Disclaimer – this isn’t a football blog, I promise… not all of it anyway!
So, I support Newcastle United and it’s fair to say this season has taken years off my life. Dramatic? If you’re a football fan, you’ll know exactly what I mean.
One week we’ve looked unstoppable. The next, I’m staring at the television asking questions nobody in the house can answer.
The highs of the Champions League… followed by the lows of the Champions League! Sometimes I genuinely don’t know why I put myself through it.
My son’s starting to take more interest too, which means I’m now trying to explain to him that this is all perfectly normal. Character building is what I tell him… preparing you for future life! Not sure he’s buying it yet. He’s sticking with basketball.
Meanwhile, my daughter still isn’t convinced at all. I suspect she mainly enjoys watching me emotionally unravel from a safe distance.
And my wife? She tolerates it brilliantly. In fact, she’s started joining in. Trying desperately to become more Geordie than me. Throwing in the occasional “ha-way-man” like she’s been born and raised in the toon.
All in all, it’s chaos. Brilliant, purely unpredictable chaos. And I absolutely love it.
But that’s the thing about supporting Newcastle – or any football club really. You don’t truly choose it.
It chooses you.
And once it’s got you, you’re in.
⚫ The ups.
⚪ The downs.
⚫ The hope.
⚪ The frustration.
⚫ The feeling that somehow, despite everything, you still belong there.
Hang on a minute… I think workplaces could learn a lot from that.
Belonging. It’s a Buzzword, Right?
We hear a lot of talk about culture at work. You know the sort of stuff…
▪️ Employee engagement.
▪️ Values.
▪️ Purpose.
▪️ Connection.
Some of it’s brilliant. Some of it’s posters on a wall used to attract people but not necessarily retain them.
And some of it sounds like it’s been written by someone who’s never actually met another human being… let alone worked in your company. But underneath all the policies, posters and Power Points, most people are really asking one simple question: “Do I feel like I belong here?”
Not “do I fit in?” That’s different.
🖤 Belonging is:
▪️ Feeling accepted without pretending to be someone else
▪️ Feeling safe enough to speak up
▪️ Feeling noticed, valued and included
▪️ Feeling like you matter beyond your output
And when people feel that? Everything changes.
📈 Confidence grows.
🤝 Relationships improve.
💡 People contribute more.
🚀 Teams become stronger.
Not because they have to. Because they want to.
Where Businesses Get It Wrong
Here’s the reality though. A lot of organisations talk about belonging…
…but accidentally create environments where people spend most of their time trying to survive instead.
And usually, it starts right at the beginning.
Recruitment processes that feel cold and transactional.
Onboarding experiences that are basically:
“Here’s your laptop. Good luck.”
Extreme? Maybe. But honestly, it happens more than people realise.
Managers too busy to properly welcome people in.
Cultures where people feel they need to “fit the mould” before they can relax.
And then we wonder why people disconnect so quickly. The truth is:
People decide whether they feel they belong far earlier than most organisations realise.
Sometimes within days.
Sometimes within hours.
Recruitment Is the Front Door
I’ve been running a few sessions recently around recruitment, onboarding and workplace culture and one thing keeps coming up again and again:
Belonging doesn’t start after someone joins.
It starts from the very first interaction.
▪️ The first email.
▪️ The first interview.
▪️ The tone.
▪️ The communication.
▪️ The feeling people leave with.
Because recruitment isn’t just about assessing whether someone is right for the business.
They’re assessing you too.
Quietly asking:
Can I be myself here?
Do these people actually care?
Could I see myself belonging in this environment?
And if organisations get that wrong?
No amount of free coffee or values posters fixes it later.
Football Fans Understand This Better Than Most
The funny thing is, football gets belonging instinctively. Especially up here.
Nobody supports Newcastle because it’s easy. And to be fair, the other lot over the river in the red and white shirts have had their fair share of tough times too.
People stay because it becomes part of who you are. Shared experiences create connection.
Even difficult ones.
Actually… especially difficult ones.
And work’s no different really. The strongest workplace cultures aren’t built during the easy periods when everything’s flying.
They’re built:
▪️ during pressure
▪️ during uncertainty
▪️ during change
▪️ during difficult conversations
That’s when people remember how they were treated.
That’s when belonging either grows—or disappears.
Belonging Takes Work
This is the bit people sometimes miss. Belonging isn’t built through one workshop or a nice slogan on the office wall.
It’s built consistently. In small moments.
👋 The welcome people receive.
💬 The conversations managers have.
📈 The opportunities people are given.
🤝 The trust teams build over time.
Piece by piece. A bit like Lego actually. (See? Full circle.)
A Quick Thought to Leave You With…
It’s worth asking:
❓ Do people in your organisation genuinely feel they belong?
❓ Or do they feel like they need to “fit in”?
❓ What does your recruitment process feel like from the other side?
❓ What happens in someone’s first week?
❓ Would people describe your culture the same way leadership does?
Because belonging isn’t soft. It’s foundational.
And the organisations that get it right usually don’t just keep people longer… They get the best out of people too.
Final Thought
Football fans know this already.
You don’t keep turning up because everything’s perfect. You keep turning up because it feels like home.
And when workplaces can create even a fraction of that feeling?
That’s where people—and businesses—really start to thrive.
If belonging, onboarding, recruitment or culture are conversations you’re starting to explore in your organisation, always happy to chat.
Sometimes the smallest changes make the biggest difference.
All together now… Toon Toon 🖤🤍
