How much time have you spent developing your company's mission statement? If you're like most companies, then probably a lot. You may have even hired an external consultant to help you find the right wording. This is important and time well spent - but the work doesn't end there. Mission statements aren't just for glossy brochures and new employee handbooks; they're meant to guide employees as they make decisions on behalf of your stakeholders every day.
However, according to an article in the Harvard Business Review, many employees - even in companies with well-formulated mission statements - do not feel that they have a "North Star" to guide them. The problem is that the mission statement is not articulated throughout the company and translated into concrete actions for employees at all levels. This is where internal communication, when used effectively, can make a big difference in employee alignment. Below are three tips on how you can use internal communications to set your North Star.
Employees need to be reminded of your company's mission and vision frequently and in different ways. Internal memos are a good place to start, but for employees who spend little time in the office, videos, internal messaging apps and collaboration platforms can also be useful tools. These digital channels have the added benefit of allowing you to tailor the message to specific employee functions and regions. While your core mission should be consistent, what exactly it means will look different in the executive suite than in production, or different at headquarters than in an overseas sales office.
When employees say that they "don't really understand" the mission statement, this is sometimes because some elements of the mission statement don't suit them or don't make sense for their role in the company. This is where feedback mechanisms are important, right up to the top management level. Employees need to be able to voice their concerns so that you can clarify any misunderstandings and explain how important their contribution is. In addition to formal feedback channels, you can also conduct anonymous surveys, build a suggestion box into your collaboration platform and use video conferencing to have informal one-on-one conversations with employees in remote areas. Keeping the lines of communication open is also important for creating a culture where employees feel safe to voice their opinions.
This suggestion is all about making things concrete. While mission statements are abstract by definition, employees also need to know what the goals mean in practice. This is where you can use internal communication to link your mission to concrete project examples and successes. This is also an opportunity for managers and team leaders to get involved, as they are more familiar with the challenges faced by the units on the ground. In the ahead intranet, for example, there is the Company Compass, which allows you to link news articles, posts, stories and more to specific elements of your mission and vision. In this way, you can intuitively link the achievements of your employees to the big picture and make the support of management visible.