Increasing diversity, awareness, and inclusion in corporate culture: investigating communities of practice and resource groups among employees

摘要

Numbers of ERGs within organizations are increasing, and organizations are seeing benefits to their creation and support. ERGs can act as communities to provide support, networking, and mentoring. They can offer learning and development opportunities, formal and informal, both for the individuals and the wider organization. They can increase cognizance of diversity issues in the organization, and they can also provide corporate cultural information to the individual employees. They can help human resource (HR) departments create an inclusive workforce. Although in terms of quantitative data (recruitment and retention) ERGs would show little impact, their qualitative benefits in terms of reducing biased or stereotypical thinking, increasing integration, and improving cultural and professional knowledge and awareness are huge.