Hannes implements the mission statement

The participants were the members of the management. They had withdrawn from the hectic daily routine to develop a new mission statement. This was sorely needed after the company had undergone major changes: outsourcing of production and strengthening of the two core competencies "sales and marketing". That sounds good, Hannes is aware of that. In the end, however, it means that a large part of the business is now done abroad in the Far East. Only staff functions such as human resources, finance and marketing are still located here.

In future, five new guiding principles will clearly, unambiguously and unmistakably demonstrate what is important to the company:

1. Our employees are our most important asset.

2. Our customers are at the centre of everything we do.

3. We take our social responsibility seriously.

4. Our finances are on a sound footing.

5. Our development serves our progress and takes place continuously.

This is the result of the two days. Now the task is to prepare texts for the implementation of the guiding principles in order to discuss and approve them in a new workshop. Each member of the management was given a sentence and must present a text proposal by the end of next week. "Our customers are our focus " was democratically assigned to Hannes.

He is aware that he has once again uttered the most unpleasant sentence. He lapses into musing: "For years, services have been cut, prices raised, the product range reduced, personal contacts replaced by a web info box and interns by an outsourced call centre in Ireland. And now he's supposed to tell customers in a few sentences that they'll be better served than ever." Well..., it's not for him to ask philosophical questions, he's in the same boat. The company is under pressure and he inevitably has to go with it.

"Our customers are our focus". How can this sentence be formulated more concretely? Hannes thinks in terms of customer benefit-oriented formulations. "With our new, compact product range, you have an overview at all times and save time working your way through a confusing range ". In this direction it could go. "With our new web info box, you can address your concerns to us at any time - even in the middle of the night." That's progress all right. Consider, in the middle of the night, the customer has a thought, fumbles for the smartphone on the nightstand, types in the concern and goes back to sleep. He no longer has to consider office hours. In addition, he has a few days after the entry to look for solutions himself, because until someone from the company finally answers, the standardized 72 hours will certainly pass.

This brings Hannes to the next sentence: "Clear standards in response times allow you to plan your working day precisely. "In plain language, this means that nothing works at all for three days. But since this is clear from the start, no one expects anything beforehand.

Now the justification for the price increase over the past two years is still missing. "Thanks to a market-oriented price structure, you benefit from a transparent benchmark with our competitors. " That sounds good. You don't know what differentiates you from the competition, but you also don't have to discuss the price anymore because it's the same and agreed upon anyway. You just don't have to say it.

The mission statement is slowly being filled with content. Hannes convinces himself: "It is important that a mission statement does not remain a paper tiger, but is lived out in everyday life thanks to concrete customer benefits and is experienced positively by the customer. He is glad to have created an effective benefit ...