How to create and manage clusters

This article explains how to create and manage custom organisational hierarchies using Clusters in ThriveSparrow.

Understanding clusters and groups

What is a cluster?

A cluster represents a type of organisational structure in your company.

Examples of clusters:

• Division
• Location
• Cost Center
  Each cluster defines how employees are grouped.

What is a group?

A group is a specific unit inside a cluster.

Examples:

• Engineering
• Sales 
• Design

Step 1: Creating a cluster 

1. From the People Directory, click the Clusters tab.
2. Click Create Cluster.

3. Enter the Cluster name (for example, Division).
4. Enter the Group Head Title (for example, Director).
5. Save the cluster.

Step 2: Create groups within a cluster

1. Click on an existing Cluster.
2. You’ll see a list of existing groups, their group heads, and member count.
3. Click Create New.
4. Enter the Group name.
5. Select one or more Group Heads.
6. Click Save.

Example:

• Cluster: Division
• Group: Engineering Division
• Group head: Justin (Director)

Multiple group heads can be added to the same group.

Step 3: Add members to a group

1. Open a Group inside a cluster.
2. Click Add Members.
3. Select employees to add to the group.

Members can also be added later via:

• Bulk CSV upload
• Individual employee profile updates
• HRIS sync through integrations

Add members using bulk CSV upload

You can update group membership for multiple employees using a CSV file from the People Directory.

CSV formatting rules for clusters:

• Each cluster appears as a separate column in the CSV.
• The column header must exactly match the cluster name created in ThriveSparrow (for example, Division).
• Under the cluster column, enter the group name or names the employee belongs to.
  Examples:
• If an employee belongs to one group, enter the group name directly (for example, Engineering).
• If an employee belongs to multiple groups under the same cluster, enter the group names as a list using square brackets.

Example: ["Engineering", "Research & Development"]

Note:

• Osaka\, Japan - represents a single group named Osaka, Japan
• Osaka, Japan - represents two groups named Osaka and Japan
• If a group name contains quotation marks, escape them using double quotation marks (for example, Engineering ""A"").
• Leaving the cluster column empty will not remove the employee’s existing group values.
  
  Note: Groups must be created in the platform before uploading the CSV. Group creation is not supported via CSV.

Rules for group membership

• An employee can belong to multiple groups within the same cluster.
• An employee can belong to multiple clusters.
• A group can have multiple group heads.
• A group head does not appear in group data unless they are also added as a member.

Updating a single employee’s groups

1. Go to People Directory.
2. Open an employee profile.
3. Click the Edit icon.
4. Select groups under each cluster using multi-select fields.
5. Save changes.

Editing clusters

1. From People Directory → Clusters, locate the cluster.
2. Click the pencil icon next to the cluster.

3. Select Edit.
4. Update the Cluster name or Group Head Title.
5. Save changes.

Editing groups

You can edit a group in two ways:

From the cluster view

1. Open the Cluster.
2. Click the edit icon next to a group.

3. Edit the Group name or Group heads.

4. Save changes.

From inside the group

1. Open the Group.
2. Access the group settings from the member list.
3. Make changes and save.