In the advent of the Xerox corporation forming the National Black Employee Caucus, what started off as an effort by the marginalized community to confront racial prejudice in the workplace back in the 1960s, has evolved into what are now called Employee Recourse Groups or ERGs, also barring the name, Infinity groups.

This evolution presents many different ways to identify communities within the workplace that have historically not been distinguished or segmented. We’ve now come to see the value of us all being acknowledged and recognized for who we are, what is unique about each of us and how we are a contribution to the health and welfare of our companies and organizations.

Hi, I’m Byron Darden and welcome to this installment of Leading with Purpose On Purpose. We are going to look at what ERGs are, why they are important to us as individuals and as members of an entity where we want to feel welcomed to participate so we can develop and thrive.

This is especially true of the many immigrants who have come to American soil to seek refuge and opportunity, and in some cases meet their demise. One can say that the American system fails many socially and economically with limited opportunities for some and riches for a select few. And yet, we are living in an unprecedented time when it is no longer incentive enough to just have a job, now the workforce demands to be happy, find fulfillment in order to remain motivated to do our work and engaged by colleagues, managers and leadership.

This puts new pressure on leadership to ensure that employee turnover is kept low, greater appreciation for what are contributing differences in the marketplace by each employee and that engagement is kept high in order for staff to remain inspired to be an asset to the company’s growth and prosperity.

While there is no way to always do right by the workforce, ERGs do offer the possibility of employees gaining the greatest chance to be seen and respected for what they bring to the table.