Empowering Employee Resource Group Leaders With Your Internal Community Platform
Employee resource groups (ERGs) can do a lot to create a greater sense of belonging at your organization. But the folks who volunteer to lead these groups may find themselves in need of help when it comes to utilizing perhaps the greatest tool at their disposal: Your internal employee community platform.
As a community strategist within large organizations,\xa0Lori Harrison-Smith\xa0has trained employees to help them get the most out of these platforms.
She has also managed two large migrations, both from Jive, and that has led her to have a (in her words) cynical perspective on the resources made available for these migrations, by both companies and the software vendors themselves.
Lori and Patrick discuss:
- Doing something for an employee vs. showing them how to do it themselves
- How much the ERG leaders she\u2019s worked with have dipped into moderation
- The short timeframes given to internal community migrations
Big Quotes
What\u2019s really driving an internal community migration deadline (22:59):\xa0\u201cWhen [an internal employee community] migration is happening, [companies are often] trying to save some money while they\u2019re at it, and they\u2019ve got this deadline. It\u2019s usually a contract signature that is driving that deadline. There\u2019s never enough time. It\u2019s like, \u2018We need to get off of this because the contract expires in November.\u2019 It\u2019s May when we\u2019re having this conversation because that\u2019s when everybody started looking at the balance sheet.\u201d -Lori Harrison-Smith
Instead of adjustments to their platforms, vendors can push \u201cchange management\u201d (31:52):\xa0\u201cWith the different [internal community] vendors I\u2019ve worked with, I\u2019ve always had great relationships with them. The people have always been great and nice, but there\u2019s just these struggles as a community manager because I\u2019m hearing what the employees are saying. I\u2019m hearing them talk about the pain points they\u2019re experiencing. Then you go back to the vendor, and a lot of it is, \u2018Well, change management. You just got to get them used to this new system.'\u201d -Lori Harrison-Smith
About Lori Harrison-SmithThe downside of big dollar value community software contracts (33:57):\xa0\u201cMaybe [the consolidation in the community software space is] a case for lower-cost platforms and open source solutions that may seem a little harder upfront but ultimately allow you to be a little more nimble internally as opposed to the sunk cost that makes you feel like you\u2019re in a relationship you could never leave because you need to get that money back out of it.\u201d -Patrick O\u2019Keefe
Lori Harrison-Smith\u2019s\xa0career began in advertising, where she worked as a copywriter and editor. She found her real passion, though, when she transitioned to a role where she launched and supported an 8,000-strong employee community. Since 2011, Lori has held community roles within large organizations, leading platform updates and migrations, developing content and engagement programs, advocating for user experience, and guiding and supporting employees around communication and knowledge sharing.
She is currently the collaboration network manager at\xa0VMware, following community roles at Motorola Solutions and Steelcase.
Related Links- Lori Harrison-Smith on LinkedIn
- VMware, where Lori is the collaboration network manager
- Employee Resource Groups Create a Sense of Belonging, Foster Engagement\xa0by Stephen Miller for SHRM
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