group too.
Some key questions to consider with your members include:
- Who can be a member?
- What are the expectations for members? Is it a private group? What stays confidential?
- When and how often will you meet?
- What are the benefits for members of being part of the ERG?
- How will you communicate with members and how often?
- Are there any leading committee members? What are they responsible for?
Most importantly, however, you should set goals to make sure everyone knows what the purpose of the group is and to ensure you give yourself accountability.
You want to know what impact your group has had – and this is an important part of showing the group’s value to leaders and the wider business. You may want to consider setting both long and short term goals that are quantifiable.
Questions to ask your membership to help develop your goals include:
- What impact would you like to have on internal staff?
- What impact would you like to have on the organisational culture?
- What impact would you like to have on the wider community?
4. Start your ERG
Now, you can start growing your ERG! Begin by developing connections before trying out events and sessions.
For some ideas, you could consider:
- Mentorship Programmes
- Guest Speakers or Lunch and Learns
- Awareness Events
- Starting a Newsletter
- Organising a Charity Event
- Book Clubs or Knowledge Sharing Sessions
- Organising a Volunteering Activity
- Supporting your HR or DEI Teams with Policy
- Offering Advice to Teams Creating Products or Services
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About the author
Specialising in executive coaching, leadership and management training. They have a keen interest in neurodiversity and have been undertaking leadership roles in Disability Networks across industries. Bronwyn’s main goals are to help leaders and managers be more curious and take time to work with their reports to create truly inclusive environments.
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