A large number of companies develop their mission, vision and values as part of their organization’s strategic planning efforts. Unfortunately, many of them fail to achieve a solid return for their efforts. Three reasons for this are: (1) they are unclear about the difference between mission and vision; (2) they fail to engage their employees in developing THEIR mission, vision and values; and (3) they go overboard in making these statements too long.

Vision statements represent a concise word picture of an organization at a future time. Microsoft’s vision, for instance is “a PC in every home running Microsoft software.” Mission statements refer to an organization’s purpose and clarify its niche in the marketplace. Southwest Airline’s mission is that it is “dedicated to the highest quality of customer service delivered with a sense of warmth, friendliness, individual pride, and company spirit.” Values represent the collective principles and ideals that guide the thoughts and actions of the organization. Since these statements are all personal to their respective organizations, it only makes sense that its employees should be involved in their development.

Mission, vision and values statements should be memorable. We learned about one mission statement that was 17 pages long. Granted it was eloquent, but who could remember it.  In working with our clients in the development of their mission, vision and value statements, we always ask them to keep these concise, so that all 3 can fit on the back of a business card.

Do your employees know their company’s mission, vision and core values?

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