ERGs and staff networks: How to set up and run business groups

Staff groups is an informal term often used to describe networks of people in a workplace who have similar interests, characteristics, and so on. Staff groups can create a supportive environment and tackle isolation and loneliness at work.

The following guide addresses how to work alongside staff groups to enable them to have a feedback loop into the business. The group and the feedback loop are valuable mechanisms of staff enablement and retention.    

There are two main types of staff group:

• An employee resource group (ERG) provides a safe space for people who share a particular characteristic, often connected with equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI). Often ERGs focus on providing a voice for an under-represented group. 
• A staff network is a channel to share interests and/or influence organisational policy.

Practical examples of staff groups could be black and ethnic minority ERGs or a working parents' staff network.