Creating inclusive societies and workplaces where individuals feel accepted, safe and secure is a high-level goal that is now widely recognized by leaders across industries. However, the progress towards achieving this goal has been slow. One in four Black workers in the U.S. still report experiencing discrimination at work; female job applicants in China continue to face blatant gender discrimination; and in many places around the world, significant barriers continue to thwart individuals with disadvantaged identities, including workers with disabilities, those who are LGBTQ+, older in age or of low socio-economic status.

Past approaches to promoting inclusion have predominantly focused on eliminating discrimination. Whereas this approach has brought awareness to discriminatory behaviours, the remedies are often hard to implement, do not directly address inclusion, fail to produce desired outcomes and may even create unintended consequences.

Government policy has sought to address inclusion primarily by focusing on solutions that reduce conflict and divisiveness. Some of the resulting policies have sought to increase diversity through institutional training and affirmative actions that challenge macro-level rules and law. But this approach has had limited receptiveness.

Meanwhile, researchers have focused on eliminating micro-aggressions — small daily transgressions against members of marginalized groups that create harm and reinforce inequality. However, the avoidance of exclusionary behaviours does not necessarily create the experience of inclusion.

As a possible new solution and tool for the inclusion toolkit, we propose widespread engagement in small "micro" behaviours that are low-effort, other-directed and signal affiliative gestures in daily workplace interactions. We call this “micro-affiliation theory,” and in this article, we will introduce its key principles.

Micro-affiliation theory

Micro-behaviours can be defined as “low-intensity, high-yield behaviours directed at others in everyday workplace settings.” Importantly, micro-affiliation is not tied to formal working relationships, and as such, it is not directed by the organization. To be defined as a micro-behaviour, we propose two standards.

Targets for micro-affiliation can be members of any outgroup, including workers of a different race, gender or nationality.

1. Micro-behaviours are not required by regulations or enforced by authorities. If you recently recovered from COVID-19 and a co-worker voluntarily brings you a morning coffee to show he cares, that qualifies as a micro-behaviour. But if you are tasked with bringing coffee each morning to workers, regardless of their circumstances, that would not qualify as such. As another example, receiving an e-mail greeting from a co-worker about your celebration of Diwali qualifies as a micro-behaviour, but receiving such an e-mail from your CEO celebrating the occasion does not.

2. Micro-behaviours do not entail grand gestures. If, after a brief illness, a co-worker tries to show they care for you by treating you to a seven-course French meal, that would not qualify as a micro-behaviour. However, receiving a $10 gift card from a co-worker with warm words congratulating you on the success of a recent project is an example of a micro-behaviour.

Micro-affiliations can manifest at either the individual or group level (the target dimension) and encourage feelings of inclusion in ways motivated by celebrating differences and recognizing similarities (the motive dimension). These two dimensions are summarized in our “target × motive model” of micro-affiliation. Let’s take a closer look at each component of the model.

The target dimension

When micro-affiliation occurs at the interpersonal level, it resembles interactions between two individuals without their social identities being salient. However, at the group level, micro-affiliation entails the social identity of the interaction partner being taken into consideration. Let’s take a closer look at micro-affiliation at the group level.

“Social categorization theory” is the process by which we group individuals based upon social information. The "big three" categories are sex, race and age, but numerous other dimensions are categorized as well, such as social status, occupation and even perceptually ambiguous categories such as sexual orientation. The subsequent categorization of “ingroups” and “outgroups” breeds hostility and differentiation in treatment. Targets for micro-affiliation can be members of any such outgroup, including workers of a different race, gender, nationality, etc. Target groups can also be occupationally defined, including workers from a different team, department, etc.

“Micro-affiliation theory” states that when ingroup members signal acceptance and respect towards an outgroup, it can give rise to feelings of inclusion. This argument is also in line with the “group engagement model,” which asserts that respect by others for one’s group is connected to feelings of self-worth and influences group identification.

For example, a white Canadian administrator may introduce two Japanese workers and encourage them to speak Japanese to get to know each other while the administrator patiently stands by, even though she doesn’t understand Japanese. The two Japanese workers may sense that they, as minority workers, are valued by their white colleague and that their mother language is equally respected as English or French. The social acceptance that micro-affiliation signals indicates that the individual is valued in the workplace, boosting feelings of inclusion.

Four kinds of micro-affiliation

Following are four kinds of micro-affiliation, each representing a different quadrant of the “target x motive model.”

Micro-celebration: This represents group-targeted behaviours that aim to appreciate differences. These actions provide explicit acknowledgment of a different group’s symbolic elements, such as celebrating ethnic or religious minority holidays or Pride Week in the workplace. Micro-celebrations are deliberate expressions of awareness of and appreciation for differences in culture that can help employees in those celebrated groups feel like their identities are acknowledged and appreciated — not just on special occasions, but throughout the year.

