Employee Resource Group Excellence

8Commerce Pillar: No Longer an Underutilized Business Asset

The primary goal of the Associate Resource Group (ARG) Leadership Summit was to recharter the company's network groups as active change agents focused on business impact. The chief diversity officer (CDO) at Avon Products, a personal care organization based in New York, had convened the leaders of the company's ARGs to challenge them to create plans in line with this goal. The CDO was concerned that these groups were at risk of being viewed only as social networks. During the meeting, the ARG leaders and CDO discussed Avon's recent business results, which were not satisfactory. Avon's CEO at the time joined the two‐day meeting to reinforce the importance of these groups and to invite ARG leaders to develop plans that support Avon's business strategies.

The ARG leaders rose to the occasion and immediately began work on refining and enhancing their plans. As an example, AHORA, Avon's Latino ARG, established plans to partner with Avon's southwest sales management teams to provide education and greater understanding of Latino culture and consumer behaviors. The group compiled and shared detailed market data for selected sales territories primarily serving Latino representatives and customers. The project also included the establishment of quantitative metrics, which allow all to understand how this effort has led to increased sales. AHORA is now well positioned and welcomed as an influential resource by the company's ...