Companies are constantly changing. They grow, they become more professional, and they face new challenges. And that’s exactly what we’ve been doing successfully at COFERMIN for 25 years!
However, what defines us as a group of companies—now comprising seven firms—is not reflected solely in numbers, structures, and organizational charts. It is evident above all in our day-to-day interactions: in communication, collaboration, and decision-making. With this in mind, we at COFERMIN have consciously set out to formulate our corporate mission statement—as our shared understanding of how we want to work together, what values and goals guide us, and how we align our actions toward customers and partners.
Such a corporate mission statement can, in principle, be formulated quickly—if it is understood as a catchy marketing campaign. After all, while classic buzzwords like “approachability,” “honesty,” and “open-door policy” sound good, they don’t say much on their own about the corporate culture actually lived out in practice.
Our aim was to dig deeper. What is going well? Where does collaboration become unnecessarily difficult? What do employees expect from one another, from leadership, and from us as an employer?
Looking back on the past few months from an HR manager’s perspective, there was one crucial point in this process. Thanks to our collaboration with an external service provider, we were able to give employees the opportunity to express their opinions openly and honestly without fear of repercussions.
After all, a mission statement that is meant to work in everyday life must emerge honestly and authentically from the employees and from within the company itself.
The roots of this process go back several years for us: the COVID-19 pandemic, a major leadership transition, growth, new structures, and many new colleagues. From a business perspective, this development was positive. At the same time, however, it became increasingly clear that we needed to be more conscious of how we work together.
A strategy may address the “what,” but not the “how.” Yet the “how” is just as important. How do we work together? How are decisions made? How is leadership exercised? And how do we present ourselves as a group, both internally and externally?
That’s how the idea of developing a mission statement together came about.
There was another factor to consider: as business volume grows, so do teams, requirements, and structures. That’s a good thing and it’s important. At the same time, however, it also means that things that might have
were once taken for granted, but today must be explicitly articulated and lived out together. That is precisely why it was clear to us that we wanted to refocus our attention on our COFERMIN values and guiding principles.
However, before it was even possible to define concrete values, we first wanted to understand what actually concerns our employees in their day-to-day work. Our primary goal was to get an honest sense of the mood, and that is exactly why we surveyed our employees and actively involved them.
Step by step, this exchange gave rise to what today forms the core of the mission statement process.
“No matter how good the mission statement sounds, if not everyone is involved and the people at COFERMIN don’t see it as binding—then it won’t have any effect. The journey is the destination and is therefore at least as important as the final result.”
– Andreas Pabst, Managing Director
We are proud of the journey we’ve taken so far toward an authentic mission statement—and of the valuable insights we’ve gained through this collaborative process.
“Insights we’ve gained include, for example, clear strengths in team culture and collaboration. A strong team orientation, as well as fundamentally open, appreciative leadership with short lines of communication.
But areas where action is needed have also emerged, including topics such as communication & transparency as well as organization & processes. Thanks to these insights, we can now take targeted action in these areas moving forward.”
– Andreas Pabst, Managing Director
This openness and clarity form the basis for our next steps. We are all the more delighted if you will accompany us on our journey ahead and remain part of this development.