Micro-celebration focuses on small gestures on a regular basis that recognize and appreciate that employees hold important identities that are often hidden from view, or neglected because they are a minority group. For example, during Ramadan (in a month of fasting, Muslims refrain from food and drink from dawn to sunset), managers and co-workers can proactively enquire if any special accommodation is needed for a Muslim worker while acknowledging the significance of this event. Other examples include co-workers greeting workers who identify as women on International Women’s Day and saying “Losar Bey Tashi Delek” to those who celebrate Tibetan New Year.

Micro-celebration spotlights groups that are often culturally invisible, incorporating them into the mainstream culture. For example, Native Americans and Uyghur Chinese are not culturally represented in the mainstream culture in the U.S. and China, respectively. Their cultural elements are often appropriated and exploited (e.g. Native American names and images are used as sport mascots). Further, their cultures are often negatively stereotyped, described as violent and needing to be rebuilt (e.g. Uyghur Chinese are interned into re-education camps to be brainwashed by the Chinese government to eliminate their “extremism”).

Micro-celebration can promote visibility for the ‘unseen’ and encourage daily cultural appreciation rather than cultural appropriation through grassroot, collective efforts to recognize the group’s contributions. It may also increase the perceived ‘prototypicality’ of unseen groups for their superordinate group, which is usually represented by members of the dominant group. Therefore, instead of viewing “American” as equal to “white,” micro-celebration may allow members of all ethnic groups to be equally perceived as Americans.

Micro-normalization: This form of micro-affiliation represents group-targeted behaviours with the purpose of recognizing our similarities. It is characterized by behaviours that aim to normalize perceived differences and promote equal treatment across groups. Engaging in micro-normalization decentralizes the dominant group’s standard and validates and equalizes the practices and norms of other groups, and thus promotes similar treatment.

One example is when someone seeks to correctly pronounce people’s names instead of encouraging those people with difficult-to-pronounce names to adopt names that represents the mainstream culture. In the U.S., learning to correctly pronounce an ethnic co-worker’s name, such as Nader Hakim (“Naad-der” rhymes with “ladder,” not “Nay-der,” an Arabic name), signals that their names and associated identities are equally important as mainstream Anglo names.

Other examples could include placing a “positive space” sticker or poster outside of one’s office, adding gender pronouns in e-mail signatures and Zoom account names to normalize non-binary gender identities, or people voluntarily wearing orange shirts on Canada’s National Day for Truth and Reconciliation to promote awareness of the residential school system’s impact on Indigenous communities.

We predict the impact of micro-normalization on inclusion will be greater among people who perceive their group as more inferior. For example, African Americans are normatively perceived as low in status in the U.S. compared to other racial groups. Such perception and associated unfair treatment may threaten their collective self, inciting an identity threat, resulting in disidentification with the ingroup to disassociate with the stigma source and creating barriers for African Americans to identify with the superordinate identity (i.e. American) with other racial groups. To the contrary, we argue that the function of micro-normalization is to signal that such groups are equally valuable in society and deserve to be equally treated and even compensated for past misconduct.

For example, to engage in micro-normalization, non-African American workers may participate in Black Lives Matter protests or advocate for equal pay for Black employees. People could also simply repost an article on supporting equal pay for female athletes in their social media.

We suspect that micro-normalization can greatly reduce identity threat caused by discrimination. It may also build an allyship between members of advantaged and disadvantaged groups and promote the willingness of engaging in social change for both micro-normalization actors and recipients.

Micro-socializing: This individual-directed approach reflects micro-affiliative behaviours that aim to recognize similarities. It involves behaviours where co-workers share enjoyable activities together, outside of the work context. Such behaviours create a shared experience and thus increase interpersonal commonalities via shared reality and memory, creating a common ground for affiliation.

Typically, workers are viewed as cogs in a machine — objects required to reach occupational goals. Micro-socializing indicates that the working relationship can go beyond being instrumental. Micro-socializing brings workers closer, signalling a motivation to include others in one’s social life outside of work and a desire to humanize one’s co-workers.

Micro-normalization can greatly reduce the identity threat caused by discrimination.

Micro-socializing resonates with the communal sharing relationship in which social relationships are built based on common interests, collectivism, group identification and altruism. Examples could include someone being invited to a colleague’s home for dinner or spending time together in off-work leisure activities such as bowling or visiting a farmers’ market on a weekend morning.

Micro-socializing may carry more weight in workplaces with high diversity. Surface-level diversity, such as demographic differences and deep-level diversity, such as differences in perspectives and values, can bring informational benefits to organizations, but differences between individuals may also create barriers and fault lines for mutual understanding. As we have discussed, a healthy workplace will provide a balance between the needs for inclusion and differentiation due to the two parallel fundamental needs: to be similar to others so that they can acquire security and belonging as well as to be unique so that we are positively differentiated.

