Mary Currier: It's a voluntary, employee-led group, typically based upon a demographic, such as gender, ethnicity or in our case women. An ERG should foster a diverse and inclusive work environment, as well as help in recruiting and retention of diverse talent. It operates within a structure that is governed by a charter, but driven by the needs of the group.
What is the value of an ERG to the company?
Currier: An ERG benefits its members and the organization through employee and leadership development, as well as networking and mentoring, engagement and contribution, recruiting, and community support.
What is your mission in detail?
Currier: We formulated the following purposes:
- Networking and personal growth opportunities for members
- Professional growth and relationship building with a focus on work-life balance
- Retention of female employees at Allianz Life
- Mentoring and coaching opportunities for members
- Recruiting resource for women at Allianz Life
- A forum for idea generation and feedback
- Education and dialogue between women and men around the challenges that women face in the workplace
- Education on the value of women in leadership
- Guidance for leaders on how to lead women
- Distribution strategies targeted for female consumers of Allianz Life products
What was your time frame from the first talks to the announcement and the first ERG meeting?
Currier: We began the dialog in November 2010, and then we formalized our ideas and kicked it off. We announced our Women's ERG meeting in January and on February 9th we had our first meeting.
That's very quick…
Currier: Yes, it all worked really well and fast. And even though we did not have that much time after the announcement to invite everybody to the first meeting we were so pleased to have 60 people attending our first meeting!
Were there also any men? You do emphasize on the fact that the ERG is for everybody…
Currier: There was one man – but we expect more to join us. We really want to be inclusive.
What was the result of your first meeting?
Currier: We are planning a number of activities for this year. We want to set up networking events to discuss topics, such as "Finance and Planning", and "Work-Life Balance".. We plan to bring companies from across Minneapolis together to discuss these topics. We are discussing organizing a fashion show for women – where women can donate suits for women, to make it easier for others to adapt a professional, business style. We want to bring in speakers, who have written books about leadership and work-life balance. And we want to discuss top trends of the next years including retirement planning and baby boomers. We have collected great ideas from our members and will create a calendar for this year.
What is your personal opinion about the Women's ERG?
Currier: I'm excited to be leading the first ERG of Allianz. We are going to move forward to develop and coach women to be great leaders, to make them shine. Having the opportunity to provide a way to help women connect across the organization and within the community, will make it easy for us to publicly promote that Allianz is a great place to work.
