Have you ever heard of the catchphrase “Measure What Matters”??? What is the most important aspect, other than revenue and profit, in your business? For most businesses, it is their mission statement. Yet so many businesses have no way of measuring their mission statement or knowing how well they are actually fulfilling it. In this article, I will share with you one of the most powerful metrics that I help companies develop and how to formulate one for yourself.
A clearly defined and well-integrated mission statement gives a business purpose in how it grows. By clarifying a metric in which the mission statement can be measured allows this purpose to be quantified and thus impacted more clearly by the organization.
Here are the guidelines on how to pick a metric for your mission.
- This metric should be able to be impacted or influenced by every department and person in your organization.
- This metric should have an impact on revenue.
- This metric should be reflective of the impact you are looking to create with your mission statement.
It is important that all three of these factors impact this one metric.
For example, in one company I previously consulted with they were helping small businesses get funding. Their mission statement was “To Empower Entrepreneurs with Funding to Fuel Business Growth”. The metric we chose was the percentage of clients who were successfully funded. Since all departments (Sales, Marketing, Accounting, Customer Service) played a role in influencing this metric everyone in the company was able to see how their particular job and role impacted the fulfillment of the mission and this metric. This created tremendous synergy inside of the company. Each quarter we set goals to increase and improve upon this metric and each department had specific action items that corresponded with this target.
The metric impacted revenue because the more successful clients they had the better their reputation was and the more referrals they got.
The metric was also directly related to the fulfillment of their mission.
The first step is to clearly define your mission statement and then the second step is to find a metric that meets the three requirements above. When this is accomplished you create a more powerful organization that is centered around one metric that everyone can see how they can impact.
Out of all the metrics and KPI’s that I help companies create and define this one is the most powerful and influential.
What step will you take right now to begin to formulate your mission metric?
I want to hear what your mission is! Email me at chris@chriswise.com and share your mission metric with me – there is power in sharing your vision and I want to see you succeed!
