The 3 Reasons Why Women’s Employee Resource Groups Are So Effective for Inclusion

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Today, I want to talk about women’s employee resource groups, previously on this podcast we’ve talked about how they seem to be the largest, well funded and well supported employee resource group in any organisation.

What’s more a recent report from New York based online platform Fairy Godboss suggests that women’s employee resource groups are both powerful and effective.

I want to talk about what this actually means and why this matters to your organisations

So in todays show I discuss several things including

Three key themes identified from the report about women’s employee resource groups
The five key factors necessary for women’s employee resource groups to be effective
Why empowering women’s employee resource groups can help to advance careers and change both policy and workplace culture

Here’s some of what I share in the show:

The Prevalence of Women’s Employee Resource Groups

I explain how employee resource groups, particularly those concerned with women in the workplace are prevalent in organisations:

“The report suggests that 90% of all Fortune 500 Companies have at least one ERG but does not say how many of these are concerned with women in the workplace. That said my experience is that when organisations launch employee resource groups, one of the first, if not THE first group is invariably concerned with improving the career outcomes of women”

Employers should empower women’s employee resource groups

I explain why employers should empower women’s employee resource groups in organisations because of their ability to engage employees:

“A key message of the report was that employers should empower women’s employee resource groups because they are effective at advancing careers and changing policy and workplace culture”

Women’s employee resource groups are effective

I explain how women’s employee resource groups can be effective because of their concern with actual outcomes within an organisation:

“ERG’s were found to be effective in influencing policy: 55% of respondents reported an improvement in parental leave benefits and 53% reported more flexible work schedules due to the influence of their ERG”

Show notes

Here are some selected links to for the resources and reports I discuss in the episode.

Diversity, Inclusion & The Bottom of the Pyramid

Why Diversity Matters: A Review of the “McKinsey Report”

Rose St Louis: Managing an Inclusive Journey

Huw Evans: Diversity in Insurance: Front and Centre

Fairy God Boss

Fairy God Boss Gender Equality Report

How Workplace Gender Diversity Continued To Evolve In 2017, According To A New Report