Organization mission statement. Company's mission. Mission Development. Does every company need a mission

But do you know where your company is heading? What do you want to achieve? In order for your every action and decision to be more successful and meaningful, you must constantly keep in your head a clear picture of your main landmarks. "How do I want to see my business?" - this is the first question that an entrepreneur should ask himself when forming the mission of his company. Without a clear vision of your goal, you will never come to this goal.

Why do you need a mission?

Perhaps every person who decides to start his own business thinks about why some manage to achieve great success and always stay afloat, while others do not. Why some are able to lead thousands of people, while others, with amazing management skills, remain at a broken trough. The fact is that successful entrepreneurs clearly know what they want and how to achieve it using all their capabilities. To bring your success closer, you need to formulate the real mission of the company, and never deviate from it.

What is the company's mission?

If we consider the company's mission in its broadest sense, then it can be defined as the raison d'être of a business. The mission contains the fundamental purpose of the organization and plays the most significant role in strategic management. When formulating a mission, you first of all describe the values of the company, with the help of which you can achieve your main goal. Often in business articles you can find the concept of "company policy". In fact, this is the mission.

Mission is now a very fashionable concept, and many companies associate the level of their prestige with the presence of a beautifully formulated mission. However, if you only need a mission to “brag” about it in business circles, then it is not necessary to carefully study how to correctly formulate it. For a real serious business, the mission should serve as a kind of auxiliary and guiding means of achieving goals and accomplishing tasks.

Mission objectives

First of all, with the help of a clearly formulated mission, it will be much easier for company employees to unite to achieve common goals. And the process of attracting the most suitable specialists to the company will be greatly facilitated. Once one businessman, answering the question "How did you manage to assemble a team of such talented specialists?" Specialists began to come to the company themselves, who in their values corresponded to the company's mission.

With the help of the mission, the PR process, both internal and external, is also much easier. Finally, the lack of a mission can lead to a violation of the integrity of the corporate culture in the company.

How to write a company mission statement

The first thing to start with is to put off everything and find a quiet place where no one will distract you from your thoughts. At this moment, one might say, the fate of your business is being decided, so put all unnecessary things out of your head and focus solely on the formulation of the company's mission. It is not necessary to write the mission in one go. Most likely, for the next few days you will return to it, make some adjustments in order to make the final picture look as complete and consistent with your real goals.

First, you need to create a basis for writing a mission. Take a piece of paper and a pen. Describe several of the main activities of your company (you do not need to describe in detail), as well as the features of your company and its advantages and advantages among competing firms. And most importantly, write down the core values of your company. Take your time, it is better to think over everything carefully so as not to lose sight of a single important detail.

Further, looking at what you have written, answer the following questions: “What do I want to achieve? Where do I want to come? Why do I want this? What is at the heart of my aspirations? Can there be people willing to support me in this? " Most often, the missions of companies are formulated from the standpoint of the social significance of its activities for society. However, this way of creating a mission is not suitable for all types of business. For example, for a company producing alcoholic or tobacco products social significance will be extremely difficult to articulate.

Mission errors

The most common mistake when writing a mission statement is to mention the aspect of making a profit. Everyone understands that any business among its goals has, among other things, maximizing profit. Therefore, in order not to distort the understanding of the mission, it is better not to use the desire for material gain in writing a mission.

The mission turns out to be "empty" if it does not carry any specificity and contains only template expressions. Also, a mission that is far from the real state of affairs in the organization will be wrong, and the goals described in the mission are not the real goals of the company and are written only for a "pretty picture".

Mission writing requirements

There is informal regulation of the writing of the company's mission. First and foremost, it is easy perception and understanding of the mission by both company employees and other people. If the employees themselves do not correctly understand what tasks the company has and where it is heading, then it is obvious that they will not be able to fully participate in achieving the goals.

The mission must always be relevant to the company. It reflects what the firm is doing in this period and what it will do next. If it happens that the company slightly changes the vector of its activities, then the mission must necessarily be rewritten under the new conditions. Otherwise, it simply loses its meaning and relevance.

The next requirement for writing a mission concerns its scope. There are no generally accepted norms here. The volume of the mission can be either one sentence or several pages. However, such extremes should not be hit. It is unlikely that it will be possible to reflect the mission in full by writing just one sentence. And a mission a couple of pages long of text will not be perceived well enough by those who read it. Therefore, the ideal scope of a company's mission is several sentences, at most one small paragraph. Once again, we want to draw your attention to the fact that this requirement is unspoken, and it is up to you to decide how to write and what your mission will be in terms of volume.

