Why your employees want to know your mission statement
How do your employees know why they do the things that do?
How do you know why your employees do the things that they do?
Are you giving them a good direction about where you want their work to take the business?
Employees join a company to use their skills in a valuable way. But there are always plenty of companies for them to choose from, they do not HAVE to come work for you. Why do they choose to come to work for you?
Because of the journey you will go on together.
That journey is explained in your mission statement.
The promise you make
More than a description, a mission statement is a promise.
Mission Statements explain a company’s purpose. In one sentence, a mission statement will summarise how that business creates and sustains value.
This includes what problem the business solves, what culture it promotes, and how it serves its audience and target markets.
In other words: the promise of what the company does for its clients, for its employees, and its owners.
Where you want to arrive
Make the promise of this journey to your employees.
You are saying to them: “This is where we are, this is where we want to arrive. Will you come on this journey with us?” Get the buy-in from your employees, and you are building a dedicated team.
The Harvard Business Review reports that 37% of employees surveyed did not know their companies’ priorities. If your employees don’t know what you want to achieve, how can they help you achieve it? If they don’t know where you want the business to go, how will they get you there?
How you want to get there
“Where” is half of the story. It is not enough to arrive: you want to arrive in the correct conditions.
How is your business represented, and how is your business known?
This is all determined through your guiding principles.
A good mission statement gives this guidance to employees. It says “we are headed in this direction, and we want to get there through these behaviors”.
Make a promise, receive a promise
Name the ideal employee, the most perfect addition to your team you could imagine.
Now explain the traits that make them so valuable to your business.
Why are these traits important? How are these traits exhibited?
Go out and find that person and show them the promise of your mission statement. Then ask for a promise in return: what is their personal mission statement and how will they contribute to the journey you are on?
Now you have a partnership with your employees.
Ready to finalize your promise to your employees?
Contact me to learn about my $3500 Happy Employees consulting package.