A well-established LGBT+ ERG in a multinational organization wanted help to increase engagement with the network and improve working relationships with key internal stakeholders to help drive LGBT+ inclusion

The Challenge

Based within the company’s French office, the Pride ERG felt they were not making the impact that they wanted when it came to promoting LGBT+ inclusion at the organization.

The key challenges they faced included:

  • Lack of active representation from the whole LGBT+ community with an absence of engagement with the group from women, those within a younger demographic, or those who identity as trans or part of the +
  • Lack of engagement from allies and other potential supporters within the organization
  • Lack of clarity on the real issues facing a diverse range of LGBT+ employees at the organization to create a case for action
  • Challenging relationships with key stakeholders for the group including the HR function

Although there was a strong appetite to change the approach, there was a lack of certainty on how to make this transition in a way which would address the challenges and provide the network with a clear plan and mission for the future.

The Solutions

We adapted our RADAR benchmarking tool to make it LGBT+ specific and collect vital data on the opinions of LGBT+ employees when it comes to their experience of LGBT+ inclusion at the company and the issues which are most important to them when it comes to taking action. Alongside this we conducted focus groups within the wider organization to understand perceptions of the Pride ERG and provide feedback on how the network could more effectively engage with employees.

Having delivered our findings within a report with priority recommendations for action, we then helped the Pride ERG to create their renewed strategy for increasing engagement with key groups as well as building mutually productive relationships with other ERGs within the business.

We also spent further time on how to best manage their key relationship with HR so they can work together in driving LGBT+ and wider inclusion at the organization. Bringing our knowledge from working with many different ERGs across many different sectors, we were able to provide best practice on how an ERG should operate internally and how they may be able to best bring their strengths to supporting the wider strategy for D&I.