The human network: Ameritech, employees can benefit from internal panels

Ameritech is putting a new twist on the old adage that a company's employees are its greatest asset. The company has encouraged its 69,000 employees to form and participate in employee networks grouped around gender, race and sexual orientation-and has even tapped into those networks to help boost productivity and profitability.

"If you have 2000 active members in an employee network, it can be a great opportunity to learn about your organization," said Tim O'Malley, manager of diversity and worklife for Ameritech, addressing participants at the recent Managing Workplace Diversity conference in San Francisco. "It is also a chance to make sure those employees are in line with the goals of the organization."

Ameritech's employees have formed five networks, internally referred to as panels. The four active panels are for African-Americans (2000 members), Latinos (500 members), Filipinos (125 members) and gays, lesbians and bisexuals (200 members). A women's panel is currently inactive because the former leader has moved up in the corporate ranks and and has not been replaced yet.

Ameritech formally recognizes the panels by promoting them in company orientations and soliciting business advice from them. No formal guidelines govern the groups, but each has its own rules and leadership established by the members. Ameritech doesn't fund the employee panels but gives non-monetary support, such as providing meeting space.

When employee panels work directly with a business unit, however, funding is an option. Ameritech's cellular division has worked closely with employee groups to help promote its products and has allocated several thousand dollars in 1998 to joint projects with employee panels.

To help keep communication lines open between an employee group and the company, and to assuage management concerns about employee group agendas, O'Malley suggested getting a an executive-level volunteer sponsor who is not a member of that group. The sponsor should be willing to make at least a two-year commitment to work with the group.

"One of the issues with employee networks is legitimacy," O'Malley said. "The executive sponsor answers that question."

When a company is concerned about employee groups that spend too much time working for themselves and not the company, that is usually an indication that the company has had little communication with them, O'Malley said.

As Ameritech prepares to enter the long-distance game and braces itself for competition for local service, executives have started the Ambassador program, which asks every Ameritech employee to put on a marketing/public relations hat outside the office. The employee networks plan to take the program a step further by targeting large community events with the campaign.

"There's a pride issue with employee networks," O'Malley said. "If you recognize these groups, they can end up working for the company."

Employee networks also are becoming more sophisticated in tracking how they benefit the company, he said.

At Fiesta Del Sol and other Latino festivals in Chicago, for example, Ameritech employees do direct sales for the cellular division-and because Ameritech call centers can track what prompted a new customer to call, employee networks can document the effectiveness of participation in such events.

The bonding and team-building effects-as well as public relations value-that employee groups can have on an entire company can be easily underestimated, O'Malley said. "Even when an employee sees your booth at a community event, it reinforces brand loyalty and internal company pride."

Ameritech will hold an all-network summit in June to continue to foster good relationships between each of the employee networks, O'Malley said. That summit also will be a place where business units will make presentations to clarify and reinforce their goals.

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