Diversity / Employee Network Groups, Affinity Groups
Kristina
4 Posts
I work with a company in Seattle, Washington, that wants to introduce Employee Network Groups / Affinity groups.
Employee network groups are voluntary, employee-driven groups organized around a shared interest or focus such as race, ethnicity, gender or sexual orientation, i.e., gay & lesbian, working women, Hispanic or African American, etc. Affinity groups are becoming a frequent element in diversity programs, particularly in larger corporations.
Have you worked with such groups, or do you know of anyone else who has? I’m interested in finding out what programs are out there now, and about what works and what doesn’t.
Thanks for your help!
Employee network groups are voluntary, employee-driven groups organized around a shared interest or focus such as race, ethnicity, gender or sexual orientation, i.e., gay & lesbian, working women, Hispanic or African American, etc. Affinity groups are becoming a frequent element in diversity programs, particularly in larger corporations.
Have you worked with such groups, or do you know of anyone else who has? I’m interested in finding out what programs are out there now, and about what works and what doesn’t.
Thanks for your help!
Comments
>employee-driven groups organized around a shared
>interest or focus such as race, ethnicity,
>gender or sexual orientation, i.e., gay &
>lesbian, working women, Hispanic or African
>American, etc. Affinity groups are becoming a
>frequent element in diversity programs,
>particularly in larger corporations.
>
Kristina,
Not to be harsh and maybe these may have their place, but to me the concept reeks with everything we have been trying to avoid for the last several years.
SEGREGATION AND DISCRIMINATION
What's going to happen if you have a "group" of white males whose like interest is motorcycles and a minority female is not allowed to join their group? Or a "group" of females whose interest is in how many shoes they have and some red-blooded all American male can't join them?
This just smells like a whole lot of trouble getting ready to break loose and I would not want to be the one that has to take the complaints and investigate each one.
BTW, what is your role with this company?
And just because the group is based upon a shared affinity, it doesn't necessarily need to be exclusive - we had some white students in the BSU when I was in high school.
Sorry but I had just looked at another post by Pork and thought he had responded to this one so maybe only he or an ole' farm-person might be the only ones to understand this.
As to my role, I'm the company HR generalist, and senior management is interesting in learning more about this.
"Affinity groups are becoming a frequent element in diversity programs, particularly in larger corporations."
I disagree with that statement and wonder where you got that notion. Perhaps from some 'special rights' magazine.
Diversity does not mean that we all become homoginized. I think it means we should recognize and celebrate our differences, not pretend they don't exist.
I have not worked with such groups directly nor do I know of any organizations that have. I did a quick google and found a lot of sites that offer more information on the topic. I do have an opinion though and it closely follows Popeye's. My opinion is: geez, what a mistake for an organization, large or small, to get involved with. On paper or in theory, they sound terrific, but in practice I can only imagine the nightmare they would become. Some pitfalls that come to mind:
If you organize these groups, who will determine what groups can meet? When I was in the military, all faiths had to be represented, except Satanists and a few others - will you too develop a list (and be prepared for challenges to the list)? Also, what happens when Johnny, who's half African American, 1/4 Irish and 1/4 Native American wants to join the Native American Affinity Group, but he doesn't 'look' Native American enough to join? Will HR help determine proper ethnicity for entrance into the group if the other members object to his joining? Another question I have is how does creating these groups affect equal employment opportunities for all? It would seem to me that it would erode the strides employers are making in the work place with policies that say it doesn't matter what your religion, race, creed, national origin, etc. is and now replace that by saying "hey, Rodriquez you look (are) Hispanic, we have a special group at the company for you!" What if Rodriquez doesn't want to belong? What if someone's group is not represented - is that discrimination? What if one group is larger, better organized or, on the negative side, more obnoxious than another - how will it affect the folks, as a whole that belong to the group - positively, negatively? A lot of what-ifs it seems to me.
One last thought, there are so many other ways for employers to increase morale and teamwork (better pay, benefits, tuition assistance, timely and effective reviews, profit sharing, more time off for ee's to spend with families or outside interests) why spend valuable time diverting energies and resources to new programs that could be potentially litigious and have unproven track records? I feel bad now - you asked a question and I came across strident - I'm really sorry about that! Honestly, all of the what-if scenarios flooded my brain all at once! Good luck in your search! x:-)
There is some recently litigation surrounding these ERG's or Affinity Groups, but of course right now I can't remember the case details. But it concerns a large employer that offers these kinds of groups and some kind of religious-affiliated group wants to be recognized as an official corporate ERG, but the employer did not want to do so. I believe the initial court ruling sided with the group, stating that to exclude them was against the premise of Title VII and not discriminating against someone based on their belonging to a specific religion.
Again, I don't remember details and I could be way off in how I described it above,x:-8 but I remember wondering as I read about the case whether the employer would just say "to heck with it" and eliminate all ERG's rather than be forced to recognize one they didn't want to recognize.
Please, xpray anyone else remember reading anything about this?
Oh, and for the record (if anyone caresx:-)), I agree with others who have a problem with establishing these groups to celebrate diversity by separating employees out based on their belonging to a specific protected class. Too close to speaking out of both sides of your mouth.:~~
(sometimes I just go crazy with those emotion icons)
National Guard, can you imagine going to summer guard camp and setting up large tents, Italians in one, European men in another, Short women in another, those with physical handicaps in another, black women in another....and conducting your training sessions that way? And which tent could the homosexual join, assuming he decided to 'ask and tell'?
>which tent could the homosexual join, assuming
>he decided to 'ask and tell'?
If he asked and told, he'd be dismissed from the service, so you wouldn't need to worry about the tent assignment.
>Democrats' and 'Conservative Oregonians' are
>actually placed there as tricks by the Psych
>staff to entice those with split personalities
>and people who are otherwise delusional and
>can't accurately define themselves.
Is this the same group that put up signs for "Liberal Agnostic Republicans" in Mississippi?