ERGs evolve to expand equality for employees and clients alike
Like so many of its competitors and other large and complex international organizations, our client had employee resource groups (ERGs) that had been established many years ago. At the time of inception, these ERGs were designed to provide a place where individuals identifying with various dimensions of diversity could find affinity and support by meeting with people who shared similar experiences.
Today, several decades later, the ERGs had grown and boasted membership in the tens of thousands. Their governance structures had become increasingly complex, making the collective purpose of their ERGs diffuse and unclear.
Our client wanted to learn from the people in ERGs themselves about their experience of ERGs and to gain new insights on how the organization could expand the impact of the network to the benefit of its strategy and culture. Having made significant investments in equity initiatives, our Client was also determined to uncover if ERG members were experiencing any equality challenges.
Our Tidal Equality team (then called Women’s Work Institute) supported our client by making a Wave.
First, we consulted with their ERG members through a highly qualitative and anecdotal Insights Questionnaire to gain deeper insights. We uncovered entirely new perspectives on who ERGs were serving and uncovered new ideas for expanding ERG impact to increase equality and prosperity.
These initial insights informed our design of the Wave (strategic design session) we facilitated with the client’s ERG leaders. At this session, we supported ERG leaders to define a new strategy for ERGs, one that put forward a more resonant and collaborative vision and a new set of operating values, and produced concrete opportunities to foster collaboration across ERG groups. The new ERG strategy is designed to resonate with ERG members, ERG leaders, and organizational leaders alike, as it takes into account critical opportunities - as defined by stakeholders - to connect the dots between equality and prosperity.