Multicultural Employee Resource Groups and Networks have had to work twice as hard throughout the pandemic. This area was our highest scoring section of the Maturity Matrix. This year Network Groups completed nearly 80% of the recommendations.
Feedback from our member organisations suggests that network groups have found their networks have engaged more and new colleagues, and cite the following reasons:
- Doing activities virtually makes engagement more accessible to new members who wouldn’t usually attend an in-person networking event
- A greater number of allies have joined wanting to understand more about how to be inclusive regarding ethnic diversity
- Following the Black Lives Matter movement, there has been a evolution in colleagues wanting to do more within the organisation to create change
The Institute of Corporate Productivity released results of a survey interviewing organisations to gauge feedback on how they were utilising their network groups at the start of the pandemic.
The Institute found that the biggest areas that network groups supported the business was through understanding ethnic minority and other groups’ concerns and needs, helping monitor well-being and helping colleagues stay engaged whilst working from home.
Employee resource groups also stepped up in helping aid communications to their members that aligned to how the company was pivoting to adapt.
