Advocating for Employee Resource Groups

We’re getting to the end of Diversity month here at Heylia Partners, and this week we want to hone in on a specific program that your company can implement in order to uplift employees who belong to minority groups. An employee resource group (ERG) is a group of employees who identify with a particular marginalized community who come together as volunteers, working within a stated framework, to pursue goals that better enable a variety of goals. Some of these goals include creating a sense of community, educating broader employee groups, creating better and more visible opportunities for leadership, celebrating and honoring the diversity and history of these communities, and much more. These groups often operate with members of their communities as leaders of their respective groups, and are even sometimes funded by the company itself.

So why should companies embrace these ERGs? These are groups built and led by under-represented employees (women, people of color, LGBTQIA+, etc.) to help create a company culture that promotes inclusivity and improves engagement and advocacy. Enabling these groups to create this kind of culture also creates an opportunity to bring awareness to roadblocks and blindspots that privileged people may have. This dynamic is established in an authentic way, because you empower people from underrepresented communities to have voice and agency in how the company does this.

Inherent to this program is the challenge of separate experiences. Just because someone is a member of a community doesn't mean that they are best positioned to drive programs that educate, build inclusivity and facilitate allyship. For instance, one woman may not be able to speak to the experiences of all women. There’s also the obstacle of finding someone who can properly develop awareness and education programs. On the other hand, you do not want employees who are not part of a community speaking on behalf of said community and taking away any kind of agency. For example, you might have a fantastic program manager; a white man who is a part of the LGBTQ+ community, who has been working in corporate america on DEIB initiatives and specifically ERG programs for years. Maybe he has a proven track record of success, but he should not lead the approach for an ERG dedicated to the LatinX community. That doesn’t mean he couldn’t help guide them structurally and suggest some protocols to help the members of that ERG learn for themselves. Finding a balance to these challenges is the key to success here.

An ERG still needs to have a very well stated purpose. Getting together to share each other's lived experiences is a great start for an ERG, but is that the purpose? The danger of having too broad, too loose, or a poorly defined measurable outcome for the ERG is that folks get embroiled in an inwards focus on experience. Don't misunderstand us, the starting point for each ERG is to build a platform for these communities so that they can accomplish a variety of goals. But picking one course of action first is essential to keeping the ERG focused and productive. Have a goal or purpose centered around what change you want to see in the working culture and environment. Do you want to see more hiring and retention of diverse people? Do you want to see celebrations of milestones that are meaningful to employees of a community? Do you want to see targeted career growth and support for under-represented employees through mentoring programs or training that is specific to overcoming the challenges that a group experiences in the workplace? Without those specific goals, your ERG can become a place to share grievances, which can be a legitimate use of the space. But, without a call to action, these groups cannot address the grievances they have on a larger scale.

Inevitably, an ERG will bring up uncomfortable topics. Some of these topics will require you to lean into it as a part of the education process, but you will want to be careful with some of these topics as well. For example, an ERG may bring up common ways of white-washing and privilege that show themselves in a workplace environment. On the other hand, you have to be careful to manage uncomfortable moments, even within an ERG. There can be challenges of perspectives and feelings. For example in a women's ERG, you could have women of color raising a concern that the ERG does not adequately represent them. They may even want to create a 'splinter' ERG. In your early days of development, it's not advisable to do this as it is important to develop a deep awareness of real differences between people within a single community. It is critical, in this example, that any subsection of the women’s ERG hijack the agenda. Agendas have to be shared with lived experiences and that is a key part of building this depth of awareness.

Despite all the good they bring, ERGs often place a significant burden on the under-represented. Remember that these people already have the additional burdens and a variety of challenges that come with being a part of a minority group. You are asking them to volunteer time and energy to contribute towards a more inclusive environment, but could this put their job on the line? Will they be able to perform in their stated job if they are also volunteering as part of the ERG? What is in it for them to lead, educate and contribute to this program? Some companies give credit towards their job performance. Others pay a stipend on top of their job for leading the ERG. These kinds of incentives can pay off when a large part of your diverse workforce feels as though they have a way of influencing their workplace culture through ERGs.

Positively affecting workplace culture, and the tightrope walk to get there, can be extremely difficult. Initiatives to do so can come in many shapes and forms, but ERGs have proven to be a powerful force for good within the companies they have been implemented in. Managing and utilizing ERGs effectively requires dedicated leadership and patient mentoring, but the fact is, to ensure diversity sinks into the bedrock of your company.

Join us next week as we dive into how important it is to remain strong in your diverse ideals!