One of the most rewarding experiences of working in a startup is that there’s a first to everything and everything you do makes a difference. This March when we came together to celebrate the eventful Women’s Day, the occasion also marked the launch of our ‘first ever’ ERG at Godrej Capital.
In a world where inclusion, equity, and diversity is top of mind for employers, there’s still a long and winding road to find balance in the workplace. Because representation is just not enough – increasingly employees want to be heard, have a sense of identity and have a seat at the proverbial ‘table’! And this is where things get hard – because culture is not something you can change radically overnight. It’s like a sapling that requires systemic nurturing and constant care.
This is exactly what we witnessed while setting up our ERG – what went into that one launch event was a whole lot of research, focus group discussions, consulting best in class organizations and a lot more! At Godrej Capital, we underwent the journey to decode what goes into putting together an ERG. And I would like to use this medium to share our learnings that we discovered along the way which will hopefully serve as relevant thought starters if you are new to this space.
First things first: let’s decode what an ERG is?
ERG – Employee Resource Groups finds it roots back in 1960s where African American employees in Xerox came together to respond to the racial tensions in US and fight against discrimination.
Fast forward to today, think of the most admired companies in the world, and it’s highly probable you would see them having one or (more likely) quite a handful of ERGs.
ERGs foster a safe space for people to celebrate their differences, engage in “candid conversations,” and serve as advocates for one another. There’s power and meaning in coming together and being a force for good.
ERGs typically focus on women, people of colour, the LGBTQ+ community, people with disabilities – often the cohorts who have been either underrepresented or marginalized as a product of our deep entrenched societal biases.
What should you know while setting up the ERG?
Setting up ERGs is not as simple as it may seem. A lot of careful thought, sensitivity must go into the philosophy for doing so. Just as important is a high bias on making the ERG meaningful and outcome oriented. Here are some of the tips I can share from our recent experience of doing so in our organization.
- Know what you are solving for?
Launching ERG is perhaps the easiest and the lowest hanging fruit– what follows is an arduous journey of ensuring the engagement and momentum of the group. Most ERGs tend to fizzle out in interest and participation after the first initial session and this is where the ‘what’ you are solving for becomes very important.
At Godrej Capital, we have laid the ‘what’ and the ‘why’ out through 3 pillars:
Through this ERG, we aim to work on three themes which will guide our overall objectives as we take a step ahead on our inclusion journey:
- Illuminate: Uncover any logistical/safety issues that women face when on the field and ensure we provide them with a safe and productive work environment/Review existing policies for their relevance to our organisational context
- Cultivate: Identify the learning and development needs and work on relevant interventions
- Collaborate: Identify avenues of collaboration, mentorship and fostering camaraderie within the group
2) Decide on the group you want to focus on
Traditionally ERGs are meant to represent underserved communities like women, LGBTW, PwD or in organisations with a more global presence to ensure equity amongst ethnic groups like Asians, Caucasians, African Americans, etc
However, one shouldn’t just bag the groups on the basis of ethnicity and demographics – but on the basis of your life stage or experience.
For eg: New Mom Clubs, Women in Sales – belonging doesn’t necessarily need to be tagged to demographics, real belongingness comes in through shared experience
3) Membership
We encouraged to keep the membership of the ERG open to men as allies. And the response was heartening – of the people who signed up, 30% of the men constituted of the group.
We believe this is inclusivity in its truest sense – by opening doors to everyone not only can we create allies within the workforce, it also helps our counterparts develop a mindset of empathy, and develop an appreciation of the challenges women face.
Keep the membership voluntary. The purpose of ERG gets diluted if you make it a mandatory activity. The caveat being while these groups are voluntary, they should not be treated as optional which brings me to the next point.
4) Have business buy-in
ERGs would never work if it was tagged as an HR initiative. Instead, there has to be a stronger tie in with the larger purpose of the business.
To do this effectively, they need the leadership team on their side – potentially a leader as an executive sponsor. This will help push through necessary agenda, provide an organisational direction and help them have a representation in the C-Suite
Fact: While some of the traditional organisations struggle to build a business case for having an ERG – many others use ERGs as testing ground for understanding the consumer sentiment that may be uncaptured or overlooked because of blind spots, especially while testing for product prototypes made for niche segments.
One of the great things about ERGs is that they’re addressing a real need. But not only that, they also have the potential power to make real change – in policy, culture and attitude.
5) Give autonomy
Having an executive sponsor comes with its own set of challenges – while an initial nudge and push would be needed to getting things rolling, it’s important to give the ERG the complete autonomy to build and own the scope of work, establish goals and define what success means to them. In order for the ERG to be organic and thrive, this should not be proctored top down. To truly empower the ERGs, you should provide the support in terms of ideas and financial support, but never steer priorities.
Employee resource groups can play an important role in your strategy to support underrepresented cohorts, create allies to join this journey and use their privilege for good. An effective ERG can move the needle on some of your company’s most pressing and persistent challenges, from attracting and retaining top talent to diversifying your customer base.
As with anything, structure, rigour and consistency is important to enable a sustainable, scalable implementation. Don’t rush rolling out an ERG as a check box activity and because you want to be seen as doing something. Take time to determine the why, mobilise right resources, craft your strategy and communications plan and then move forward.
Ruhie Pande 