Employee Resource Group Guidance

ERGs can have a wide range of goals, including social support, mentorship, professional development, and/or influencing university policy or practices around a particular area of interest or experience. 

• Define your purpose to establish shared expectations including a mission, vision, and goals or objectives. Ensure that your purpose is achievable with the time and resources you have and relevant to the University and its employees.
• Benchmark other campus groups to ensure the ERG complements rather than competes with groups that already exist. Be sure to consider non-ERGs such as:
  • Affinity Groups which share a similar purpose and membership as ERGs but without a formal relationship with the organization.
  • Commissions which advise the chancellor on specific issues.  (Members are typically appointed or elected.)
  • Professional Organizations which seek to further a particular profession or the individuals in that profession.
• Brainstorm initial activities/events to operationalize the vision of the group.

Your structure includes leadership roles, communication strategies, and meeting practices (e.g., location, regularity, activities). Structure should be guided by purpose. 

• Determine if your structure is loosely connected to existing structures or formally sanctioned by them. A focus on influencing policy or practice may benefit from buy-in and/or formal participation commitments from multiple segments of the university. Social support ERGs may be more loosely connected, merely using existing structures to help share information. Professional development and mentoring ERGs might be somewhere in the middle. 
• Decide if you be formally associated with the university. By formally associating with the university an ERG, the organization can gain access to the following benefits: 
  • University email address 
  • University logo lockup
  • Microsoft Team 
  • Listserv
  • University Events calendar (events.unl.edu)
  • HR website listing (hr.unl.edu/get-involved)
  • University space reservations

It also means that the group must comply with all university regulations and policies, including Article I-30 of the Nebraska Constitution.

• Determine if you will be formally associated with a broader state, national, or international organization. Formally associating with a broader state, national, or international organization may offer benefits such as resources and professional development opportunities. It may also require dues or impose requirements or limitations on your purpose and structure. 

The actions of your ERG are driven by the interests of the group members. Your target membership may be based on identity, common experiences, or shared values. Target membership should align with both your purpose and structure; however, participation must remain open to all employees. 

• Ensure that recruitment efforts comply with any regulations set by formal associations with the university or other organizations. 
• Identify already existing communication structures (both formal and informal) that can help you reach your target membership. 
• Build a member recruitment and retention process to ensure sustained membership over time, including rewards or incentives for membership and/or terms of accountability.

Strong leadership is the foundation of a successful ERG. Effective leadership ensures the group remains aligned with its mission, engages members, and drives impact. Create or maintain your ERG leadership with these recommendations in mind:

• Define necessary leadership roles (e.g., chair, treasurer) and establish a fair and transparent method for selecting leaders.
• Ensure that leadership reflects your membership.
• Build a leadership structure for continuity over time with systems like term limits or success planning.
• Consider how your ERG leaders will collaborate with relevant university leaders

This step is required only if the ERG plans to collect dues, raise funds for events or programs, or conduct other activities that involve money. The ERG needs to create/maintain a plan for managing the financial aspects of the ERG, including:

• Establish an external bank account to house the funds. (The university will not house the funds via a cost object account.)
  • Opening an external bank account for an organization will require an Employer Identification Number (EIN), which can be requested at IRS.gov.
• Process invoices, payments, and other financial transactions.
• View, monitor, reconcile, and track financial transactions; identify and resolve any financial issues or concerns.
• Ensure the financial solvency of the organization.