How ERG Software Works With Your Existing Communication Tools
Leaders of employee resource groups (ERGs) and business resource groups (BRGs) rely on a handful of communications tools to run their programs. Teams, Yammer, Slack, intranet and email are all common ways to connect with current and potential members.
One of the biggest benefits of those channels is your people are already actively using them — but this also presents one of the biggest challenges. So many conversations are happening within your chat tools and inboxes that the volume and complexity can become overwhelming.
As ERGs begin to play a bigger role in organizational diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging (DEI&B) strategies, dedicated ERG software becomes an attractive tool for effectively creating and managing all the discussions, events, polls — and more — that are happening within your existing channels.
This article provides the information you need to better understand how dedicated ERG software stands out from standard communications tools. It also explores how you can leverage them together to drive more participation, maximize efficiencies and measure the return of investment (ROI) in your ERG programs.
“Before having software, our ERGs had three main channels of communication — our intranet, email and chat — and it felt very siloed and disconnected. The chat was the most lively, but it’s not the best place for sharing. Things get buried, and it can be overwhelming, especially if you’re a member of multiple groups.”
- Stephanie Moe, Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
AAA Northern California, Nevada & Utah
Three Key Ways Benevity Affinity Groups Complements Communications Tools
While many communications tools are great for broadcasting information and driving employee engagement, they lack some of the functionality needed for ERGs to create a complete member experience that feels like a community.
Here are a few of the ways Affinity Groups works with your communications tools to take the impact of your ERGs to the next level:
- Providing an asynchronous home base for ERGs
- Driving more engagement with meaningful participation
- Creating and reporting on impact
Providing an Asynchronous Home Base for ERGs
Having a dedicated space like Benevity Affinity Groups to host and manage your ERGs, makes asynchronous discussions, events and resource sharing easier. It provides a dynamic “home base” where members can learn, grow and discover other groups. This allows you to foster a true sense of community and belonging among members.
The best part is that as a home base, Affinity Groups can work directly with the communications tools you’re already using. Instant messaging platforms provide a wonderful place for synchronous conversations. They’re also a great channel for reaching a lot of people, so you may want to use them to promote the activities, resources and meaty discussions that are happening within Affinity Groups.
A chat tool may be the first avenue to pique employee interest in a group or initiative within Affinity Groups. They can then explore a catalog of ERGs and join the ones that resonate the most. Whether they’re drawn to groups dedicated to shared life experiences, hobbies and interests, culture and identity — or some intersection of the above — your employees can start contributing to the rich discussions and activities they’re most passionate about, all while driving more purpose and a sense of belonging within your company.
“ERG software really helps create that space where you can build a strong community. People can share things like photos and resources, and it just feels more like a traditional social space where people are used to engaging.”
- Stephanie Moe, Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
AAA Northern California, Nevada & Utah
Driving More Engagement With Meaningful Participation
Benevity Affinity Groups delivers a platform for ERG leaders to guide meaningful discussions and activate their people. Random conversations and great ideas will happen spontaneously within popular communications tools and forums — and Affinity Groups itself — but what happens next?
Affinity Groups gives ERG leaders the tools (and power) they need to create richer experiences. They can go beyond basic polls for pulse checks by posting activities with a series of questions. They can invite people to submit photos and other rich media. And they can encourage members to participate through upvoting, commenting and other activities that are more interactive than one-click responses. ERG leaders can also pin and feature specific activities so the most important items remain top of mind.
Benevity helps you manage and scale your diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs from the bottom up, so you can create a more engaged workforce and foster a culture of diversity, inclusion and belonging.
Our ERG-dedicated software, Benevity Affinity Groups, helps you scale, manage and track your ERGs so you can advance your DEI efforts and build a connected workplace where everyone feels included.
Imagine this: An ERG leader starts a conversation in Slack about how the group needs to pick a focus for next year’s Black History Month. A group member then creates an activity in Affinity Groups with a call to “share your ideas for a theme.” Not only are they bringing people back into the community, but members can respond with richer submissions — they can attach drafts, pictures, files and links. The ERG leaders now have all the information they need for granular reporting on each activity.
Instead of your leaders hoping that scattered discussions turn into tangible action, they can provide your members with the resources to act on the things that matter most — like planning next year’s Black History Month , for example. Leaders also get support with helping, planning, and surveying ERG members by launching other activities such as surveys, polls, quizzes and more, all directly within the platform. Providing more ways for members to participate and contribute means driving more engagement.
Employee resource group (ERG) Software: what is it, and how it improves employee engagement
Creating and Reporting on Impact
ERGs are often tapped by corporate social responsibility (CSR) leaders to understand the spectrum of issues their employees care about. Their knowledge and influence on your culture and people can make it much easier to create more inclusive CSR initiatives that resonate.
When ERG software can connect with your CSR platform and integrate directly with giving and volunteering, it’s even easier to combine inclusion and impact. With these two powerful platforms working together, not only can your ERGs take action on the personal and social issues they’re passionate about, you can also report impact across your ERG and CSR programs.
Your day-to-day workplace communications can take place in Yammer, and the groups that employees create can give you a rough view of the topics they’re interested in. But nothing beats having a dedicated space to curate more Goodness, all while being able to easily report on member numbers, issues gaining traction and the social impacts your groups are creating.
Getting started with employee resource group (ERG) software for the workplace
A Better Way to ERG
Whether employee resource groups are still relatively new to your organization or you’ve successfully built a comprehensive ERG program, Benevity Affinity Groups is designed to take your ERGs to the next level. It comes with built-in engagement tools, easy-to-discover groups, CSR integrations, and dedicated spaces for asynchronous discussions, resource sharing and learning.
Affinity Groups comes out of the box with all the infrastructure you’ll need to create thriving online spaces for your ERG members — allowing you to transform your company into a community.
If you’re ready to take your employee resource groups to the next level, book a demo today.