Episode 168: Why Every Company Should Have an ERG (Employee Resource Group) with Margaret Guerret...

The goal is to provide support for the workforce. The pandemic really forced this to the forefront from a mental health and employee retention standpoint. We were taking care of everything and everyone and there was no way to hide that anymore. You can sustain a healthy work/life balance and we shouldn't have to hide that.

~ Margaret Guerrette, Reliance Matrix Co-Chair of the Women's Employee Resource Group (ERG)


Have you ever felt the need to put on your "happy hat" at work to convince colleagues and bosses that you've got everything under control, despite being overwhelmed and utterly stressed out? Did you ever hear the term "work/life balance" and want to scream--just a little? 


Prior to the pandemic, work/life balance was touted as something workers could achieve just by talking about it–and it was on them to make it happen. Support for employees from within the corporate structure to help them achieve that balance was rare, as workers hesitated to share their challenges while on the job.


As Margaret Guerrette from Reliance Matrix tells us, Covid changed all of that. As employees “zoomed” to work from home, the world saw in real time just how difficult a work/life balance was to achieve. Workers’ mental health was under attack like never before, and companies recognized the desperate need to provide their workforce with support, for the good of the worker as well as the organization.


Enter the Employee Resource Group (ERG), a now formal umbrella term for corporate associations within an organization specifically designed to provide support for employees. The groups are often populated by workers sharing a specific identifier–women, LGBTQ, Hispanic, etc.–and bring together workers from across the company to share challenges, solutions and mentorship. Margaret notes, “The diversity of thought from women at all corporate levels and from different backgrounds makes us this power group; it’s wonderful to see!”


Here at Brilliantly Resilient, we know the value of a tribe. When companies recognize the need to support their employees in their entirety as people, everyone benefits, both with employee as well as consumer retention. Plus, it’s just the right thing to do.


Kudos to Reliance Matrix and all organizations that support their workforce with ERGs or BRGs. To hear more from Margaret about how to start an ERG within your organization, tune into this episode of the Brilliantly Resilient podcast, and be sure to listen in for these additional bits of brilliance:


• We should be, as companies, supporting  workforces in the efforts to be seen, stay healthy, and to have a healthy balance because you can do both. You can caretake, you can do well in your job, and it doesn’t have to be one or the other.

• One of the true values of ERGs is that connectivity piece…we do have this community at work and your direct team might not understand everything that you’re going through, but somebody at your company does and somebody can be a support for you.

• It really has to come from the top down. You have to see your senior leaders, your CEO and senior leadership team support that because employees at more entry level positions aren’t going to feel able to participate fully in that type of work unless they know that leadership supports it. We’re really lucky at Reliance Matrix to have that kind of leadership.

• The things you learn in an ERG transcend to other pieces of work. You feel that community and remember that human connection and everything works better.

• To learn more about Reliance Matrix, visit www.reliancematrix.com (https://www.reliancematrix.com) or Reliance Matrix on LinkedIn. (  / reliance-matrix  )


Let’s be Brilliantly Resilient together!


XO,


Mary Fran & Kristin