Jeanette Torres | Source | Senior Manager, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion at Ferrara

Cross-functional awareness and participation is also critical to the group's operations, Ferrara’s Jeanette Torres said. “When we first founded Hola Unidos, I tried to make sure we had people from different functions, such as sales or procurement, because they can bring vital skills and experiences that help support the group's activities.”

Building successful ERGs is a journey. And remember, said Torres, “You can always start small. Start with education and bringing people along for the journey. Then you can move into more as you grow, such as challenging a process or policy.”

Various groups inside your company may not always have a formal ERG, but that shouldn’t stop you from providing ways to educate, raise awareness of, and celebrate different communities. “At Ferrara,” Torres said, “we created a DEI Impact Team, and they can partner with different BRGs and employees when they want to celebrate something specific or where the core BRG may not translate locally.”

Jeanette Torres, senior manager of DEI at candy company Ferrara and prior co-chair and founder of its Hola Unidos group, agrees reflecting the customer base is critical. To that end, in 2021, Ferrara changed the name from ERGs to Business Resource Groups (BRGs) to reflect the influence of these groups on the business. The BRGs “provide input on marketing campaigns and processes. They really help us to reflect the needs of our diverse customers and our consumers,” Torres said. For example BRGs may, “partner with our brands to create packaging and even products.” In addition to providing the business valuable insights, this is a great way to get employees involved and engaged with the business, the company brand and products in a meaningful way — especially for employees whose day-to-day roles may seem far removed from the customers and business.

While HR may need to make choices to tend to the whole organization, ERGs provide an avenue to focus in on and meet the needs of various, specific populations and influence meaningful change. Ferrara’s BRGs have “been able to influence benefits and make sure they are inclusive,” Torres explained. “For example, benefits for parental leave, those that have suffered loss, are going through a transition, or are entering different phases of life. As well as bringing, directly to leadership solutions and business cases that tackle very real business challenges, such as how to engage and communicate with hourly employees.”