Microcultures as an emerging trend for the future success of companies

There is a lot going on everywhere: at conferences, in articles, in videos, in profiles – topics that are shaking the world: several generations in the workplace, “great man is dead”, diversity and inclusion, sustainability, and many more. Every era brings something new. When you look at these topics, you realize that today’s world is so complex and people’s behavior is driven by various beliefs, values, and norms, that establishing “one dominant culture” in companies for all the people who work there is nearly impossible. Because the world is changing flexibly, so too is the concept of work organization and the way people work. For example, according to the consulting company Dun & Bradstreet, in 2024 a record 91,500 people applied for a business license in the Czech Republic and the highest number of companies was created in the last 6 years, specifically 29,915. I hope this trend does not stop and continues to grow. People want a more flexible work environment with values that align with their own.

Moreover, our studies confirm that employees achieve the highest engagement and satisfaction precisely in environments where the corporate culture reflects their personal values. In the Czech Republic, this is a clan culture based on teamwork, close relationships, a leader with a high degree of emotional intelligence, and a psychologically safe environment with enough flexibility and support for development and growth.

I took a sentence from Sir Attenborough: “Diversity creates stability.” And just as diversity creates resilient and robust ecosystems, it also creates and will continue to create companies with resilient and robust teams. Just go to parts of our republic, and you immediately see how monocultures are dying before our eyes. It only takes a small bark beetle, and what has grown for decades literally goes to the ground in a year.

Similarly, companies that demand order and regulation, one mindset, and Orwellian obedience will begin to die out. Therefore, companies must respond to this and start addressing the principles of microcultures.

What is a microculture and where can I encounter it?

In traditional terms, corporate culture is perceived as a unified set of values, rules, and behaviors that permeate the entire organization. It is a dominant culture that often correlates with national culture. Simply put, coffee is consumed differently in Italy than in the USA. Microcultures have always existed, but they could be processually grasped and managed because the market was stable, global logistics as well, AI did not exist, and there were no monthly paradigm shifts. Business is different from delivery, and even more so from accounting. Innovative teams attract different types than auditors.

Within a single company, there are various microcultures – specific ways of working, communicating, and sharing values in individual teams, departments, or geographical branches.

Advantages of microcultures and positive impacts on business results

Microcultures can bring many advantages to companies if they are managed and supported properly:

1. Higher employee satisfaction because people are “among their own.”

2. Better team performance because we do not wait for the process, but we pursue our goal as a team.

3. Speed in implementing innovations, because we know what the business problems are, understand their causes, and can resolve them quickly.

4. Easier adaptation to changes, because we support each other.

5. Improvement of employer branding, as we talk about our team and the people we have around us.

On the other hand, there are also risks, but they can be prevented.

Although microcultures can be beneficial, they can also bring risks that may lead to a toxic work environment and destructive conflicts between teams. The main risks include:

1. Silo effect – Isolation of individual teams and inadequate communication between departments hinders collaboration and knowledge sharing.

2. Degradation of corporate identity – If microcultures deviate too much from the company’s core values, it can lead to disunity and weaken the overall strategy.

3. Divergent work standards – Uneven implementation of processes across different teams can lead to inconsistencies in performance and efficiency.

4. Conflict and competitiveness – Microcultures that stand in opposition to others can provoke tension, misunderstandings, and toxic conflicts between departments.

5. Excessive autonomy – Without clearly defined boundaries, excessive autonomy can lead to chaotic management and resistance to company-wide initiatives.

At Kogi, we have been working with microcultures for a long time; we just called them subcultures until last year. We expressed their relationship to the dominant culture. Because after defining the strategy and target culture (i.e., the environment) that allows us to achieve the corporate strategy, we always cascade both the strategy and the culture down to individual teams. And we translate it into “the language of their tribe.” Recently, we have been dealing with the opposite problem in companies, which is the dominance of certain microcultures that create toxicity and are the main business problem of future success. The reason is precisely the change in market dynamics and trends and living in “the good old days.” Microcultures have anchored in past successes and are looking for faults outside themselves.

Leadership now faces a great challenge – acquiring the skill to work with this trend, gaining a set of competencies to manage this phenomenon. One of these skills is, of course, the ability to prevent these risks.

And how to do it?

• Set clear rules and shared values – Each team should have freedom, but within a unified corporate framework of values and behaviors.

• Support cross-team collaboration – Organize workshops, employee rotations, and team-building activities to promote collaboration across roles.

• Monitor the atmosphere in the company – Regular feedback and surveys help identify toxic trends before they escalate.

• Educate managers in managing corporate culture – Managers should be able to manage microcultures so that they are beneficial rather than destructive.

• Maintain flexibility, but also structure – Flexibility should go hand in hand with clearly set expectations and responsibilities.

Unfortunately, in the latest study by PWC, I read that only 5% of CEOs in the Czech Republic consider the topic of changing corporate culture to be crucial for the future success of the company they lead. It is disturbing how this key topic is underestimated by Chief Culture Officers, because this cannot be delegated to HR (just like strategy).

If you want to engage with the topic, whether it’s building a successful company through successful microcultures or needing to get a microculture “back on track,” feel free to write to me. I look forward to it.

Filip Černý, Partner Kogi CON