There are also some recommendations for the design of the mission. Whoever and wherever you show it - it should have the most presentable look. A mission for a company is like a business card for a person. If you will post it on an Internet site, take care of a nice and readable font, and also do not place it somewhere in the corner, so that it does not look like some small, not very important detail. Carry your mission with pride. If you will be presenting your mission in print, it should be a print. High Quality not a piece of paper with dull text. Some companies put a high-quality printout of the mission on the walls of their office, placing it in a beautiful frame.

Examples of writing a company mission

For a better understanding of how a mission should look like, we give you some examples of real missions of existing successful companies.

“We are going to become the largest airline, declare our presence both in our country and in other countries. We want to achieve maximum efficiency and low cost on local and international lines. We want to see in our ranks the best employees who will be able to provide the best flight conditions for each passenger " (Southwest Airlines) .
"To give inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world" (Nike) .
"We see our mission in quickly and efficiently serving a large number of visitors to our restaurants, while using a standard range of food products." (McDonald's) .
“Our vocation is in a continuous creative search to create our products. And we have enough energy and enthusiasm to do it for you. " (Sony Corporation) .
“We are committed to making women's lives better and more enjoyable through quality cosmetic products. We provide an opportunity for every woman to build her career in our company by becoming an independent beauty consultant. We promise that every woman who has let Mary Kay into her life will be able to fulfill herself as much as possible. " (Mary Kay) .
"To become a leading manufacturer mobile devices using only innovative developments and modern standards... Our goal is to contribute to the development of high technologies, expanding the scope of their capabilities. HTC is new design solutions in which we invest our resources as much as possible " (HTC) .
“We are improving the quality of life for many people. Our goal is, first of all, to help and care for people who are in a difficult situation and are not able to cope with it on their own. " (American Red Cross) .
“To enable people to enjoy communication, and to feel freedom from the constraints of time and space. Anticipate the needs and wishes of people and translate them into our mobile services " (Beeline) .
"Uniting efforts and uniting the labor of many people on the basis of building high-quality cars" (Toyota) .
“We bring people together and help them meet the need for social connections... We build bridges between people who need to communicate or receive any information " (Nokia) .

In this article, we offer you a selection of missions of large well-known companies in the world's leading markets. Examples of missions given by the organization and manufacturing enterprises will help you fully understand the meaning and meaning of this concept and will help you formulate the correct business vision.

All mission examples are categorized by key product groups and markets.

Missions of retail brands

Wallmart Mission:"We help our customers save money to make their lives better."

Target Mission:"Become a preferred shopping destination with innovative solutions, exceptional value proposition, exceeding all customer expectations."

Mission of The Home Depot:"To provide each customer with a high level of service, a wide range of products and competitive prices"

IKEA mission:"Improving everyone's daily life"

Amazon mission: "Create a space where everyone can buy online whatever they want"

CVS mission:"Help people improve their health"

Best Buy's Mission:"We address our customer's unmet needs with the ingenuity of our employees."

Missions of IT and Social brands

Google mission:"It is convenient to organize all the information in the world and make it accessible and useful to everyone"

Microsoft Mission:"Give everyone the opportunity to reach their full potential"

Skype mission:"To become a platform for communication of people in real time"

YouTube Mission:"Provide quick and easy access to video content and provide the ability to share videos with each other."

Twitter Mission:"Instantly connect people everywhere"

Apple mission:"To provide students, educators, creative professionals around the world with the best personal computers through the use of innovative solutions."

Missions of sportswear brands

Adidas Mission:“To become the best sports brand in the world. never compare quantity with quality. The athlete always comes first. "

Nike's mission:"To give inspiration and innovative solutions to every athlete in the world"

Umbro Mission:“Excite and inspire. Let everyone fall in love with the wonderful world of football "

Asics Mission:“Become the number one sports enthusiast. To achieve this, we promise to build the best product possible, building on our technological advances, and pushing the boundaries of what the body can do. "

Missions of food and beverage brands

Coca-cola mission:“Refresh the world, body, mind and spirit; Awaken optimism through our drinks and our deeds; Bring meaning to everything we do. "

Pepsi Mission:“To be the world's best food and beverage company focused on processed foods and beverages. In everything we do, we are guided by three principles - honesty, consistency and fairness. "

Nestle's mission:"We believe that research and development will help make food better, thereby improving people's lives."

Danone's mission:"Provide as many people as possible with healthy food"

Missions of B2B brands

Mission Cisco:"The company's software, hardware and services are used to create reliable networks that provide easy access to information anywhere, anytime."

