Mayo Employee Resource Groups

Mayo Clinic, our diversity is part of what makes us unique. Professionals with diverse talents, backgrounds and beliefs brought together to deliver exemplary patient care. And while many quickly identify with the Mayo community professionally, others struggle to make that same connection. It's normal to feel lonely or it's normal to not know where to go. Due to language, culture and a lot of differences, when the new people come here, they will have a lot of difficulties; sometimes very frustrating. Mayo Employee Resource Groups or MERGs are designed to facilitate their members' orientation and integration into Mayo Clinic and the surrounding community. These groups create a space for folks to connect and share, identify points of pain, and then identify solutions. A lot of members feel this is very good and they are all very grateful to have this group like we have our platform to voice or to seek help. When you go, they make you feel so at home, especially for people like myself who came to Arizona and you know, you don't necessarily have family here. I do see some great opportunities from a professional standpoint. Everyone is invited to everything, no matter what culture or group that you are designated to. So, it's taking the opportunity to connect individuals to get the sense of belonging, being a part of the organization, which I have found made a difference and made the difference for me. But the benefits that the Mayo Employee Resource Groups offer individuals go far beyond a sense of belonging. They are designed to help support, stimulate, and engage employees in order to promote professional growth within the organization. The benefits for being a member of the employee resource groups include professional development, coaching, mentoring, visibility to senior leadership, structured activity for networking, community outreach opportunities. These groups also provide a conduit to help identify and facilitate solutions to cultural barriers. We worked with the Chinese networking group known today as the Chinese MERG group to identify what their needs were and was able to meet their needs by providing a benefit university class specifically for that group. Mayo Employee Resource Groups not only benefit employees, but they serve Mayo from a strategic standpoint as well. A lot of information shows that the happier we are, the better that we work, the more productive we are, the more engaged we are in what we do. This spills over very quickly and very easily and has direct impact and influence into patient care. Hopefully as employees grow they will tell their friends about working at Mayo, tell them Mayo is a great place to be and hopefully enhance our recruitment of very, very talented people into the organization. Mayo provides these groups with multiple levels of support. First and foremost, tactical support. When we want to execute an activity or program, we can provide that in terms of people, we can provide that financially. Also key to these groups is to change from in the past is an executive sponsor. This is someone who acts as an advocate for the groups. They also serve as someone who can eliminate barriers, can help them navigate the course as they try to execute what they're planning. Whether you are new to Mayo Clinic or want to shape a more culturally inclusive environment, make a difference by getting involved in a Mayo Employee Resource Group. For more information, visit the Office of Diversity and Inclusion on the intranet, or call us. Do you want to be involved? Do you want to be engaged? Do you want to make a difference? If you're interested in any of those things, in having a successful career here at Mayo personally, individually and having a greater sense of community, then you need to join Mayo Employee Resource Groups.