Employee Resource Group Excellence

3Movers and Shakers: Nurturing the Success of ERG Leaders

Not enough can be said about the leaders of employee resource groups. Here are individuals who, despite working their full‐time jobs, are still willing to raise their hand and commit to leading an ERG to help an organization reach their diversity and inclusion goals. It takes someone truly special to make this commitment, and their willingness to contribute and give back should always been applauded. ERG excellence cannot be achieved without leaders who are passionate, highly motivated, well respected, and strategic. In just about every ERG engagement that I embark on, I give a special shout‐out to the leaders of these groups. ERG leaders should receive all of our deepest respect not just for what they do, but for who they are.

Having been an ERG leader myself at one point in my career, I can also attest that at times the job can be daunting, intimidating, frustrating, and sometimes thankless. Many ERG leaders have shared how they have put in long hours, given up a lot of their free time, and sacrificed things they love in order to excel in their role. Yet even when ERG leaders do all this, there are still some who like to complain, are quick to critique or fail to participate or to attend events that ERG leaders have worked very hard to put together simply because they forgot.

It is in these situations that it is always a good idea to remind ERG leaders that their work is too important, and that the need for diversity ...