How to Get Real Impact from Your Employee Resource Groups

Your employee resource groups hold more insight about your culture than most engagement surveys. Yet in many organisations, ERGs sit on the sidelines, busy but not influential.

If you lead people, you can change that.

Here are a few ideas I share with clients who want their ERGs to drive real organisational progress:

1. Link ERG activity to your strategy Too many networks focus on awareness days with no connection to what the business is trying to achieve. When you align ERG goals with your priorities, the conversations become sharper and the impact grows.

2. Treat ERG leaders as part of your leadership system Give them time, guidance, and a sponsor who will take their insights into senior meetings. ERG work shouldn’t sit on the side of someone’s desk.

3. Move from safe spaces to brave spaces Psychological safety is the foundation. Brave conversations create the learning. Your networks can help you hear what employees won’t always say through formal channels.

4. Use ERG insight to fix the problems that drive turnover Networks see issues early—accessibility, progression barriers, workload pressure, poor line management. Acting on this insight saves you money and strengthens culture.

If you want a practical walkthrough of how to align ERGs with your business, I’ve uploaded a short session to YouTube. It covers the framework I use with Chief People Officers who need measurable outcomes from their inclusion work.

👉 Watch the video here: https://youtu.be/MiD4-rDeIEA

If it sparks ideas for your organisation, send me a message. Happy to explore it with you.