Building belonging begins with culture for businesses and people

It is a holiday weekend, as Britains celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee everywhere in the UK, and I was celebrating the Dragon Boat Festival (Duanwu Festival) far away in Taiwan. 

It is interesting to see different events to celebrate these historical cultures. Brits celebrate for the Queen is the first British Monarch to serve the people of the UK for 70 years. At the same time, I watched this celebration news with rice dumplings (Zongzi) that my grandmum made. The food traditionally we eat is because of one reason to memorise the port Quyuan of the ancient state of Chu.

Even people who live in the modern century do not remember the history of these festivals. I have to check Google to hang healthy herbs on the front door and search why Platinum Jubilee is important. But these cultural events give us the feeling of belongings in the same community. 

The meaning of culture.

These remind me of the article What Is the Purpose of Your Purpose? written by Jonathan Knowles, B. Tom Hunsaker, Hannah Grove, and Alison James in Harvard Business Review. The goal is for customers and employees to evaluate the character in society. Also, it should include three intentions:

• Competence – The function that our product serves; 
• Culture – The intent with which we run our business; 
• Cause – The social good to which we aspire.

Choosing the culture is the most effective way to attract talents and gather the internal systems to head toward the same goals. People now are not chasing the money but more the meaning of our lives and careers, especially after chaos like pandemics and wars. We seem to have everything but still feel empty in our minds. 

So we are looking for the purpose behind these actions, from inside ourselves to outside the world. Therefore, the business culture, working conditions, and what products or services can bring to this society are critical for attracting talent, especially the Millenials and Gen Zers. Money is not the only reason for them to make choices. 

On the consumers’ side, when the demands of consumers are saturated, consumer awareness increases. Besides the products and services, people pay more attention to what these businesses can do for the environment, society, humans, animals and maybe the future. The intention behind a company becomes the key to affecting people’s consumption behaviour.

To conclude, people are constantly chasing the meaning and a sense of belonging, and the culture is a crucial way to help us find or build our community. When the world keeps chaotic, we are more eager to see the space for ourselves.