Defining your Mission, Vision and Values – it makes a huge difference!

4 December 2019

Great people with great talent choose to work in great organisations. While the definition of ‘great’ can be tricky, it most certainly always includes a culture where values are lived and the purpose of the organisation is clear. At Change2020, we love working with businesses to help them to define their vision, mission and values, we know that when developed with broad and genuine involvement across the business and supported by a strong implementation plan that real cultural change can occur. The case study below maps out a recent project we have delivered.

Vision, Mission and Values

When organisations experience a change in senior leadership, it is often an opportune time to revisit the company mission, vision and values and instigate a refresh into the culture and align with new strategies.

Change2020 were engaged by a utility who had recently appointed a new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) who in turn restructured the leadership team, to partner with them on a cultural realignment as a result of the planned organisational changes. Although they had an existing vision, mission and set of values, the visibility, relevance and alignment of the statements and values were minimal. The CEO decided all three areas needed to be redefined and embedded into the organisation.

Initial interviews were conducted with the Board and Executive Leadership Team to identify key themes, with a subsequent online survey being designed and distributed to the whole of business based on the themes and interpretation of the existing vision and mission. The results of the survey provided a clear picture of the current state of understanding and feelings around the culture.

The survey data was analysed with four recommendations presented in a workshop to the Board and ELT to garner alignment for the Vision, Mission and Values. These were then presented to the broader group to test the recommendations and gain a feel for how they would be accepted.

With the Vision, Mission and Values aligned, Change2020 then ran workshops to map the behaviours that correlated to the values. Understanding how people interpret the same word differently is critical to developing values and behaviours that are consistent across the organisation.

Once the values had been confirmed, Change2020 further developed correlating icons for visual representation and a one-line statement to describe the behavioural outcome ad engage people in its meaning.

The Mission, Vision and Values were approved by the Board and the ELT and were truly representative of the organisation, its people and its future direction. A subsequent implementation plan was developed to ensure the vision, mission and values were embedded into the organisation through the recruitment process, performance management processes, policies and all communications.

The clarity provided to the leadership team and all employees delivered the cohesiveness required to move into the next phase of their growth and success.

Our people are here to help your people

As organisational change consultants, we’re experts in helping people through change. We understand change can be a difficult, frustrating and messy process, which is why we deliver practical and flexible support to help you and your team navigate new territory.

Kerryn Fewster

Kerryn is the Founder and Director of Change 2020. She has consulted extensively in the area of Transition and Transformation. She places emphasis on strategy development and solution implementation to minimise people and operational impacts associated with major change.

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