Is Your Company on a Mission?
by Marcy Marro | 1 April 2021 12:00 am
As a business consultant and coach, I have worked with many construction businesses who don’t have a clear picture of what they do best, how they want to do business, why customers should hire them or the needs they strive to meet in the marketplace. Contractors without a mission, drift along doing their best to win some work for anyone who’ll hire them, try to find some good help, and hope to make some money. They’re also not on a mission to be excellent at what they do, define who they do business with, and build a strong team of winning employees.
Get on a Winning Mission!
When you formally draft your company mission statement, you will officially describe and define what your company does best. Your proclaimed mission creates an opportunity to share with customers, the marketplace, your managers, and employees the company’s goals and what it does for customers, employees, owners, and your community. Here is an example of our construction company mission statement we developed many years ago: “The mission of Hedley Construction is to be the leading provider of full-service, full value, open-book commercial and industrial construction for a limited number of loyal and exclusive developers and clients throughout Southern California. We commit to build trusted relationships and pro-active teamwork by delivering on-time, on-budget performance via expertise, professionalism, personal service, highest integrity, total project management, cutting-edge technology and impeccable quality. We strive to act as our customers’ trusted in-house full-charge construction manager accountable to meet their goals and make their projects a success.”
Bad company mission statements are often full of fluffy generic buzzwords strung together in a long meaningless useless sentence such as: “Our company mission is to provide the best blah-blah-blah service to our blah-blah-blah customers in a safe and profitable blah-blah-blah manner to make a difference.”
Every construction company, big or small, should have a well-written mission statement to tell the world who they are, what they offer and what they do to set them apart. A good mission statement will help clarify your company goals, serve your customers and keep on the right path.
Your Business Mission Statement
Is a simple, clear, concise in-depth written statement or short paragraph of the focus, philosophy, mission and direction of your business. It answers the questions:
- Who is your company?
- What your company does?
- What business are you in?
- What do you want to accomplish?
- What you stand for?
- Why you do what we do?
Every construction company, big or small, should have a well-written mission statement to tell the world who they are, what they offer and what they do to set them apart.
Steps to Draft Your Mission Statement
To begin the exercise of drafting a great and meaningful company mission statement, get your management team and key players together for a brainstorming session. Together, write down all the answers you can to these questions:
1. What’s your company’s primary focus?
2. What type of work, projects, or services do we specialize in?
3. What do we do best or do better than any other competitor in our market
Examples include providing unique services, expertise in certain project types or specialties, project sizes, contract types, technical methods, engineering techniques, design-build, quality workmanship, etc.
4. Who is your ideal target customer or market we serve?
5. What problems or challenges do we solve, benefits we provide, or needs we meet for target customers?
Examples can include some specific solutions or actions we offer that make a significant difference to customers?
6. How do we run and manage our business?
Examples might include personal service, technical competence, detailed project management systems, honesty, full value, take charge leadership or an open team approach.
7. How do we treat and value employees?
Examples can include how your company is good for employees, builds teamwork, encourages training and performance, enhances empowerment and personal development, develops accountability and growth, and stresses safety first in the workplace and on job sites.
8. What the business does for the owners?
Example: the mission of most businesses is to deliver the results the stockholders want including profit, value, growth, stability, reputation or independence.
Now Write Your Mission Statement
After answering all of the questions listed in the steps above and brainstorming every idea that makes sense, it’s time to consolidate and whittle down all your ideas into a short, concise, meaningful, pithy paragraph which describes what business your company is in. Start by creating a draft mission statement. Wordsmith it a few times and then post it on the wall for a few days and review it often. What you need to revise or change will become obvious. Then create a new draft and make sure it is precise, focused, clear without ambiguity and understood by everyone.
Revise, Update and Improve!
Now that you’ve drafted your mission statement, show it to others, ask for their input and then edit it again. Remember, this is only a draft. Mission statements evolve and change with time, the economy and the market. Revisit your mission every year to keep it current and fresh. Be proud of what business you’re in. Post it prominently on the first page of your website, your lobby wall, in your brochure, on the back of everyone’s business card, in your employee manual and in your proposals.
Potential employees, vendors, subcontractors and customers value companies who know their mission and goals. Writing and defining your mission statement will make a difference in achieving your goals, winning more work and attracting the best employees to work for your company.
George Hedley, CSP, CPBC, helps contractors grow and profit as a professional business coach, popular speaker and peer group leader. He is the author of “Get Your Construction Business to Always Make a Profit!” and “Hardhat BIZSCHOOL Online University” available—on his website. Visit www.hardhatbizschool.com[1] for more information.
- www.hardhatbizschool.com: http://www.hardhatbizschool.com/
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