How J. Jill is using an ERG to incubate company-wide engagement programs

I often hear advice from HR experts that companies that want to launch a new benefit, workplace policy, or inclusion program should leverage their own employee resource groups (ERGs) to refine the idea, and make sure it will resonate with workers. 

Women’s clothing brand J. Jill, which employed around 3,090 full-time and part-time staffers as of early February, is doing just that. The company is relying on its women leadership ERG as an incubator for a slate of new employee initiatives rolling out to the wider company, including a mentorship program, a fireside chat series, and a project that pairs workers together to promote cross-team camaraderie.  

After a near-bankruptcy in 2020 prompted the retailer to appoint a new CEO and revamp its business strategy, the company also went about changing its work environment, and its employee affinity groups were part of that shift. The fashion retailer’s “Women Leaders” ERG was its first group, launched in March 2022, and currently has 75 members. It meets once a month for an hour, typically in a “lunch and learn” format, and hosts other activities.

“We’re changing how we operate from a product and marketing perspective, but we also have to change how we think about talent [and] future development,” Shelley Liebsch, J. Jill’s chief merchandising officer and executive sponsor of the Women Leaders group, tells Coins2Day. “We all started shifting differently, and I think [ERGs] played into that.”

The group started a mentorship program last year, first pairing 10 members with leaders in different parts of the organization. The company expanded the program to 38 employees at the end of 2023, and plans to roll it out across the organization in the second quarter of 2024. According to Liebsch, mentees are most interested in building confidence in their roles and improving their communication and presentation skills. But she also notes that mentors expressed pleasure in the insight and value they gained from the relationship.

“To take the time out and mentor someone else, who you’re not responsible for and you don’t have professional task-oriented duties to relay, but you can teach them about the industry or about how to approach a difficult situation with their boss, it empowered the mentors,” she says.

The ERG has also piloted several other programs making their way to other parts of the company, including a speakers series, volunteering events, and an engagement initiative called “spotlight pairs,” in which two members are paired randomly and tasked with learning more about each other. Liebsch says the program helps people get to know their coworkers better, and started a “spotlight pairs” initiative with her own team.

“It brings in the personal with the professional. We might learn about what their job is, but we’re learning about their other side as well,” says Liebsch. “I think it’s creating a community for people, a way for people to connect again.”

Paige McGlauflin
[email protected]
@paidion

Today’s edition was curated by Emma Burleigh.

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