Why employee resource groups may be the key to more inclusive cultures and benefits utilization

Companies are increasingly investing in diversity, equity and inclusion programs in an effort to build better workplaces for their employees. But are they forgetting to ask for input from employees themselves?

According to LinkedIn, the number of jobs focused on diversity has grown 71% since 2015. But as demonstrated in a 2021 research report by Arizent, parent company to Employee Benefit News, the impact of that growth is often less obvious within company culture. Eighty-three percent of employees with official DEI responsibilities reported effective communication of those efforts; just 62% of employees without official DEI responsibilities agreed, and 24% found those communications to be very ineffective.

“If you think of DEI efforts as a house, a lot of organizations try to decorate before you get the house built,” says Markita Jack, head of DEI at software company Iterable. “But you’ve first got to make sure that the structure and the studs are solid. And that structure should be coming from your employees.”

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To create DEI programs that can lead to lasting change, Jack says, leadership should gather as much feedback and input through a company’s grassroots organizations. Employee resource groups (ERGS), also referred to as affinity groups, are voluntary organizations that aim to create support and safe spaces for various communities within a company, whether women, people of color or LGBTQ employees, among others.

“It’s a step toward building a sustainable strategy that really embeds DEI into the DNA of an organization, so it’s not an afterthought, but the way we do business,” she says. “And between leadership and ERG leaders and members, there needs to be alignment on scope, responsibility, impact and desired outcome. If an organization makes recommendations about benefit programs and leadership doesn’t think that’s their place, you’re already working against each other. So get aligned.”

Hewett Chiu has personally felt the impact ERGs can make within an organization — so much so that he’s now CEO of Coral Health, a newly-launched startup that aims to capitalize on ERG insight to boost health outcomes and preventive care across diverse communities.

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“Throughout my career, I’ve been a part of ERGs and always felt a sense of pride and belonging through the programming of that community,” Chiu says. “I felt really safe talking to others who understood me and the cultural values that I hold important. So if we’re able to create that safety and belonging through ERGs at work, we can use that to bring the same results to benefits and healthcare.”

Coral’s platform aggregates all of the health benefits in an employer’s ecosystem, creating easy access for users. Utilizing feedback and information shared by an organization’s ERGs, as well as individual employee-provided information on health histories, the platform will deliver a culturally-tailored health assessment and recommend a preventive care action plan.

“By understanding history, culture and concerns, we can recommend anything from screenings to vaccinations or follow-up conversations with a healthcare provider, as well as alerting workers to benefits provided by the employer that employees may not be aware of,” Chiu says. “And if we discover barriers to care, we work to break them down, whether Coral works to bring screenings and vaccinations to employees' homes, or working with the employer to have workplace distribution.”

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Internally at Iterable, Jack says the impact of ERGs has been “innumerable,” contributing to the expansion of family-building benefits including $10,000 for fertility or adoption, boosting resources available for remote workers and driving conversations around support for working parents and caregivers.

To mirror that kind of impact across any company, she urges various ERGs within a company to work together and collaborate, include allies in conversations, and maintain communication channels with organizational leadership.

“This is not just about social events,” Jack says. “ERGs can bring intentionality and support to DEI efforts, and hold people accountable for what workforces desire.