Start with a vision
The first step toward a unified team is having a clear vision.
The leaders at Swift have seven core values around which they
try to focus the entire company: stewardship, continuous improvement, high performance, integrity, passion, trust and teamwork.
Those qualities are valued by just about every company, but you
can’t assume that your employees are going to reflexively embrace
those values — or any values you emphasize — from the first day
they set foot in the office.
Vincent says you have to treat your vision for your company’s
future as the foundation, then build on top of it.
“You really start with your vision,” he says. “You have to create a
vision that people can see and understand. It has to be kind of
short, sweet and to the point, but allows them to envision what the
future is going to be like at the company. Then, you have to establish a mission statement that articulates where you are going, how
you are going to get there, what are the key components of the
mission. Beyond that, you have to establish a culture within the
organization that really cements a set of values within the culture
and how people work together.”
Defining the vision, mission and values begins as a top-down
process that requires consistent communication from management. However, at Swift Energy, Vincent says his method isn’t to
simply give orders from the top, it’s to involve employees in shaping the future of the company.
“As you establish the mission and the vision, you don’t just dictate it, you involve people in the process so that they understand
what the values are, they believe in the values, but more importantly, they are part of identifying the behaviors we want to have
practiced in that environment.”
In an effort to get employees interested and involved in shaping
and refining the vision and mission, Vincent and other leaders at
Swift Energy communicate with them in multiple ways. Casting
the widest possible communication net allows you to appeal to the
widest possible audience.
“Management has to take the first cut at it, but ultimately, you
need to involve everybody, and you do that through large company meetings, smaller group workshops, digital communication, e-mail and the like as you get feedback from people,” Vincent says.
But the communication doesn’t stop at the conference table or
computer terminal. Once the mission, vision and core values are
out there, they need constant maintenance from management.
