In 2018, IFF launched our global employee resource group program which we called Colleague Communities. In our model, each community is sponsored by an Executive Committee member from different areas of the business. Over the last few years, navigating the relationship between the colleague community leaders and their respective sponsors was relatively smooth and engaging. However, since the program’s inception, IFF has had several organizational changes and through these changes we’ve discovered a critical opportunity to elevate executive sponsor impact. It was evident that there was a need for some type of formal guidelines for how a mutually beneficial relationship between the colleague community leaders and their executive sponsor should be established and maintained.

To fill this gap the DE&I Center of Excellence, Colleague Community Leaders, & Executive Sponsors collaborated to design and publish the Colleague Community Executive Sponsorship Guide. The guide covers:

• The Value of Executive Sponsorship
• The 5 Attributes of an Executive Sponsor
• Expectations of the Executive Sponsor

An example copy of the Colleague Community Executive Sponsorship Guide can be found here. At IFF, we have used this guide to assist in recruiting and onboarding new Executive Sponsors because it as an essential resource that helps to establish shared comprehension of the role that these organizational leaders play in supporting, guiding and advising our colleague communities. As questions and situations arise over time, this guide also helps to reaffirm everyone’s understanding of what the role of the executive sponsor is and is not. Having a consistent framework for sponsorship has ensured that each community receives the same basic level of support and engagement from their respective executive sponsor.