What is an employee resource group (ERG)?

Common ERGs are organised around gender, ethnicity, LGBTQ+ identity, disability, parents and carers, veterans, faith, or career stage. Their activities typically include peer support and mentoring, events and speakers, input on policies such as parental leave or accessibility, and help with recruiting and onboarding, for example by meeting candidates or welcoming new joiners. Many organisations call them business resource groups or employee networks.

An ERG usually works best with a written charter (purpose, membership, how leaders are chosen), an executive sponsor who can unblock resources, a modest budget, and recognition for the people who lead it, since running a group is extra work on top of their day jobs. A regular route for the group’s feedback to reach HR and leadership turns it from a social club into a source of insight.

In the US, membership needs care. The EEOC’s guidance on DEI-related discrimination says that limiting membership in workplace groups such as ERGs, business resource groups or other affinity groups to certain protected groups can be unlawful segregation where the group is employer-sponsored, including where the employer provides company time, facilities or premises. It also says employers should make sure employees of all backgrounds have equal access to workplace networks. The safe approach is to keep every ERG open to any employee who wants to join or support it. Other countries have their own equality laws, so check locally before setting membership rules.

Measure ERGs by what they change: participation, retention and promotion trends among members, and the policy or process improvements that came from their input. This is general information, not legal advice.

Also called: ERG, employee network, business resource group (BRG), affinity group.