A mission statement is much more than a catchy marketing phrase. It captures your company’s very essence, its reason for being, and identifies its driving force.
Some of the most effective company mission statement examples are short, powerful, and crystal clear. They connect to their target market, build a bridge between the company and its potential clients, and inspire greatness.
An effective mission statement is like a lighthouse that signals your company’s mission and values. When done right, it can inform recruitment and onboarding processes, daily operations, employee satisfaction, and customer loyalty.
What is a Company Mission Statement and Why is it Important?
In a nutshell, a mission statement presents your company's overarching purpose, the problems it vows to solve, and the products or services that embody its proposed solution.
Mission statements, in large part, will be the reason people choose to work at your company and clients want to do business with you over your competitors.
Research by Deloitte revealed that 60% of Millennial respondents chose to work for their employers due to their “sense of purpose,” and 57% of those who felt their organization had a “strong sense of purpose” (a mission) reported higher job satisfaction.
Mission statements serve as a guiding principle for leadership and employees alike. When your mission — which also signals your values — is clearly defined it serves as the backdrop for all other major guidelines for your business. Company mission statement examples help shape your company goals, which in turn influence employee goals and objectives, which further guide productivity frameworks such as OKRs and KPIs.
We’ve covered how to tie employee objectives and key results (OKRs) and key performance indicators (KPIs) back to your company mission statement in previous blogs.
In short, mission statements are the bedrock of all subsequent defining decisions within your organization, and help shape your company culture as a result.
Before diving into the 5 company mission statement examples we love and why, let’s break down what makes a great mission statement.
5 Characteristics of a Strong Company Mission Statement
The most impactful company mission statement examples share common characteristics that promote clarity, inspire greatness, and act as a call to action for both their internal teams as well as their customers.
1. Impactful
Effective mission statements describe how a company's work impacts the broader community. They explain what makes the company unique and how that uniqueness can leave a mark on the world.
2. Concise
Conciseness is at the heart of strong mission statements. They pack a lot of meaning and impact into one or two short sentences and don't include any fluff or jargon that few people can understand.
The best company mission statement examples adhere to the maxim that fewer words can tell a more compelling story.
3. Inclusive
The language in a strong mission statement is inclusive. It conveys the message that the company understands the public's needs and desires, and makes readers feel included. Great mission statements avoid language that excludes different groups of people based on their ethnicity, sexual orientation, ability, or other personal characteristics.
4. Specific
Compelling mission statements are specific. They avoid generalities and vague ideas. Instead of saying they want to make the world a better place, company mission statement examples that are specific would explain how their products can transform the world. They propose a concrete and specific solution to a concrete and specific problem.
5. Inspiring
Memorable company mission statement examples are inspiring. They state the facts but also spark the imagination. They are fun and exciting, and offer a glimpse of the better world your company is trying to create with its products and services.
When drafting an inspiring mission statement, word choice is important. Choose words people associate with happiness, satisfaction, success, and harmony to elevate your mission statements, inspiring people to join your cause.
Crafting a Compelling Company Mission Statement
If you want to attract and retain talent and customers alike, you need a strong mission statement featuring three basic components:
- What your company does
- How it does it
- Why it does it
Compelling company mission statement examples typically follow a set formula. Following these best practices will help guide you in crafting a quality mission statement.
Step 1: Identify
Identify the following sentiments about your company to help bring direction to your mission statement. Your answers will serve as building blocks for your mission statement.
- What your company does
- Why it was created
- Its goals
- Its values
- Who its customers are
- Its competitive advantages
- Your brand’s public image
- The public image your brand would like to have
Step 2: Use the VIPS method
Once you have identified the core of your company’s mission, you are ready to start formulating a compelling statement.
The VIPS method allows you to apply a dynamic framework to the information you have just identified. By organizing the basis of your mission into VIPS’ four categories — value, inspiration, plausibility, and specifics — you will be able to see it from a different angle, one that can ignite ideas to craft a strong vision statement.
Let’s break down each of the VIPs categories:
Value
The value your company offers to customers, employees, and the global community.
Inspiration
The reason people should want to get involved with your company.
Plausibility
Achievable goals rather than impossible dreams.
Specifics
How your company’s actual actions can help you achieve your goals.
Once you have organized your ideas based on these four categories, you are ready to take a crack at your mission statement.
Step 3: Formulate your company’s purpose
All of the best company mission statement examples introduce purpose, values, and goals, and yours needs to as well. First, write one phrase describing your company’s purpose, what it does for its customers, in simple terms.
Step 4: Formulate your company’s values
Take a look at the values you identified in step one and filter them down into core values. Look for themes and similarities to help you condense these values, and then convey them in one, clear sentence.
