Risk & Business Magazine CMW Spring 2016 | Page 28

Mission, Purpose & Vision Statements What’s the Difference? BY: JOHN DiJULIUS, PRESIDENT, THE DiJULIUS GROUP S tatement overload! When we start working with a consulting client and tell them the first place we start is creating a customer service vision statement, they say, “The last thing we need is another statement, we have mission statements, purpose statements, and our employees can’t even keep them straight.” Good businesses have evolved away from lengthy wordy mission statements that no employee can recite. Today it is okay to have three major company statements, provided it’s clear as to how they differ and how your employees need to decipher them. What is controllable? While every company needs strong, inspiring mission and purpose statements, they are results, not actions. If your mission is to be the #1 financial institution in the world, what does that tell a bank teller or loan officer to do today, as they interact with each Customer. Even the greatest mission and purpose statements are not actionable by employees. Let’s look at a few great Mission & Purpose statements: Starbucks Purpose “To inspire and nurture the human spirit one person, one cup and one neighborhood at a time.” 28 SPRING SPRING2016 2016 Another Broken Egg Mission “It is the mission of Another Broken Egg Café to be the world’s best breakfast, brunch and lunch Café. Deliver guest satisfaction beyond your expectations with a warm and friendly smile in a clean and relaxing family atmosphere. It is our commitment to deliver “Egg”ceptional food and exemplary service creating a unique and memorable experience.” Mission and Purpose Statements - Each of those are strong statements and do excite people about the impact they can eventually have. I believe mission and purpose statements should be shared and discussed at orientation, posted on walls, even displayed on the company’s website. I think employees should be familiar with them, but I do not think it is realistic for them to remember wordfor-word your Mission, Purpose and Customer Service Vision Statements, and that is totally okay. Customer Service Vision Statement – Think of a mission statement for a professional football team. Is it to win the Super Bowl? However, that is not what the offense or defense says in the huddle: “Let’s win the Super Bowl, ready break.” Winning the Super Bowl is a result, not the action. The Customer Service Vision Statement is the actionable play. This is the one statement I want every employee in the organization to be able to recite and know backwards and forwards. The Customer Service Vision is what each and every employee, regardless of department, level, or pay grade, has to deliver to every Customer every time, that provides a meaningful purpose for your employees. The CSV never gets shared with the outside public, i.e. Customers. It is only to be marketed to the employees. It is the one thing that gets them out of bed in the morning and racing to work. Let’s look at the same company’s Customer Service Vision Statements, that we showed you their mission & purpose: Starbucks’ Customer Service Vision Statement “We create inspired moments in each customers day” Another Broken Egg’s Customer Service Vision Statement “Happy People Sharing Happiness” Make sure your Customer Service Vision Statement is actionable, measureable, observable, and trainable. This means that you can actually watch an employee interact with a Customer face-to-face, read their email or listen to them on a call and be able to say, “yes / no, they did achieve our Customer service vision statement.” John R. DiJulius III is the author of The Customer Service Revolution: Overthrow convention Business, Inspire Employees, and Change the World, (January 2015 Greenleaf Books). He is the president of The DiJulius Group—a Customer service consulting firm that works with companies like Starbucks, Chick-fi l-A, The Ritz-Carlton, Nestle, PwC, Lexus, and many more. You can email him at [email protected]