Business Resource Group Program Highlights
Our Business Resource Groups have continued their employee engagement and development efforts throughout the COVID-19 pandemic by hosting committee meetings and employee events online. This move to virtual meetings has resulted in allowing more employees from multiple field locations to attend events and regular committee meetings, strengthening ONEOK's employee network of allies from across our locations.
In addition to support, allyship and education specific to events of racial injustice last summer, our 2020 diversity and inclusion programming included a five-week, virtual speaker series to recognize Global Diversity Awareness Month. Topics covered in this series included unconscious bias; a presentation on leadership essentials led by ONEOK Board Member Eduardo Rodriguez and hosted by the Latinx/Hispanic American Resource Group; and a presentation focused on ONEOK's partnerships with Indigenous/Native American tribes, hosted by the Indigenous/Native American Resource Group.
Other examples of training offered by ONEOK's Business Resource Groups in 2020 included:
- Black/African American Resource Group: The year-long Mentoring Circles program provided development opportunities by pairing senior leaders with small groups of employees to discuss topics related to sponsorship, career management, leading from any level and more.
- Black/African American Resource Group: Virtual Learning Table events provided an opportunity to discuss relevant issues facing historically underrepresented minorities while building workplace relationships across racial boundaries.
- Indigenous/Native American Resource Group: In recognition of Native American Heritage Month our INRG issued a four-part weekly newsletter series highlighting numerous aspects of the vast diversity present within the Indigenous/Native American community.
- Latinx/Hispanic American Resource Group: Local Business Resource Group leaders gathered for an intelligence sharing session to discuss best practices and common focus areas to support Latinx/Hispanic American employees and customers.
- Veterans Resource Group: Our Veterans Resource Group hosted a three-part Veterans and Allies Leading Organizational Readiness (VALOR) series focused on military leadership principles for increasing resilience during challenging times.
- Women's Resource Group: Our Women’s Resource Group hosted the Leadership Development Roundtable, a series of six webinars, focused on building leadership development skills. During 2020, the group also launched a four-month pilot program where leaders met in an informal setting to discuss relevant topics and seek mentorship on a peer-to-peer level.