It’s all too easy for employers and employees to lose sight of the overall vision and mission statement of their company in the daily grind, regardless of the company size. This is largely due to poor marketing efforts — both externally, and internally. To establish a good corporate culture, consider these three simple strategies.
- Really Know the Company’s Mission
Knowing the heart of a company starts with a good handle on the mission, vision, values, and purpose (MVVP). While developing and defining the MVVP leaders must be challenged to explore their “why”. The why is the passion, motivation and heart behind why they do what they do. This drives the state of corporate culture and the company’s marketable mission.
Some questions to get you started are — Why was the company created? What problem was it trying to solve? What is unique about the company versus its competitors?
- Communicate the Company’s Mission Internally
There’s a number of ways to ensure a company’s mission is shared within the organization. These can be company wide events, meetings, and communication tools like internal newsletters or daily updates via Slack or similar tools. These options communicate your MVVP through team building and visuals — effective ways to keep everyone in the loop and focused on rowing in the same direction.
Have you thought about asking your team what they believe is your company’s mission and values in their own words? Or why they choose to stick around? This will serve as clear indicators into how your “why” is being trickled down into the company.
- Put the Mission into Action
Translate your MVVP and why into actions. This is the most critical part of creating a marketable culture. When the gap between what is being said and what is actually being done has grown too wide, there is a big problem. It’s hypocritical, it deteriorates motivation, and it impacts the way the company markets itself externally to consumers and end-users.
It is very useful to poll your current and past clients and stakeholders to see what perception your brand is portraying. You might know exactly why the company does what it does but it might not be translating to your customers. You can use questions such as — when you see our logo or name what thoughts and emotions are triggered? Describe the brand’s look and feel in your own words. What motivates you to use the company?
Remember, it is important to have a strong marketing culture, but keep in mind that it requires good leadership. A good leader can make or break success. Good leaders believe in strengthening their organization’s culture from within — starting with themselves knowing the why, living it, and portraying it.