By: Lauren Dellarocco
Have you paid attention to your favorite company’s mission statement? If you have, you’re likely a loyal customer of that brand. The purpose of an effective mission statement is to broadcast a brand’s core values to build a connection with its consumers and employees.
By building a connection between the company’s purpose and the consumers’ interests, a company or organization can establish brand loyalty to ensure its consumers continue to choose that brand. (Recent research concludes that 61% of consumers would recommend a brand that aligns with their social values to their friends.)
Well-communicated mission statements can also show employees that their role is essential to the company’s overall mission or purpose, which encourages greater work productivity, employee engagement, and employee retention.
An effective company mission statement is one that communicates the company’s core values (and many times social values), identifies a business objective and strategy for accomplishing the objective, and functions to engage with the brand’s consumers and employees.
What is a mission statement?
A mission statement is a company or organization’s ‘today and everyday’ statement. It’s the current objective that a company strives to reach every day, in all of its operations. A company or organization’s mission statement describes what the company is doing presently to reach its vision statement and how it works to ensure customer satisfaction.
Great mission statements communicate what the brand and its employees are doing for consumers and the community.
Let’s use Nike’s mission statement as an example: “Do everything possible to expand human potential. We do that by creating groundbreaking sport innovations, by making our products more sustainably, by building a creative and diverse global team; and by making a positive impact in communities where we live and work.”
Nike’s lengthy mission statement describes the actions that the company is taking each day to “expand human potential”. This company’s mission statement is clearly-defined, supported by concrete actions and objectives that it operates by, to fulfill its long-term vision. Nike communicates its function to make a “positive impact in communities where we live and work”, which connects the company to a bigger cause. Through definition of its goal for consumers, its employees’ role in driving the purpose, and its stance on impacting the community, Nike’s mission statement touches all bases to generate a complete message.
Though vision statements and mission statements are often entangled with each other, these statements serve different purposes for an organization.
What is the difference between a mission statement and vision statement?
A vision statement is a company’s or organization’s ‘one day’ statement. It’s the goal that a company strives to embody or see in its consumers. A company’s vision statement is essentially the world that the company envisions for the future, while its mission statement defines the strategy for reaching the vision.
Take Nike’s vision statement for example: “To bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world.” The leaders of Nike envision a world where their targeted consumers, ‘every athlete in the world’, feel inspired and innovative with their Nike products.
Vision statements provide an abstract encapsulation of the company’s overarching objective or goal, using a defined mission statement that determines the company’s strategic plan or order of operations to reach the end vision.
Mission Statements for Employee Engagement
The purpose of a mission statement is to define a company’s collective purpose. All employees of a company or organization should be on the same page to ensure that the company’s mission is being carried out across the board. When employees have a clear understanding of their company’s mission and purpose, the company has a defined direction that propels it toward achieving a common goal.
A company’s core values exist within its mission statement, and these core values help to create a connection between employees, customers, and the company. As concluded by a 2016 Gallup study, “67% of millennials are engaged at work when they strongly agree that the mission or purpose of their company makes them feel that their job is important.”
Mission statements enable employees to see how their contribution is integral to accomplish the overall mission and reach the company’s vision. To communicate the role of its employees in furthering the mission, a company can adopt a communication journey software that increases employee engagement and clearly defines its core values.
A mission statement encourages employees to feel engaged with their responsibilities and connected with the company culture, which drives the company’s objectives and leads to greater workplace productivity.
To further define what a good mission statement entails and why a mission statement is important, we’ve compiled a list of the 15 best organization mission statements to illustrate the true, underlying meaning of a mission statement.
Mission Statement Examples
1. Google
Google’s mission statement: “To organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.”
Google highlights the user experience through its purpose of providing users across the world with organized, useful, and accessible information. Within this company’s effective mission statement, we see two of the company’s core values:
- Focus on the user, and all else will follow.
- The need for information crosses all borders.
2. Starbucks
Starbucks’ mission statement: “To inspire and nurture the human spirit – one person, one cup and one neighborhood at a time.”
In Starbucks’ mission statement, consumers and employees are connected with the company’s purpose on a granular level. The company’s core focus, uplifting the spirit of its consumers, is spotlighted in its mission statement, and employees are engaged with delivering the product that drives its purpose.
3. Linkedin
Linkedin’s mission statements: “Connect the world’s professionals to make them more productive and successful.”
This simple, concise mission statement literally builds a connection between Linkedin users and the company. Linkedin illustrates its purpose to facilitate a connection between professionals to reach an objective of productivity and success.
4. American Red Cross
American Red Cross’ mission statement: “To 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 directly illustrates its objective, “preventing and alleviating human suffering”, through its actions, “mobilizing the power of volunteers and the generosity of donors.” This company’s mission defines its purpose of catalyzing solutions to human suffering by connecting volunteers with donors. Addressing the global concern of human suffering, this mission statement engages its audience by acknowledging the positive outcome that comes from supporting the company’s drive.
5. Tesla
Tesla’s mission statement: “To accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy.”
The Tesla company mission statement embodies Tesla’s purpose of advancing the transition to a world of sustainability. Tesla’s core values include respecting the environment and always doing your best, which are each supported in the company’s mission.
