Employee Resource Groups

What Are Employee Resource Groups?

Employee resource groups (ERGs) are voluntary, employee-led groups that foster inclusion, raise awareness for specific causes, and give employees who share common backgrounds, identities, or experiences opportunities to connect. ERGs are sometimes called employee networks, business resource groups, or affinity groups.

Examples of ERGs include:

• LBGTQ+ group
• Working parents network
• Military veterans group
• BIPOC employee group

ERGs are an important part of a company’s diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) strategy. ERGs create a sense of belonging, show the company’s commitment to diversity, and give employees a platform to be seen, heard, and valued.

What Is the Purpose of Employee Resource Groups?

While their main purpose is to support employees who share that group’s attributes, they have many other benefits. They’ve been shown to improve a sense of inclusion, boost employee engagement, and increase connection to the company’s mission. On the company side, they’ve been shown to increase retention, innovation, and even productivity.

What Can Employee Resource Groups Do?

ERGs provide space for employees with commonalities to share in their mutual experiences. They also create a bridge between members, management, and non-group employees. Specific Employee Resource Group activities can range across social opportunities, career development, advocacy, and education and awareness.

What Are the Characteristics of an Effective Employee Resource Group?

Effective ERGs foster a sense of belonging, but an ineffective group does little to improve employees’ experiences of workplace isolation. Best practices for an effective ERG include:

• Setting clear expectations
• Communicating the goals and mission of the group
• Having executive management support and buy-in
• Engaging employees in decision-making
• Ongoing dialogue between leaders and members

Types of Employee Resource Groups

ERGs fall into different categories such as diversity and inclusion, volunteering, affinity, and professional development. ERGs may also be formed as chapters of larger organizations.

Diversity and Inclusion Resource Groups

Diversity and Inclusion ERGs tend to be formed by or for groups that are historically under-represented within the company, community, or society. Common examples include:

• Ethnicity or race
• Religious affiliation
• Gender
• Sexual orientation
• Military service
• Disability advocacy

Volunteer Groups

Volunteer groups center around charitable causes and provide opportunities for employees to give back to their community. Volunteer ERGs are often tied to the company’s mission or industry. A healthcare company may start an ERG that’s centered on supporting a particular public health concern in the community or volunteering for a local hospital on an ongoing basis.

Affinity Groups

Affinity ERGs are based on common hobbies, passions, or experiences. For instance, sustainability ERGs are popular across companies, and include activities that raise awareness about environmental, social, and governance (ESG) goals.

Professional Development Groups

Professional development groups focus on career paths and opportunities within a company. In a fully remote company where it may be harder for mentors and mentees to find each other and connect, an ERG focused on mentorship can help facilitate those important connections. Professional development groups may also focus on a particular discipline, such as marketing, operations, or human resources.

Employee Resource Groups Examples

Employee resource groups vary from company to company. Certain categories—such as race or ethnicity and gender—are common across organizations, and others may be specific to the industry or geography. Some large companies may even have local chapters for larger ERGs. Some famous examples include:

• Microsoft touts nine company-wide ERGs, some with local chapters, like Women@NERD, the New England chapter of Women@Microsoft.
• Apple's Diversity Network Associations (DNAs) have 67 chapters and more than 55,000 members
• CVS Health boasts 16 Colleague Resource Groups (CRGs) with more than 40 local chapters
• Xerox, often credited with creating the first official ERG in the US in 1964, still celebrates and supports its employees with a range of ERGs

How to Start an Employee Resource Group

Since it’s not realistic to form groups for every attribute, gathering data and employee feedback will help you prioritize. From there, put together a business case of the benefits of an ERG and how it’ll support DEI and other goals, and get executive buy-in. You can then start building out the employee resource group’s charter and mission and recruiting members.

Remember, the purpose of an employee resource group is to support and foster your employees. Investing time, attention, and resources into your ERGs can help get these employee-led groups off to a great start.