Build a supporting culture
Once you have the mission in place, you need to get your employees to understand it so they can live it. Communication is important, and Doody says you cannot do enough to communicate it to employees.
He started by establishing the BDI card, which is similar to a credit card. Employees are able to receive specific discount benefits within the restaurants depending on their years of service. The card has the company’s mission statement on one side and service standards on the other. The nearly 8,500 employees at BDI carry the cards around with them, and at preshift meetings or restaurant opening sessions, they are asked to stand on a chair and recite the company mission. This was something employees did over and over to keep the mission in their minds each day so they remain focused on it and do not get sidetracked.
“It was a little rah-rah, but it definitely worked,” Doody says.
It’s also important that you live the mission yourself as a means of communicating its importance to employees.
“If the team senses the passion of the leader in achieving the mission, it will become contagious and prevalent within the organization,” he says.
Developing a solid mission also makes your job easier when determining the path your company is going to follow.
“It makes decision-making easier, it clarifies direction, it creates peer pressure, it forces out people who aren’t able to live up to that high standard,” Doody says. “It’s an important part, but it makes the job a lot easier.”