IBM mission:"Lead in invention, development and production information technologies, including software, computers, information storage systems and microelectronics. And help improve the business of our clients around the world with cutting-edge technology. "

Intel mission:"To create and improve computer technology to connect and improve the life of every person on earth"

General Electric Mission:“We exist to solve the problems of everyone on earth, be it a company or an individual”

British Petroleum Mission:"Promoting human progress through the manifestation of the following qualities: honesty, openness of transactions"

Ready-made solutions

We have a ready-made template with which you can easily apply the theoretical knowledge of this article in practice. You can download a sample for developing the mission of your organization or product in the section.

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I read another American book, which says between the lines how important it is to come up with a company mission and follow it. Isn't there a reason to write a post about missions in business?

In short: mission is your compass

It is a mistake to think that the mission for customers is for the company itself. Without a clear mission, you quickly go astray: you work the wrong way and with the wrong ones. You spend time, money and energy, although you could not spend or spend less.

Let me explain with an example. The job part of my mission goes like this:

Increase customer sales and increase customer loyalty through polite and accurate sales copy. Texts, where the benefit and usability come first, and then everything else.

That is, it is such a reminder to oneself about the utilitarian nature of the text, a talisman against going into creativity and graphomania. I won't show it, but I also have a paragraph on the principles of cooperation. It helps to weed out not my client outright.

For a mission to work, it needs to be put in the head. I did it this way: I wrote it down and reread it for a while every morning.

There can be several missions

Usually the mission is directed to the consumer. But there is still corporate clients, contractors, personnel, management, investors. For each group, you can formulate your mission or cover all in one, like in the "Azbuka Vkusa":

There are also missions for the occasion. After reading Jim Camp, I developed a special mission for negotiations: to convince the customer of professionalism without bragging and false promises, to honestly negotiate all the nuances. In accordance with it, I supplemented it with the "Forewarned is forearmed" block. There are just about these nuances.

What other missions are there for the occasion? Yes, they are different. Let's say if I get a job in a company, I'll come up with a mission for an interview.

1. Expand it usefully forward to the audience. Your financial gain should be a side effect of your mission statement.

2. The mission should answer the questions “what are we doing”, “for whom”, “in the name of what”, “what problem are we solving by this”.

2. It's great if you could pack it in 2-4 lines.

3. The mission can be expanded with values, and then you get a manifesto. Values are principles that you will never compromise on. They are subordinate to the mission and always follow from it.

4. The mission statement should only apply to your business. For example, mine sounds like and construction, nor Law Firm will not take her as it is.

5. Do not slip into pathos and falsehood. If you blush or grin as you reread your own mission, something is wrong with it.

6. Reverse advice: don't belittle your organization unless you have a giant corporation. Everybody needs a mission, even market stalls, to define a development strategy.

7. The business owner should be involved in the development of the mission. A copywriter can only give it a polish.

Mission as the basis for the page "About the company"

It happens that you need to write a page "About the company", but all the information that usually goes there is already reflected on the main page.

How to be? You can charge storytelling. But unless you are a company like Google or Tinkoff Bank, your story and the personality of the narrator are of no interest to anyone.

The way out of the situation is the mission. Label it, add values and views, add a block with numbers and facts. Everything.

Examples of cool missions from well-known companies

Coca-Cola... Probably, the mission of the producer of soda should be something like this:

Aeroflot... Laconic, with examples and custom scripts:

Magnet... All the i's are dotted in one sentence:

Mann, Ivanov and Ferber... I can’t help myself: the word “mission” seems high-flown to me and is associated with 3D shooters. Glory to the eggs that you can call it a goal, philosophy, principles, or simply drive it into the “Why are we working” block and not worry about naming at all.

Everyone in our company knows that I like non-standard entrepreneurs. Such as Richard Branson or Elon Musk.

For their non-standard approach to doing business, sometimes “inadequate” antics and, of course, for their view of the world. The very view that they broadcast to the world and business.

And the mission of the company is where the transmission of ideas of any entrepreneur begins. What is the mission and values of the company for, how to create and convey them, we will figure it out in the article.

Think well

As a rule, each owner of a company that has been operating for more than 3 years (in Russia they are already long-livers) believes that his company needs a mission that will convey to consumers and employees the value of his company and its difference from competitors.

And therefore, before creating it, you need to ask yourself the following questions:

Does my company / business really need a mission?
What if I'm an expert? For example, is a mission necessary?

And if everything is clear with such companies as Apple (the mission of a huge corporation is simply necessary), then is the mission of a chain of small eateries, operating even in a couple of regions, necessary?

Most likely you will now answer “no”, or “unlikely”. Perhaps this is so.

However, if it is worth long-term and long-term thinking, for example, about expanding the company or selling a franchise, then a well-formulated mission will help convey the principles and core values of the company to fast food lovers.

