Do your employees know what your company stands for — its mission, why it’s in business, and how it’s different from competing companies? Only 41 percent of U.S. workers say they do. Surprised? Shocked?

That alarming statistic is from Gallup research. While most business leaders can clearly describe their company or organization’s mission, most employees can’t. Another surprising statistic: Only four in 10 U.S. employees strongly believe that the mission of their company makes them feel their position is important.

That’s a real problem. Research shows a clear link between how well employees understand their company’s mission and purpose and embrace it and how well it performs. According to Gallup, just a 10 percent improvement in a workforce’s connection with their company’s mission or purpose would likely result in an 8.1 percent decrease in employee turnover and a 4.4 percent increase in profitability. If your company or organization doesn’t have a formal mission, it needs one. If it has one, everyone should understand what it is and how their work or job ties into and is important to this purpose.

In conducting a meta-analysis of nearly 50,000 business units across just under 200 organizations representing 49 different industries in nearly three dozen countries, Gallup scientists discovered that as employees move beyond the basics of employee engagement and view their contributions to their organizations more broadly, a lot of positive and powerful things start to happen. Employees are more likely to be loyal to their employers, work harder and more creatively and take ownership in what they do, connecting with customers/clients to the benefit of the organization. All that great stuff happens because of a sense of purpose.

What is your business all about? How do you want customers to perceive your company? Put yourself in the shoes of your customers and really think about the things that you want them to see in your business. Spend some time crafting a strong mission statement for your company and refer to it frequently to make sure you’re staying true to your vision.

Once you have a strong and well-defined company mission, you want your customer service to reinforce that brand. Great customer service can do two important things for any company. It can strengthen your company’s mission and position your company for growth and success. If you don’t yet have the internal ability to deliver the very best customer service experience to your customers, consider outsourcing that critical function to a company that can deliver the high level of customer support your customers deserve.