Flicking the bird at the status quo | Award Winning Rebel🏴☠️| Most Influential Woman in Construction 2024 | Women’s Safety, PPE & Retention Specialist | Speaker | Mining Geologist | Bold as Brass Tribe Founder
Yesterday I spoke to Megan Dodd and the evolving women’s network team at Portakabin about creating a prosperous women’s network for change. Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) are a brilliant way of getting the employees’ sense of your company’s culture across the middle management layer, and as long as they have senior level sponsorship, resources, and aren’t expected to take on the role of an I&D team, they can have a huge impact on locating the sticking points in your business. ERG champions can be the voice and educators that spread the word of change, and ERG chairs the relayer of information from members to senior levels. The groups should be for those who identify, as well as allies and advocates. ERGs can also take the name of ‘network’ or ‘community’. A ‘network’ is a cobweb of people who interact to support one another when it’s needed, like in the Bold as Brass sense of reaching out for help and meeting people who can mentor and teach skills. A ‘community’ is a group of people linked by common experiences who feel a sense of place in the presence of one another. They may share a common goal or vision and members may be diverse in characteristics. I love being part of a community, like my village community - you can’t go out for a walk without bumping into someone who knows you just enough to remember how you were the last time you saw each other (so important when I was on maternity leave during covid time). And our gym community; the sweatiest, honkyest, smiliest group of unlike-minded people who push each other on to achieve, whether they’ve known each other for 20 years or 20 minutes. Being around people united by a common purpose is what gives me a sense of belonging - ERGs, network groups, or communities can help your workforce in this way too. #boldasbrass #network #community #tribe
Was great to meet you Katherine,thank you for your valuable insight and for sharing your experiences. Hope to catch up again soon!
Just love this Katherine Evans. Community is the word I have been using more and more - rather warmer and collegiate and human than network, which can sometimes feel like a lot of scrambling on the corporate ladder. And apart from applying this in the working week, I am involved in trying to buy, renovate and run a community pub and have been amazed by the wealth of professional knowledge, energy and enthusiasm from the whole village. We even got on tv last week. #community #communityassets #workingtogether
Vikram Shetty 💯
7mo
If there’s one thing I’ve learned about building communities, it’s that diversity fosters innovation and growth. Embrace differences to unlock endless possibilities. Katherine Evans
Megan Dodd
6mo
It was great to meet you Katherine! Your experiences were really interesting and I hope to learn more from you!
Ffion Jones
6mo
Absolutely, 18 months after moving I am still building my community and am super aware of how much I need to feel that connection. My husband just joined your gym too and is loving it! ❤️💪
Fiona Connor
7mo
Lynne Hamilton Patrick Murray Whitham pertinent to our upcoming toolbox talk theme collab. 😊
Community Projects Manager
7moI bloody LOVE this - Community is EVERYTHING and your explanation of ERG groups and their worth is SO good. 😍