Employee Resource Group (ERG)

An employee resource group (ERG) is a voluntary, employee-led group organized around a shared identity, background, or interest, such as women in leadership, veterans, working parents, or LGBTQ+ employees.

ERGs are run by employees, for employees, though most successful ones get real budget, an executive sponsor, and paid time to operate, rather than existing purely as a volunteer side project.

The concept traces back to affinity groups formed at companies like Xerox in the 1970s, and has since become a standard part of inclusion strategy at most large employers.

What Do Employee Resource Groups Actually Do?

Most ERGs combine three functions: community and belonging for members, professional development like mentoring or skills sessions, and a feedback channel that gives leadership visibility into that group's specific experience.

Many also advise on policy or product decisions directly, since a group's lived experience often surfaces blind spots leadership would otherwise miss entirely.

Why Do ERGs Matter to a Company?

Companies with active ERGs tend to see stronger retention among the group's members, since belonging is one of Gallup's core wellbeing elements and one of the hardest to build without a real community at work.

ERGs also give leadership a direct line to employee sentiment that a general survey often misses, particularly on issues specific to one group's experience.

How Should a Company Support an ERG Without Controlling It?

The groups that last have an executive sponsor who removes obstacles without dictating the agenda, a small operating budget, and visible support through channels like company-wide announcements and internal communication tools.

Groups that fail usually lack any real budget or leadership backing, or the opposite problem: leadership takes them over and members stop trusting they're actually employee-led.

How Do You Measure Whether an ERG Is Working?

Membership and event attendance are the easiest numbers to track, but they only measure participation, not impact, so most mature programs look further.

Stronger signals include retention differences between members and non-members in the same identity group, promotion rates for active members, and whether ERG leaders report their input actually shaped a policy or product decision.

A short annual survey asking members directly whether the group met its stated purpose also catches problems a headcount number would miss entirely.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Are ERGs the same as a DEI program?

A: No. ERGs are one part of a broader inclusion strategy, run by employees around a shared identity or interest, while a DEI program is the company's overall strategy and policy work.

Q: Do ERG members get paid for their time?

A: Practices vary, but the strongest programs give organizers some paid time or stipend, since unpaid extra labor on top of a full workload tends to burn organizers out and shorten the group's life.

Q: Who can join an ERG?

A: Most ERGs welcome allies as well as members of the identity group itself, though some hold member-only sessions for certain sensitive discussions.

Q: How many ERGs should a company have?

A: There's no fixed number; most companies start with one or two around their largest identified need and add more as employee interest and capacity grow.

Q: What makes an ERG fail?

A: The two most common causes are no real budget or leadership support, or the opposite: leadership taking over the agenda until members no longer see it as genuinely employee-led.

Q: Can a small company have an ERG?

A: Yes, though with fewer employees per identity group, some smaller companies combine related groups or open membership more broadly to reach a workable size.

Q: Do ERGs need an executive sponsor?

A: Most successful ones do; a sponsor who can unlock budget and remove obstacles at the leadership level tends to separate ERGs that last from ones that quietly fade after a year.