Oct 19, 2026 by Andy Rubinson, Executive Director, Pride in Our Workplace
More Than a Day Job
Leading an Employee Resource Group (ERG) can be a very gratifying experience, helping to create an inclusive workplace culture through policies that address everyone’s needs, programming that drives allyship and belonging for traditionally marginalized groups, and a sense that you’re making a meaningful impact.. The work is meaningful, but in most cases, it’s above and beyond our “day jobs.” It can also be challenging to find the necessary resources to do all that you envision. Without the help of others stepping up to share the load, this work can become exhausting. Even with some help, it’s not always adequate to do everything you’re aspiring to accomplish. This work is meaningful enough that you keep saying “yes” to it, but it can also quietly run you down.
For most ERG leaders, the job comes with no extra pay, while there may be a given allocation of paid work hours that may be put toward ERG responsibilities. The reality is that it often leads to after-hours catch-up on the actual job, or doing the ERG work after hours. Along with that comes the identity tax of being the default educator, the internal face of the community for the entire organization, and the emotional support for those who aren’t feeling the connection or encouragement they need. While people can call on their super powers to carry them through for a while, eventually it can all lead to burnout
Importance of Building the Bench
With proper staffing, this doesn’t have to be the case, but the most common reality is that the same one or two people end up carrying the lion’s share of the work involved. It’s hard to delegate, or hand off work to others when there’s nobody there to take the work on. So, not building a bench of people to help support the efforts or having a succession plan, means there’s no release valve and no way to stop without letting people and the mission down. This just further compounds the burnout. ERG leaders know that the members rely on them and don’t want to fail them. In an effort to make others happy, leaders can sometimes take on more than they bargained for and end up feeling completely depleted and burned out.
Organizational Cost
What these ERG leaders are carrying has a cost to the organization, not just them. When an ERG leader burns out and steps back, the organization doesn’t just lose a volunteer, it loses relationships with sponsors, institutional memory of what’s worked and what hasn’t, and momentum that took years to build. That cost is usually invisible until it’s already happened. ERG leaders should not interpret burnout as a weakness or sign they are doing a poor job, it’s a sign that the necessary support infrastructure is not in place. What feels like a personal limit is often an organizational gap.
The Executive Sponsor Imperative
These challenges may not always be obvious to executive sponsors, but it’s important that they’re aware. This is where an ERG leader can seek support, highlighting concerns like:
- Retention risk – What happens if ERG leaders step down or leave the organization entirely?
- Loss of institutional knowledge goes out the door with them if they leave and rebuilding can create a huge setback
- Inconsistent programming when leadership turns over unexpectedly, with a lot of time and effort to try to execute on previously created plans, or having to start over.
- Succession risk – Will anyone be able to pick things up where they’re left. If having no back up contributed to the burnout or departure, then there’s nobody with the necessary insight to be able to take off and run with any in-progress activities and planning.
So what can be done to help prevent burnout and ensure the people doing this work feel their contribution is valued? Much of this requires the support of the executive sponsor, along with organizational leadership. Here are a few things you can suggest to them:
- Protected work hours – time explicitly carved out of someone’s regular workload for ERG duties, sanctioned by their manager, and treated as real work rather than something squeezed in around it.
- Stipend or bonus structure – as mentioned previously, this work is often above and beyond, even when there are a certain number of protected work hours. Providing additional compensation can help properly acknowledge this added work and attract others to step up, who may not have previously.
- Have ERG leadership counted in performance reviews – when looking at an individual’s accomplishments over the year, this contribution should not be overlooked and treated as part of their performance, directly factoring to the bonus and pay equation.
- Establish a co-lead or committee model instead of one person carrying it all – depending on the size of the ERG, having people who can share the responsibilities can have a significant impact. For global or national organizations, this could include regional leaders along with functional leads in areas like finance/budget, marketing, events, policy/HR advocacy, and more.
- Budget for delegation, even something like admin support for logistics can make a difference if there are resources available. Some organizations are lucky enough to have a Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging team with resources that provide support across all of their ERGS.
Making the Ask
The idea of asking for what you need isn’t always easy for many people. Here are a few options to consider for raising your issues:
- Options for taking action:
- Share this post with your executive sponsor and ask for fifteen minutes to talk through it.
- Forward this article to whoever oversees your ERG with a single line: ‘this resonated, can we talk about what support could look like for us?'”
- Bring this to your next check-in and ask directly: what would it take to make this role sustainable?
- Starting the conversation:
- You can simply start by saying something like, “I wanted to flag that the current structure of this role isn’t sustainable long-term, here’s what would help”
The main takeaway is that you can use this article as a starting point for that conversation, with a framing of ideas you can explore with the people who are best equipped to support you to see what’s possible.
What Executive Sponsors Can Do Now
If you’re an executive sponsor who’s found their way here, please be aware of these challenges and check in with your ERG leaders to see how they’re doing and ask if they’re having to deal with them. Some people may not want to raise these issues with you, so being proactive and empathetic can go a long way in helping them open up to you and allow you to offer them support.
Learn more
Hopefully you found this useful. Check out these articles to dive deeper:
- How Employee Resource Groups Can Thrive in Turbulent Times – Harvard Business School, Working Knowledge
- The Minority Tax: Who Really Does DEI Work?