Organizations have invested billions of dollars into ERGs over the past several decades, yet many still struggle to answer one critical question: what measurable business value are these groups creating? As budgets tighten and scrutiny increases, ERG leaders face growing pressure to show how their work contributes to growth, customer outcomes, operational performance, and business success. The challenge is no longer whether you have activity. It is whether you have a measurable business impact.
In this episode, I sit down with Sheryl Miller, Founder of Reboot Global and CEO of the ERG Leaders Summit. As a chartered accountant, MBA, and global advisor to organizations seeking to reposition ERGs as business contributors, Sheryl brings an unusually practical, commercial lens to inclusion work and shares examples of how ERGs have influenced products, customers, and measurable business outcomes.
What happens when an ERG stops focusing primarily on awareness events and instead helps shape products, improve customer understanding, or support market growth? Sheryl shares a compelling example from a pension organization in which an interfaith network unexpectedly became a valuable business resource, influencing decisions related to a key customer segment.
We also explore why some organizations are repositioning ERGs as innovation engines by involving them in customer insight, product design, and even Shark Tank-style business challenges. In one case, ideas generated through ERG collaboration contributed to products that became top sellers.
What ERG and Inclusion Leaders Should Consider
- Stop treating ERGs like activity centers and start positioning them as business contributors.
- Look for business problems your ERG is uniquely positioned to help solve.
- Connect ERG efforts to customers, markets, innovation, and execution.
- Start measuring something, even if the metrics are simple at first.
If you are an ERG leader, executive sponsor, or inclusion leader trying to protect relevance and increase impact in today’s environment, this conversation is worth your time. Sheryl shares practical examples, measurable thinking, and a commercial lens that may change how you think about the future of ERGs. The full value is in the discussion, so be sure to listen to the full episode.