A workplace with high diversity commonly possesses high levels of distinction but low levels of similarities among its members. Research has shown that intergroup contact increases perceived self-other similarity. Therefore, we believe micro-socializing may increase recognition of similarities while maintaining the distinctiveness between individuals.

Micro-affirmation: The fourth type of micro-affiliation represents individual-directed behaviours that serve to appreciate differences, confirming someone’s distinct contribution and value. In micro-affirmation, the act of affirming one’s unique importance to a group is conducted by others. As an example, you may hear directly or indirectly from others that people on your team see you as a data analytics expert and appreciate your help when they have difficulty building statistical models. You may also hear your colleagues recognizing your input for a project that leads to a successful business deal. Such micro-affirmation suggests that you are needed by the group and are a valuable member of it.

Micro-affirmation is likely more essential for employees in large organizations, where individual contributions can easily go unnoticed, where one’s position can be easily replaced, and where interpersonal connections are mobile and fragile. Such environments can promote a working culture of independence in which people prioritize themselves over others, engage in a free market of relationships, being selective in terms of collective solidarities, and compete for social and financial resources. Such experiences of competition may substantially trigger “belongingness threat,” indicating that one is not always wanted and needed in the environment.

We believe micro-affirmation, though implemented by others, protects self-integrity and defends against the belonging threat by indicating one’s value by co-workers, moving beyond a competitive relationship. Even when people perceived as competitors engage in micro-affirmation, this signals that competitors recognize the merits of and show respect towards the recipient. Therefore, we predict that the impact of micro-affirmation on inclusion will likely be greater in large organizations.

Workplace Implications

In addition to the positive effects on its targets, micro-affiliation also has general impacts on workplace outcomes. Below we propose four workplace implications of our theory.

Employee retention: Successful employee retention is vitally important for every organization’s stability. According to Social Identity Theory, group members seek to maintain a sense of positive distinctiveness about their ingroup. Micro-affiliation would allow recipients’ sense of positive social identity to be achieved or maintained, indicating they are valuable members of the workplace. Therefore, our theory posits that the more an employee experiences micro-affiliation, the lower their intention to leave the organization.

Leadership: Leaders of a superordinate group are usually selected and evaluated according to prototypical characteristics of leadership held by ingroup members. However, according to the ingroup projection model, those characteristics are usually ascribed by features of the dominant group, which means minority group members are less likely to emerge as leaders. By accepting and including more members of marginalized groups, micro-affiliation may correct the overall biased prototypical characteristics of leaderships and turn to include minority group features into leadership prototypes. As a consequence, minority group members may be more likely to apply for and attain leadership.

Organizational citizenship behaviours: Engagement in micro-affiliation reflects endeavours of promoting justice and equity. According to the group engagement model, such behaviours could be perceived as fair treatment by both actors and recipients and increase perceptions of procedural justice in the workplace. Research has found that the more workers experience procedural justice, the more likely they believe their work efforts will fairly lead to positive outcomes, and thus engage in more organizational citizenship behaviours. Our theory predicts that the more an employee enacts or receives micro-affiliation, the more this employee will engage in organizational citizenship behaviours.

Work-life balance: Establishing a healthy work-life balance is essential for every worker’s well-being. For recipients, micro-affiliation affords a secure environment to express their true self, indicating a fit to the environment and thus promoting self-authenticity. When one’s authentic self is protected, it breeds positive emotions and self-compassion, both of which are associated with recovery from stress. For those undertaking micro-affiliation (“actors”), it is a form of pro-social behaviour and promoting the welfare of co-workers. Actors may feel a strengthened sense of meaning, positive mood and happiness, making micro-affiliation a recovery resource for stress. Last but not least, when workplace stress is reduced for an employee, stresses affecting the worker’s family can also be reduced.

“Building back better” has become a mantra for a society that has been profoundly affected by a global pandemic, racial unrest and numerous political and economic crises over the past four years. “Micro-affiliation theory” provides a welcomed breath of positivity in approaching the world’s commitment to becoming a kinder and more caring place.

Our propositions have the potential to significantly advance existing diversity programs and impact future training and employee evaluations. We believe they can fill the gaps where policies and practices have sorely missed the mark in making significant advancements in diversity and inclusion. It is our hope that the whole of society can march towards a higher standard of inclusion through our proposed grassroots approach of practising small acts of affiliation on a regular basis.

*Editor’s Note: Per the authors, "micro-affiliation theory" is a dynamic, evolving theory. This article reflects only one stage of its progression.

This article originally appeared in the Winter 2025 issue of Rotman Management magazine. It has been lightly edited. If you enjoyed this article, consider subscribing to the magazine or to the Rotman Insights Hub bi-weekly newsletter.