Employee Resource Group Management 101
In 1970, employees at Xerox formed the National Black Employee Caucus—the first documented Employee Resource Group (ERG)—with the support of then-CEO Joseph Wilson. More than 30 years later, ERG management has become a crucial component of many organizations’ DEI strategies and company culture. According to a 2023 study by employee recognition software Workhuman, 41.3% of employees reported having ERGs at their company.
However, for employee resource groups to positively impact DEI initiatives and enhance employee engagement, effective ERG management is essential. Without intentional management, organizations risk undermining the very goals ERGs are designed to achieve.
Structuring Your ERGs
The first thing to consider is to figure out the function and structure of employee resource groups. Of course, this starts with communicating with your employees to ensure that the ERGs serve their needs.
Typically, ERGs are formed around underrepresented groups (with the most common one being for women and LGBTQIA+ employees, according to a report by Boston College Center for Work and Family). However, many employees often inhabit multiple demographics. As a result, some companies have moved away from this structure, opting for ERGs around career stage, functions, social-causes and professional goals.
Once you’ve identified the purpose for your ERGs, it’s time to figure out how they might fit within your organizational structure. In many instances, the person in charge of DEI or human resources is at the top of the ERGs ‘org chart’. ERG leaders or program managers report to this person, depending on the size and nature of your organization’s ERGs. For example, in a large organization with multiple locations, it might make sense to have multiple chapters with chapter leaders and an ERG leader who oversees them. In smaller organizations, a structure where ERG program managers report to human resources or head of DEI may make more sense.
Once you’ve established what your ERG organizational structure should look like, it can be helpful to provide some guidance on ERG management. Depending on the size of the ERG, that might mean forming a committee and assigning roles based on responsibility—whether that be membership, event management, communication and financial administration. Doing this gives participants a chance to develop leadership skills and can prevent the ERG leader or program manager from burning out.
Getting Buy-In From Leadership
The next task is to get leadership support—ideally someone from the executive team. This step is extremely crucial. ERGs cannot fulfill their function without the support of leadership whether that be time, resources or capital. A lack of leadership buy-in creates the risks of misalignment between the ERG members and leaders and the company leadership team. For example, the Boston College report found that 100% of executive sponsors they surveyed believed that their company encourages ERG participation, but only 52% of ERG leaders believe that is true.
Start by outlining your purpose for creating ERGs and how they might contribute to your company’s business goals. This is where data and numbers are important. If your company’s leadership team can see the ROI, they’re more likely to give their support. Be specific when it comes to stating your goals and objectives for the ERG and how they will translate to the company as a whole. To avoid any misrepresentation down the line, it’s worth setting clear expectations when it comes to what resources ERG management requires. It’s also important to get clarity on the company’s commitment.
Planning Activities
The step is to plan ERG activities and ERG events to ensure that members have the opportunity to build relationships with each other. To ensure that the activities actually serve the purpose of the ERG and its members, it should be up to the program leaders to decide the specifics. Senior leadership can, however, work with the ERGs to ensure that they get sufficient support from the organization and make company resources available as needed.
Some common ERG activities include organizing speakers, scheduling networking events, group meals, leadership development conferences, professional development retreats and book clubs. Whatever the activity, it’s important that you tailor it to the needs and interest of the employee resource groups participants—and incorporate regular feedback. This way, you can make sure that your employee groups actually caters to employee satisfaction and achieves the goals that you want it to achieve.
Measuring Progress
Lastly, it’s important to keep track of your ERGs progress to ensure that you’re on the right track. This is where you might want to consider utilizing an erg management software to track the results of your strategic initiatives. Refer to the metrics and data that you had identified during the buy-in process and find a way to track them. Don’t expect linear progress—as your organizations might have to go through a period of trial and errors before you find something that works. The key is to be nimble and adaptable.
Key Challenges and How to Overcome Them
As with anything, ERG management can come with challenges. While there is no way to predict how they will manifest in your organizations, below are some of the common obstacles that organizations run into and the ways that you can prevent and overcome them.