So what does such a short phrase like “company mission” that we all walk around mean by itself?

Need to think…

One word, two meanings

Mission is the purpose of the existence and activity of the company. However, to rephrase, you can get an unexpected answer.

The purpose of the company's existence is to make a profit. Every entrepreneur knows the answer to this question.

True, this is a little wrong. Making a profit is the main goal of any company. But the way of making this profit (how exactly the goal is achieved), this is the mission.

I want to upset you, but there is no single definition of the word mission. Someone interprets it as a philosophy, for which the company exists.

Someone as the reason for the existence and activities of the company, combined into one proposal. And someone as the final goal of creating a business. I like the following definition:

Mission Is a statement that conveys to consumers and employees the philosophy of the company's existence and its difference from competitors.

By the way, the very first mission in the world was invented by Konosuke Matsushita (Japanese). Most likely you do not know him, but he is the founder of the Panasonic brand.

And what he proposed in the 1930s to be the mission of the industrial sector shocked the world.

Mission industrial enterprise should consist in overcoming poverty, in getting rid of the suffering of society as a whole, in making people rich.

Konosuke Matsushita

A little more specific

I will upset you again. In fact, a mission is far from one or even two sentences. Or rather so.

The mission statement, formulated in one or two sentences, is shown to consumers.

In it, the company reflects its philosophy, principles and values, and thanks to its brevity, this philosophy forms the image of the company in society.

There is also a second, longer version of the mission. This option is used for employees, their understanding of the company's philosophy, etc.

By believing in this mission, employees should perform better. She must clearly answer the three questions of a person that are constantly spinning in his head:

Why do I come to work every day?
What do I do every day at work?
How do I determine if I'm doing it well?

So that you can assess the difference between missions using an example, I went through the missions of well-known companies and found an excellent implementation option for a fairly well-known Russian company"Sportmaster":

Short(for clients): We make sports accessible!

Long(for staff): Develop successful and efficient business offering customers an optimal range of quality goods for sports and outdoor activities with an optimal level of service.

To contribute to the improvement of the population in the countries of our presence, promoting the values of a healthy lifestyle, sports and outdoor activities, improving the quality of life of our clients.

As they say, feel the difference for consumers and your own, internal use. I think everything is clear with the short and long version of the mission.

The only point is not to confuse missions with, which are constantly spinning in advertising. For example, the Walmart chain of stores:

Tagline: Save money. Live Better!

Mission(for clients): We save money for people so they can live better.

By the way, the founder of Walmart (Sam Walton), I also like his non-standard behavior.

At 86 years old, being a billionaire, he managed to get into a preliminary detention cell (semi-prison). The reason was very unusual.

He crawled across the floor of a large store with a tape measure, measuring the distance between the shelves, thinking that the Brazilians have invented something secret that will increase sales.

Sam Walton

Theory is over, Closer to the body

I am more than sure that you did not find this article in order to find out what a mission is, I think Wikipedia is enough for this.

And in order to find an approach and step by step instructions how to formulate a company mission for customers and employees. That is why I have created a small algorithm that will help you in this difficult matter.

Step 0. Determine the type of mission

But ... First, you need to decide on the type of mission and in what key to write it.

Let's call this the preparatory stage and give it a value of # 0. So. According to the correct (scientific) mission, it should contain 4 aspects:

Market (talk about products, strategy, competition, company goals or market);
Social (contain a mention of the philosophy and culture of the company);
Private (the company's achievements in material terms);
Qualitative (the intention and desire of the company to change the quality of life in society).

As for me, it is simply not possible to combine all 4 aspects independently without the involvement of a company specializing in creating missions (such really exist).

For at least two reasons. Let's look again at the examples of missions famous brands, Apple and IKEA use this approach when creating missions. The second reason.

This approach is very appealing to ordinary people, that is, your consumers, due to the alleged “care” of your company about them in particular and the world in general.

Step 1. Creation of the skeleton of the mission

Unfortunately, the most difficult thing will not be step 1, that is, not creating the skeleton of the mission, where you will have to answer a large number of questions. No, though. This is also difficult, but not that much.

To help you, I attach a rather detailed list of questions, by answering which you will get the maximum scope for imagination and formulating the mission of your company:

Ideally, use both questions at once. The more questions there are, the better.

Your task for each answer you receive is to ask yourself a deeper question - Why? / Why? / When? / With the help of what ?. It is from the depths of the earth that you can get the deep meaning, goals and objectives of the company.

WE ARE ALREADY MORE THAN 29,000 people.
TURN ON

Step 2. Collection and pruning

The hardest part is the second point. After all, it is thanks to him that your mission will be able to announce its life.

