The Inclusion Evolution

From Old Boys' Networks to Employee Resource Groups

Old boys’ networks (OBNs) have long served as vehicles for helping men to rise, smoothing their path by providing mentors, visibility, information, and support.

OBNs have also traditionally served organizations as a way to identify, vet, and advance potential leaders, while defining and defending key aspects of organizational culture. In this way, OBNs have over time provided members with a strong sense of belonging, as well as a serious leg up. Although their insularity and impenetrability hardly qualify them as?healthy?networks, OBNs have historically been superbly functional for those who operate inside them.

Their downside of course has always been their exclusivity. They’re great if you qualify as an old boy—typically a man with a specific background, education, and set of connections or memberships, sometimes going back generations. But if you don’t fit the profile—if you’re part of any non-dominant or recently arrived group—you’ve historically been out of luck.

OBNs used to dominate organizations, defining who mattered and who did not and determining who had access to key resources. In some companies, they still play this role. But as organizations become more diverse, OBNs have increasingly become viewed as problematic because they draw from such a narrow talent base. High-functioning organizations over the last few decades have tried to address this by casting a wider net as they seek to identify future leaders and give them the resources and connections they need to move ahead.

As a result, a range of alternative networks have sprung up and spread inside organizations. They may be informal grassroots webs, founded by people seeking strength in numbers who also want to smooth the path for others like them. Or they can be formal networks, usually organized and run by an executive champion or a unit within HR. These formal networks tend to have clearly articulated goals and objectives, such as addressing the attrition of women and minorities or branding the organization as inclusive.

Both informal and formal networks can be highly effective, though it’s worth noting that the best formal networks usually assume an informal character, reflecting the personalities and interests of the people who are most active within them as well as the web of relationships they bring.

Employee resource groups (ERGs) are a prime example of formal networks that help expand access and resources for those who may have been isolated or excluded in the past. The first ERG was founded 1970, when Xerox initiated a Black Employees Caucus in response to continuing discrimination in the company despite the CEO’s passionate commitment to fairness. The goal was to create points of access and connection for employees who had been under-recognized and underserved, giving them a stronger voice and more career support.

Diversity pioneers such as AT&T and IBM followed suit and expanded the trend to include networks for women, LGBTQ employees, and a range of ethnic minorities.

Over the last two decades, organizations large and small have set up these networks, often first in the US but increasingly across the world. My work has given me a front-row seat from which to witness their development.

I’ve seen these networks evolve from well-intentioned but often marginal gatherings with tiny budgets and little structure into real power centers that provide tangible benefits to those who join and attract senior leaders to serve as sponsors. I’ve observed them become integral to how organizations deliver leadership development and training. And I’ve watched these groups lose their grapevine orientation and become serious bridge builders whose members mutually leverage their connections for positive change.?

One good thing that has resulted from remote work during the pandemic is that ERG’s got a boost by providing an alternative to onsite (or offsite) training; internal groups banded together and started book clubs and training programs that were focused on employee needs and desires like never before. This has instilled a sense of solidarity in many companies that gives the underrepresented more power and potentially embeds them at the heart of cultural change. That’s quite an evolution.

Next week I’ll be looking at an inspiring model of an informal women’s network that achieved great results by adapting OBN techniques, but dropping the exclusivity.