Today’s workplace is far more diverse than workplaces of the past. That diversity is exhibited through a wide range of demographic characteristics: age, sex, sexual preference, nationality, ethnicity, and religion, for example. There are big benefits to building a diverse workforce. Researchers writing for Harvard Business Review, for instance, were able to draw a correlation between diversity and market share.
Diversity can also lead to dissension, disassociation, and marginalization, of course. That’s why many organizations have taken steps to provide a forum for members of various and diverse groups to come together to share insights and perspectives with each other through employee resource or affinity groups.
According to Catalyst, a nonprofit organization focused on accelerating “progress for women through workplace inclusion,” employee resource groups (ERGs) “are voluntary, employee-led groups that foster a diverse, inclusive workplace aligned with organizational mission, values, goals, business practices, and objectives.”
While, on the surface, it would seem that these types of groups can provide benefit for organizations, there are some potential areas of concern according to Jonathan Segal, an attorney writing for SHRM. In an article, he highlights four areas of potential risk:
- Denying a majority group—in this case, white men—the opportunity to form an affinity group, if other such groups exist
- Having a blanket exclusion against religious affinity groups
- Ensuring that the promise of confidentiality that accompanies these groups does not lead to managers’ not taking action if they become aware of unlawful conduct
- The potential for your affinity group to cross the line into becoming a labor organization based on National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) definitions
Shirley Engelmeier is the author of Becoming an Inclusive Leader: How to Navigate the 21st Century Global Workforce and Inclusion the New Competitive Business Advantage and has been working as an Inclusion and Diversity Strategist and Consultant for more than 20 years. In a blog post she points to the “real bottom-line benefits” that ERGs, or affinity groups, can bring to organizations. But, she adds: “It’s important, though, that these groups not become exclusionary by their very nature.” While there is value, she says, in providing a forum for people with shared interests and characteristics to come together, “if those unique groups aren’t also interacting with other employees—and managers—who are not like them, the value of those voices is lost.”
That’s an important point. In our efforts to ensure that we are providing a welcoming environment for diverse viewpoints we need to be sensitive to the potential for these efforts to inadvertently exclude other viewpoints.
(Catalyst offers a “Guide to Employee Resource Groups” that can provide a good starting point for developing—or evaluating—ERGs in your organization.)