• How to Create Mission and Vision Statement? Awesome Template Part 1
• Maintaining Mission Statement and Company Values Part 2
• Mission and Vision Statements Best Practices Part 3
• More Examples of Mission Statements and Core Values Part 4

What is a company mission and vision statement? What is the difference between Company Mission, Core Values and Vision Statements?

• A mission statement is a formal description of the purpose of an organization. It refers to the company’s objectives and states a way for the organization to meet them.
  
• A vision statement is where a company states their plans for the organization and how this relates to overall company goals. It describes the long-term aspirational goal for the organization.
  
• Company values (or core values) are the principles that support the organization’s culture and overall philosophy. Values bring character to the group, and can help leaders and management guide teams through ethical and performance concerns. These are the standards that organizations can cling to in times of uncertainty and transition.

Why is a company mission and vision statement important?

By having mission and vision statements, companies can better focus on their strategic objectives, allowing them to stay competitive in their industry.
Mission and vision statements can shape organization’s culture and help integrate a meaningful performance management system that is based on shared values and purpose. They also help improve relationships with clients. Learn more:

8 Powerful Habits of Companies Who Build Great Client Relationships

Part 1

How to create company Mission and vision Statement?

Awesome template

Company mission and vision statement should include a concise summary of the company’s purpose and ambitions, taking into account the business’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Additionally, it should be tailored to reflect the company’s unique identity and focus on its target market.

Writing a mission and vision statement requires careful consideration of both short-term objectives and long-term objectives, as well as the resources available to achieve them. When creating a mission and vision statement, consider what your company stands for, what it hopes to accomplish, and who it serves. The main point to understand is: “How will our company measure success?”

When creating your mission and vision statement, think about:

• What is your vision for the future of the company?
• What are your goals for the company? How will you achieve your goals?
• How will you know if you have succeeded in achieving your goals?
• What are the long-term implications of achieving your goals?
• How will the company grow and change over the next few years?
• What are your core values?
• What are the expectations of your customers and stakeholders?

Below you’ll find a useful template to create a one-statement representation of what the organization is all about. It answers the question of why the business exists, how they plan to solve the problem they were created to answer, and what they stand for in a matter of one or two sentences.
Answer the following questions and use the templates below to formulate the mission and vision statement.

Template 1:

1) What is our purpose?
2) How do we want to accomplish this?

Template 1: 
Why [our purpose] + how [how we want to accomplish this].

Template 2:

1) What is our purpose?
2) What are our values? Why do we exist?
3) What do we want to accomplish?

Template 2: 
Our company exists to [purpose] by [values] so that we can [accomplishments].

– Establish the purpose of your business by identifying why it exists and what makes it unique from other companies: this could include providing quality services or products, building relationships with customers or creating innovative solutions to meet customer needs.
– Think about how you can make a difference in the lives of customers or society as a whole with what your business does.

Examples:

• Sweetgreen

  “To inspire healthier communities by connecting people to real food.”
  – Sweetgreen (stylized as sweetgreen) is an American fast food chain that specializes in serving healthy food to customers. The mission statement not only talks about their purpose for existing (spurring healthy communities by serving healthy and authentic food), but they make the customer feel that the mission will directly benefit them as well.

• American Red Cross

  “Prevent and alleviate human suffering in the face of emergencies by mobilizing the power of volunteers and the generosity of donors.”
  – The American Red Cross provides a host of services for people who have faced severe emergencies. They talk about their ties to helping those in suffering and connect them with the solution: the power of volunteers and generosity of donors.

Useful mission and vision statements connect the “why” with the “how” in one to two sentences.

Examples of mission and vision statements for your industry:

We created an inspiring list of mission and vision statements examples for different industries: 1500+ Best Company Vision and Mission Statements (by Industry)

How to Create company Core Values?

Company core values are the fundamental beliefs and principles that guide a company’s decisions and actions. They provide a common understanding of what is important and help establish trust between employees, customers, suppliers, shareholders, partners and other stakeholders. Core values are important because they represent the basis of your company’s culture.

List 5 to 6 values (nouns or verbs).

– Think about how these values align with the beliefs of employees and can help foster an environment of trust and respect within the workplace. Remember that company values help shape the culture of your organization and attract and retain the right talent.
– Consider that these values will also send a message to customers about your organization’s core beliefs.

