When we talk about corporate culture, one of the most important terms we use is your company's mission, vision, and values. These are fundamental concepts within organizations and will guide most of the actions that take place within them.
In short, the mission is the business to which the company is dedicated, especially considering the needs it covers. The vision is the future situation that the company aims to have. And the values are the set of principles, beliefs, rules, and ways of behaving within the company (company culture).
With these brief definitions of the mission, vision, and values of a company, we will delve deeper into them. We will dedicate three main sections to each of these concepts and provide guidelines for defining them correctly within your company. We will also provide examples of some well-known large companies' mission, vision, and values. So, without further ado, let's delve into this exciting field.
What is the mission of a company?
The mission is the reason for your company's existence and answers the question of why that company exists. There are many reasons why a company exists, and the truth is that each company has a different one. Each one will be unique, and no other company will share yours. If you are thinking of starting a company or already have one but haven't thought about this, we leave you with a series of guiding questions that will help you define your business mission:
- Who are we?
- What do we do?
- What are we looking for?
- Where do we do it?
- Why do we do it?
- For who do we do it?
The best way to see it more clearly is with a practical example.
Let's say you have a digital marketing agency then your answers would be:
- Who are we? A digital marketing agency.
- What do we do? SEO strategies, social media, and sales funnels.
- What are we looking for? That our clients increase their sales thanks to our search engine positioning, social media strategies, and working on sales funnels.
- Where do we do it? Our offices are in Berlin (Germany).
- Why do we do it? In this case, the answer to this question would be identical to the question, "what are we looking for?"
- For whom do we do it? We work for small and medium-sized enterprises (let's imagine that the agency specializes in this type of client).
Following this example of a mission, we would write it like this: We are a digital marketing company located in Berlin. We work for small and medium-sized businesses by establishing SEO positioning, social media, and sales funnel strategies to increase their conversions. If you are interested in the step-by-step process of writing a company mission, we recommend contacting us for more advice.
What is the vision of a company?
Almost 52% of employees have yet to learn their company's vision so we will start with its definition. A company's vision is a statement that indicates the path the company will follow and what it wants to become in the medium or long term. If we talk about the company's future, we are talking about the vision of the company. The vision can be seen based on the requirements or needs that the company will have, creating a perception of change and a description of the company in the future, at least what is expected of it.
Building a statement that explains your company's vision is not easy, but you should be generous. To know how to start, we leave you with these questions that will serve as a guide:
- What do we want to become in a few years?
- Where do we see ourselves in the long term?
- What image do we want to project in the future?
Following the example of the digital marketing agency, the vision can be: We want to become the leading digital marketing agency for SMEs, both in Germany and Europe, in such a way that all small and medium-sized companies that want to apply online marketing strategies have us as their first option.
Now that we have seen the company's mission and vision, we hope you see the differences between them because this can often be confusing. The mission deals with the present of the company and the vision of what we can expect of it in the future.
What are the values of a company?
The values in a company are the foundation of its corporate culture. They also reflect the goals that you want to achieve, your beliefs, and the basic concepts that make it up. In short, values are the personality of your company. To define them more clearly, answer the following questions:
- Who are you, and what are your beliefs?
- Define how you would like everyone with a relationship with you in the professional environment to describe you.
- How do you act when there is a problem in your company?
Values for Your Own Company
You must have 6 or 7 clear values for your company, as having too many can create confusion and reduce credibility. To give you an idea, we will leave you a list of the most appreciated company values by employees and customers.
- Honesty: this is highly valued because it means you do not lie or try to sell your customers more than they need.
- Efficiency: efficiency is the ability to achieve what is desired or expected.
- Effectiveness: refers to achieving the goals set with the least amount of resources. It is important to have these two definitions clear because we often confuse effectiveness and efficiency.
- Innovation: means being open to changes in product offerings, service changes, changes in the manufacturing process, and when providing services.
- Commitment: according to the dictionary, a commitment is a contracted obligation. When we talk about commitment in companies, we refer to what they say they are going to do. Commitment as a value refers to being faithful to what the company says it is going to do and not failing to do it. We are tired of people who don't keep their promises, and when someone does, we value it highly.
