Employee networks and resource groups create a powerful forum for storytelling, which fosters inclusion and shapes organisational culture. At Nestlé, the world’s largest food and drink company, ERGs play a vital role in driving this impact across all areas of the business, as Global Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Manager Rachel Haynes explains.
Globally, Nestlé efforts are centred in four focus areas within diversity, equity & inclusion: gender balance, people with disabilities, LGBTQI+ community and race & ethnicity. The company has long supported Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) across its markets. These ERGs, which span a wide range of diversity strands, are instrumental in fostering inclusion at Nestlé, and are locally implemented.
“ERGs play a really important part in creating a culture of inclusion at Nestlé”, says Global DE&I Manager Rachel Haynes. “They hold the organisation accountable and provide a larger collective voice for minority groups. They also positively impact business objectives as more diverse and inclusive teams deliver better outcomes.”
How ERGs can help with strategy
Nestlé’s ERGs help the organisation to deliver its DE&I strategy in a number of ways. By providing a safe space for communities, they enable the company to better understand key issues facing minoritised groups. They also bring innovative ideas and cultural change initiatives to the table, which in turn can drive policy changes.
In the UK and Ireland, ERGs have been instrumental in implementing multiple policies such as bank holiday exchange and transgender inclusion policies. They are also a channel for listening and feedback on existing policies that could be more inclusive.
Another example of this can be found in Nestlé’s Disability ERGs, which have helped the company to develop its recently published disability inclusion guidance and toolkit. “Their input gave us confidence that the guidance reflected the needs and aspirations of people with disabilities”, says Rachel. As a member of the ILO Global Business and Disability network, Nestlé is committed to promoting the inclusion of people with disabilities right across its global workforce.
How ERGs can support talent attraction and retention
ERGs at Nestlé increasingly play a key role in helping the business to attract, retain and develop talent. Many markets use ERGs as part of the induction process to encourage new employees to feel welcome to bring their authentic selves to work. And in the UK and Ireland, Nestlé’s Eradicating Racism Network is closely involved in talent attraction initiatives, providing advice to the HR team and featuring in recruitment campaigns.
The ERN has also helped the company to increase the diversity of interviewers for its early career programmes, making the application process more inclusive. Rachel says that this has had a direct impact on recruitment. “Through ERGs making our workplace more diverse, referrals into the organisation are also increasingly diverse.”
As well as attracting a more diverse talent pool, ERGs also play an important role in creating opportunities for their members. “We find that they are an excellent development opportunity for individuals who have historically been underrepresented in leadership positions”, she says.
Nestlé is committed to helping accelerate equality and inclusion for LGBTQI+ people in the workplace – and its ERGs play a vital role in delivering this. From a UK and Ireland perspective, Proud@Nestlé is focused on impact at a local level. As well as hosting the biggest Pride Month ever, with activities that engaged allies and LGBQI+ people, the network encouraged Nestlé to march in local community Pride parades in places such as York, Crawley and Dublin instead of the traditional large parades. Having previously invited a drag queen to perform, they also consciously chose a drag king, to shine a light on the diversity of drag performances and challenge perceptions.
Why intersectional working matters
Proud@Nestlé is achieving great things through intersectional working, by collaborating with other employee networks such as the Gender Equity Network to create educational communications. The network also helps Nestlé to meet its goal of prioritising diversity and inclusion in its supplier selection “We find that they are an excellent development opportunity for individuals who have historically been underrepresented in leadership positions.”
Summarising the impact of ERGs at Nestle, Rachel says that they play a process. Nestlé is proud that all of the suppliers used during Pride Month were with LGBTQI+ owned businesses through a partnership with OutBritain, ensuring that the spend is putting economic power into the hands of the LGBTQI+ community powerful role in driving meaningful culture change across the business, from the grassroots up.
“Our ERGs all do amazing work which is tailored to their local environment. They shine light on important topics, normalise talking about sometimes very sensitive topics, and advocate for meaningful change in a challenging, but constructive way. The storytelling which is central to how they operate gives access to what it’s like to be someone else which drives empathy and understanding”
Radius is the global leader in employee network and resource group development. The 2025 Radius Global ERG Impact Report shines a light on the impact ERGs are making for businesses all over the world.
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