Building meaningful connections and aligning goals to drive growth 

In honor of International Women’s Day 2026, Mercer’s Chicago office hosted a Women’s Networking Fireside Chat. The event brought together Employee Resource Group leaders, HR professionals, and executive sponsors for a focused, practical discussion on maximizing the value of ERGs. The conversation centered on keeping ERGs relevant, impactful, and meaningfully connected to the organizations they support. While the discussion began with women’s networks, the strategies and challenges addressed apply to all ERGs, including LGBTQ+, racial and ethnic diversity, veterans, and caregivers.

The panel featured leaders shaping this work across industries such as professional services, commuter rail operations, and communications technology. Each panelist offered a unique perspective and shared a passion for making a difference for their organizations and ERG members. The panelists included:

• Shelly McAdoo, Director, Org Culture & Employee Engagement/DEI from Metra Commuter Rail
• Alexandra “Alex” Tapak, Manager, Customer Success Team and Co-Chair of Parent and Caregiver Together (PACT) ERG from CCC Intelligent Solutions

A consistent theme was the importance of building a business case for ERGs. These groups are most effective when their goals align with leadership priorities like employee retention, advancement, talent pipelines, and market insight. When this connection is clear, ERGs are no longer optional; they become integral to driving organizational results.

All the examples shared by the panelists had a consistent theme around building a sense of community within their organization and retaining employees. Clear and concise framing like this helps leaders quickly understand impact and makes it easier to secure ongoing sponsorship and resources. Some practical examples shared by the panelists included:

• Supporting mothers returning from maternity leave by helping them reintegrate into work while providing lactation support
• Offering resources to ease new mothers’ transitions between life and work
• For caregivers (as parents and caring for elders) ERGs recommended engaging executive leadership team members for regular dialogue with ERG members around their own experiences as working caregivers, balancing work and family responsibilities.

Shelly McAdoo (Metra) brought a powerful operational example of ERG impact. For years, employees raised concerns about inadequate and non‑compliant lactation spaces across the agency. When Metra’s Women’s Resource Group elevated those concerns, the issue moved from repeated employee feedback to an organizational priority. Partnering with the Medical/FMLA team, the WRG reviewed locations to find existing offices that could be repurposed into compliant lactation rooms and identified sites where a flexible solution was required. Where compliant fixed spaces weren’t feasible, Metra will deploy mobile nursing pods that can be relocated and reused across multiple sites—ensuring employees have safe, private spaces close to their work areas. This practical response, combined with adoption of an agency‑wide Nursing Mothers Policy & Procedure in March 2026, demonstrates how ERGs can amplify employee voices, partner across functions, and convert long‑standing concerns into policy-backed, operational improvements that directly enhance day‑to‑day experience and legal compliance.

Alex Tapak (CCC Intelligent Solutions) shared a complementary strategic approach that embeds ERGs into organizational planning and culture. CCC convenes ERG leadership each fall for an annual Strategic Planning session—bringing together executive sponsors, co-chairs, and committee chairs to reflect on the prior year, celebrate progress, and set clear priorities. Beyond that cadence, ERG leaders meet regularly with members of the Executive Leadership Team to review strategic plan elements, report progress, and ensure alignment with broader priorities. CCC’s PACT (Parents and Caregivers Together) ERG leveraged this sustained engagement by inviting Executive Leadership Team members to serve as panelists in a Leadership Panel focused on caregiving. Leaders shared their personal experiences as working caregivers, which deepened connections between employees and senior leadership and helped normalize caregiving conversations at the top of the organization. This model shows how strategic planning plus ongoing executive engagement positions ERGs as partners in shaping culture and policy—not just community builders.

The key here is to link productivity and reduced turnover to executive leadership teams to demonstrate the value of ERGs. If these networks can help retain top talent and create a supportive culture, productivity improves. Measurement and storytelling were also key topics. ERG leaders stressed turning anecdotal success into clear, consistent evidence. This does not require complex analytics but starts with identifying a few meaningful metrics, tracking them over time, and communicating results in a way that aligns with business priorities. When that shift happens, the conversation with leadership changes.

By the end of the session, the takeaway was clear. ERGs deliver the greatest impact when purpose is paired with discipline. Active sponsorship, clearly defined goals, meaningful connection, and a focused approach to measurement all contribute to stronger outcomes. When done well, ERGs influence talent strategy, support innovation, and strengthen brand, making them an essential part of how organizations grow and compete. Many thanks to our panelists for sharing their stories.