Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) have the tremendous potential to help their organizations boost innovation, increase profits, and pull from the top talent from across the globe. Although when first beginning, it may seem confusing to find the best practices or a framework to follow. When most organizations have limited time and resources for new initiatives like ERGS, you want to figure out a way to fast-track success to eliminate the process of trial and error. What I’ve found is that for any new DEI program to be successful, it must be anchored by policy, authenticity, and accountability.
Below are fantastic examples of successful ERGs who follow these principles perfectly and provide an excellent model to follow when creating and growing your own ERGs.
Top accounting firm Ernst & Young’s approach to DEI is a shining example of authenticity. They took the concepts of diversity and inclusion and didn’t complicate them but embraced them sincerely and holistically. Their executive leaders follow the principles that diversity means supporting differences and inclusion is creating an environment where everyone feels welcomed, heard, and valued.
Based in London, they have a global network of ERGs that work to:
This strategy allows people to be their authentic selves which leads to asking difficult questions and finding innovative answers and solutions, and becoming an industry leader and example.
Everyone has heard and/or been a customer of AT&T, and their global reach and impact came from their products and service, but also their large, diverse reach. Their workforce that extends to 57 countries includes ERGs that engage over 130,000 members who network and collaborate on countless professional and DEI projects. The beauty in their DEI approach is that it relies heavily on accountability. Namely, accountability and engagement from leadership.
They have multiple councils composed of various levels and members of leadership that focus on different aspects of their DEI strategy.
These councils include:
When leadership is engaged in every step of the process, supportive, and fully on board, ERGs can scale and succeed in ways you never thought possible.
American pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly’s approach is firmly guided by sincerity but also policy. It’s easy to profess to want to promote diversity and inclusion and launch ERGs. Still, if you aren’t following a solid framework of policies, you can easily miss the mark, fall victim to significant blind spots, and quickly revert to old norms.
At Lilly, their comprehensive DEI strategy is guided by The Red Book, which is their code of business conduct. You’ll find that having a handbook as something to update and refer to continually is a truly invaluable resource. They put this into play when they conducted a review that showed a lack of women in leadership roles. Viewing this as “not just an HR issue, but a business issue,” the executives, HR, and an ERG, Lily’s Women’s Network, collaborated over a two-day period to examine barriers and areas to improve and found great success correcting this disparity.
ERGs don’t have to be complicated. In fact, everything operates smoothly with simplicity, and if you follow the great examples of other successful ERGs, you surely will achieve tremendous success.
