I have a Vision for Your Company or Organisation. Do you share it?

In my vision every organisation recognises that somewhere, deep at the heart of the company, there is an essence (you might call it a spirit or soul or true purpose) that defines everything that they do.  I have no doubt that every company has an essence but suspect that there are very few companies that can actually articulate it to colleagues, employees and customers.

Why is this important?

A few years ago I worked closely with the inspirational CEO of a high street retail chain to help him communicate the importance of the company ethos to every member of staff.  His vision was that every customer who walked into one of their stores instantly understood who the company really were; from the way they were greeted, to the language of promotional material to the quality and style of service they received both in the store and afterwards. He realised that if customers felt this ‘essence’ of the company they would more readily identify with it and were more likely to return on future occasions.

In order for his vision to succeed the essence had to be articulated so that everyone from the senior leadership team to store assistants to warehouse staff had to be on-board and on-message.  Regular internal communications were needed to reinforce the message to staff, and listen to their responses. All external communications were created with the essence in mind.  

Unfortunately for the company this individual moved an and was replaced by someone with more traditional commercial objectives.  I believe the company suffered greatly from this shift away from its ethos of putting service and loyalty first and has since lost its way. Their identity shifted from a customer perspective to one lead by price and most of the senior leadership team left the company within the following months.

How do we prevent this from happening to us?

Although the essence of the company was clearly present it was never actually defined and shared with all the stakeholders.  It remained the vision of the CEO who interpreted it as a vision statement and company values.  This was fine while he was still in post because he represented the essence in every communication, but when he was no longer there, his vision statements and values become just words – without an understanding of true essence or purpose.

All stakeholders need to feel an ownership of the essence or spirit of their company, they need to believe that they belong to this organisation and have a valuable part to play in its success.

My vision for you:

• To be a successful company where the essence of the company is not only defined, but shouted from the rooftops!!
• The spirit of the company is embedded throughout the fabric of the organisation
• Employees feel valued and know why they play a vital role in the success of the company.
• Customers feel the essence in every interaction they have with the company
• Products and services are developed and promoted in alignment with the true purpose of the company – it’s essence
• Your company will gain credibility in it’s sector for being true to its values, looking after and valuing staff, and giving a service to customers that makes them feel valued and wanting to return

Do you share my vision?