The Power of Employee Involvement Groups

Establishing Employee Involvement Groups is a great way to boost employee engagement in your organization. There are four types of Employee Involvement Groups. These descriptions will help you determine what’s best for your organization.

Culture Committees	DEIA Committees	Business Resource Groups (BRGs)	Change Networks
Employee involvement group that creates culture stories, develops organizational rituals, organizes milestone celebrations, offers guidance on when to recruit for culture fit vs. culture add, and provides feedback to leadership about the organization’s culture	Employee involvement group that makes sure everyone in the organization is valued, respected, and included regardless of background or identity.   This group works on initiatives such as recruiting and retaining diverse talent, promoting equitable policies and practices, and providing DEIA education	Employee involvement group that comes together based on shared characteristics or interests. This group focuses on professional development, mentorship, and community outreach.   Also known as Associate Resource Group (ARG) or Employee Resource Group (ERG). BRGs are not the same thing as a club formed based on common interests (e.g., Kickball Club, Sewing Club, Flag Football Team, Scrapbooking Club, or Holy Book Study Group	Employee involvement group that speaks to how changes impact various organizational stakeholder groups.   This group may communicate changes to teams and/or serve as a liaison to leadership and project teams implementing change.

To launch any of these groups, start with the following steps.

1. Assess your employee population: What makes the most sense for your organization? If your organization is smaller, it’s probably best to launch a Culture Committee or a DEIA Committee. If it’s larger and there are enough groups with shared characteristics and life experiences, you can launch Business Resource Groups and/or Change Networks. Some organizations have both.  

• Define the purpose: Why will this group exist? What do you want to achieve? What values and behaviors do you want to promote?

• Identify members: What are the criteria for membership? How will you select members (voluntary, appointed, or another way)?

• Develop a charter: Purpose and objectives, responsibilities and expectations, success measures, meeting schedule, and communication channels, decision-making, and/or governance model.

• Consider an implementation partner: Diversified Systems offers an array of services to help organizations in this space.

Sherrice Thomas 
Vice President of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Access
SherriceThomas@columbus.org