Do you know your company’s Mission, Vision and Values? Do your staff know? And more importantly, does anyone need to know?
Well it’s a bit like a journey…. If you are going from A to B, you need to have planned the route, get updates for traffic situations and figure out the mode of transport. Then there’s the passengers – do they want to go and are they packed and ready for the journey?
As a Leader of a business, you will know what you are aiming to achieve. As a good Leader, you will have shared this with your team. As a great Leader, you will have involved them and gathered their input.
But what is Mission, Vision and Values? And what about Strategy?
The Mission is the raison d’etre. It is the reason the business exists. Most people within the organisation will have a good grasp of the Mission. But the larger the business becomes, the more difficult it can be to articulate this succinctly.
The Vision is the dream and ultimate goal. It may be considered lofty and unachievable to some, for example, to change the buying habits of a nation; but as the Chinese proverb says, every trek of a 1,000 miles, starts with a single step.
The planning of the route is where the strategy comes in. Just how will you achieve your Vision? What resources will you need? What needs to change? Have you got the right systems in place? Have you got the capacity and know-how?
But what about Values? Who needs them? The values create the culture within the business and inevitably sift down from the top of the organisation. If poor performance is tolerated in one quarter, it will have a knock-on effect across the business. How employees speak to each other and to customers also impacts on colleagues. In this way Values are embedded – however subtly.
How do we find out what our Values are? Well how about you define what Values you want. Discuss them with your teams and get their input. Understanding what your staff value in working for the organisation, and why your customers use you and not the competition is a good place to start. Equally, you might have in mind, an exemplary employee – what behaviours do they exhibit.
Values are the behaviours that will support your organisation in achieving its goals – its Vision.
Once you have an agreed set of Values, it is important to share them with every member of staff and your clients. They should be known and demonstrated by you and your employees. They are demonstrable and hence measurable and should be used in the performance appraisal process.
If you would like to find out how Growth Plans can support you on this journey, then please contact [email protected]
