Do your business’s mission, vision, and values hold true?

Explore the importance of these key organizational statements and determine if it’s time to update yours to reflect company growth

While your core values will remain the same, certain aspects of your company’s identity will naturally develop over time alongside your operations.

Whether it’s through the growth of your team, expansion of services offered, relocation to a new office space, or another change entirely, your business has evolved since its opening and your mission, vision, and values statements may need to be amended to reflect that progress. 

However, most growing companies will only refresh the visual aspects of their brand identity such as their logo and website, and neglect to consider their mission, vision, and values statements.

Keep reading to learn about the importance and purpose of these statements, plus when they should be re-examined to help drive your company forward.

What are vision, mission, and value statements?

Before discussing the purpose of company mission, vision, and values, it’s important that we establish a basic definition for each:   

• Your vision statement is the ultimate goal of what you want your business to achieve. 
• Your mission statement defines how the goal from your vision statement will be achieved.
• Your values are the core moral principles that define and describe your company culture.

What is the purpose of mission, vision, and values?

Although they all play a vital role in your business’s strategic plan for success, your mission, vision, and values each have unique purposes within that role. 

Your vision should be forward-focused, aspirational, and inspirational while defining the problems your business is trying to solve. Your mission statement works to support your vision by communicating the purpose of the organization and direction to employees, customers, clients, and stakeholders alike.

Your values are meant to be referenced throughout the lifetime of your business to guide decision-making and assess the current state of operations. Businesses with well-defined values use them on a day to day basis within every level of the organization to not only guide decisions, but actions and attitudes as well. 

Related resource:
Internal Marketing Audit Checklist for Business

Are vision, mission, and values statements really important in business?

Operating your business based on a set of carefully considered mission, vision, and values statements is extremely important for leaders who want to best align with potential clients and employees while standing out from their competitors. 

When targeting your ideal client or customer, it’s important to remember that they’re most attracted to working with businesses that are philosophically aligned with their own personal or professional values. If your business is value-driven and keeps your mission and vision statements up-to-date, your prospects will be able to easily tell if you’re the right partner for them based on how you operate and present your brand to the world. 

With 86% of job seekers identifying company culture as somewhat or very important in the decision to apply for a job, your mission, vision, and values statements are also a vital tool in attracting top talent to your team. [1] In a similar fashion to prospective clients, potential employees are most interested in working at a company that’s led by their values, so they can gain a clear understanding of what it would be like to work on their team. 

Should mission, vision, and values statements be changed?

If you carefully consider your mission, vision, and value statements when establishing your business, they should never be completely scrapped or drastically changed.

However, if they were never fully developed or your business evolves substantially over the years, you may need to expand your mission, vision, and values to accurately portray the current state of your organization. 

The additions you need will be unique to your business, but may include building on your goals or expanding your target audience. 

If you aren’t sure if your business needs to update its mission, vision, and values statements or you don’t know where to start, consider partnering with a marketing agency that has experience in updating both the visual and narrative elements of established company brands. 

Learn more:
Now is the time to reposition your company’s brand: Here’s why

Searching for a partner to help you re-evaluate your brand identity?  

With nearly 20 years in business, our team is committed to creating a tailored branding strategy for your business that works to help you tell your story, connect with your audience and achieve your unique goals.

We believe that branding is more than what meets the eye, it’s also compelling narratives that showcase your expertise and truly speak to the people you’re trying to reach.

That’s why at Different Perspective, we’re proud to offer branding services that include a brand story and mission/vision/values statements in addition to updated visuals depending on each clients’ unique needs. 

Ready to take your business to the next level?
Contact us today to learn more.

Source:

1: Jobvite | 2021 Job Seeker Nation Report: The Rise of the Optimized Workforce