ERG Partnerships & Intersectionality
Series Background
Having never been part of a corporate DEI team until a few years ago, I never would have thought that I would be in a place to call this my expertise, much less share it with the world.
To take it a step further, I never even thought of myself as a strategist. I hated playing politics and really rebelled against it. This caused me to lose opportunities throughout my career.
Now that I am a few months removed from my last role and have looked back, I believe that the reason I was so successful came down to four things.
I should also mention that I never went into my role looking to be 'the white savior.' I am not trying to take anyone else's seat at the table and believe in equal opportunity.
The truth in what happened was that as I stepped foot inside the corporate door I noticed inefficiencies and questioned a LOT of things. I was frankly dumbfounded at the lack of common sense that permeated throughout.
That realization led me to a huge personal epiphany...
Changing the way corporations do DEI is NOT Rocket Science. It is actually shocking in its lack of complexity. This is both the genius and horror of the system.
In saying that, nothing you read throughout this series is going to be revolutionary. What it may be, is eye-opening.
What I will provide is my experience and my experience alone. My experience and my perspective on what is and is not important is fluid. It won't be the same for everyone.
There is an emphasis on building trust that you will note.
As an outsider, without lived experience, I understood that my reasons for doing the work were going to be questioned and rightfully so. A lot of the conversations I was able to have were based off the fact that I had built relationships and trust over time. People like Cherita Washington, MBA became family to me and she sat me at HER table which she did not have to do. This both enabled and empowered me to collaborate and gain access to people I would not otherwise have been able to. That access let to resources and opportunity.
But let me be clear, there is a difference between being sat at a table and gaining the trust of those sitting next to me. I always had to be aware, always had to be deliberate and always had to keep in mind that nobody owed me anything.
Let's get to it.
Everything Starts with Employee Resource Groups (ERGs)
I am beginning this series discussing Employee Resource Groups not because the first thing I did upon entering corporate was to seek them out.(I had to build up to that)
The reason I am starting here is because I believe ERG's foundationally, are key to understanding the corporate landscape and how to move within it.
For the sake of general understanding:
Employee Resource Groups (ERG) are internal communities of workers with shared identities and interests.
Not Just Another Misguided Ally
Before I ever thought about requesting a meeting with any of the ERG's I knew I had to lay the groundwork.
My experience told me that people that look like me have a long history of asking for things without any consideration for what we are asking, the time and effort it takes to accomplish the ask and rarely if ever is there a reciprocal return.
My best guess was that I had one chance to make the right impression or I would quickly become 'just another misguided ally.'
I started doing research, conducting my own surveys and analyzed the data on what was missing from both a recruitment and internal culture perspective.
I then implemented my own initiatives and created resources (will get into specifics next edition).
When I felt like I had stable footing I then scheduled those meetings.
The Importance of the ERG relationship
The reason I did all this work ahead of time comes down to the fact that it needed to be done and I had a firm understanding that without ERG partnerships you can only get so far.
See, even though ERG's are technically part of the corporations, the people in them volunteer. Most are doing so either because they want to be a part of a group of people like them or because they want to be a part of change.
There is a lot more ability to get real answers speaking to ERG's than there ever will be through traditional corporate structure.
On a secondary note, those that are part of a voluntary ERG are more likely to be part of other volunteer endeavors like Alumni associations.
If you want to see how you can really increase diversity in an organization, this link is paramount.
The final factor is intersectionality.
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When the average person views a (example) Black ERG they are reaching out because they want to build a relationship with Black employees.
But watch this...
In this (small) example you will see that the Black ERG is going to have individuals identifying with multiple groups.
One member may be A Black Veteran LGBTQIA+ Sr level associate, who happens to be on the board of an alumni group at a HBCU (Historically Black College & Universities).
Understanding this creates a situation in which a 100,000 person company seems a lot smaller and a lot more accessible when we are trying to get things done.
Let me throw out a scenario to show the power of intersectionality.
Cherita & Crystal are coworkers. One day they are talking and the idea of psychological safety comes up. Cherita suggests it would be great to get a bunch of ERG's together and have a speaker come in to talk to them about proactive measures that can be taken to protect themselves mentally. Crystal loves the idea and says, 'You know what I am part of the Latinos and Women in Tech ERG, I can reach out to them.' Cherita responds, 'I will talk to the Black ERG and I have friends in the LGBTQIA+ and Disabled ERG's.'
Due to the intersectionality just those two individuals now have access to 4 ERG's and likely more as the bring the idea up to their members.
That is one less hurdle that needs to be gone over in order to create the event.
The Meetings
Recapping, I have an understanding of the intersectionality, I want the people I speak with to feel comfortable being open with me and I have done the background work.
The meeting comes and every single time I get asked the following question.
"So Dan, we have had people come to us before and it ultimately goes nowhere. What makes you different?"
My response was always some iteration of this...
Dan, " I honestly couldn't tell you, because I don't know those individuals. What I can tell you is that I have done the research, I have gathered the data and this is what I have created.(explaining the work) What I am looking for is to understand what you want and need and build a partnership so that there are sustainable solutions going forward."
Obviously it was a lot more in depth but the point is I was never going to ask for anything before giving something.
I also wasn't looking for them to explain racism to me. What I was looking for wa to understand what each ERG saw as the most prominent pain points that they wanted to be tackled.
The Larger ERG Affect
Once I had meetings with all of the ERG's word got around that I was the real deal and I quickly had commitments which allowed me to finalize resources that were massive.
On a personal note, I will never forget the meeting I had with Paul Adamson . I forget what we were talking about but I know I mentioned that he didn't need to validate what he was saying. I understood why he was saying it and I get it.
In that moment he looked at me and told me that we were good and I was the real deal (or some variation of that).
The reason it meant so much is because he had no reason to trust me, but he saw me and accepted me. He gave me his trust and now, I will say to him something he once said to me, Paul, thank you for putting me in a position of opportunity.
Recapping
Between the intersectionality, the commonality and the ability to create difference, Employee Resource Groups are paramount to long term sustainable change making in corporate.
Make sure you stay tuned for Part 2 in this series.
The Corporate DEI Playbook: Creating Representative Interview Panels
Sincerely yours,
The Honest Accomplice
Dan Roth
Global Corporate Culture Strategist| Learning and Development Leader| Operations/Supply Chain Leader ??Opinions are my own and not the views of my employer??
1 年Amazing article. Incredible read. Soooo humbled to be part of your story. (Literally lol)