During a Forté Partner Advisory Council conversation about early career talent, someone said something that stuck with me: “It can really feel as though failure isn’t an option.” I ended up writing about what that means for people starting their careers. If mistakes feel costlier than they used to, when exactly are you supposed to be bad at something?
And now I keep coming back to the question from the other side.
Organizations say they want employees who are willing to learn, who know how to adapt when things change, and who are willing to stretch and take on something they haven’t done before. You can’t do any of those things without occasionally getting something wrong.
But, do employees believe that they’re allowed to get something wrong? This feels like a question worth asking your ERG. Because there’s the official version of failure at work, and then there’s the version employees experience.
The official version says mistakes are opportunities to learn. Take smart risks. Ask questions. Experiment.
The experienced version may be different. Maybe you’ve watched someone make a mistake in a meeting and noticed how people reacted, in the moment and in the weeks after. Maybe you’ve learned that asking for help can be read as not being ready. Maybe you’ve been told you need to be more confident, so volunteering for something you aren’t sure you can do now feels especially risky.
Nobody ever says, “Don’t get this wrong.” They don’t have to.
Of course, not everyone makes the same calculation about what’s safe to try. Someone who already feels established might say, “I’ve never done this before, but I’ll give it a shot.” Someone still building her credibility may hear the same opportunity and think, “I can’t afford to mess this up.”
Same opportunity. Different math.
That’s where ERGs come in.
ERGs are built for community and connection. That’s what makes them one of the few places where people might say how the workplace actually feels.
So use that. Have an honest conversation with your members, or send a short anonymous survey, and skip the broad question about whether the company supports learning and risk-taking. Ask something more specific:
Where at work do you feel like you can’t afford to get something wrong?
If answering for themselves feels like too much, let people answer about “people here.” They’ll often tell you the same thing either way.
The answers could tell you quite a bit.
Maybe junior employees stay quiet in meetings rather than ask a question everyone else seems to know the answer to. Maybe people turn down stretch assignments because being seen struggling feels riskier than sticking with work they already know they can do. Maybe people hesitate to apply for another role because they worry about upsetting their manager.
But I think the question does something for the person answering it, too.
Most of us never say these calculations out loud. We just make them. And a calculation you’ve never said out loud is one you’ve never had the chance to check.
Once it’s in the room, you can start to check the calculation. Maybe it’s based on something you’ve repeatedly seen happen. Maybe it traces back to one meeting you watched two years ago. Maybe other people see the same risk you do, or maybe they don’t.
For ERG leaders, the work is noticing patterns. One person’s hesitation is a story. The same hesitation from ten people is a signal. And that signal is worth bringing to your executive sponsor or HR partner, without names, as something the organization may want to look at more closely.
An ERG probably can’t solve those problems on its own. But it can surface them.
That distinction matters. The goal isn’t to make the ERG the one place where people are allowed to experiment, struggle, or admit they don’t know something. It’s to use what you hear there to understand what may be happening everywhere else.
Organizations can tell people to take risks. They can say failure is part of learning. They can encourage people to stretch.
But employees are watching what actually happens when someone does.
If you want people to try things they might struggle with, it may be worth finding out where they believe they’re allowed to.