Does Every Company Need a Mission Statement?
Can you guess the names of these successful companies based on their mission statements?
To be Earth's most customer-centric company.
To give everyone the power to create and share ideas and information instantly without barriers.
To give people the power to build community and bring the world closer together.
Mission statements like the ones displayed above (Amazon, Twitter, and Facebook) effectively summarize each company's values and goals.
Why are Mission Statements Important?
A mission statement concisely explains the organization's purpose and overall intention. It supports the morals of a company and is a way to communicate purpose and direction to employees, customers, and other stakeholders.
Mission statements are important because not only do they define the primary objectives of a company, but they also encourage employees to think about how their actions will impact company success and positive company culture. Companies have mission statements to unify the efforts of all employees toward a long-term goal.
Elements of a Good Mission Statement
When writing a mission statement, it is important that all questions and answers point directly to it in a concise and compelling way. A mission statement’s meaning should be clear and unambiguous, typically one to three sentences long. It’s ideal to use common language rather than buzzwords to ensure that the statement is easy to understand.
A good mission statement has a few distinct characteristics. Here are five elements to consider when creating a mission statement:
Purpose of the organization: A strong mission statement helps employees see meaning and purpose by giving them distinct explanations as to why their work benefits a larger company initiative. They clearly define company goals, allow employees to dismiss any distractions by only focusing on what is important to the company, and provide a clear vision for success. Be sure always to state the intentions, beliefs, and morals when creating a mission statement for your business.
Target audience: When you're building a mission statement, you need to know who your target audience is in order to gain the attention you desire. Your mission statement sends a message to a large community, which is why this message must be catered to your core audience.
Identifying your audience (which might include employees, customers, stakeholders, and/or the community) allows you to focus both on marketing tactics and on those that are most likely to buy or engage in business with you. By openly expressing the target audience, you are also generating business leads in an efficient, affordable, and time-saving manner.
Values and principles: Your company values and principles set the tone for your customer interactions, and how you market your products are what determines the growth and direction of the business. When creating a mission statement, talk to the team about which values will resonate most with your target audience, what qualities you value in your fellow colleagues, how your company values will separate you from other competitors, and what policies and procedures you want in order to steer business decisions in the right direction.
Unique selling proposition (USP): Every company needs at least one defined, unique element to connect with customers and to show what sets your business apart from the rest. A strong USP allows you to communicate how you want the public to perceive your brand without having to question, “What makes your company different from the competitors?” Your USP in a mission statement plays to your company’s strengths and is based on what makes your business uniquely valuable to your customers.
Goals and objectives: Goals are statements of what needs to be accomplished to implement the company’s vision. Objectives are specific ways and set timelines for achieving the goal. Be sure to consider the goals and objectives when creating a mission statement, as they provide a focal point that helps to align everyone with the company values and increases both efficiency and productivity in the organization.
Want some help with a DEI Mission Statement?
Download your Free DEI Mission Statement Template today!
Examples of Great Mission Statements:
Successful companies spend a lot of time and effort creating impressive mission statements that leave lasting impressions to the general public.
It is always helpful to take a look at examples of well-crafted mission statements to gain some inspiration before you create your own mission statement. Below, we share examples of mission statements from various companies and highlight what makes them compelling and powerful:
Google:
"To organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful."
Google’s mission statement doesn’t advertise its product. Instead, it focuses on its intentions and values. Google's overall mission statement complies to the principle that it is a business that provides any help, service, product, or idea to its users. This leads to making the end-users life simple, well-structured, and easily accessible. Google’s mission statement is strong because it emphasizes the importance of the users, and it echoes the core values and principles. The company focuses on the end-user and their requirements when they work on creating new business initiatives.
Nike
"To bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world."
If we break this statement down, it is easy to see that the company's mission has three core components: bringing inspiration, creating innovation, and supporting every athlete in the world. Nike’s mission statement shows that the company strives to make every person feel like they have the ability to achieve anything they put their mind to. Not only do we see the purpose of the company, but the target audience is also clearly defined as it inspires and motivates athletes of all levels to push themselves beyond their limits and achieve their bodies' maximum potential.