6. The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company’s mission statement: “To entertain, inform and inspire people around the globe through the power of unparalleled storytelling, reflecting the iconic brands, creative minds and innovative technologies that make ours the world’s premier entertainment company.”
This company’s mission statement thoroughly defines the company’s purpose to cultivate a community of entertained, informed, and inspired people who use Disney’s innovative technologies. The overall objective is clearly illustrated, “to make [Disney] the world’s premier entertainment company”, and the path that the company will take to get there is communicated.
7. Patagonia
Patagonia’s mission statement: “Build the best product, cause no unnecessary harm, use business to inspire and implement solutions to the environmental crisis.”
Patagonia has one of the best mission statements, because it encompasses the company’s core values and connects its consumers and employees with a greater cause. By purchasing and selling high-quality products, consumers and employees are supporting the drive toward innovative solutions that address a universal concern: the environmental crisis.
8. Delta Airlines
Delta Airlines’ mission statement: “We—Delta’s employees, customers, and community partners together form a force for positive local and global change, dedicated to bettering standards of living and the environment where we and our customers live and work.”
Delta Airlines’ mission statement describes a comprehensive objective to promote positive change, locally and globally. This mission statement directly addresses the role of its employees and consumers in driving the company’s purpose, which encourages an engaging work culture and audience.
9. McDonald’s
McDonald’s’ mission statement: “To be our customers’ favorite place and way to eat and drink.”
The McDonald’s company mission statement centers around the customer to build a relationship between the consumer and company. By prioritizing the needs and preferences of its consumers, McDonald’s builds brand loyalty that immerses the consumer with the company objective. It’s clearly defined in this company’s mission statement that the company structures its goals and strategies around its customers.
10. TED
TED’s mission statement: “Spread ideas.”
Although it’s the shortest mission statement on our list, TED’s mission is clear. Its purpose is to spread ideas. In the act of spreading ideas, it’s implied that the mission includes connecting the user with other people to share ideas. This company mission statement defines TED’s purpose to facilitate consumers’ engagement with other people, to spread boundless ideas.
11. Karam Foundation
Karam Foundation’s mission statement: “Karam Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to helping people help themselves. We seek to restore the dignity and quality of life for people affected by conflict by eliminating barriers to success through innovative education, entrepreneurial development, and community-driven aid.”
The Karam Foundation mission statement is straightforward in its objective and plan of action for helping people to help themselves to create a better everyday life. With a clear definition of how the Karam Foundation plans and strategizes to carry out its mission, this company creates a direct objective that encourages consumers and employees to engage with and support its cause.
12. IKEA
IKEA’s mission statement: “Offering a wide range of well designed, functional home furnishing products at prices so low that as many people as possible will be able to afford them.”
The IKEA mission statement connects consumers with the company’s purpose by addressing its consumers’ needs of variety, functionality, and cost efficiency. IKEA’s company mission statement works alongside its core values:
- Desire for innovation and creativity
- Consciousness for cost
13. Twitter
Twitter’s mission statement: “To give everyone the power to create and share ideas and information instantly, without barriers.”
Twitter defines its focus: placing the power in the users’ hands. Similar to TED users, Twitter users have the power to create and share ideas quickly and without limits. This company’s core value, “We believe in free expression and think every voice has the power to impact the world”, is also seen in its mission statement, Twitter consumers to harness their power through limitless communication.
14. Coca Cola
Coca Cola’s mission statement: “To refresh the world in mind, body and spirit; to inspire moments of optimism and happiness through our brands and actions; to create value and make a difference.”
The Coca Cola company mission is separated into three clear objectives. This company strives to improve its consumers’ quality of life with refreshing products and good-natured actions through its brand. Coca Cola addresses a bigger picture than a simple, good-tasting product. It communicates to its consumers and employees that the company also cares to engage with its community and make a difference.
15. USAA
USAA’s mission statement: “To facilitate the financial security of its members, associates and their families by providing a full range of highly competitive financial products and services. In so doing, we seek to be the provider of choice for the military community. We do this by upholding the highest standards and ensuring that our corporate business activities and individual employee conduct reflect good judgment and common sense, and are consistent with our core values of:
Service, Loyalty, Honesty and Integrity.”
The USAA company mission statement communicates its main objective, “facilitating the financial security of its members, associates and their families”, before addressing its ulterior mission of becoming “the provider of choice for the military community.” USAA intertwines its core values with its mission statement to create a clear definition of the company’s values that underlie its purpose. By providing an objective along with the specific actions that will carry out its mission, USAA supports a well-defined purpose driven by its consumers.
The Bottom Line
A mission statement defines a company’s overall objective and focus, intertwined with the core values that drive its purpose. Essential for engaging employees and consumers and accomplishing collective objectives throughout a brand, mission statements play a larger role in a company’s success than one may think. Integrating an employee engagement platform that assists in carrying out these collective objectives can support a company in remaining focused and driven toward fulfilling its purpose.
Through purposeful core values and a developed mission statement, a company has the opportunity to build brand loyalty, which helps to secure customer or client retention. A good mission statement also engages a company’s employees by highlighting the importance of their role in carrying out the company’s purpose, which helps to prevent employee turnover.
The bottom line is: a good mission statement determines what a company’s goal is and why a company has its goals. Mission statements are set to establish a long-lasting relationship between a brand, its consumers, and its employees—and this relationship can do wonders for business growth.