Worksheets (answers to questions) can be of any number of characters and length. But a mission, even a long one, cannot be longer than 3-5 sentences.

Therefore, in addition to the fact that you need to collect one single thought from all the answers, then you also need to reduce it to the utmost.

And it is the reduction of unnecessary information that will become for you the real torments of creativity. Want to work out?

The current mission of the Russian Aluminum Company: To become the most efficient aluminum company in the world, which we and our children can be proud of ...

Can you cut it? At first glance, no. But if you take a closer look, you can.

If we remove the unnecessary, then we get a much shorter and better phrase. My version: "To become an aluminum company that we and our children can be proud of."

On the Internet, you can see successful examples of company missions, there are a huge number of them.

Find short ones that hit right on target, like Amazon or Zappos missions. Also on the Internet you can easily find huge ones that are read with the thoughts “I'm tired of reading. Kill me ”, for example, Avon and the Pipe Metallurgical Company.

How difficult…

My personal opinion. The mission should be as short and clear as possible. Brevity is the soul of wit. This phrase is very relevant here and says a lot.

Although you will think differently when creating, trying to convey as much as possible more information... And that's okay for the first time.

Step 3. Verification

People should understand your idea, it should be easy. To understand it, you do not need to open a notebook and lay out the relationships. Therefore, make several versions at once to find the best one.

And your clients and your employees will be looking for the very best, since this is created not only for you, but one might even say, first of all for them.

Also, you need to check your mission against 6 criteria that need to be covered in your chosen approach (I warned that this is not easy) in order to achieve the best result, from which everyone gasps. These six criteria are:

Buyer Satisfaction. Consumers love to feel taken care of. And you must convey to the client exactly how your company affects the change in his life for the better.
Uniqueness. In the mission, you must convey your difference from competitors. Present your own.
The advantages and values of the company. The advantages of your company over competitors and the core values that your company conveys.
Truthfulness. True, true and true again. If you make the cheapest goods, and at the same time declare that these are the most best goods then it is better not to do this.
Transparency. Your mission statement should be clear, truthful, and easy. Words and sentences should be so simple that even “Homer Simpson” can understand them.
Memorability. Easy and short mission is easy to remember. That is why we so easily memorize short slogans that are circulating in advertising.

If your development passes all these 6 criteria, then you have done it.

You have realized what the majority comes to after decades of existence. Honestly, I'm not sure that everything will turn out so perfect at once, but it's for the best, there will be room for growth 😉

Briefly about the main thing

The mission is your intangible drive to achieve the goal. This is what unites you, your employees and your clients under one flag. It is not easy to create it.

And it is needed exactly when you have already entered stable sales. Since in increasing sales, the mission for micro and small businesses does not make sense.

Your mission will change from year to year, it will improve. Not only because the world is changing, but because you are changing.

If earlier “parties and night parties” were valuable for you, now “Family and home” is valuable for you. But remember:

"The mission can be changed, but the idea cannot be betrayed." (

P.S. Do you know what I dislike about most of the sites that freelancers do? The phrase "individual approach".

And also a list of advantages that tell why the company is the coolest on the market. And not a single advantage that the client will receive when contacting this company.

This is what I mean. When creating a mission (if you still decided to create it), do not be freelancers.

Do not write how cool you are, how long you have been on the market, and so on. Ideally, don't mention the company at all.

If you look at most of the missions, you will see a clear line between them. Foreign and Russian approach.

Foreign - how a company can be useful to a client. Russian - as a client, he should be happy that he uses the services of such a cool company.

I urge you to use a foreign approach when creating your mission. Proceed from your company and interpret them in the context of what advantages your customers will receive from cooperation with you.

This mission, in my opinion, will be the most successful and distinguish you from your competitors.

Why does the company need a mission

To the question "Why do you need a mission?" many Russian leaders cannot answer. Of course, at the stage of creating a company, when it fights for existence, builds relationships with clients, the mission is far from what the General Director's attention should be focused on. The "moment of truth" for many managers is the period of rapid business growth, when, in addition to retaining and attracting customers, there is a need for competent specialists, in formalizing or revising management procedures. At this stage, the mission helps to overcome distrust of the company in the outside world, to direct the activities of employees and present the company to the external environment as a unique participant in a competitive market.

In general, the following mission functions can be distinguished (see Glossary):

clarifies the views of management and employees of the company about why and for what the company was created;
makes the main objectives of the enterprise explicit and clear;
facilitates work with employees and candidates for vacancies who do not need to explain the philosophical and practical underpinnings of the existence of your business;
serves as an explanation for the distribution of the organization's resources (monetary and human resources, raw materials, equipment). The organization's mission provides general guidelines for the acquisition and allocation of these resources.

