Revisit Your Mission: Strengthen Corporate Culture and Better Serve Your Employees and Clients

"Change is the only constant. Hanging on is the only sin." - Denise McCluggage

Change is something that we naturally resist and yet is a very important part of any organization. Your business has been and always will be changing. Any company in high tech over the last couple decades has experienced many cycles and shifts in the market - from the Dot Com to the Dot Bomb to the 2007 Recession. You've probably seen the highest highs and the lowest lows. As your company has thrived or survived, there has ideally been a deepening of purpose. Your organization has doubtlessly made efforts to embrace and reflect this change, reviewing your mission statement should be one of your first priorities.

MISSION VALLEY

Corporate culture is incredibly important; it builds your brand and infuses your employees with the company goals. As you look around the office today, it may be that there is lively music, the office may be aglow, some people may be dressed for afternoon workouts or maybe they are in business casual, the sun is shining in, hopefully you have an energy flowing and people are excited to be at work. Or perhaps there is less enthusiasm and purpose these days. Either way, it remains important to ask yourself "What do we stand for?" "Is it the same core that we started with?" This is obviously a question that requires input from multiple sources.

Every so often, perhaps every five years, it is time to review the main company goals and revise where necessary. Revisit the mission statement and make sure that it's applicable to your organizational goals today and into the future. The mission statement directly affects the corporate culture so it is important to go back to this basic and make sure it is right; everything is connected and must fit together.

This process is something that I look forward to. It's a chance to connect on a visionary level with members of the team. It's a place where the company can unite and focus efforts. It is an opportunity to build the internal brand by better defining the corporate culture, it is an opportunity to get everyone excited about and enlisted in the vision and mission.

It's common to get stumped on how to move forward when you're reviewing your mission statement. You may already have a beautifully written one, why would you change? One of the reasons to make a change is that you want a mission statement that each and every employee can focus on and move enthusiastically towards every day.

Here are some reasons to revisit your mission and some quick steps to take if you choose to make a change.

- Is your statement simple?

- Can your employees remember it?

- Does it give your team a focus?

- Is your statement motivating?

- Is this statement representing who you are internally? and

- Is it answering how you represent your organization externally to your clients?

There's a story that my teacher once told that exemplifies this point on simplicity and on the value of having a goal people can remember and maintain focus on while doing day-to-day activities:

There were two men working, when a tourist approached and asked what they were doing. The first man replied "I am working on squaring a stone". When she asked the second man the same question his reply was "I am building a cathedral". The first man is a good worker who understands/is focused on his task; however, the second man understands how his task affects the greater goal.

Take a look at your statement. Does it represent who you are as an organization today and where you are headed? What about your office culture? Does it reflect your values and what you deem important? If not, maybe you need a little fine-tuning.

There are a lot of different ways to do this. Start out with some simple, albeit profound, questions like:

- Why are we here?

- What do we stand for?

- What are 2-3 words that explain why our organization is on the planet?

- What beliefs guide our work?

Taking time to have members of your organization answer these questions and then comparing their answers with the actual statement is an easy way to see if you're on course. It may be that nothing needs to be changed in the actual statement. Maybe it's reintroducing or highlighting the importance of your mission to your organization.

This process of revision or reinvention will help you have a pulse on what motivates your employees and reinforce an open trusting relationship. The mission statement provides the foundation upon which corporate culture is built: The stronger the mission statement; the stronger the culture. The stronger the culture; the stronger the buy-in from employees. The stronger the buy-in from employees; the lower the turn-over. And of course, strong buy-in and low turn-over means higher productivity; this is the platform for providing a superior service or product to your clients.

Revisit Your Mission: Strengthen Corporate Culture and Better Serve Your Employees and Clients

MISSION VALLEY