Ideas from other Chezie customers
Written By Toby Egbuna
Last updated 12 months ago
The below section includes some creative ideas to boost ERG engagement and direct employees to Chezie from the people who have done it before → Chezie customers.
Make joining easy
✒️ Case study: Chegg, Greenhouse
Learning about and joining an ERG should be easy and intuitive (that’s part of the reason we made Chezie.)
Here are four places to consider adding your join links:
Employee onboarding presentation
The prime time to get people to join your ERGs is within their first 30 days at the company. Work with your employee onboarding team to make sure that information about your ERGs is included in your onboarding materials. This can be as simple as a slide that lists all of the ERGs and QR codes or links to their individual join links.
Company intranet
While Chezie houses all of your ERG information, your employees probably turn to your intranet first for questions. If you don’t already, you should create a page on your intranet that houses some basic information about your ERGs and directs employees to join them by logging into Chezie.
Some things to include on this page:
Why your ERGs exist
A list of your ERGs and their respective mission statements
Join links for each ERG
Note: you don’t want too much information on this page because it will turn into another thing you have to manage. Simply use this as a redirect to let people know that your ERGs are hosted in Chezie.
DEI Slack Channel (pinned post)
Use the pinned post feature in Slack to stick a message about your ERGs to the top of a relevant Slack channel.
Many companies have general DEI channels that employees are auto-added to. This is a great spot for your pinned post. Here’s how to do it:
From your desktop, hover over the message you'd like to pin.
Click the three dots icon.
Select Pin to channel, or Pin to this conversation in a DM.
Example:
In-office flyers with QR codes
If your company has a solid in-person presence, consider placing flyers for your ERGs where employees can see them. Again, don’t overcomplicate this. Place them in places like the restrooms, the kitchen and the coffeeroom, and by the entrance.
Include QR codes that people can scan with their phones so they can quickly join an ERG from mobile!
Create FOMO (fear of missing out)
One of the best ways to boost membership is to make employees who aren’t members feel as if they are missing out on something by not being an ERG member.
Like everything, there are levels to this.
Level 1 - Gate-keep event invites and informative/engagement emails.
You can gate-keep event invitations and email messages to only people who have joined the ERG. When employees start asking why they didn’t know about the event, you direct them to join the ERG via Chezie so they receive future invites.
To boost this, send summaries and/or feedback from the event in your Slack channels.
Level 2 - Recognize members of your ERGs publicly.
People appreciate being recognized, especially publicly. If you’re able to recognize members of your ERGs in your company’s public forums - such as an all-hands or #general Slack channel - people who aren’t members will see that recognition and understand that by joining, they can be recognized, too.
Market at the Group level, not the program level
Your ERGs are a product. Your job is to sell them to your customers (employees).
The thing is, people don’t buy products; they buy solutions. The problems that your employees are facing vary based on the employee, but the majority of your employees identify with one of the following:
Struggling to network with other employees
Seeking professional development opportunities
Gaining exposure to leadership
Finding volunteer opportunities
Learning about other cultures
If an employee is facing one of these problems, there’s an ERG that can be the solution.
Read that again. There is an ERG (singular, not plural) that can be the solution. People aren’t signing up to participate in your company’s ERG program; they’re signing up to network or access resources as a member of one ERG. Don’t market the entire ERG program. Instead, market your ERGs individually and let members find the ERG (i.e. the solution) that best solves their problems.
How Lattice marketed their ERGs individually
About Lattice
Lattice is an HR software platform that helps companies with an all-in-one solution for performance management, engagement, and an HRIS, sent a company-wide email
How Lattice increased its ERG membership by 13% in 24 hours with one email
Maurice Tuiasosopo Bell, Sr. Director of DEIB at Lattice, wanted to start 2024 off with a reminder to employees to join the company’s ERGs. His plan was to send a company-wide email to all employees to encourage them to join.
This isn’t new. Most companies sent blasts to employees to make them aware of the ERGs. Where Maurice zagged was that rather than telling employees all of the perks of joining Lattice’s ERG program, Maurice opted to include details about each individual ERG in the email so each employee knew that there was a group for them. He shared each ERG’s mission statement and embedded each ERG’s one-click join link into the email so employees could simply click the link and join the group they were most interested in.
Here’s a template that’s based on the email that Maurice sent 👇🏾
<Insert a DEI or HR-related announcement>.
Subject:
DEI Announcement & Join an ERG!
Body:
Hi everyone!
I want to use this opportunity to encourage you to join any of our Employee Resource Groups (ERGs). These are employee-led communities that aim to foster inclusion and belonging for employees from underrepresented and traditionally marginalized backgrounds, with a focus on building community, development opportunities, and cultural celebration. Click on the links below to join any of our ERGs:
API <insert one-click join link as a hyperlink> advocates and fosters a sense of inclusion dedicated to supporting the diverse and multicultural Asian & Pacific Islander employees through community, empowerment, and education.
Families at Lattice help parents and caregivers feel they can bring their whole selves to work as the providers of care for others — whether for a child, a family member, or community member.
ForEach makes a difference by supporting the development of community, personal growth, and continued learning for members of Lattice Engineering with underrepresented genders.
Latinx/é develops a supportive and uplifting network of employees to promote the cultural diversity of the Latinx/é community and aid in the professional development of its members in line with Lattice’s mission of ‘Better Together’.
Obsidian celebrates, amplifies, and supports the professional and personal journeys of the Black community at Lattice. Through community building, storytelling, and collaboration, we strive to create a more inclusive workplace.
PRIDE promotes an affirmation of the unique intersectionality of identities that make up the LGBTQIA+ individuals at Lattice. Through education, professional development, workplace collaboration, mentorship, and community outreach we strive to foster an inclusive environment for our LGBTQIA+ Latticians, allies, and surrounding communities.
Thrive drives inclusive accountability for Latticians to have equal access and opportunity to succeed in the workplace through community engagement, educational awareness, and establishing business best practices rooted in accessibility for all.
Women at Lattice advances the professional development and empowerment of women at Lattice through education, mentorship, and cross-functional connection, with the ultimate goal of building a more inclusive workplace.
Yachad fosters a vibrant and safe community for Jewish people at Lattice by educating individuals curious about the history and values of Judaism and hosting events around Jewish holidays, traditions, and culture