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Listen to this articleBy Jailene Adorno
If there’s anyone who knows a thing or two about employee resource groups (ERGs) and how to utilize them best, it’s Dr. Robert Rodriguez, President of DRR Advisors. DRR Advisors is a management and diversity consulting firm that focuses on employee resource groups and diversity and inclusion planning.
Prior to DRR Advisors, Dr. Rodriguez worked in Human Resources and held several leadership roles at nonprofit and Corporate America organizations. He soon began specializing in talent management, succession planning, and executive development.
“In that work, I often noticed that there was a lack of female and minority employee representation,” said Dr. Rodriguez. “This lead me to look at the underlying issues involved in the lack of diverse representation in senior management.”
Dr. Rodriguez started DRR Advisors in 2012 and since that time has worked with numerous companies to transform their employee resource groups. Some of his clients include the TJX Companies, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, Facebook, JetBlue, NBCUniversal, and many others.
According to Dr. Rodriguez, ERGs have become essential, because they’ve helped companies connect with diverse communities and elevate a sense of cultural competency within their organizations.
“Today, ERGs are essential in helping to develop top talent. [They’ve also become] a resource to help drive business initiatives,” he said. “This gives ERGs a much more holistic value proposition to a company.”
In order to ensure that companies are receiving the best results from their ERGs, Dr. Rodriguez came up with the 4C Model, which provides a consistent framework for companies to follow. The 4C Model has provided structure for several different companies’ ERGs, as it takes into account: Career, Community, Commerce, and Culture.
“The 4C Model is quickly becoming the standard framework for ERGs in Corporate America,” says Dr. Rodriguez.
It is Dr. Rodriguez’s belief that the 4C Model, along with the implementation of Metrics-that-Matter can be useful in measuring the success of ERGs, as well as their impact on an organization.