Examples:

• Facebook –
  Focus on Impact, Move Fast, Be Bold, Be Open, Build Social Value.
  All of these values make sense for the social network. Facebook is created to have a global impact, rapidly follow social trends, develop opportunities for boldness and openness, and ultimately create social value. It would make sense that the company would also instill values that impact their workers.
• Proctor and Gamble –
  Integrity, Leadership, Ownership, Passion for Winning, Trust.
  P&G is responsible for creating a large number of products that cover a wide variety of industries, many of whom involve health aspects and childcare. It would make sense that integrity and trust would be a theme that runs through their core values.
• Build-A-Bear –
  Reach, Learn, Di-bear-sity, Colla-bear-ate, Give, Cele-bear-ate.
  Build-A-Bear is a company that invites children to create their own bears. The additions of “bear” to their core values highlights the playful and kid-friendly culture they want to cultivate for customers and employees. Children are encouraged to learn and become creative, two critical values for a company like Build-A-Bear.

Examples of company core values for your industry:

You can find more examples of company core values for different industries in this article: 250+ Best Inspirational Company Core Values (Examples by Industry)

Helpful tips:

1. Brainstorm and Collect Feedback

   Create an environment where no answer is a wrong one, and encourage all involved to name elements they think of when they think about the function of the company. Get everyone’s take on how others might see the company and identify keywords and principles that could be used to capture its purpose.

2. Decide What Sets You Apart

   Is charity going to be a big part of the mission? Is the focus on efficiency or providing a streamlined customer experience? What principles should employees make important in how they operate? These are sample questions to answer when crafting these statements.

3. Rank Each Element and Ensure Accuracy

   Rank the words used for the mission statement and core values by their level of importance to what the organization does. Guide the discussion through each term and discuss how essential each one is to capture what they do. Make sure that statements do not create a hyperbole and box the company into doing something it does not offer.

4. Create a Mission and Value Statement That Compliment Each Other

   Successful mission and value statements usually complement one another; they look like they come from the same train of thought. If the core values are transparency and trust, then the mission statement could expound on these ideas and discuss why they are essential to what the organization does.

Part 2

Why do companies have mission and vision statements?

Mission and vision statements provide guidance and direction for the company, ensuring that all stakeholders are on the same page. For internal stakeholders, mission and value statements can define performance standards, drive strategy and become a broad idea to hold onto, establish a structure for ethical behavior, and provide focus and shared goals. For external stakeholders, mission and vision statements serve as a PR tool, create bonds with customers, provide a basis for streamlining communication between customers, suppliers, and partners. Also, the right mission and vision statements can motivate employees and create a sense of purpose.

How to maintain Mission Statement and Company Values?

1. Make the Statements a Part of the Conversation

   Whenever goals, objectives, or performance standards are discussed, the dialogue should come back to the mission and values of the company. Leaders can even include both in email signatures and office memos to continue to make these visible to employees. If employees see leaders treating these components like they matter, then employees will more than likely do the same.

2. Stay Tuned to Straying Away

   As companies evolve with the time, it is vital for leaders to stay tuned to this and make sure they examine any proposed changes, mergers, or new initiatives to the mission and values. It is entirely possible to stray and make the mission and values obsolete, so leaders need to keep this in mind when any new projects or expansions are proposed.

3. Don’t Be Afraid to Change Them

   With the previous point in mind, change does happen. Companies grow in size, priorities change, and leaders will transition in and out. There are times when it is important to see if the mission and vision outlined in the beginning still describe what the organization does. Review the statements to ensure they still reflect your company’s vision and objectives. Alterations may need to happen, just make sure they occur with the input of internal and external stakeholders.

Part 3

Best Practices:

mission, Vision Statement and core values

1. Make Them Vital to the Culture

   While the mission and core values should influence operations and procedures, it should also permeate throughout the culture. Whether it is a company outing or volunteer event, senior leadership should exemplify these components and encourage employees to do the same.

2. Drive Them Home Through Team-Building

   If the mission involves environmental sustainability, then leaders could work with a nonprofit organization to have employees volunteer with this cause. If a core value relates to innovation, then creating spaces or labs where employees can collaborate and come up with new ideas that benefit themselves and the company should happen. No man is an island, and if the mission and values are connected to team building, then it is easier for these ideas to become a part of the work environment.

3. Make Them a Part of the Onboarding Process

   The first ideas that new hires should interact with are the mission statements and core values. These should be on full display, so new employees understand how important they are, and they can begin to understand the internal culture of the organization.

Part 4

Examples of Mission Statements

We created an inspiring list of mission and vision statements examples for different industries: 1500+ Best Company Vision and Mission Statements (by Industry)

Examples of Core Values

You can find more examples of company core values for different industries in this article: 250+ Best Inspirational Company Core Values (Examples by Industry)

Read more:

Mission, vision, and values of a company are influenced by a particular leadership style. Learning about your leadership style can help you define the mission, vision, and core values.

Qualities and Values of 10 Leadership Styles