The Importance of Employee Resource Groups: 5 Key Benefits of ERGs
A diverse team happily working together.
In today's growing diverse and globalized world, organizations are acknowledging the importance of fostering diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) within their workplaces. Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) are a vital tool in achieving these goals when implemented effectively. Take a look into our comprehensive exploration of the impact and benefits of ERGs and why companies value them.
What are Employee Resource Groups?
Employee Resource Groups (ERGs), also known as affinity groups, were established in the 1960s and are led by employees and colleagues with shared experiences. These employee-led groups strengthen teams, help develop leadership skills, and offer a platform for networking, socializing, and raising awareness about relevant issues.
ERGs are found in 90 percent of Fortune 500 companies, along with a growing number of small and mid-size companies. ERGs encompass a wide range of identities, including gender, ethnicity, sexuality, religion, veterans, disabilities, socioeconomic status, and shared interests. The purpose and importance of ERGs is to offer support, facilitate personal and professional growth, and establish a secure, inclusive environment where staff members can actively contribute.
Why Do Companies Value ERGs?
Employee Resource Groups build trust-filled relationships, laying the foundation for a thriving company. One of the benefits of ERGs is they create a sense of belonging, ignite meaningful conversations, offer fresh perspectives on issues, and drive innovation. Executives in organizations with ERGs often recognize them as crucial resources to gaining deeper insights from the employee’s perspective. ERGs can help leaders ensure that every individual can succeed, regardless of job role or demographic.
While ERGs mainly benefit employees, they also deliver significant value to businesses. They serve as a resource for Human Resources (HR) and other departments, facilitate monitoring of employee morale, provide valuable feedback, and identify untapped leadership potential.
What are the Benefits of ERGs?
Many employers are creating Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) for the first time. It is important to show the metrics-driven support that will facilitate sustainable changes as addressed in The Rise Journey’s State of ERG 2022 Report. While ERGs and ERG leaders often have an underappreciated role at many organizations, they bring enormous economic and professional value to businesses and workforces. Here are five ways to showcase the organizational impact and benefits of ERGs to leadership and employees.
Increases Belonging
Once an employee is recruited to a workplace, consider ensuring their onboarding process includes information about available resources, such as ERGs, provided at your company and how they can access them. This invites new hires to join a community and meet new colleagues outside of their team. Employee resource groups create safe spaces for people to connect on a common interests while boosting the feeling of belonging, which is necessary for long-term retention. For example, learn how Reddit uses ERGs to create a sense of belonging at work.Boosts Retention and Reduces Attrition Rates
When an employee joins an ERG, this helps to increase their overall employee engagement and job satisfaction beyond their role at the company. Think about how to leverage ERGs for employee retention and reduced attrition by making sure your ERGs have the budget and resources to empower your employees to thrive with professional development opportunities. For example, you can create an annual budget for your employee resource group(s) to spend on attending conferences, access to coaches and opportunities for training activities, creating mentorship programs to ensure members are growing and learning from each other, or even inviting guest speakers for informative and engaging Lunch and Learn events.Creates Leadership Opportunities
You can open the door for leadership opportunities with ERGs by inviting employees to lead a committee or become an ERG leader. ERG leadership offers a phenomenal avenue to gain leadership skills beyond the conventional career path. Enhancing these skills becomes vital as employees advance in their careers. ERG leaders have the opportunity to develop and implement strategic initiatives, oversee teams and projects, and refine their communication skills.Attracts New Talent
People will join a company for their ERG(s) and ERG resources when it is part of the organization’s brand. You can integrate ERGs into your recruitment strategy by sharing how the company culture and community have been improved by ERG initiatives, resources, and events. Showcase the work your ERGs have accomplished so far and how the company continuously engages and supports DEI.Unique Insights on Company Challenges
You can leverage your ERGs to gain a deeper insight into specific demographics from their perspectives and experiences. The ERG lead compensation survey is a great starting point. They will give opportunities to collaborate with the ERGs to ask them for their feedback on how to improve the company culture, actively listen to their concerns, and proactively work on creating solutions that contribute to overall improvement.For example, if there is a Working Parents ERG and they express concern about a return to work policy for new parents, listen to their feedback! They can help you understand the issue from a new perspective, fine-tune, and build a better policy and overall workplace to more effectively support the needs of working parents.
By implementing the survey into your ERG plan, you will gain access to benchmarking data that will help guide your organization toward growth.
What other ways have ERGs brought value to your organization? What is holding your organization back when it comes to implementing effective ERG programs? Download the 2022 State of the ERG report or connect with our team to learn how we can partner with your organization to support employees.
This blog was written by Learning & Development Speaker Jessalin Lam. Learn more about Jessalin’s combined experience across learning and development, diversity and inclusion, marketing, partnerships, business development, client management, and organizational consulting and her featured Lunch & Learn sessions, here.
To bring one of these educational experiences to your workplace, or to discuss your organization’s needs with a Rise team member, reach out.
Are you a leader looking to bring coaching, workshops, or development to your workplace team? Explore our DEIBA committee and ERG lead coaching, here.
Learn about our featured Lunch & Learn Session led by advisor Paul B. Tucker, The Past, Present, and Future of ERGs.
Subscribe to Rise’s newsletter below to get more topics like this directly to your inbox.