This Media Executive Just Solved One Of The Biggest Challenges With Diversity Programs
In far too many companies, diversity is barely more than a slogan, a few social media posts, or worse, a cringe-worthy attempt to monetize a marginalized group's pain. Without excusing toxic cultures or insensitive marketing ploys, it’s sometimes understandable why executives are hesitant to do much with diversity initiatives. The chances are high that an executive team attempting to spearhead a diversity effort might say or do something thoughtless or even hurtful. And that, somewhat understandably, can create a hesitancy to do anything at all.
But there is a solution, and it's not only less fraught but it's also far more empathic. Karen Gray is Executive Vice President, Human Resources for A+E Networks Group, and her use of employee resource groups is a brilliant approach for elevating diversity, equity and inclusion.
If you're not familiar, employee resource groups (sometimes known as affinity groups) are employee volunteer-led forums that bring people together based on shared cultural or identity common interests, or allyship.
In a recent conversation, Karen Gray told me, "When I started at A+E Networks in 2019, a group of people in our Los Angeles office came to me and asked if they could start a Pride employee resource group. I said yes, and that was our first group. We now have several more groups, including Black @ A+E Networks; Women; Asian Community Excellence; Familia; Prime Timers and Open Minds (mental health)."
The Substance Of These Employee Resource Groups
As impressive as that list of groups is, however, the numbers barely scratch the surface of their importance and influence. The real power of these groups comes from their engagement and ability to drive meaningful conversations and change.
"All credit to our President and Chairman, Paul Buccieri, who is deeply committed to DEI and empowered his team to infuse DEI across every aspect of our business. Among the many incredible initiatives, we have created these wonderful forums for employees to gather so people can share and discuss their similar experiences,” says Gray. “But just as importantly, the employee resource groups organize events and trainings to share their knowledge with the company. These forums are not just self-referential; these groups provide brilliant teaching."
And the sessions the groups provide are legitimate and substantive events. As Gray told me, "We treat these groups the same way that we treat any other group in the organization. Because the lesson here is that this is as serious as any other business point. This is not a situation where we have the real business, and then there's a nice little diversity thing off to the side. This is a business issue, like anything else.”
Indeed, President & Chairman of A+E Networks Group Paul Buccieri has prioritized DEI as the through line across all aspects of the business. Buccieri explained, “From the content we create, to the talent with whom we work to the vendors that help us source equipment, it is critical to us from a human perspective to constantly ensure that our business reflects our global community.” He continued, “ERGs in particular are an incredible feature of our employee culture - giving support, voice and action to issues that matter most – and a valuable gauge to align our business values.”
Huge Learning Opportunities For Group Members
The employee resource groups at A+E Networks also provide a tremendous learning opportunity for the leaders and members of those groups. For example, as Gray notes, "Each employee resource group is part of the budgeting process; We work out the budget, and these groups appear along with everything else in the human resources budget. And then, once the budgets are approved, each group has a budget, and they get to manage to that budget. These groups provide opportunities for leadership growth. People who might not otherwise have the opportunity to be in charge of a budget gain the skillset in learning how to deal with one. They're getting great career enhancement by working on these groups."
Parenthetically, a Leadership IQ study revealed that employees who are always learning new things are literally ten times more likely to give their best effort at work. Not only do the employee resource groups help with diversity, they're also helping to drive the company's employee engagement.
A Great Source Of Information For Executives
The employee resource groups are not just good for employees, they're also a fount of information for executives. "These are places where I can touch base and get deep insight into our employees' state of mind," says Gray. "For instance, with the horrific racially-motivated shooting in Buffalo, I can talk to the groups and ask them to reach out to their members to find out how they're feeling, whether there's anything else they're looking for the company to do to support them. The same applies to the violence against Asian Americans, and so on. These groups have been incredible on any number of issues."
Employee Resource Groups Are Incredibly Powerful, If You Listen To Them
Hopefully, the power of employee resource groups is evident. While this isn't always easy for some executives to hear, we often don't fully hear our employees' concerns. In a Leadership IQ study on discrimination in the workplace, for example, we discovered that only 29% of employees say that management at their organization always listens to employee concerns about discrimination without blame or defensiveness. But four-in-ten white men feel that management always listens to concerns about discrimination while only one-in-ten Black women feel similarly.
With employee resource groups, however, we're removing ourselves from being the center of attention and instead centering the voices and experiences of employees. Karen Gray is as qualified as anyone I've met to sit at the center of diversity conversations—she's a Black woman, attorney, and lauded HR executive—and yet even she elevates employee voices through the resource groups.
The proof shows up in the business success of A+E Networks Group, their record-breaking employee engagement scores, and their diversity statistics. The overall A+E Networks population is 52.6% Female, 46.9% Male, and 0.4% Non-Binary. And the population is 66% White and 34% BIPOC. Even at the Vice President level and above, the population is 51.4% Female, 47.8% Male, and 0.9% Non-Binary; and 81% White and 19% BIPOC. Those are numbers that many organizations would love to achieve.
