Employee communities are fueled by their volunteer leaders – colleagues from across levels and functions who come together around the shared purpose of building belonging. This grassroots work is deeply meaningful, and balancing these responsibilities in addition to busy “day jobs” requires a team of committed, collaborative, and innovative leaders to achieve. This guide offers best practices and recommendations for structuring leadership roles and responsibilities for a successful employee community. Remember that every organization is different, and these roles, duties, and structures may vary based on your team’s size, goals, geographic makeup, reach, and other factors. 

Best practices:

• Strive for visible and invisible diversity within your leadership team. This can include dimensions such as identity, lived experience, geographic location, age, tenure, seniority, and many others. Although employee communities often center on a shared identity, there are always additional layers of diversity and intersectionality to be celebrated and represented.
• Communicate regularly to keep each other apprised of progress and roadblocks, and build connections as a team. Consistent check-ins don’t always have to be meetings if they can be conducted asynchronously, just be sure you’re staying in touch and aligned.
• Assess your capacity when taking on additional responsibilities. The amount of time and energy you’re able to dedicate to this work may fluctuate, so don’t hesitate to ask for support when things are busy in your functional role or at home. Work-life balance is critical for all of us to prioritize, especially as employee community leaders. 

‍

Roles and responsibilities:

• Executive Sponsor
  Employee communities often operate as microcosms of the organization, and like any enterprise-wide initiative, strong support from senior leaders is required for success. Executive Sponsors help guide leaders develop goals and strategies, connect them with stakeholders and resources, and can leverage their influence to amplify the team’s voice and work. This person often plays an advisory role and may not be as involved in the operations and execution.
  
  ‍Skills required: significant career experience, senior-level influence
  Opportunities: experience in mentorship and advocacy
  Time commitment: About 1 hour per week, or 4-5 hours per month
  ‍
• ‍Chair or Co-Chairs
  Every employee community needs a main point of contact – they may be called Chairperson, Chair, Lead, Head of, or any title that aligns with your organization’s language. These are highly visible representatives who may be tasked with attending critical meetings, sending company-wide communications, collaborating with key cross-functional stakeholders, or speaking publicly on behalf of the community. When possible or relevant, we recommend two Co-Chairs share the responsibility, as it can be one of the more demanding leadership positions. 
  
  Skills required: relationship building, public speaking
  Opportunities: leadership presence, organizational influence
  Time commitment: About 1-2 hours per week, or 4-8 hours per month
  ‍
• ‍Secretary/Project Manager
  A dedicated person to capture notes and share information is a key pillar of organization within leadership teams. These leaders maintain central sources of truth that can include meeting agendas and minutes, notes from brainstorming and planning sessions, and important follow-ups. In some cases, it can make sense for the Secretary to take on project management tasks to keep the leadership team informed and on track.
  
  ‍Skills required: clear written communication, attention to detail and organization
  Opportunities: information management, project management
  Time commitment: About 1 hour every other week, or 2-3 hours per month
  ‍
• ‍Treasurer/Bookkeeper
  Some communities operate with a clearly defined budget, while others lobby for resources on an as-needed basis. In either case, it’s crucial to have one central point of contact for managing budget requests, reconciliation, and tracking. This work often requires close collaboration with stakeholders from your company’s finance, accounting, HR, or DEI departments, and may include formal audit or review processes.
  
  Skills required: organized and detail-oriented, proficiency in Microsoft Excel, Google sheets, or other data tracking software
  Opportunities: experience managing large budgets and expenses, cross-functional collaboration
  Time commitment: About 1 hour every other week, or 2-3 hours per month
  ‍

• ‍Events Lead
  Impactful events are a cornerstone of employee communities and can be a powerful tool for engagement. Your community might host social events, educational panels, volunteer opportunities, or other spaces for connection and education. The leader in this role may rotate based on the type or format of the event, time zone, whether it’s virtual or in-person, or other logistical factors, however, each event should have a designated point person to ensure its success.
  
  Skills required: project management, problem-solving
  Opportunities: event coordination, volunteer management
  Time commitment: About 1 hour every other week, or 2-3 hours per month
  ‍
• ‍Communications Lead/Mindr Liaison
  This leader is responsible for content and communications including Calls to Action, calendar invitations, presentation decks, and more. They will often be working within the Mindr Connect platform, so it’s helpful for them to also be the main liaison between the community and Mindr team. This person will review and publish content, share knowledge and updates about the platform with the rest of the leaders and community, and attend calls with the Mindr team. This opportunity may be appealing to those who like to be involved in critical “behind-the-scenes” operations work.
  
  ‍This leader may also be responsible for data and reporting. Some employee communities may follow a traditional OKR or KPI model for goal-setting, while others will set and track goals a bit differently. Regardless of the process your team uses, Mindr Connect can be leveraged to collect data around engagement, satisfaction, event attendance, and more. It’s helpful to have one person tracking, analyzing, and reporting on these metrics to communicate the impact, value, and return on investment of employee communities.
  
  Skills required: written communication, attention to detail
  Opportunities: partnership with internal and external stakeholders, information management
  Time commitment: About 1-2 hour per week, or 4-8 hours per month

‍

Additional considerations:
Many of the roles outlined here can be combined or expanded based on the size, skills, and needs of your leadership team. In addition, subcommittees often form within employee communities to tackle specific tasks, pillars, or projects. You might consider developing subcommittees related to philanthropy and volunteer service, professional development and talent, policy and advocacy, or other initiatives. Each of these subcommittees will need a lead, which may be additional responsibilities of the titles listed above or distinct roles. me commitments may fluctuate based on the goals of the employee community, and can be higher or lower than the estimates here. This is especially true if a community is planning to celebrate dedicated holidays or months, or participating in other large-scale projects.

Additional stakeholders:
Employee communities may also receive support from key stakeholders within your organization’s DEI, HR, ESG, or Culture teams. These relationships are critical for engaging cross-functional colleagues, aligning with existing initiatives, integrating into related workstreams, and developing cohesion with business strategy.

‍

Find more resources on building belonging at work here, and check out the first enterprise SaaS ecosystem for building belonging at work, Mindr Connect.