A company’s mission statement is a clear, memorable, concise statement describing why the company exists. It energizes a sense of purpose, guides your decisions, builds strong cultures, gives meaning and inspiration to your people, fuels employee retention, engagement and innovation, and ultimately heightens customer satisfaction. This, in turn, lowers costs and boosts profits!
At EOS, we call this statement your Core Focus, a combination of the purpose/cause/passion that truly drives your people — as well as your business niche. This is the “why” of your business.
We passionately encourage business owners to keep their eye on the Core Focus, and avoid the temptation of chasing the “shiny stuff” that lures them away from what they do best. Figuring out your Core Focus and stating it clearly will attract people who genuinely want to make the journey with you and remain highly engaged in their work.
Why should you care about that? Research shows that, at best, 30% of workers are actually engaged in their jobs, while 40-50% are just putting in time and 20-30% are so disengaged that they’re actually working against you. That is if your company is just normal. How much stronger would your company be if 100% of your people gave you everything they had, every day?
Here are a few examples of great mission statements:
In fact, Southwest Airlines hires for congruence with their mission. They hire for attitude and train for skills. They create a fun, caring environment for employees and customers, which inspires employee engagement and customer satisfaction. Again, this lowers costs and boosts profits!
You can make that happen. The starting place is making sure that everyone in your company knows how the work they do matters, even in a small way, in making the world a better place. That’s the magic of having a powerful mission statement!
This post was originally published on the B-Better blog.