- Enthusiasm: having enthusiasm for what you do is increasingly valued. And the lack of passion ultimately leads to abandonment.
- Excellence: striving for excellence is having the desire to improve, not staying stagnant. This is also related to taking into account the quality of products and customer satisfaction.
- Closeness: customers always value a close relationship. This is because, although many people do not want to admit it, sales are emotional. Many times you haven't returned to a store and given them more business, where you feel you have not been treated well. That's why customers value kindness in phone calls and emails.
Fulfilling the Need Yourself
Although we have explained the values that are most valued for customers in a single word here, you still need to fulfill the meaning. You have to build a sentence that defines your values so that they are well understood. The definition of a business value with a single word leaves everything incomplete and quite susceptible to interpretation for the reader.
These three concepts are essential for any company that means to function well. They also complement each other to offer the best information about your company and achieve good operation in both the present and the future.
As we mentioned in the introduction, we are going to give examples of the mission, vision, and values of large companies known worldwide. In this case, we will talk about Coca-Cola, Nike, and Apple.
Mission, vision, and values of Coca Cola
Coca-Cola is the most well-known soft drink company in the world, and its example of mission, vision, and values is a reference for many other companies.
Mission: The mission is to refresh the world in body, mind, and spirit. Inspire moments of optimism through our brands and actions to create value that leaves a mark in the places where our drink is sold.
Vision: Coca-Cola has several visions depending on its scope of action.
- Maximize return to shareholders.
- Be a place of work where the staff is inspired and gives their best.
- Offer a portfolio of drinks that anticipate and satisfy consumer needs.
- Form a successful partner network with mutual loyalty.
- Be responsible citizens who contribute everything possible to make a better world.
Values: Coca-Cola's values have changed over the years. There are some since the company's foundation. However, other new ones have appeared. The values of this brand, integrity, quality, responsibility, leadership, passion, diversity, and collaboration, stand out.
Mission, vision, and values of Nike
We couldn't overlook the world's most famous sports brand and manufacturer.
Mission: Nike's mission is to bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete. Nike dedicates its work to bringing sports to both athletes and non-athletes, and its goal is to be the number one brand of reference in the world of athletes.
Vision: Nike's vision is how Nike wants to achieve its mission, as they want to reach more and more people.
Nike's values:
- Honesty.
- Loyalty.
- Loyalty.
- Respect.
- Responsibility.
- Equality.
- Justice.
Here we list the values but remember that in your company, you must explain them in a sentence. In addition to these values, there is a matter of social responsibility, which is mostly felt in those places where Nike is heavily marketed.
Mission, vision, and values of Apple
Let's go with one of the world's biggest giants in technological products.
Mission: Apple tries to offer the best personal computing experience to consumers around the world through its innovative hardware, software, and internet solutions.
Vision: This company is considered a viable option that offers good solutions and services. This allows them to distinguish themselves from the competition in such a way that their added value is unique.
Values:
- Constant technological research and innovation.
- Quality in products and services.
- Professionalism.
- Service and attention throughout the commercial and post-commercial cycle process.
- Loyalty and honesty.
- Support for the social environment in which it is located.
- Education is the main objective to achieve growth, development, and improvement.
- Flexibility to accept change.
- Perseverance and tenacity in their attitudes.
If you want to know Apple's values in depth, there's nothing better than listening to Steve Jobs, its founder. We leave you this small excerpt where he explains Apple's values. "Apple at its core — its core value — is that we believe that people with passion can change the world for the better."
What advantages do you see in having your company's mission, vision, and values well defined?
When an employee starts working in a new company, they gradually get to know the company's mission, vision, and values and begin to soak up its corporate culture. Workers within the company will take into account the mission, vision, and values to develop their work based on the company's parameters.
Each company must create its own mission, vision, and values even before starting to operate in order to create the company plan and both present and future action plans based on them. Once the company defines these concepts, all employees must know them from the moment they are hired and use them as a guide for their actions within the company.
Do you have your company's mission, vision, and values well defined? Did you do it before you started billing for your services or later?
We're waiting for you in the comments section to share your point of view with us.
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