Your company͛s vision isn͛t just about having a slogan on your coffee cups or putting some wording on the wall in reception. It should guide decision-making, shape your culture and define your business.
Your company vision statement is all about the ͞why͟ and the ͞how͟. Your company vision should define where you are going and how you are going to get there. The vision should set out a clear path towards your firm͛s future. An effective vision is simple and should allow your firm to move forward quickly and in the right direction.
Take IKEA as an example. Their company vision is ͞to create a better everyday life for the many people.͟Their vision is simple – they want to make everyday life better for their customers. IKEA lives this vision through its employees. As a firm, they encourage their people to grow as individuals and professionals in order to work together to create a better everyday life for themselves and their customers.
Many would argue that a large international business such as IKEA should be good at creating a vision because it has the resources to employ experts in order to help it achieve that objective. So how do you go about ͞living the company vision͟ in a small to medium-sized business?
Start with your people
Encourage your team to have conversations about values. By incorporating discussions around the vision and company values of your firm, you encourage your employees to get involved, feedback to management and engage with making the business better. You should also try to hire people whose values align with the vision of the business.
Lead by example
Your management team should abide by the core values of the business and walk the talk. If for example, your vision is all about adding value for customers and staff, your management team should show others in the business how to do this by going the extra mile for both clients and staff.
Communication
You should reinforce the company vision in all communications including email, team meetings, etc. You should also incorporate the values of the firm͛s vision into your sales process. For example, if your firm is all about ͞adding value through efficient use of technology͟, you should mention this in your client proposal documents and then illustrate it by emailing the document as a creatively designed, easy to use PDF rather than a hard copy in the post. To bring your company vision to life, you need to talk about it regularly both internally and externally.