More than a paycheck: offering employees a vision.

A paycheck might keep a person on the job physically, but it will not keep a person on the job emotionally.

Successful companies offer their employees a vision worth following. Employees need to know how their work fits in the broader scheme of business operations, how their work contributes to the organization. They need to understand and believe in the goal to which they contribute. They need to have a cause: serving others is just too demanding and frustrating to be done well each day without one.

Great companies stand for something worthwhile and they communicate this vision to employees with passion. Passion is a strange word to use in a business context, but it is the word that best captures the fervent commitment to the goal-oriented values that distinguish the best companies from others.

For example, ServiceMaster’s vision is to add dignity to work. Managing janitorial, laundry, and other unglamorous support services for hospitals, schools, and companies, ServiceMaster lives by the principle of “before asking someone to do something you have to help them be something.” The Downers Grove, Illinois, company invests in a variety of basic skills training and educational programs to help employees improve their self-image and future prospects.

ServiceMaster also emphasizes the contribution each server makes to the end customer. For example, a physician might be asked to address hospital janitorial staff on how a sanitary and neat room improves patients’ recovery chances. Chairman and CEO C. William Pollard states: “We have housekeepers relating to their task and saying ‘Hey, I’ve got something to do with that person being well.’… [Our people] work better when they understand the value of their contribution.”

To be effective, employee vision statements need to be authentic, memorable, and actionable. Dreaming up a vision statement in an executive corner office is not likely to be terribly authentic or motivating from an employee’s standpoint. Involving employees in the creation of a vision statement ensures that the statement is real and authentic. The act of involving employees is in itself a statement about the value the organization places on its employees.

An employee vision statement also needs to be memorable. Sometimes we create long, laundry lists of ideas that are quickly forgotten. A short vision statement is easier to remember and use. Which leads to the last criteria for a successful vision statement: it should be actionable. An employee needs to understand as clearly as possible how the ideas in the vision statement can be applied on the job. For example, a statement that advises employees “to go the extra mile and do more than the customer expects” is easily translated into action.

Employees are truly the first customers of any organization. Great organizations know that they can best achieve their potential if employees are first ” sold” on the organization they work for, as well as its mission, products, management, and goals. Creating a vision statement for employees is an important first step in making that sale a reality.