answer:I understand how you feel. Having worked for the same company over 25 years, I witnessed the vision, mission and culture change. It also changed depending upon what department I was working in at the time. I used to conduct a workshop for new hotel managers. One lesson in the class was on creating a vision and mission statement. We also spent a fair amount of time on how to create a positive culture and its benefits. What I have found is that while some businesses have a vision, it either isn’t written down and shared with the team, or it isn’t a true vision statement. The vision should answer the question “Where do we want to be?” It should be clear and concise. Unfortunately, most aren’t. A mission statement is a broad statement on “What?” will be done to accomplish this vision. If the company has different departments, each one should have their own vision and mission statement that supports the company’s. Both a vision and mission statement should be reviewed every year or so and changed if necessary. Once the vision and mission statements are decided upon, the next step is to create a plan on how to carry it out. This is where it gets broken down into goals, strategies, and tasks. Each person on the team should be involved in understanding this. It makes it simple for them to see what they are working towards and how they are being measured. Culture is a whole other topic. When I was a hotel inspector, I could walk into a hotel and pretty much tell what the business’s culture was like within 15 minutes. A company doesn’t have to have a written vision and/or mission statement to create a positive work environment. The company I worked for conducted a survey of 40,000 line level employees asking them what would compel them to leave their job. I used to ask the new managers in our class what they thought the #1 reason was. They always said, “More money.” This answer actually ranked #10. “Lack of Recognition” came in first place. Isn’t that interesting? It’s not though, when you think about it. Everyone starts out at a new job hoping to be a success. If it isn’t recognized, even for the small achievements, most people start to feel unappreciated. Other reasons in the Top 10 were: lack of training, poor scheduling (meaning not enough people to do the job effectively), lack of tools needed, poor management style, etc. These are all things that set an employee up for success. If they succeed, then so does the manager, and ultimately the company. So…advice for looking for the ideal situation as you start searching. Keep in mind that you are interviewing the company as much as they are interviewing you. If the business has a vision and mission statement, great. Ask how this position supports it and how success is measured. Ask for permission to talk to people in the same position about the job and have them describe it. Good luck with your search. Please let us know how it goes.