Step 5: Formulate your company’s goals
Sum up your company’s big-picture goals in one simple sentence. Remember what you learned while applying the VIPS method. Make it specific. Make it inspiring. Make it sound achievable. Ensure it is aligned with your company’s values.
Step 6: Connect and condense
At this stage you should have all the parts necessary to craft a compelling mission statement. It’s important that you find a way to connect each thought into one, fluid, and cohesive statement, and to keep it short.
To achieve this, you must connect your company’s values to its purpose and goals. Find the shortest, most powerful formulation you can to say, basically, “we do X (purpose) because we believe that Y (values) can do Z (goals) for the world.”
Step 7: Refine
Chances are you won’t go with the first draft of your mission statement. At this stage it’s great to seek feedback and keep refining your mission statement until it accurately represents and conveys your purpose and values. This process should help remove any unnecessary, difficult, or cryptic words or phrases.
Clarity and conciseness are as vital as the ability to capture the imagination and invite the reader to join in on something wonderful and full of promise.
Your company mission statement is a valuable marketing asset. Refine it until you are sure it can appeal to investors, clients, and members of your organization. Even if they play different roles, your mission statement should connect all of these stakeholders, making them feel like they are part of the team. When in doubt, review some company mission statement examples that you admire to help lend some guidance.
5 Inspiring Company Mission Statement Examples
Crafting your mission statement is no easy feat, so when in doubt, look to leaders across various industries to inspire your efforts.
Let’s examine some best-in-class company mission statement examples to influence your process.
1. Amazon
Mission statement: To be Earth’s most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online.
It doesn’t get better than proposing to be the best in the world —and actually achieving it. This company mission statement example includes something about the company’s philosophy and values (customer-centric), its purpose, and its big-picture goals. All those parts are perfectly connected and articulated, in this case, thanks to the use of “where,” which seamlessly links goals and values with purpose.
2. Tesla
Mission statement: To accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy through increasingly affordable electric vehicles in addition to renewable energy generation and storage.
Tesla’s company mission statement example also has it all. The use of the word “affordable” shows Tesla’s commitment to serving their customers, calling them into their mission and making it accessible.
The company’s goals are clear as well as inspiring (transition to sustainable energy). The last part clearly explains what the company does, i.e., the purpose. Tesla’s mission statement is also a triumph of conciseness. Think of everything that is packed into those 20 odd words. One might have said it in 100, but Tesla went for the very essence; nothing else.
3. Nike
Mission statement: To bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world. If you have a body, you are an athlete.
Among these company mission statement examples, Nike ‘just did it’ with this tremendously succinct and powerful mission statement. The first sentence clearly states the company’s goals in a very simple and appealing manner. The second sentence is as inclusive as it gets; it says the company’s product is for everyone.
The purpose may seem vague, but consider what Nike offers, an array of goods and services (clothing, equipment, fitness classes). By keeping their mission focused on inspiring athleticism, they keep the door open to a variety of products.
4. Microsoft
Mission statement: Our mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.
Microsoft presents itself as a company that caters to the needs of “every person and every organization”, nailing the component of inclusivity.
The company's goal is very clear and expressed in compelling language (empower... to achieve more) that is also definitely inspiring.
Because Microsoft has so many lines of business, its mission statement favors inclusivity over specificity. This is a great strategy for crafting mission statements for companies that are constantly diversifying and expanding. This mission statement's vast scope leaves the door open for businesses this type of company might pursue in the future.
5. Kickstarter
Mission statement: To help bring creative projects to life.
The simplest of our company mission statement examples, bringing creative projects to life is exactly what Kickstarter has done over the years. The goal is very clear, and it hints at the purpose, without describing it explicitly. The company’s values and philosophy are implicit: a passion for creativity and art, a desire to support creators. The idea of bringing something to life is quite inspiring.
Driving Culture Through Your Company Mission
Clearly defining your mission can contribute to shaping company culture. When employees value and understand their organization’s mission, they are inspired to innovate and commit to achieving the company’s higher goals.
Like all of these company mission statement examples, a great company mission statement can help drive employee engagement, increase talent retention, and inspire new and impactful ideas.
When you want to learn whether employee performance is aligned with your company’s mission, structured performance reviews can give you all the information you need.
Conversely, when you are in the process of developing your mission statement, pointed performance review questions can provide key information that can help you identify employees’ ideas about your organization’s mission and purpose, as well as what drives them.
Omni's free Ultimate Performance Review Template offers you a framework to engage your employees and their managers to assess strengths and alignment to your overall mission, as well as provide key insights into the motivations and values of your workforce.