Patagonia
"Build the best product, cause no unnecessary harm, use business to inspire and implement solutions to the environmental crisis."
Patagonia takes their company mission beyond the individual to support a cause many of us are already involved in ending: global warming. These core values resonate with customers as they feel like they are making a positive impact on the environment when they are aware of Patagonia’s true initiatives. Environmental issues perfectly fall among the core ideas that Patagonia’s regular customers support. This mission statement is authentic as it lies at the foundation of the company.
Microsoft
"Empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more."
Microsoft’s mission statement shows that the business focuses on the empowerment of communities and organizations through the company's information technology goods and services. This statement is clear, and concise, and emphasizes empowerment as a quality or advantage that Microsoft delivers to its consumers.
The Humane Society
"Celebrating Animals, Confronting Cruelty."
The Humane Society has a unique selling proposition in showcasing to the public that they work hard to care for animals in crisis as well as build a stronger animal protection movement. Even though this mission statement is short, plain, and simple, it speaks volumes about the company’s purpose, morals, and principles.
How to Create a Mission Statement
It takes hard work and dedication to brainstorm ideas and form them into an appealing mission statement. Offering diverse experiences is a way to entice your audience coming from any background. Differing perspectives will create a well-informed mission statement that will resonate with all who come across it.
To create a captivating mission statement, your team must figure out the main motives of what your business is trying to convey.
Our step-by-step process shown below will guide you on your journey of forming an impactful mission statement:
Step 1. Gather Input
Get together with your team and ensure that everyone has a chance to share their ideas and opinions. Identify your organization’s products or services. Everyone deserves to have their voices heard and respected.
Identify all of your company’s products and services, and write down the company’s core values. This will help you envision what you must focus on to make sure that you don’t go off-topic or write anything irrelevant.
Step 2. Tell Your Story
Once you have a good understanding of the connection between what your company has to offer and how it correlates with its core values, brainstorm different ways to tell your company’s story. This could be through adding unique selling propositions to your mission statements, stating the values, goals, and principles directly into your mission statement, or including catchphrases that will attract your target audiences.
Step 3. Ideate & Write
When your team comes to an agreement with the ideas, you can create a list of potential mission statements. Vary the statements by changing up the style of writing, the length, and the word choices. It’s best to have different options to vote on to ensure that all insights from the group are being met.
Step 4. Cut the Fluff and Finalize
Go through and narrow the choices down to one mission statement. Edit and finalize the statement to make it as clear and concise as possible.
Step 5. Share with Stakeholders
Not only does a mission statement help employees understand where their actions fit into the goals and objectives, but it also helps other stakeholders decide whether they want to be involved and show interest in your company.
Effective engagement with stakeholders will allow them to get involved in the decision-making process and influence the company actions in a way that is helpful and constructive to the team.
Getting advice and involvement from stakeholders provides an opportunity to understand better the motivations, influences and behaviors of those who are both involved and show interest in the business.
Step 6. Review
It is good to keep in mind that unless your business completely changes its vision, you won’t need to change your mission statement. However, times are constantly evolving, and your business might, too. You may adapt your mission statement by elaborating on your present goals or expanding your audience.
Reviewing the mission statement every one to three years, or in times of a changing strategic direction for the organization, is essential to keep up to date with your company’s motives.
Summary
Mission statements help employees see the positive aspects of their hard work, help to boost morale for the company, and create a positive impact on the workplace culture. We highly encourage you to bring your team together to either create a new or refine an old mission statement for your company.
Forming a safe space for employees to share their ideas freely is the best way to create a strong mission statement. At the end of the day, mission statements inspire your employees to reach their full potential and attract new audiences that are receptive to your company’s values, all of which are important to creating an inclusive environment in the workplace and in the community.
So to conclude the question posed in this article: yes, your organization needs a mission statement and we’re here to help!
