Strategic ERG Advisory
FinTech
Employee Insight Gathering
Creating the Conditions for Credible Conversations on Race & Ethnicity
How MONY Group partnered with Communicate Inclusively to listen carefully before acting to ensure employee voice shaped every decision.
Case Study
THE CONTEXT
Listening Before Acting
As a large, consumer-facing fintech organisation, MONY Group understands that trust, fairness, and credibility are not only customer imperatives, but they are internal culture issues that directly affect engagement, performance, and retention.
While the organisation already had an established, multi-identity employee resource group (ERG), Represent, leaders recognised that race and ethnicity were not being explored with sufficient depth or psychological safety.
The People Experience team wanted to understand whether a dedicated Race & Ethnicity ERG would better support racially and ethnically diverse colleagues, and how to approach this work in a way that felt authentic, proportionate, and aligned with wider inclusion goals.
The priority was clear: listen carefully before acting, and ensure any future decisions were shaped by employee voice rather than assumption.
THE CHALLENGE
Nuanced Questions Requiring Expert Facilitation
MONY Group faced a set of nuanced leadership questions that required independent, expert support to answer safely and credibly.
1
How do we create space for conversations about race without increasing fear, defensiveness, or fatigue?
2
How do we avoid performative activity while still demonstrating leadership commitment?
3
How do we design ERG structures that feel employee-led, credible, and sustainable, rather than symbolic?
To address these questions, the People Experience team partnered with Communicate Inclusively to deliver expert, independent facilitation that would allow honest insight to surface in a safe and structured way.
OUR APPROACHWe designed a qualitative insight programme rooted in psychological safety, inclusion best practice, and evidence-based facilitation.
A Qualitative Insight Programme
Facilitated Focus Groups
Two facilitated sessions were delivered:
Online session — 6 participants
In-person session — 5 participants
Representation — Colleagues from across the organisation, including HR
EACH SESSION WAS STRUCTURED TO:
Establish trust through clear framing and expectations
Apply Chatham House Rules and inclusive language principles
Encourage candour without placing emotional labour on participants
Insight-Led Design
To complement open discussion, we used Mentimeter to:
Enable anonymous polling on sensitive topics
Surface concerns colleagues might not raise verbally
Assess comfort levels and barriers to engagement
WE ALSO DEVELOPED:
A structured facilitation script
Tailored polling questions
A consistent employee experience across both sessions
WHAT EMPLOYEES TOLD US
Common Barriers and the Need for Change
Polling and discussion revealed common organisational barriers to conversations about race.
Barriers to conversations about race
Fear of saying the wrong thing
Uncertainty about whether race is seen as a legitimate workplace topic
Lack of dedicated, psychologically safe spaces
Discomfort linked to low racial diversity in some teams
What would make a difference
Clear framing and purpose for race-related discussions
Informal, culturally grounded engagement opportunities
Visible and informed senior leadership support
Spaces to learn, reflect, and connect without judgement
While there was strong appetite for a Race & Ethnicity ERG, participants were clear that success would depend on authenticity, representation, and alignment with the organisation's broader inclusion strategy.
RECOMMENDATIONS
A Measured, Trust Building Approach
Rather than recommending an immediate ERG launch, we advised a phased approach built on credibility, co-design, and sustainability.
Build Credibility First
Establish a working group to design culturally sensitive activities linked to South Asian Heritage Month and Black History Month
Use these moments to test engagement, build confidence, and establish shared ownership
Co-design, Don’t Mandate
Develop any future ERG with employees, not for them
Ensure purpose, governance, and expectations are clear from the outset
Anchor Leadership Support
Encourage senior leaders to visibly endorse the work and acknowledge the value of race equity conversations
Avoid over-reliance on marginalised employees to carry the work
Plan For Sustainability
Provide follow-up support to ERG co-chairs
Align ERG activity with People strategy, not standalone initiatives
THE IMPACT
Clear insight. Confident next steps.
As a result of this engagement, MONY Group gained:
Clear, candid insight into employee sentiment on race and ethnicity
Evidence-based guidance to inform future ERG decisions
A low-risk, high-trust pathway for progressing race equity work
Increased employee confidence that the organisation was listening before acting
"Communicate Inclusively’s process was inclusive, thoughtful, and instrumental in shaping our forward DEI priorities."
MONY Group, People Experience Team
Considering A Similar Approach?
We support senior leaders and People teams to navigate sensitive inclusion issues with credibility, care, and clarity.
If your organisation is:
Exploring ERG design or reset
Unsure how to approach race & identity conversations safely
Keen to avoid performative inclusion while still taking action