Thus, it is the mission that sets the main direction of the organization's development. Therefore, a very significant, and perhaps the most important decision in strategic management is the definition of the mission. At the same time, the company's mission, if used correctly, can serve to promote the company's key values and form its image and reputation.

Speaking: Dmitry Persheev - General Director of the Garant company, Moscow

The Garant company is one of the largest Russian information companies. System "GARANT Platform F1 Expert" is the main product of the company. The Garant company and the GARANT system have been awarded numerous awards and diplomas from specialized exhibitions and professional competitions... The partner network of the "Garant" company today has more than 250 centers in our country and abroad. The company employs over 7.5 thousand employees in 200 cities of Russia.

The mission of the company "Garant" currently sounds like this: "Satisfy the society's need for legal information with the help of advanced computer technology". The development of the company and its products has always been in line with this mission, but the very understanding and formulation did not appear immediately. "Guarantor" was "born" back in 1990, then no one thought about such categories as mission. When an organization consists of several people, and they all sit in the same room, the understanding of the mission is in their minds, there is no need to put thoughts on paper. This does not mean that there is no mission - it exists, but it is not formulated in words. The need to formulate the company's objectives arose as the company grew - the number of employees increases, they already work not only in different offices, but often in different cities and do not always even know each other. The Garant company, for example, has 200 regional partners, in regional network employs about 8000 people. And although our partners are independent organizations, we are united by uniform service and customer service standards, so we must equally understand and share our mission in society.

The need for a precise formulation of the mission arose in our country around 1995-1996. But, I emphasize, it was precisely a refinement and design, and not a development "from scratch". The concept of mission as such already existed in our heads. Anyone now new employee When he comes to our company, he receives a personal copy of the Staff Regulations, from which he learns about the mission and philosophy of the company.

Glossary

The concept of mission has a number of definitions given by well-known foreign and Russian gurus in the field strategic development and management of the organization. In Mescon's textbook "Fundamentals of Management" the authors give the following definition: "Mission is the main overall goal of the organization - a clearly expressed reason for its existence, without defining the mission, all decisions in the organization would be made only on the basis of the individual values of leaders. A mission statement defines the status of the firm and provides direction and guidance for setting goals and strategies at various organizational levels. "

Lester Digman in the book “ Strategic management"Gives this definition:" The organizational mission determines why the organization exists, what it is now and what kind of organization it wants to be in the future. Mission is the most important element strategic management, and without it there can be no clear idea of the organization's business. "

Professor O.S. Vikhansky in the textbook "Strategic Management" gave a definition of mission in a broad and narrow sense. In a broad sense, "a mission is a philosophy and purpose, the meaning of the organization's existence", and in a narrow sense - "a formulated statement about why or for what reason the organization exists, that is, the mission is understood as a statement that reveals the meaning of the organization's existence, in which it manifests itself. the difference between this organization and another ”.

How to create a company mission statement

The General Director (he and only he can be the initiator of the mission formation process) should approach the mission as a "working tool" of strategic management, with which one can not only motivate employees, but also manage the company's image and reputation in the market, and not as a fashionable trend in business. In other words, the CEO must be:

I am ready to develop strategic management, otherwise you should not think about the mission statement.
I agree to spend my energy and time on this, you must have a desire to personally engage in the formation of the company's mission.
Able to accomplish this task. However, it happens that the leader understands the need to develop a mission, but he lacks professional knowledge... In such a situation, the best solution is to invite a third-party consultant-practitioner who has already developed successful missions.

Speaks: Vadim Kotelnikov - General Director of Congress-Prom-Invest, Moscow

The sphere of activity of Congress-Prom-Invest is support and development of innovative business. Year of foundation - 2000. Number of employees - 50 people, capitalization: 50 million US dollars.

Without knowing the mission of the company, employees will perceive their work only as a duty, it will not inspire them. The Japanese have two sayings on this subject: "It is useless to row harder if you row in the wrong direction" and "Seeing without action is a dream, and acting without seeing is a nightmare." People are inspired, attracted and energized by the great, and not by small everyday goals that cannot unite anyone around them.

The development of the vision and mission is the business of the General Director of the company. That's why he is a leader to create a vision of the future that inspires employees. However, not all leaders in Russia understand this yet. On the Internet, I have conducted global and Russian polls on the topic of which leader's task is the most important for people. In the global survey, the task of creating a vision took first place, and in Russia only third, falling behind such leadership tasks as the ability to energize people and possessing charisma. It turns out somewhere according to a Japanese saying: a leader, possessing charisma, charged people with energy, forcing them to row harder, but did not explain in which direction.

