By Bill Huseby, President & CEO
How we define our mission statement and what it means to SIGMADESIGN
People often ask me about our company’s mission statement, so I thought I’d give a little explanation of how it came about as well as expand on what it means for the company.
We developed our mission statement in 2016. We were already putting many ideas from our mission into practice, but we didn’t have it concisely written out. Our written mission statement is this: Be the best Product Development Company in the world by offering solutions from Concept through Production for our clients.
This mission statement motivates us to be the best and provides a target for expanding our presence throughout the world. With several office locations along the west coast of the U.S. and an office in Singapore, we’re well on our way to serving clients worldwide. Also, we do work for clients on 5 continents, excluding Africa and Antarctica. In addition to the main mission statement, we developed an extension of our mission by adding bullet points that help define how we accomplish our mission.
These are the five qualities that go into making us the best:
- Speed
- Quality
- Capabilities
- Be Easy to Work With
- Learn from Our Mistakes
These mission statement descriptors help us define how we should work and what is important.
Speed and Quality Go Hand in Hand
By making sure we have efficient processes and work habits, we are able to respond to our clients’ needs quickly. If we aren’t fast at what we do, then another company will likely get the work. Being speedy does not mean that we sacrifice quality, but we accomplish our work as fast as we can and continually work to improve our efficiency. Speed includes answering the phones, returning emails, writing quotes, responding to needs, and getting the job done quickly. This also involves the work we do for both external and internal clients; we have to produce quality work for clients AND our internal teammates. Quality is always at the forefront along with speed.
Capabilities
I divide capabilities into two areas: resources and tools. By resources I mean people. With the right people in place, our work becomes fun and fulfilling as we undertake challenging projects for our clients and achieve success. Additionally, with the right people in place we can provide quality work from concept through production with each person contributing their specialty to the task at hand. Along with having the right people to do the job, investing in the right tools is also paramount to getting the job done. We ensure that our employees have what they need in order to perform the specifics of their job. Whether it is software, shop or lab equipment, 3D printing and scanning, or cable shop capabilities, it’s important that we have the right tools to get the job done. We are continually adding capabilities.
Be Easy to Work With
Our clients have a choice. If we aren’t easy to work with, our clients can choose to go somewhere else. We work hard to ensure that our people, capabilities and processes make working with us easy and enjoyable.
Learn from Our Mistakes
Finally, we have to be a learning organization. I always say there are two kinds of mistakes: the kind you make once and the kind you make more than once. Mistakes that are made once are acceptable because you are learning. The mistakes made more than once are not acceptable, because you aren’t learning. Certainly, our ISO 9001:2015 Quality Management System certification is a big part of this, since that certification is all about continuous improvement. We are always learning how to do things better.
Mission statements help employees see the meaning and purpose of their work by giving them a better understanding of how their job benefits a larger goal. I believe our mission statement helps us see the positive aspects of our daily activities. I hope it also enhances employee morale by underscoring the company’s commitment to investing in our employees and our workplace culture.
Best to you all,
Bill