WORK / LIFE : MAKING CONNECTIONS
“ People who may not interact in their jobs meet and partner together in an ERG . They ’ re building stronger , greater networks .”
— Amy Baldwin , president of United Partnerships
POWER WOMEN LaTasha Gary , right , HP ’ s Director of Sustainable Impact Program Management and Digital Transformation , connects with Sunny Chiu , left , and other members of the Women ’ s Impact Network .
These connections can help boost careers and prevent employees who may have already felt marginalized from feeling even more isolated at work . For example , a Gartner report found one in three women prefer to work remotely , and one in two women want a hybrid schedule . However , working off-site means less face time , with fewer opportunities for being mentored or getting critical assignments . Through workshops , asynchronous messaging , mentoring programs , and leadership development experiences , ERGs can provide an even stronger support system to women and other employees than they could through the primarily in-person events of the past .
Going virtual has also expanded the reach of corporate ERGs , creating global networks instead of location-specific groups that were more prevalent in the past .
“ In some ways , it has allowed us to see what people are doing worldwide ,” says Myers . “ You can have a forum that people can attend from all over .”
Truelove adds that a surprising benefit of virtual options has been to level the playing field for employees who worked remotely before the pandemic . “ Now we ’ re all connecting in a different way than we used to , and remote employees feel a sense of belonging that wasn ’ t there before .”
Where employees are , and where they want to go Baldwin says virtual activities also make it possible for ERGs to include employees who don ’ t work the traditional 9-to-5 in-office schedule . “ How do we engage employees if they ’ re on the manufacturing floor in shifts ? What about those in different time zones ?”
To reach more employees , Baldwin adds that ERGs should also consider the length of programming . “ Employees may not be able to attend for an hour or two , but can they attend for 15 to 20 minutes ?”
In addition to meetings and forum-style events , ERGs may offer virtual coffee breaks or happy hours for employees not in the building — all of which help new remote employees feel part of the company culture and connect with others beyond their work groups .
ERGs are also expanding in terms of their priorities and goals , working collectively to help one another , include allies who want to show their support , and reflect the complexity of employee identities . “ While ERGs exist for their specific communities , they also recognize the collaboration , overlap , and intersectionality between groups , like veterans and the LGBTQIA + community ,” Truelove notes .
Baldwin and Truelove say new generations of employees will define where ERGs go from here , and see technology playing an even bigger role in how ERGs continue to evolve to meet their needs .
“ When you get all of these different minds together with different life experiences , they will look at solutions and problems in very different ways ,” says Truelove . “ This leads to innovation .”
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