Create a team

After deciding to create a mission, think about who you will involve in the process of developing it. It is advisable to involve managers of all levels, creating a team out of them. Instruct her to conduct complex analysis market and your company, also let them study the mission statements of world famous companies. Based on the results of the analysis, it is necessary to formulate the strategic goals of the business, which should then be reflected in the mission of the company.

The most effective approach to goal setting today is the SMART approach. According to this approach, goals should be Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Flexible and / or Tangible / Time-based.

Define the qualities and values that will distinguish your company in a competitive environment

To develop a successful and competitive mission statement, a leader needs to go beyond the company and try to look at his business more globally, trying to predict the future. Define the distinguishing characteristics of your company based on market needs, not on the basis of the products and services offered (see Table 1).

Product-oriented and market-oriented business definitions

Make the mission clear to all employees of the company

The correct understanding of the mission by employees directly affects how this mission will be implemented by them in their work, and, as a result, is perceived by the market.

To convey the mission to all team members, you can use various tools: in a large company it can be a series of seminars with the active participation of middle and top managers, in a small one - general meeting... You can post the mission in the office reception - this will emphasize its importance and will indicate a developed corporate culture in company. Creation of an internal corporate manual for employees, a set of fundamental materials, which may include:

A message from management explaining the company's goals in the market, values and beliefs adopted in the company;
Explanation of the fundamental principles of the company, on which relations in the company are built, the peculiarities of culture and ethics, etc.

A similar guide called "Welcome to XXX" is used by several of our customers. This guide is a small brochure, beautifully designed and printed on good paper. Yes, all information about the mission, vision, corporate culture, main provisions of the strategy is presented not in dry or pretentious language, but presented in a “human” language that everyone understands.

Using such tools for communicating the company's mission, a manager can be sure that internal corporate values will be reflected in the behavior of employees, which will affect the perception of customers and the company's image.

The Aqua Logo company was founded in 1995. Specializes in aquarium interior design. Currently, it is the largest company of this profile in Russia, and the largest in the world on the service and registration market.
The Alter Logo company specializes in creating individual settings for management and accounting... The firm is one of the five leading 1C franchisee firms

The CEO, relying on the mission of the company, must constantly return employees to it: then they will begin to think based on it. If we bring beauty and joy to people through aquariums, but at the same time we take money from them for each floor of the rise, bargain, and besides, we make them wait, then where is beauty and joy here? If we talk about efficiency, and at the same time we ourselves work ineffectively, then we violate the very idea of the mission, and the heads and employees of departments should be uncomfortable from this. To create a mission and work on its basis, it is not necessary to conduct trainings or call consultants, the most important thing is that all your actions - bonuses, promotions, instructions, orders - must correspond to the mission, regardless of whether it hangs on a wall under glass or exists behind the scenes ...

Consider the external environment when designing a mission

The mission is often viewed as an “internal use tool”, thus underestimating its potential to influence external audiences (consumers, clients, partners, owners, government, trade unions). When developing a mission statement, you should consider four main strategic audiences and articulate the company's mission in relation to each of them:

Public - the company's contribution to the local community and the company's solution to specific social problems.
Customer service - meeting the needs of specific customers.
Organizational (for employees) - meeting the needs of a specific organizational system in the structure of which a given company operates.
Entrepreneurial (for partners) - fulfilling the conditions for sustainable development of the company's business, by meeting the needs of its participants and co-owners.

Industrial companies and banks are particularly active in the Four Strategic Objectives approach as their work affects life and financial activities regions in which these companies operate. In addition, the work of enterprises is often associated with environmental pollution (see an example from my practice Four options for an enterprise mission, depending on the audience).

Four options for the mission of the enterprise, depending on the audience

Ridan CJSC is one of the largest Russian manufacturers of plate heat exchangers. The company's mission is as follows: “We are creating new standards. We take responsibility for changing the usual ways of doing business and rules of interaction, for replacing them with new ones that are more effective for our customers, employees, partners, and society as a whole. "

The enterprise formulated its mission for four external audiences as follows:

For society: “By doing business according to new standards, we improve the quality of life, give peace of mind and confidence in tomorrow, we bring people warmth, comfort and coziness. It's safe with us! "
For customers: “We are introducing new ways of interacting with customers in our market, combining the reliability of our equipment with a new quality of service. We value human relationships with our clients, develop and support them. It is comfortable to cooperate with us! "
For employees: “We build honest and open relationships with employees based on mutual respect, professionalism and responsibility. We value a positive approach to life and active involvement in the life of the company. We contribute to the development and training of employees, realizing that this is an investment in the future of the company. We are creating a new quality of life and work! "
For partners: “We are helping to improve the efficiency and quality of our partners' business. We respect our partners, that's why they trust us! "

Check the reality of your company's mission

How to avoid turning the mission into dreams of a bright future that do not reflect the real state of affairs? To strike a balance between reality, your company's aspirations and market demands, it makes sense for the CEO to “test” the mission received against three requirements (see also Why profit can't be a mission):

Is the company's mission determined by its competitive advantages?
Does the company's mission reflect its expectations, principles and values?
Is the company's mission based on market needs?

