Establishment of formal Employee Resource Groups (ERGs)

Challenge

Tennant Company is a global company, with 4,300 employees which span North America, APAC, EMEA, and LATAM which bring differing needs and experiences related to DE&I.  Given the unique identities of our employees, we saw an opportunity to develop avenues to hear their perspective and foster a greater sense of belonging. 

Actions

One of the ways Tennant Company addressed this opportunity is through the implementation of formal Employee Resource Groups (ERGs).  In 2022, we developed and launched an ERG framework and guidelines for interested employees to establish ERGs around different identities.  Each ERG has an executive sponsor and is approved by our CEO and our SVP, Chief Administrative Officer.

Our ERGs provide an avenue for the voices and experiences of our employees to be heard to help us evolve our processes, practices, and strategies. In addition, these groups provide a sense of community, a safe place for people to share, and have a sense of belonging to help build a more inclusive and diverse community.

Outcomes

Tennant Company has two Employee Resource Groups (ERGs), both were operating informally and have now been approved as formal ERGs with corresponding leadership support.    

  • TEAL (Teach, Empower, Advocate, Lead) whose mission is creating a safe space for engagement, collaboration, education, and inspiring discussions for the empowerment of women at Tennant Company. 
  • IDEAS (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Support) whose mission is promoting diversity and fostering inclusivity across all backgrounds. 

Both ERGs are active within our organization hosting regular meetings and maintaining an internal collaboration site.  ERGs facilitate discussion forums on key topics, identify speakers, share research and knowledge pertaining to their ERG’s focus.

We believe our number of ERGs will continue to grow over time.

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