Our customers rely on Benchmark to take on the most challenging engineering and electronics manufacturing projects in industries where quality, reliability, and safety are essential. Through this innovative work, we help customers create a healthier, safer, better-connected world, bringing life-saving products to market, from medical technologies and soldier-worn communication systems to industrial safety devices.So, how does this relate to our purpose journey? When I joined Benchmark in 2019, we began a cultural transformation by revisiting our vision, mission, and values. We also reexamined the type of company we’d like to be internally and externally. Through this process, we quickly realized that our employees desired to make a difference and enjoyed seeing the impact of their work out in the world. After understanding this, we went to work to transform Benchmark into a purpose-based organization. This is our story.
Our Ongoing Transformation
A purpose-driven organization clearly understands why it exists and what it is trying to accomplish. This goes beyond just making money or serving customers—purpose-driven organizations inspire and motivate everyone involved. To that end, we asked our team members how they feel about the work they do, how they believe it makes a positive impact in the world, and what makes them proud to be valued members of Benchmark.
Some of the responses focused on our capabilities geared toward industries in which quality and precision matter and where failure is not an option. These employees felt that they were contributing toward something bigger than themselves and that their work mattered. However, these responses only represent part of the employee base. Many employees across all levels needed to be fully aware of their impact on our customers.
Through this research, we identified the structure of our purpose, and we now needed to integrate it into our organization in a way that reached every employee. We began by involving our 12,000+ employees in defining our purpose statement and creating intranet content about its meaning and our positive impact on the world. We also worked with leaders to identify areas within each global facility where we could highlight the impact of our work and express that among our employees. Part of this journey involved reflecting on the effects of our purpose on external audiences—namely, our customers and prospective employees. We needed to be able to express to our customers that we are primarily a purpose-driven organization and that each member of their team is dedicated to serving the needs of the customer while valuing the impact of the customer’s business. For prospective employees, we had to ensure they understood the impact they could make in the world here at Benchmark.
To accomplish this, we have changed how we express ourselves to external audiences. This includes updating the content on our website, reconfiguring our sales and onboarding process, and learning how to communicate our purpose with external audiences, including new customers, partners, shareholders, and prospective employees.
Unveiling our Purpose Statement
All this work has culminated in unveiling our brand-new purpose statement, guiding how we operate globally and serve our customers. And here it is:
We innovate for a healthier, safer, and better-connected world to create a brighter future.
This message encapsulates our promise to customers while explaining to employees the impact their work at Benchmark will have on the world. We are rolling out our new statement as we build this messaging internally and externally across our platforms.
We invite you to read more about our culture journey in our Setting the Benchmark blog article, “Transforming Culture at Benchmark.” We’re excited to share this journey with you!
