Commitment Four: Collaboration: New England Standard is committed to promoting internal and external collaboration to achieve better outcomes for its clients. New England Standard seeks to work closely with all individuals and organizations who seek to manage their risks in a thoughtful and consistent manner. [“In collaboration with other service providers, New England Standard encourages its clients to look at their business from a broader, more knowledgeable perspective. In partnership with other financial and professional institutions, New England Standard also seeks to create innovative products and services to better assist its clients in successfully facing a shifting set of potentials and problems.” From interview with a founder.] [“Our knowledge of the insurance industry makes us an attractive partner to newly formed organizations. Newcomers turn to us because of our knowledge of the industry and our professional services. By participating in many insurance institutes and national associations, we remain current with developments that are essential in providing services and new technologies in the insurance business” From interview with a founder.]
Commitment Five: Access to and Proficiency in the Use of Cutting-Edge Technology: The New England Standard Corporation is committed to promoting an efficient and reliable communications/information technology infrastructure for its employees and clients.
Commitment Six: Skillful and Knowledgeable Workforce: The New England Standard Corporation is committed to investing in and maintaining a highly skilled, well-trained workforce. [“The people are the key assets of New England Standard.” New England Standard Vision Statement: 2008]
We brought this substantial four-tiered mission statement to Gary and the senior administrative team. We encountered very few problems when presenting this statement, in large part because many components in this statement came from existing New England Standard documents. Members of our team had worked closely with these key leaders of New England Standard while formulating the mission statement, which further smoothed the path of acceptance by the senior administrative team.
Several members of the administrative team did express concern about ways in which the company might assess the extent to which the six commitments are being honored in the company. The Vice President of Human Resources suggested that both program reviews and future performance appraisals should incorporate these six commitments. She agreed to set up a task force to modify existing review procedures so that they fully incorporated an assessment of these six commitments. The Vice President for Operations further suggested that our work on the company’s mission be incorporated in the ongoing strategic planning initiatives at New England Standard. The operations VP was particularly impressed with the list of distinctive competencies and believed that these statements should be taken very seriously as New England Standard positions itself for the new long-term ventures that were identified in the company’s strategic plan and in its vision statement.
