DiversityInc - Spring 2012

 “Candidates are solicited from senior leadership and from the talent-management data. A slate of candidates is created from the names, and the program office partners with the senior HR leadership and executive office to place advisers (two per ERG) and, in turn, the advisers place a president from the available slate of candidates.”

Leadership Training/Talent Development
Most of the companies surveyed ( 67 percent) and most
of the companies in the DiversityInc Top 50 we’ve
interviewed offer leadership-training opportunities
for leaders of employee-resource groups. Only 33
percent of them have metrics to assess the value of the
training, usually in the form of participant surveys. For
the great majority, these trainings are held annually.
The amount spent on these trainings correlates with
the size of the organization, ranging annually from
$2,000 to $150,000 (for a summit). Those summits/
forums are held by some of the larger organizations for
their employee-resource-group leaders with specific
workshops/topics, including business planning,
communications, navigating organizational complexity,
building allies, engaging leadership, time management,
leadership styles, team building, motivating volunteers,
company goals and objectives, cultural competence, and
accountability.

Leadership Terms How long should individuals hold leadership positions in employee-resource groups? Our survey respondents overwhelmingly favored two-year terms, but a handful also had one- or three-year terms. Two companies said they allow the employee-resource groups to set their terms, and they vary from group to group, but most organizations standardized this throughout the company’s groups. Only 22 percent allow people to serve as the leader of more than one group simultaneously. Most organizations allowed people to serve two terms, although some put no limits on how many terms a person could serve as leader.

Executive Sponsorship

The role of the executive sponsor in keeping the group focused on business goals (recruitment, retention, pro- motion, engagement, community building, customer relations and supplier diversity) is critical. The execu- tive sponsor is the liaison between the group and senior management and, when at all possible, should be of a different demographic group than the employee-resource group’s constituency.

Selection Process

Most organizations rely on their diversity departments with input from human resources to select their executive sponsors, who usually are members of the top three levels of the organization. Diversity departments emphasize but usually don’t insist on cross-cultural sponsors. Here are some best practices reported by the companies:

 “Executive sponsors are recruited by the Global Diversity and Inclusion Office, and we target someone who is vice president–level and above. We also target someone who is a different affinity than the group they represent.”

 “Our Executive Champions are typically senior executives who serve on the Executive Personnel Committee (our CEO and his direct reports). We look at a variety of factors including: ERG interest in the prospective sponsor, sponsor personal interest, and affiliation with her/his organization (e.g., large number of constituents within the sponsor’s organization).”

 “Executive sponsors are required to be senior vice presidents of the company. Sponsors are required to be directors or above. After this, we look at a number of factors in talent planning/selection including

89% * Train in Advance * Identify Business Opportunities for ERGs
56% * Fund the ERGs Themselves
EXECUTIVE SPONSORS

personal connections and past experiences. We use sponsorships not only for their expertise in leading but also as developmental experiences for those sponsors.”