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By Theresa Bontempo
Employee resource groups (ERGs) are voluntary groups that consist of individuals who share a common identity. These are often referred to as affinity groups and serve as a community for people who are typically underrepresented in the workplace. Some of the groups that ERGs are typically for include women, veterans, and members of the LGBTQIA+ community. In addition, some of the groups that employees have established are around mental health and parenting.
An ERG can provide staff members with various benefits, such as a sense of belonging. ERG leaders can create an exceptional experience for their members by investing in software that enables them to manage their groups. This eliminates the need for them to carry out administrative tasks, and it allows them to focus on their responsibilities. The software also enables them to measure the value that their organizations provide.
An organization's culture can be built by allowing its staff members to share their concerns, interests, and identities without being afraid of repercussions. These kinds of groups can also help reduce the feeling of isolation by connecting coworkers from similar backgrounds.
Better Experience for Employees
The visibility of ERGs can also help boost the acceptance of diverse employees' abilities, backgrounds, and experiences by making your workplace more culturally competent. This results in higher employee engagement and retention rates.
For companies that are looking to hire Gen Z workers, ERGs play an important role. They help them stand out from the crowd by demonstrating their commitment to inclusivity, diversity, and equity. Highlighting your job descriptions and the availability of various groups throughout the hiring process can increase candidate interest and set you apart from the competition.
Through ERGs, employees can expand their network to reach out to different departments and teams, which allows them to develop contacts that they can use to collaborate on projects. Employees can also build external networks through events that are sponsored by the group. Not only does it provide them with a boost in their career advancement, but it also helps build a sense of belonging and community.
Greater Impact
An ERG is typically the driving force behind the improvement of the mental and physical spaces of an organization. For example, they can create restrooms that are gender-neutral, provide assistance to immigrants in obtaining permanent residency, and install Braille equipment for the visually impaired.
DEI commitments and executives can also turn to ERGs for advice before implementing significant changes in the workplace. This type of reverse mentorship lets employees take a more prominent role in the organization.
ERGs can make a positive impact in their local communities by participating in charity events, workshops, or community volunteering. Apart from fostering a more inclusive environment for your employees, they can also help build a favorable image for your brand. Moreover, they can help develop the products or services of your company for minorities.
Implementing an Employee Resource Group
Employees and executives must work together to maximize the effectiveness of ERGs. Some of the tools that can help you identify which ones are most effective include surveys that can gauge employee interest.
After identifying the groups that have the most interest, start by developing a roster of employees and advertising them across the company's communication channels. DEI committees or HR departments can help facilitate the initial meetings. ERGs should then be free to run their own programs, so members can feel more comfortable talking to one another without being monitored.
After choosing a leader and style, ERG members should then create a mission statement that outlines their long and short-term goals. For instance, an organization for the LGBTQIA+ community might want to educate its members about the various issues affecting the community.
One of the most important factors that an ERG should consider when it comes to setting goals is the link between its mission and its performance indicators. Having a clear understanding of how well it is performing can help them make informed decisions.
Making for Success
An ERG can be successful if it has access to funding, endorsements, and channels for communication. It should also have a set budget, support its local communities, and look for new members.
ERG members should be permitted to take time off from their duties to attend events, meet, and plan activities. In addition, they should not have to give up their personal or professional time to support the organization. Moreover, ERG suggestions should be implemented within the organization as long as they adhere to company values and are able to improve the staff's sense of belonging. Doing so can help increase employee satisfaction and legitimacy.
ERGs should plan their meetings around a schedule that includes clear goals and agendas. Members should also work together to find the best time for their gatherings. Aside from having a dedicated space, your company should allow time away from its work duties to accommodate the meetings.
Although the meetings provide an opportunity for members to voice their concerns, leaders should also plan activities and events that can be held throughout the organization. Doing so can help balance the positive conversations with the larger goals of the group.
Factors to Look For in an ERG Platform
The goal of an ERG platform is to make it easy for members and volunteers to use, with minimal training required. It should be designed to look and feel like a modern social media app.
Look for a tool that can integrate with existing applications, such as Microsoft Teams, Google Calendar, and Slack. You should also be able to sync your data with your HR system. The ERG software should be used to manage events and memberships. It should also have features such as group directories, chat rooms, and resource libraries, which help keep members engaged.
A good ERG reporting dashboard should allow you to keep track of various metrics, such as the number of members, engagement rates, and event participation. ERGs may collect personal information about members, which is why it's important that the platform has the necessary security measures.
