Workforce and culture · Intermediate

Employee Resource Groups and Affinity Spaces

Support State of Minnesota employee resource groups fairly: open membership, fair sponsorship, protected time and realistic privacy, without turning members into unpaid staff.

About 48 minutes, plus optional practice · 4 lessons · Voluntary learning

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Course outline

What ERGs and affinity spaces are in state service
Describe the purpose and three guiding principles of State of Minnesota enterprise employee resource groups.
12 minutes
Sponsorship without extracting unpaid labor
Describe the roles of executive sponsor, champion and chair in an enterprise ERG.
12 minutes
How supervisors support time and recognition
Explain the bylaws' provisions on paid work time, supervisor discretion and approval for leadership roles.
12 minutes
Confidentiality, data and boundaries
Explain why ERG participation can involve sensitive personal information.
12 minutes

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What you’ll be able to do

Explore and practice

Describe the purpose and three guiding principles of State of Minnesota enterprise employee resource groups.
Describe the roles of executive sponsor, champion and chair in an enterprise ERG.
Explain the bylaws' provisions on paid work time, supervisor discretion and approval for leadership roles.
Explain why ERG participation can involve sensitive personal information.

What you can take into your work

Explain the distinction tested in each knowledge check.
Compare the responses to each fictional case and the reasons behind them.
Complete the course job aid for a situation you choose.

If you take part in an ERG or any employee group, propose a short note-taking norm: record decisions and themes, not personal stories or names attached to them. If you supervise, remind yourself not to ask staff about their ERG membership.

Employee Resource Groups and Affinity Spaces: practice guide

A reusable guide for a situation you choose

Support State of Minnesota employee resource groups fairly: open membership, fair sponsorship, protected time and realistic privacy, without turning members into unpaid staff.

Use observable details rather than assigning motives.
Invite perspectives without requiring personal disclosure.
Keep learning separate from individual assessment or personnel decisions.

Supervisor checklist for ERG requests

Confirm the activity is within the ERG's purpose.
Allow paid time within the normal schedule unless workload truly prevents it.
Apply the same standard to every ERG and every employee.
Plan coverage instead of denying by default.
Approve leadership roles thoughtfully and offer, not require, recognition in development plans.
Never ask staff which groups they belong to.

Before asking an ERG for help

Ask the chair how the group wants to receive requests.
State scope, time needed and deadline.
Make participation clearly optional.
Coordinate recognized work time with participants' supervisors.
Credit contributors if they want to be named.
Use formal engagement or consultation for service decisions.

Privacy and routing

Take notes on decisions and themes, not personal stories.
Say plainly that group norms cannot promise legal confidentiality.
Route harassment and discrimination concerns to HR or EOAD.
Route pay and working-conditions concerns to the union and labor relations.
Ask the agency data practices contact when unsure.

Try the guide and revisit it

If you take part in an ERG or any employee group, propose a short note-taking norm: record decisions and themes, not personal stories or names attached to them. If you supervise, remind yourself not to ask staff about their ERG membership.
What would you want to know about privacy before sharing something personal in a group at work? How could your team or group make that clearer?

Participation and course completion in this program do not count toward DHS-required training credits unless management, a director, or DHS leadership expressly approves an exception.

Sources and further reading

Minnesota Management and Budget — State of Minnesota ERGs
Supports the purpose and three principles of enterprise ERGs, the minimum meeting frequency and the list of groups at the time of review. The list and application status change, so check the current page.
Minnesota Management and Budget — Enterprise Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) Guidelines
Supports open membership including allies, leadership roles and the rule that ERGs may not be used for bargaining, grievances or labor disputes.
Minnesota Management and Budget — Enterprise ERG Bylaws (revised 2023)
Supports provisions on paid work time, supervisor discretion for workload, supervisor approval for leadership roles and the sponsor, champion and chair roles.
Minnesota Management and Budget — Join an ERG
Supports the guidance to consult a supervisor about participation and the treatment of activities outside normal hours. Specific pay questions go to HR.
Minnesota Management and Budget — Retention (Executive Order 19-15 resources)
Supports the suggestion that leadership meet regularly with an ERG for employees with disabilities to inform workplace decisions. Page contents confirmed by direct retrieval.
Minnesota Statutes section 13.03 — Access to Government Data
Supports the presumption that government data are public unless classified otherwise. Classification of specific data should be confirmed with the agency data practices contact.

All research and sources across the program

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Course outline

What ERGs and affinity spaces are in state service

Describe the purpose and three guiding principles of State of Minnesota enterprise employee resource groups.

12 minutes

Sponsorship without extracting unpaid labor

Describe the roles of executive sponsor, champion and chair in an enterprise ERG.

12 minutes

How supervisors support time and recognition

Explain the bylaws' provisions on paid work time, supervisor discretion and approval for leadership roles.

12 minutes

Confidentiality, data and boundaries

Explain why ERG participation can involve sensitive personal information.

12 minutes

Sources and further reading

Minnesota Management and Budget — State of Minnesota ERGs

Supports the purpose and three principles of enterprise ERGs, the minimum meeting frequency and the list of groups at the time of review. The list and application status change, so check the current page.

Minnesota Management and Budget — Enterprise Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) Guidelines

Supports open membership including allies, leadership roles and the rule that ERGs may not be used for bargaining, grievances or labor disputes.

Minnesota Management and Budget — Enterprise ERG Bylaws (revised 2023)

Supports provisions on paid work time, supervisor discretion for workload, supervisor approval for leadership roles and the sponsor, champion and chair roles.

Minnesota Management and Budget — Join an ERG

Supports the guidance to consult a supervisor about participation and the treatment of activities outside normal hours. Specific pay questions go to HR.

Minnesota Management and Budget — Retention (Executive Order 19-15 resources)

Supports the suggestion that leadership meet regularly with an ERG for employees with disabilities to inform workplace decisions. Page contents confirmed by direct retrieval.

Minnesota Statutes section 13.03 — Access to Government Data

Supports the presumption that government data are public unless classified otherwise. Classification of specific data should be confirmed with the agency data practices contact.