Values, Mission And Vision Statements: Definition And Aim

Updated 23 November 2022

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Many companies use mission, vision and values statements to elaborate on their business goals, practices and values. These statements help employees improve their work culture, achieve their goals and increase the company's brand recognition. By understanding the importance of vision and mission statements, you can motivate your employees and build public awareness about the company. In this article, we discover mission, vision and values statements, find out about their purpose and benefits, learn how to write them and explore some helpful tips.

What Are Mission And Vision Statements?

Mission and vision statements are concise statements that explain a company's business purpose, goals and aspirations. Many companies prepare these vision and mission statements to clarify their business stance to their executives, employees, investors, vendors, suppliers and customers. By providing a clear vision and mission definition specific to their business, the companies can gain public support, build customer loyalty and increase the sales of their products and services.

What Is A Mission Statement?

A mission statement is a brief statement of two or three sentences that outlines a company's plan to achieve its business aspirations, unlike a vision statement which states future goals. When considering a vision statement versus a mission statement, this is the difference to remember. A mission statement generally focuses on specific brands and products and explains the current goals and actions of the company regarding these. For example, if a business sells affordable security equipment, its mission statement can stress the inconspicuousness and motion detection technology of its security cameras to maximise safety at a minimal cost.

What Are Some Benefits Of A Mission Statement?

Some benefits that you can expect from creating a mission statement are:

Provides clear business direction. A mission statement can serve as a reminder of specific business priorities such as cost efficiency, quick customer service and better design aesthetics and enable the company to focus on these during the production process.
Recommends specific action. Every company can create its specific mission statement and mention its unique features and plans to achieve its business goals.
Promotes customer loyalty. By publicising its mission statement, the company can help its customers know about and identify with its business aspirations and gain their support through repeat purchases and word-of-mouth recommendations.

How To Create A Mission Statement

You can create a mission statement for a company by following these steps:

Provide details of the company. You can introduce the company by its name and identify its business. For instance, you might write, Farm Fruits is a health food company.
Explain your business purpose. You can mention what the company's business goals are and explain why they have those specific goals. You could write, Farm Fruits partners with local farmers and aims to promote the local economy by supplying consumers with fresh, organic, seasonal and handpicked fruit at a low price.
Elaborate on current practices. You can describe some of the current practices that are helping the business achieve its mission. For example, you can write, To give you access to the freshest fruits, we can deliver your order on the same day and right at your doorstep.

Tips For Writing A Mission Statement

Consider the following tips when writing a mission statement for a company:

Be specific in the mission statement. Make sure that your mission statement is distinct to the company and its goals and keep it brief.
Publicise the mission statement. You can include the mission statement on the company's official website and use it in advertisements and promotional activities to boost brand recognition.
Revise the mission statement. You may revisit and revise the mission statement periodically as the business expands and it finds new goals to achieve.

What Is A Vision Statement?

A vision statement is a concise statement that details and explains the overarching business goals of a company. It is generally not longer than one or two sentences. By creating a vision statement, you can make it easier for employees, investors and consumers to understand, share and support your vision for growing the company and enhancing its business impact.

What Are Some Benefits Of A Vision Statement?

Writing a vision statement can offer a company the following benefits:

Serving as inspiration: A vision statement can provide your employees with a clear understanding of the company's exact purpose and business goals, and that can inspire them to develop their own career goals and improve their work performance.
Promoting brand recognition: By creating an ethical vision statement and publicising it, you can build a positive business reputation, make the brand better known to consumers and boost the business sales.
Achieving industry respect: You can gain the respect of industry professionals and consumers by having a clear vision statement that upholds the company values and following through with them.
Enabling business growth: By establishing business goals, a vision statement enables a company to follow a growth trajectory to achieve and exceed them.

How To Create A Vision Statement

The following steps may help you create a vision statement:

Consider the business impact. When writing a vision statement, consider the short and long-term impacts you want the company to have concerning cultural, social, economic and environmental matters.
Plan business goals. You can write the specific goals for the company and make sure that they are achievable, practical and easy to implement.
Determine business reputation. Consider what kind of reputation and recognition you want for the business and write a vision statement that aligns with that expectation.
Write an actionable statement. An actionable statement describes the exact purpose of the company and makes it easier for people to understand the business intent.

Tips For Writing A Vision Statement

You can refer to the following tips when writing a vision statement:

Consider the target audience. It is essential to address the vision statement to the specific group the company wants to target for its business sales.
Keep it general. Write a general vision statement that can enable you to remain flexible in the business plans and goals and make adjustments as necessary.
Be concise. You can make a better impact by using purposeful language and keeping the vision statement short and relevant.

What Are Company Values?

Company values are the beliefs and behavioural standards that most companies deem essential and acceptable for their employees. These values establish the company culture, the internal professional interactions and the external dealings with vendors, customers and third parties. Many companies publicise their values to highlight their ethical business practices, earn public respect and gain more customers. Some examples of company value include focussing on client satisfaction, seeking success through teamwork, offering high-quality products and continually innovating and developing.

What Are Some Benefits Of Company Values?

Some benefits of having company values are:

Ethical business operation: The company values can set standards for ethical business practices and ensure that it remains committed to its social, economic and environmental responsibilities.
Good industry reputation: The values of a company can enable it to follow ethical practices, maintain high business standards and build a good reputation with industry professionals, vendors, suppliers and consumers.
Improvement in employee conduct: The value statements of a company may influence its employee conduct, work environment and business culture. The company values can encourage employees to remain polite and kind towards each other, perform better in their work and provide superior service to customers.

How To Create A Company Values Statement

A company can create multiple values statements with different focuses and topics and use these for writing the mission and vision statements. The following steps may help you with creating a values statement for your company:

Consider core beliefs. Take the time to examine your beliefs and consider how these enable you to follow through on your vision and mission statements.
Focus on relationships. The success of a company depends on the success of professional business relationships between employees, executives, vendors, suppliers and customers. The values statement can emphasise the need for polite and professional interactions and relationships.
Clarify company stance. Through the values statement, you can clarify what the company thinks about the vital issues that affect its business.
Explain company practices. After clarifying the company values, you can explain how the company upholds them.

Tips For Writing A Values Statement

The following tips may assist you with writing a values statement for a company:

Be specific about the values. It is essential to be clear about the values you want for the company, be sincere in detailing them and ensure that it is possible to implement them at all levels.
Encourage company-wide adoption. You can encourage existing and new employees to adopt the company's values by promoting these through announcements, promotional activities and training programmes.
Publicise the statement. By publicising the values statement, you can clarify what the company thinks about ethical and business issues and, thus, help it gain public trust and respect.