Speaks: Boris Polgeim - General Director of the companies "Aqua Logo", "Alter Logo", Moscow

Before formulating a mission, ask yourself questions: “What does our company bring to the world? If there is no tomorrow, will the market regret it? How much does it contribute to the business and what is it? What is our competitive advantage what do people value in us? Are we needed at all, or maybe we carry something that no one needs? "

If the mission that you have formulated is suitable for several other companies in the neighborhood, then your company does not carry something special. It is necessary to bring the mission closer to you, but not to land it too much. For example, the unspoken mission of the Aqua Logo company is “To bring beauty to people through aquariums”. If you remove the word "aquariums" from the mission, it will turn out to be vague, although, on the other hand, it makes it easy to move from one direction, carrying beauty, to another. For example, we now deal not only with aquariums, but also with reservoirs. If a leader wants the company to grow, he must formulate a mission that, on the one hand, is accurate, and on the other hand, allows other directions to be developed under it.

The mission of the company "Alter Logo", which is engaged in automation management accounting based on 1C, it could be formulated as follows: "We automate well." However, we formulated it differently: “We create the efficiency of the enterprise”. This is a completely different level, it includes automation and consulting, etc. That is, if in Aqua Logo efficiency is not as important as joy and beauty, then in Alter Logo it is just the opposite - the most important thing is efficiency , clarity. When formulated with awareness, a mission statement will bring practical value to the company, rather than just a set of words.

Speaking: Dmitry Persheev - General Director of the Garant company, Moscow

Life does not stand still. The development of the company, the needs of customers, the potential of employees led to the fact that some time ago we slightly changed the vector of our development, more precisely, expanded it. And, perhaps, today the statement: "We satisfy the need for legal information" would be incomplete - now we provide our clients with comprehensive legal support. Information support, of course, remains among our priorities, but we have begun to actively develop consulting business areas. In addition, we are actively developing and "non-computer" directions - we publish magazines, books on legal topics... In fact, we are changing the face - we were a computer system, but we want to become a "powerful" operator of all kinds legal services and resources. And now we have to re-formulate our common mission. It is in this, by the way, that I see the practical benefit of having a responsible role for a company. Mission is what brings people together. When it is spelled out and known to every member of our large team, we have the right to count on the fact that every employee in his place will make every effort to implement it.

Speaks: Sergei Pushkin - General manager Taxcom LLC, Moscow

Taxcom company specializes in the development and implementation of systems electronic document management that use cryptographic information protection tools. These systems ensure the exchange of confidential information through communication channels, encrypted with guaranteed stability and protected by an electronic digital signature. Currently, the Taxcom company develops and maintains software and technological support for the Taxcom-Sprinter and BANK-ACCOUNT systems.

As the company develops, new tasks and goals appear, priorities change. For example, the Taxcom company specializes in the creation and implementation of electronic document management systems. Initially, we set a goal - the development of technology and the provision of services in the field of electronic interaction of legal, individuals, state and public organizations... We formulated our mission in accordance with the goal - to become a leading company in our field and provide our customers and partners with high quality technologies. Now, seven years later, new urgent tasks have emerged. And in the near future we will have to develop a new mission, rather of ideological content, with a focus not just on servicing customers and partners, but on leadership in organizing electronic document management for all participants in the Russian market.

Why making a profit can't be a mission

Many people believe that the main goal of any business is to make a profit. But it must be remembered that the mission is strategic goal and the main reason for the existence of the company. If a company has a mission expressed as "making money", then it is likely to face great difficulties: low efficiency in situations in markets where money has become "long" and non-price competition has begun. In addition, if a company chooses such a wording as: “We make money, and our goal is to earn as much as possible,” it is unlikely that it will become an attractive partner for its clients and an employer for employees. Thus, the only goal of a company cannot be making money - this is only one of the results, a consequence of a competent strategy and effective company management. In addition, do not forget that competition forces companies to think about the intangible benefits of working with them. Companies that are more resilient due to intrinsic moral values, which is especially important in emerging, volatile markets, are in a more advantageous position.

Dvornikova Ekaterina Valentinovna

General Director of the consulting company "Dvornikova & Partners"

Leadership and Management

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