Purpose and Community: People Before Profits

People and businesses are rediscovering a sense of community around the world. Organizations want to work together for a common goal. With so many people wanting to connect, companies whose primary purpose is to bring communities together online and offline are finding success and growth.

Because people have been able to work from home for longer, they have started to wonder if their jobs are worth it and have questioned whether or not their jobs give them purpose. Isolation during this time has made us want to belong even more. Having a purpose and being a part of something go hand in hand. A purpose-driven organization should show its employees that what they do matters to the company and each other. The goal should be for employees to feel like they have a shared purpose and have accomplished their own.

To run a successful business that puts its customers first and makes them feel special, you need integrity and a genuine desire to improve your customers' lives. When you treat your customers like they are part of a community, you build loyal networks that are more valuable than any paid ad. Setting up a sense of community might be easier if helping others and making them happy are the foundations of your customer relationship. People are more likely to interact with companies that are actively highlighting their purpose. Sharing your sense of purpose may be helpful for your business in the long run, but you need to make sure it doesn’t look like a way to sell something. You want your customers to be smiling when they write you a check, because they know the money they spend with your business is doing some good in the world.

When you link your company’s mission to purposes important to your stakeholders, you strengthen your relationships with them and make the company more impactful in their lives. Businesses everywhere are becoming more aware of how powerful it can be to combine their goals for the good of society. When a brand recognizes the value of diversity and inclusion, and includes everyone in the decision-making process, it increases its credibility. It’s helpful to give your own employees a chance to put themselves in the shoes of customers, partners, stakeholders, and colleagues to guide their work as a group.

Whether you share your message online, in person, or both, it is essential to be consistent. To make sure that others understand your point of view, you must say it repeatedly. As customers gather around the values and way of life your brand stands for, the payoff can be significant in the long run. When you give someone a sense of purpose, everything else falls into place. You can only build a great organization by getting people to work together toward a goal that is important to them and to society, especially one that goes beyond the company's daily operations. Employees shine when they have goals and values beyond their daily tasks.

For a business skill to last, it must become part of your company's culture, which you can’t do with just a word document or PowerPoint presentation. Doing good is often the best way to show that you want success. The goal is for your employees to feel like they are working together to reach both business and community goals and that the work is welcome and expected. Likewise, customers who wish to help society should follow the same rule, by spending money with companies that are creating the change they want to see in the world. Having a common goal brings your people together and makes them more committed. It creates a sense of community that helps your organization achieve its mission.