Leverage the Data You Have Over the Data You Don't

<p class="lead">Most ERG leaders are stuck waiting on HR to give them demographic data, retention data, and promotion data that they'll probably never see. Meanwhile, the data you already have — sitting in your event RSVPs, surveys, and Slack channels — is more than enough to make smarter decisions today.</p>

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<h2>Data you already have (and aren't using)</h2> <ul> <li>Event signups and attendance over time</li> <li>Member surveys (even informal ones)</li> <li>Volunteer signups and follow-through</li> <li>Slack / Teams channel engagement</li> <li>Member stories and qualitative feedback</li> <li>Programming themes that drew crowds vs flopped</li> </ul> <h2>Use it to answer real questions</h2> <p>Is engagement growing or shrinking? Which programming actually retains members? Where are members dropping off? These are decisions you can make today without waiting on HR data.</p> <h2>Then go ask for the rest</h2> <p>Once you're using what you have, the ask for HRIS data becomes much easier — because you can show what you'll do with it. See <a href="/blog/data-collection-dashboards-101-for-ergs">data collection and dashboards 101</a>, <a href="/blog/how-to-visualize-erg-data-for-free">how to visualize ERG data for free</a>, and <a href="/blog/ranking-erg-metrics-tier-list">the ERG metrics tier list</a>.</p> <p>Related: <a href="/blog/watch-this-before-selecting-your-erg-metrics">selecting ERG metrics</a>, <a href="/blog/what-not-to-measure-in-ergs">what not to measure in ERGs</a>, <a href="/blog/how-to-5x-erg-survey-responses">how to 5x ERG survey responses</a>, <a href="/blog/erg-program-manager-business-impact">ERG program manager business impact</a>, <a href="/blog/best-practices-for-employee-resource-groups">best practices for ERGs</a>.</p>