What are ERGs and where did they come from?

- Employee Resource Groups have become increasingly popular in recent years, but they aren't new. For simplicity, I'll use the term Employee Resource Groups or ERG. You may also have heard of these organizations referred to as business resource groups or affinity groups. ERGs are experience or identity-based groups that exist within organizations to support their membership. Early documented ERGs started in the 1960s by a group of African-American employees at Xerox who wanted to create a space to discuss the rising national racial tensions at work. The purpose of the ERG should be defined by its membership based on their needs. Unlike other groups in organizations that might be geographically based. For example, a chess club in the Munich office, ERGs typically span the entire global organization, creating a broad network across offices in different geographical spaces. They also bring together employees across different disciplines and departments. Membership in these groups vary but are typically centered around underrepresented communities within the organization. Common ERG formation can be found around gender identity, race and ethnicity, sexual orientation, ability-disability status, and past military service or veterans groups. They create an open forum and space to allow community building for employees with shared identity and similar experiences at work and in life. ERGs often served several functions that benefit employees and the organization as a whole. Some of these include, expanding the network in your organization, providing support for members, helping participants develop their professional and personal growth, and creating a line of communication from membership to organizational leadership and vice versa. In order to thrive, ERGs need a combination of support and resources from the organization and the ability to operate autonomously. ERG members are empowered by the financial, leadership, and organizational support of the company. In many instances, the leaders of ERGs are volunteers who take on these roles in addition to their full-time job. So this institutional support is critical for success. Ideally, these groups are independent and can divine their own scope, determine membership eligibility, and establish their own mission and goals. So you can see that ERGs have a longstanding history of supporting employees and continue to evolve and adapt to the needs of their membership.