{"id":59293,"date":"2023-11-03T06:16:22","date_gmt":"2023-11-03T10:16:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/?p=59293"},"modified":"2024-03-28T08:40:55","modified_gmt":"2024-03-28T12:40:55","slug":"microcultures-at-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/microcultures-at-work\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Do Microcultures at Work Matter?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>If culture counts (and we&#8217;ll agree it does!), does a microculture count&#8230; less?<\/p>\n<div class=\"div-minispacer\"><\/div>\n<p>When he\u2019s promoted to a leadership position, Antoine takes charge, determined to prioritize company culture. Having read how a positive culture directly influences employee satisfaction and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/how-leadership-affects-company-culture-and-cx\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">improves customer experience<\/a>, he wants to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/8-ways-to-create-a-culture-your-employees-love\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">create a culture that employees love<\/a>. With good intentions, then, he eyes the microcultures at work with suspicion. But, it turns out, microcultures can help him create a culture of belonging, especially in an increasingly remote and hybrid workforce.<\/p>\n<div class=\"div-spacer\"><\/div>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-59304\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/pexels-fauxels-3182773-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"microcultures at work\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/pexels-fauxels-3182773-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/pexels-fauxels-3182773-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/pexels-fauxels-3182773-768x513.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/pexels-fauxels-3182773-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/pexels-fauxels-3182773-2048x1367.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/pexels-fauxels-3182773-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/pexels-fauxels-3182773-50x33.jpg 50w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"div-spacer\"><\/div>\n<h2>What are microcultures?<\/h2>\n<p>Not to be confused with something a biologist would study in a lab, a microculture in this perspective refers to a specialized group of people. This small, distinct group of people may come together because of shared geography, language, age, religion, or other identifiers.<\/p>\n<div class=\"div-spacer\"><\/div>\n<h2>What are microcultures at work?<\/h2>\n<p>Typically, people think of a microculture at work as a team or department. But, microcultures evolve more organically. Especially today as employees can leverage technology to conveniently connect with others outside their traditional work boundaries.<\/p>\n<div class=\"div-minispacer\"><\/div>\n<p>Individuals also create microcultures around shared job functions, common geography, or similar personal or professional challenges. Microcultures form around identity as well, with people of the same sexuality, race, gender, or lived experience establishing strong relationships with one another.<\/p>\n<div class=\"div-minispacer\"><\/div>\n<p>These groupings can worry some leaders. The opposition comes from concerns that:<\/p>\n<div class=\"div-minispacer\"><\/div>\n<ul>\n<li>Having individuals self-select for microcultures undermines overall company unity.<\/li>\n<li>When people form strong bonds others may <a href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/forbescoachescouncil\/2023\/09\/26\/how-to-build-and-lead-positive-micro-cultures-at-your-business\/?sh=10a82d72b2e7\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">feel excluded<\/a>, which runs counter to the idea of fostering a culture of belonging and inclusion.<\/li>\n<li>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hrmagazine.co.uk\/content\/comment\/micro-cultures-may-be-better-for-wellbeing\/#:~:text=Micro-cultures%20are%20smaller%20pockets,have%20a%20lot%20of%20value\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">presence of microcultures<\/a> is an indicator that a business&#8217;s strategy \u201cisn\u2019t strong enough and is lacking consistency.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Yet, microcultures aren\u2019t necessarily a bad thing at work. It\u2019s a toxic microculture\u00a0that could pose problems.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>But toxicity in any work environment, whether from a microculture or not, is going to be detrimental. An <a href=\"https:\/\/sloanreview.mit.edu\/article\/why-every-leader-needs-to-worry-about-toxic-culture\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">MIT Sloan Management<\/a> Review article cited toxic culture as a driver of the Great Resignation and attributed toxicity in the workforce today to:<\/p>\n<div class=\"div-minispacer\"><\/div>\n<ul>\n<li>Elevated levels of stress, burnout, and mental health issues<\/li>\n<li>Increased physical suffering and sickness<\/li>\n<li>Higher organizational costs (e.g., from higher health benefits and employee turnover)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Still, this is an argument against toxicity, rather than microcultures in particular. In fact, the authors of the Inspirus report argue, \u201cnon-toxic microcultures have many benefits.\u201d Other researchers support this perspective. The next section considers several advantages attributed to microcultures at work.<\/p>\n<div class=\"div-spacer\"><\/div>\n<h2>1. Microcultures foster belonging<\/h2>\n<p>In its <a href=\"https:\/\/fs.hubspotusercontent00.net\/hubfs\/6173605\/Original%20Research%20Report\/Blueboard_StateOfWorkplaceConnection-2022.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">State of Workplace Connection 2022 report<\/a>, Blueboard noted, \u201cConnection is core to our happiness as human beings; it isn\u2019t a periphery factor, it\u2019s essential.\u201d In their survey:<\/p>\n<div class=\"div-minispacer\"><\/div>\n<ul>\n<li>\u201c77% of employees agree[d] that they want to work at an organization where they feel connected to the purpose and the people.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>\u201cNearly 3 in 5 employees surveyed said they would consider leaving their job if they didn\u2019t feel connected at work.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>Just \u201c38% [of employees said] their company is effective at enabling them to build authentic relationships with coworkers and managers.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Meanwhile, being part of a smaller group at work day-to-day allows individuals to connect and build relationships. Connected employees are more likely to feel heard and respected. These employees are, in turn, more likely to take risks, speak up with creative ideas, and do their best work to meet company goals.<\/p>\n<div class=\"div-spacer\"><\/div>\n<h2>2. Microcultures support inclusion<\/h2>\n<div class=\"div-spacer\"><\/div>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-59306\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/pexels-christina-morillo-1181422-1024x684.jpg\" alt=\"microcultures promote DEI\" width=\"1024\" height=\"684\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/pexels-christina-morillo-1181422-1024x684.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/pexels-christina-morillo-1181422-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/pexels-christina-morillo-1181422-768x513.