5 Reasons Your Employee Resource Group Needs Clear Goals

Are you starting an employee resource group (ERG) in your organization? To make it a success, you need to set clear goals. Here’s why you must have clear ERG goals.

Companies of all sizes now realize the value of Employee Resource Groups (ERGs). They enhance the employee experience, help people connect and share experiences, improve retention, and make the workplace culture more inviting and inclusive.

When starting an Employee Resource Group, it’s essential to understand ERG best practices, including goal setting.

Setting clear goals will help your ERG thrive and bring everyone together on the same page. Getting on the same page allows you to look for scope creep and track the group’s success.

Here are five reasons why Employee Resource Groups need clear goals:

1.   Defined goals keep everyone focused and on the same page

Imagine a kitchen full of chefs all preparing a buffet meal without first planning the menu. Sure, they might put together a table of delicious food, but it’s more likely they’ll end up with dishes that don’t go together, resulting in an incoherent or unbalanced menu.

This buffet is a good metaphor for an ERG without clear goals. We all have ideas about what the ERG should accomplish and how to get there - but if we aren't all on the same page, we’ll end up with unusable results.

Every member can do great work independently, but your Employee Resource Group won't fulfill its purpose if members aren’t striving towards the same specific goal.

The Solution:

Setting clear goals from the outset ensures that everyone knows what they’re working towards, what to do to get there, and how the results will be measured and evaluated.

2. Clear goals prevent ‘scope creep’

Scope creep can occur any time you start a new working group or project. Over time, the stakeholders can add new provisions and tasks when they think of a new idea.

Once scope creeps sets in, it often means missed deadlines and a muddy lack of purpose. People begin floundering, unsure of the ERG’s goals, leading to a lack of motivation and the group falling by the wayside.

This can be a killer, as it can lead your ERG away from its original intentions. Remember – your goals should be clear, trackable, and attainable.

They will then inform your objectives - how you will achieve your goals.  

The Solution:

You can avoid scope creep by agreeing on your goals, objectives, and duties from the outset. Have all stakeholders agree to them for a set period.

Then, communicate them clearly and often to keep everyone motivated and on the same page.

If stakeholders begin to move the goalposts with new tasks or deliverables, refer them to the current list of goals and objectives they agreed to.

You could offer to table their new ideas, ready to be revisited, when you set new goals for the next quarter/year/phase of the project.

3. Clear goals will help you communicate your vision and gain supporters

Sadly, not everyone in your organization will be on board with the goals of the ERG, at least at first. It helps if you can communicate your vision.

If everyone thinks the main goals are different, you know the group is in trouble. One person thinks the only goal is hosting cultural events, while another says the goal is to increase diversity at senior levels.

Do you all share the same vision?

The Solution:

If anyone in your organization asks your ERG members for a rundown of the group’s goals, they should hear the same (though not always identical) responses.

The basic gist of each goal should be clear and concise enough that a person can recite them easily, almost like an elevator pitch.

Working together to create a mission statement can help clear up any confusion. You can review your mission statement annually to ensure it meets your needs and aligns with your goals.

4. Goals help track your ERG’s success

Like any other initiative in your company, you need to measure your goals to know if your efforts are working. Without goals, there’s nothing to measure!

If you’re not tracking the success of your goals, how will you know if your ERG impacts your organization?

The Solution:

Employee Resource Group's best practices include defining goals and objectives and identifying key metrics to track and report their outcomes.

Some of your tracking metrics might be around:

• Group membership

• Event attendance

• Employee engagement surveys

• Diversity in hiring

• Diversity in management

5. Clear goals ensure the ERG remains aligned with business initiatives

Your ERG needs to be aligned with company goals so you can get buy-in throughout the organization. If you’re not aligned, you’re more likely to face significant pushback from management, and your efforts may go to waste.

By clearly setting goals that benefit the bottom line, you can ensure that everyone will get on board.

The Solution:

Focus on initiatives that clearly and directly tie into current company objectives. If your company faces hiring challenges, you can get involved with career fairs, develop leadership training strategies, and contribute to creating a culture of inclusion in the office.

By attracting and training vital new candidates and getting everyone engaged, you’re improving the company’s future.

… and that’s something everyone in the business can agree to.

It’s time to set clear ERG goals

We coach ERG leaders on being clear on their goals and objectives to manage their workload more effectively through a 12-week program.

If you work in HR or Diversity and Inclusion, you can find out more by attending one of our upcoming events.