ERG Roles and Structure
One common challenge is the clarity around roles and structures. Without clear role descriptions and expectation settings, it can be all too easy for the work to fall on one person. It’s important for organizations to work with ERG program managers to ensure that they assign specific employee resource group roles and responsibilities to those who want to be there and are motivated to do so. Participation should always be voluntary.
It’s also important to consider how compensation might play a part. HR software company Justworks believes in providing remuneration for its ERG leaders, for example, because they can spend 10 to 20% of their time doing ERG-related work on top of their responsibilities. Another way to do so, as suggested by a 2022 McKinsey report, is to incorporate ERG responsibilities and ERG management as a formal part of a leaders’ job description and tied to performance reviews and compensations.
Defining Your Purpose
Mismatched expectations can also come from a lack of clarity around what the ERG purpose serves. The McKinsey report gave an example of a woman who joined the Black network at her company to “gain a sense of community, access to special projects, support and sponsorship from senior leaders and even greater opportunities to advance.” And while she felt like the ERG delivered on the community building front, it fell short on everything else.
In a survey, it was revealed that one of the reasons for the disappointment was the disconnect between what the DEI team believed the ERG’s purpose and goals were and what the ERGs actually did. Avoiding this pitfall requires both the ERG leaders and company sponsor to define their mission together and stay in constant communication to make sure that the ERGs activities reflect that.
Attracting ERG Members
Since ERG participation should always be voluntary, it’s also vital that organizations do their best to encourage and attract members to be part of it. It’s not enough to rely on word of mouth, particularly in a large organization where there is a lot going on.
One way to do this is to ensure that introduction of ERGs is part of every onboarding process for new hires. And for established organizations who are introducing ERGs for the first time, it might be worth conducting an internal marketing campaign before launch to drive awareness. To do this, it can make sense to tap into the expertise of your marketing and internal communications team.
Getting Support
Another possible obstacle is getting the necessary support and sponsor from the leadership team. This can be especially difficult when the company has limited resources and executives are hesitant to greenlight initiatives that don’t have a clear ROI.
The key obtaining goes back to the importance of tracking, metrics and alignment between the company’s goals and employee resource groups’ purpose and communicating that to the leadership team. The McKinsey report found that employees in effective ERGs report higher positive inclusion scores than those in ineffective ERGs. This shows the potential that ERGs can play in advancing a company’s DEI progress, as well as improving employee engagement and building an inclusive organizational culture.
Avoiding Burnout Amongst ERG Leaders
Finally, burnout is a common issue. particularly when there’s a perception that the company sees it as low value or not important. In this instance, only a few employees end up taking on the burden, which can quickly lead to burnout
Companies can prevent burnout in a number of ways. First, they can promote and reward ERG involvement and ERG success, which sends a clear message that taking on ERG roles is something that the company values. Secondly, companies can encourage employees to conduct ERG management activities during company time. Thirdly, senior leadership should work together with ERG leaders to ensure that they’re delegating the work appropriately and are not taking on too many ERG initiatives at once.
How ERG Software Can Help
ERGs can play a huge role in advancing your company’s DEI goals and creating an inclusive and supportive culture. But without the right systems and processes in place, they can be an administrative nightmare. Investing in ERG Software can prevent that from being a reality. The best ERG platforms allow you to centralize, manage and scale ERGs, whatever the reality of your organization might be.
Chronus ERG Software ensures a smooth and efficient launch of ERGs, as well as ERG management. From streamlining sign-ups to increasing ERG visibility amongst employees, it can take care of all the manual labor that is necessary when you manage employee resource groups. It can also help your organization with ERG growth when it makes sense for your company to scale your initiatives.
Don’t miss out on the benefits that ERGs can bring to your company. Get in touch today to find out how Chronus ERG software can help your company launch (and effectively manage) employee resource groups that advances your organizational goals.
