OKRs—objectives and key results—are used by many organizations to help align individual, team, and business goals.
Some of your most important OKRs belong to your human resources (HR) department around key responsibilities such as recruiting and development.
When you establish an OKR framework in your HR department, it helps ensure that all members of the department have clear objectives and can measure their progress toward them.
What are objectives and key results (OKRs)?
OKR is a goal-setting framework, pioneered by Intel then Google, that has been found to be effective at setting ambitious goals and tracking progress.
Normally set quarterly, but sometimes annually, each objective put forth must be broken down into measurable key results. The formula is this:
Objective (a personal, team, or business goal) measured by these key results (typically three or more).
An example OKR for an HR manager
Objective: Reduce employee turnover from 20% to 10%.
Key results:
- Work with managers to have a development plan created for every employee
- 100% of learning and development budget used by every employee
- 100% of managers are having one-on-ones with their team
- 100% of performance feedback complete
- Managers trained up on certain concepts (I.e. radical candor, psychological safety, PIPs, etc).
How are OKRs used by organizations?
OKRs are used across all departments in an organization to help achieve goals like increasing revenue (executive level) and higher employee retention (HR).
Part of the appeal of OKRs is that they’re simple to understand and track.
When employees have clear goals to aim for, they’ll work hard to achieve them. Employee productivity and focus improve under the OKR framework.
OKR examples for HR departments
The human resources function in any organization is a busy one. They’re tasked with developing culture and acquiring, developing, and retaining top talent.
As such, HR professionals establish OKRs to help them stay focused on achieving their goals and improving the business.
OKR example to develop company culture
Objective: Improve company culture.
Key results:
- Conduct a company culture survey
- Using culture survey feedback, identify the top 2 areas for improvement
- Suggest 5 changes the company should implement to improve our workplace culture.
OKR example for employee engagement
Objective: Increase employee engagement.
Key results:
- Collect monthly engagement surveys
- Use data from surveys to reach 90% engagement score
- Hold stay interviews with 10 team members.
OKR example for recruitment
Objective: Improve employer brand.
Key results:
- Run an employer evaluation project (EVP)
- Increase eNPS by 15%
- Sign off job description voice and tone guide
- Implement a candidate feedback survey (most ATSs will have one)
- Win a “Best Places to Work in X” award.
OKR example for employee retention
Objective: Retain staff for longer.
Key results:
- Increase employee satisfaction scores to 8 or above
- Review benefits and compensation vs market rates
- Hold stay interviews with 10 team members
- Hold sessions to help employees build their own career roadmaps
- Introduce flexible working options.
OKR example for employee wellness
Objective: Increase employee health and wellbeing.
Key results:
- Review office snacks and offer healthier alternatives
- Introduce a 1-hour exercise allowance per day
- Set up an initiative for employees to get access to a therapist
- Reduce sick days per employee from 2 to 1 day per month.
OKR example for performance management
Objective: help standardize performance management across the business.
Key results:
- Work with leadership to select a performance management system
- Roll out across all teams
- Gather feedback on effectiveness.
OKR example for training and development
Objective: provide employees with the training they need to be more effective.
Key results:
- Set aside a training and budget for each employee and ensure 100% usage
- Assign 1 day personal development time per month and work to ensure 75%+ usage.
OKR example for OKR adoption
Objective: Achieve the organization-wide adoption of OKR methodology.
Key results:
- 100% adoption of OKR methodology across all teams
- Achieve 60% completion on the first cycle.
Develop HR OKRs to grow and strengthen your company
Your HR department helps bring in new employees and team members and keeps them happy and productive. When your HR department has clear objectives and measurable goals it increases their focus and efficiency.
Most companies choose to use OKR software to help set and track goals. Check out our pick of the best OKR software on the market today.
If you’re finding yourself in need of some help to get things going the right way, here’s an article you’ll be glad you checked out: How To Become A Change Leader
Related Read: The Real Intent Of OKRs – It’s About Purpose
