Does your ERG need some TLC?
It’s billed to be another area of growth for organisations in 25/26, but what do your employee resource groups* really need? (*other names are available, so please take it upon yourself to switch in for what you call them).
Perhaps you’re in the early stages of setting them up, a bit further into building them or maybe you’re well established and find you’re, as the kids would say, ‘goals’ when it comes to your ERG set up. Whatever stage you are, there’s always space for reflection and refinement.
This isn’t going to be a begging letter to get you to set up a network. I’m going to go from a start point that you have an understanding of the benefits of having ERGs and maybe some ideas on the challenges too. This is more about the infrastructure you’re putting around them.
Let’s have a look at some of the prompts I’ve been sharing with clients recently who are at various stages of the plan…
Resource (time and money)
Some might say this is the obvious start point. And I’d agree, but also – it’s not uncommon for it to be the elephant in the room. It’s implied you’re going to need to spend time on growing the network. Finances will be figured out if you really need it. Sound familiar?
ERGs / Networks / Affinity Groups often have the reputation of being run by those with a passion and tenacity to change the workplace. But it can’t be fueled by fumes. On an organisational level, if you’re asking these groups to bring together culture change, support your diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging strategy, and ultimately contribute to your bottom line – can you really afford not to resource them properly?
Cold hard cash is the obvious one here. Not just funding activities, but ERG leads are increasingly being compensated for their time. In 2020, only 6% were compensated. In 2022, 42% were compensated. The average compensation was the equivalent of just over $2,000 USD annually.
Research from The Rise Journey found that 67% of ERGs have around two leads who spend up to 3 hours per week on group management. That’s not to be sniffed at in terms of how we fit that into our no doubt already accounted for time. A big part of enabling this is the messaging (and belief) from the top of an organisation. There’s ultimately a job to be done, but we need to see the value an ERG adds as part of getting said job done. The two can co-exist and belief from line managers will go a long way to supporting that in the first instance.
Sponsorship
Leading on from time and money, having a sponsor/s is one of the ultimate ways to demonstrate your commitment to the pivotal role ERGs can play.
Helping the ERG leads to navigate the organisational culture, having a seat at the Board table, having an eye on the broader organisational strategy and being a connector to the rest of the business are just some of the positive impacts a sponsor can have.
Getting things done in an organisation (regardless of size) will be deeply impacted by having decision makers in the room. Knowing there’s a sponsor who is helping get things done, or at least understanding why something can’t happen right now, can be instrumental in the success of an ERG.
Industry impact
This is a consideration no matter what stage you’re at, but some of the action here will be more suited to those further down the line. Perhaps if you’ve got an ERG riding high and they’re looking for an even bigger impact, this could be for them.
I’ve been working with an organisation who has a very well established ERG and they’re keen to look at furthering their external impact too. It’s probably going to start with some informal networking and some ideas sharing roundtables. They know they’re getting to the stage of possibly stagnating because some of the challenges they face in their organisation are perpetuated by the industry they operate in.
It’s still early days for them in this new phase, and ultimately they were set up for internal support. However, there’s something refreshing when someone bravely says ‘we need to be bigger than just us’ and shares the impetus to look more broadly.
Finally, some quick reminders about ERGs…
- They’re a safe space for people of different intersectionality and experiences to come together. I’d encourage you to look at things like confidentiality, removing / safely calling out judgement as well as stereotypes. Consider the mechanisms you have in place to help facilitate creating that kind of experience.
- They’re a place for story sharing. We want to make sure that if people want to share their experiences, they have a multitude of platforms and formats to do so.
- A great place to hold listening groups and generate new ideas. You’re likely to have an engaged group who are brimming with tenacity at wanting to make the workplace better.
- They’re not a replacement for line managers or HR support.
- They shouldn’t be an events organising team. One part of having a network group will likely be running events, workshops and sessions. These can be brilliant, but it’s not their sole responsibility and shouldn’t be the start point.
- They’re not a therapeutic space. It’s so tempting when you see someone struggling or in a seemingly similar position to yourself – our empathy can go into overdrive. However, it’s really important to contract as a group that rather than trying to step into those shoes, you’ll try to sign post them to the right sources of support instead.
There are a couple of podcast episodes you might be interested in listening to on this subject over on Power of the Parent® too – there’s an episode with Fleur Cox who was the network lead at Rolls Royce, and there’s a ‘3 things you need to know about’ episode as well.
Listen to Fleur https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/fleur-cox-rolls-royce/id1566442979?i=1000585435526
Listen to Three Things You Need to Know About https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/parent-and-carer-support-networks/id1566442979?i=1000678242437