Key Platforms to Use
When looking for the best and most effective ERG platforms to boost your business, here are some of the best ones to look out for.
Shift & Inclusivity
Through partnerships with researchers, platforms like Shift can analyze the speaking and on-screen time of people of color and gender. This data-driven approach helps media producers improve the representation of minorities in their content.
Through the platform, companies can monitor their diversity goals and report on their progress, which helps them establish and enforce accountability for their efforts. The data can also highlight the value of diverse content and how profitable it is to have more inclusive programming.
Chronus
If you are in the market for an employee community software, then look no further than Chronus, as they are the best all-around solution for any organization. Whether you are planning on using ERG to improve DEI, create an inclusive culture, or boost employee engagement, they have the tools that will help you.
The Chronus software allows you to easily manage all aspects of your ERG experience, from managing initiatives to starting new ones. It also allows you to integrate with other platforms such as Slack and Workday which will allow you to make your ERG even more effective.
Through the Chronus software, you can monitor and analyze your programs' performance. This data will help you improve the effectiveness of your initiatives and create reports that highlight the ROI of your program.
In addition to community software, the company also offers mentoring software that's designed for DEI. Since it was first established, over three million people have used the company's software. Feedback from customers has shown that the company's responsiveness and support were exceptional.
Affirmity
If you're looking to implement an effective ERG strategy, Affirmity is a great choice. It provides a variety of tools and reports that are designed to help you manage your workforce and comply with regulations. It's ideal for organizations that want to have robust reporting and analysis capabilities.
Affirmity's comprehensive dashboards allow you to monitor various aspects of your ERGs, such as attendance, membership, and participation rates. The goal of the platform is to measure the effectiveness of ERG activities and connect them to the company's DEI and business objectives. For instance, you can monitor how these activities can contribute to the development of talent and retention rates.
The enterprise-level compliance features of Affirmity allow you to manage privacy and role-based access controls. It also supports detailed reports that are required for diversity and audits.
Teleskope
One of the most important goals of an organization's ERG is to establish a community within its ranks, and Teleskope can help you accomplish this.
The Teleskope platform is designed to help organizations manage their ERGs and promote DEI in the office, which features a variety of tools that allow program managers to manage projects and groups. Some of these include the ability to set up global and local chapters, assign specific levels of authority to members, and allow employees to access resources without having to present ID or devices.
Apart from mentoring software, Teleskope also offers employee communication tools. These can be customized to suit specific teams or groups, and they can help with community building.
Benevity
Benevity is a software that aims to help organizations drive social impact through various activities, such as fundraising and volunteering. It can be used to manage their social responsibility programs and connect with their donors. In addition, it can be used to support affinity groups, which are designed to help connect people with the company's programs.
With Benevity, your ERGs can easily organize events and campaigns related to volunteering and giving. The platform also handles corporate matching programs. The Benevity platform comes with tools that are designed for ERG program management, which allows members to connect with groups and post announcements. It also lets you monitor resources and budgets.
Benevity's impact reporting feature allows organizations to track the activities of their ERGs, which can provide them with detailed reports on the contributions of their members and the money they have raised through initiatives. This type of reporting is very powerful for ESG and storytelling.
Workrowd
Workrowd is a platform that enables organizations to manage their employee communities, including ERGs, DEI councils, social clubs, and committees. It unifies everything related to these programs into a single online hub, making it easy for employees to find and connect with groups that they are interested in.
The Workrowd platform provides a central hub that allows employees to easily find and connect with all their groups. It also allows them to receive targeted communications and make informed decisions regarding their social activities.
Workrowd's platform features automatic polls and analytics, which can be sent out to members or monitored in real time. These tools can help identify areas where the organization can improve its programs.
Workrowd can also integrate with other workplace tools, such as email and chat, to notify and connect with employees wherever they are. This eliminates the need for people to go through endless emails to keep up with the culture.
Diverst
Organizations can benefit from the Diverst platform, which helps them manage their ERGs more efficiently. The software is built on the idea that DEI initiatives should maximize ROI. It allows managers and leaders to expand their membership, organize events, and allocate budgets in a more effective manner. Unfortunately, it is not ideal for large enterprises.
The MentorCliq product, which is Diverst, is an employee mentoring solution that optimizes the utilization of virtual coaching programs. It also integrates with various HR systems and productivity tools.
