AAERG
African American ERG
AetnAbilities
Employees
with Disabilities ERG
AetVets
Veterans ERG
AHERG
Aetna Hispanic ERG
ANative
Aetna Native-American ERG
ANGLE
Aetna ERG of Gay, Lesbian,
Bisexual, Transgender and Ally Employees
AsiaNet
Asian-American ERG
BoomERGroup
Baby Boomers ERG
EnRGY
Generation Y ERG
Families@Work Working families ERG
TCN-ERG Telework Community Network ERG
WERG
Aetna Women’s ERG
X-Factor
Generation X ERG
2010 Diversity Annual Report
Empowered: Leading companies hold Summit to connect and develop their ERG leaders
In October 2010, Aetna joined with two valued customers to share ideas and explore new opportunities in building business success through employee resource groups (ERGs).
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ERG Summit, New York, New York
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“The enthusiasm of all the summit participants gave us a renewed energy and validated our issues and concerns, since we were able to compare notes with our counterparts at both J&J and American Express.” Cindy McConnell, Project Coordinator, BoomERGroup and TCN-ERG Leader, Aetna |
The summit brought together a range of executives and ERG leaders from American Express, Johnson & Johnson and Aetna. The event included more than 240 participants, representing more than 15 employee resource groups.
The all-day event featured workshops in which participants discussed topics ranging from business planning to leading and organizing for sustainable impact to partnering and influencing effectively. Representatives from each company offered real-world examples of how ERGs bring value to the business.
Two panel sessions, one featuring executive leaders and the other featuring chief diversity officers, gave participants a unique opportunity to ask questions and share perspectives. In the executive leaders panel, Kenneth Chenault, chairman and CEO of American Express, Michel Paul, chairman of Johnson & Johnson’s Diabetes Care Franchise, and Ron Williams, then Chairman and CEO of Aetna, share their views on the power of ERGs in shaping corporate policy and business initiatives.
Williams noted that ERGs are key to sustaining Aetna’s core value of employee engagement, and said that ERG members must have the courage to share their ideas. Chenault added that, although not every idea will be accepted, ERG members must be willing to promote “constructive confrontation” to encourage innovative thinking and inspire results.