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/pexels-christina-morillo-1181422-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/pexels-christina-morillo-1181422-2048x1367.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/pexels-christina-morillo-1181422-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/pexels-christina-morillo-1181422-50x33.jpg 50w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"div-spacer\"><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/dei-analytics-metrics-to-track\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI)<\/a> is a top priority at many organizations today. Microcultures can support <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/recognition-and-dei\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">DEI initiatives<\/a> as they allow people to feel that their identity is appreciated and recognized by that group at work. As Inspirus\u2019s authors state, \u201cThe broad organizational culture can\u2019t incorporate every employee\u2019s experience and every employee\u2019s difference, but microcultures can, allowing for individual expression broader than the boundaries of a majority culture.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"div-spacer\"><\/div>\n<h2>3. Microcultures facilitate networking<\/h2>\n<p>Microcultures provide opportunities to connect with others, regardless of team affiliation or department geography. Employees drawn together by common experience, values, and behaviors, may develop deeper bonds. This could encourage them to help one another through both formal and informal networking.<\/p>\n<div class=\"div-spacer\"><\/div>\n<h2>4. Microcultures provide support<\/h2>\n<p>With <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bamboohr.com\/resources\/guides\/employee-happiness-h1-2023\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">BambooHR<\/a> suggesting in 2023 that the Great Resignation has been replaced by the \u201cGreat Gloom,\u201d employee unhappiness needs to be addressed. Since the start of 2020, \u201cemployee happiness has steadily declined at a rate of 6%.\u201d In the first six months of 2023 alone, BambooHR saw a 9% decline in employee Net Promoter Scores (eNPS), a 10x faster decline than the previous three years.<\/p>\n<div class=\"div-minispacer\"><\/div>\n<p>However, a microculture can represent a support network at work. Even in hybrid and remote work environments, microcultures can create spaces online for people to discuss what matters to them. This provides a psychological safety that can have a positive impact on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/well-being-without-saying-no\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">employee wellbeing<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div class=\"div-spacer\"><\/div>\n<h2>Leverage microcultures at work<\/h2>\n<p>Leaders, like Antoine, may feel disconnected from microcultures. That can be challenging. Still, amplifying positive microcultures can benefit employee wellbeing, encourage networking, support DEI, and connect employees more closely to their work. Instead of exorcising all microcultures from your work environment, take proactive steps to foster these groupings and support their positive potential influence on your organization.<\/p>\n<div class=\"div-minispacer\"><\/div>\n<p>In the next article in this series, we\u2019ll talk in more detail about how you might encourage microcultures and reap the benefits.<\/p>\n<div class=\"div-minispacer\"><\/div>\n<p>Want to better gauge employee connections with your organization? <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/request-a-demo\/?utm_source=internal&amp;utm_medium=blog&amp;utm_campaign=intext_RAD\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Consult with Sogolytics today<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If culture counts (and we&#8217;ll agree it does!), does a microculture count&#8230; less? When he\u2019s promoted to a leadership position, Antoine takes charge, determined to prioritize company culture. Having read how a positive culture directly influences employee satisfaction and improves customer experience, he wants to create a culture that employees love. With good intentions, then, he eyes the microcultures at work with suspicion. But, it turns out, microcultures can help him create a culture of belonging, especially in an increasingly remote and hybrid workforce. What are microcultures? Not to be confused with something a biologist would study in a lab, a microculture in this perspective refers to a specialized group of people. This small, distinct group of people may come together because of shared geography, language, age, religion, or other identifiers. What are microcultures at work? Typically, people think of a microculture at work as a team or department. But, microcultures evolve more organically. Especially today as employees can leverage technology to conveniently connect with others outside their traditional work boundaries. Individuals also create microcultures around shared job functions, common geography, or similar personal or professional challenges. Microcultures form around identity as well, with people of the same sexuality, race, gender, or lived experience establishing strong relationships with one another. These groupings can worry some leaders. The opposition comes from concerns that: Having individuals self-select for microcultures undermines overall company unity. When people form strong bonds others may feel excluded, which runs counter to the idea of fostering a culture [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":41,"featured_media":5041,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[156],"tags":[239,164,241,661,168,675,1064,477,382],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v19.7.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Why Do Microcultures at Work Matter? - Sogolytics Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Microcultures at work can elevate employee engagement. Here&#039;s everything you need to know about what they are and why they matter!\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/microcultures-at-work\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why Do Microcultures at Work Matter? - Sogolytics Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Microcultures at work can elevate employee engagement. Here&#039;s everything you need to know about what they are and why they matter!\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/microcultures-at-work\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sogolytics Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-11-03T10:16:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-03-28T12:40:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/emp-4.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"487\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"714\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jenn Goddu\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/microcultures-at-work\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/microcultures-at-work\/\",\"name\":\"Why Do Microcultures at Work Matter? - Sogolytics Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2023-11-03T10:16:22+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-03-28T12:40:55+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/e279d58fbb23148c5be4fdcb53b4a454\"},\"description\":\"Microcultures at work can elevate employee engagement. 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