What is a business actually for?
Mission statements purport to answer this question. There is good reason to be skeptical of them. A mission statement is often a lofty expression of what the company makes or does, perhaps with an aspiration toward excellence added in. An employee asking “What is the purpose of my work?” might learn from the mission statement that his or her purpose is to help the company do more of the work the company does.
Advance CNC Machining invited me into an experience of cautiously tabling my skepticism about mission statements. The maker of machined parts does not have machining or manufacturing anywhere in its own mission statement. Instead, the company’s stated purpose is to create opportunities for the company’s families and neighbors, and the attention to this purpose has driven various practical moves. They include implementing an upside-down approach to 401k contribution that favors lower-earning employees rather than higher earners. Another commitment is directing a substantial portion of company income to giving ($700,000 in the most recent year) rather than reinvestment or profit.
There is a tension in all of this. A company has to earn; it has to succeed at bringing in money. Even if the declared purpose does not list money, money will enable the success of any aim. Advance CNC has to be effective at machining to make the mission possible. But the machining, and even the income from machining, is not the point—and the company takes care to stress this principle.
I spoke with two company leaders about this: Manufacturing VP Cassandra Metell (pictured above) and President and Owner Jeremy Hamilton.
How far does this mission go in shaping the culture at the level of the employee? For example, is it safe for the employee coming to Advance CNC Machining and wishing to excel to make clear that his or her priority also is not machining?
Yes, insist Hamilton and Metell. An employee of Advance CNC is doing machining to advance a purpose beyond machining, and that employee also almost certainly has a personal purpose in mind that goes beyond machining as well. This is perhaps obvious, but also not always acceptable within a company culture to openly admit or discuss. The company excels at machining work and hires capable people able to assist with this, but to any employee, machining does not have to be your passion, the company leaders say.
Here is my conversation with Metell and Hamilton at Advance CNC Machining:
