With a tumultuous job market and rapidly changing employee expectations, HR teams are overwhelmed by the sheer quantum of strategic initiatives that must execute along with the daily operational activities.
HR professionals can lose focus without a clear understanding of the goals and an ability to measure progress continuously. A modern approach to managing this is using OKRs- Objectives and Key Results.
Let’s delve into what HR OKRs mean, how to create OKRs, and see OKR examples of every HR function:
What are HR OKRs?
Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) are components of a robust goal-setting framework that allows tracking performance measurably.
The Objectives (O) define what you want to achieve. These are aspirational, qualitative goals. In the context of the Human Resources (HR) function, these objectives would relate to improving the various HR aspects across the employee lifecycle, such as recruitment, training, payroll, engagement, and more.
Each objective has multiple Key Results (KRs), which are measurable business outcomes to track your progress towards your objective. Each KR contains a metric and a target value to be achieved for that metric within a specific timeframe.
Setting OKRs helps you to define the HR initiatives, projects, or tasks that would help attain the key results.
Per Gartner’s research, a combination of factors such as digital transformation, remote teams, adoption of agile methods, and availability of OKR software is driving the adoption of the OKR framework across organisations.
How To Write HR OKRs?
OKRs must be in alignment with the overall strategic objectives of your organisation. The organisational level goals must cascade down to each department and sub-department in the form of OKRs.
The following are some crucial points for formulating OKRs for your HR department.
- The key results (KRs) must be specific and measurable in objective terms.
- Each OKR must be time-bound. Typically, the timeframe for an excellent HR OKR is three months.
A Deloitte study shows that high-performing organisations are 3.1 times more likely to update goals at least quarterly.
- Each objective must have a reasonable number of critical results. Typically, 2 to 5 key results per objective are optimum. Having more than five keys results in a loss of focus.
- The visibility of each KR should be clearly defined. For example, vital strategic results can be visible across the organisation to ensure transparency.
- Some organisations assign a weighted value to each critical development to determine the priority among the key results.
HR OKR Examples
Below are some HR OKR examples covering different facets of the HR function. For the sake of simplicity, the period and visibility for each KR are not mentioned separately in the examples, as these parameters are organisation-specific.
You can think of these as quarterly OKR examples.
#1. OKR Examples for Employee Engagement
| Objective 1 | Improve Employee Retention |
| Key Result 1 | Reduce voluntary attrition rate by 5% |
| Key Result 2 | Improve average employee satisfaction survey score to 8+ |
| Key Result 3 | Increase the average length of employment by 5% |
| Key Result 4 | Develop career progression paths for 80% of employees |
| Objective 2 | Boost Employee Engagement |
| Key Result 1 | Conduct 2 team building events every month with 80%+ attendance |
| Key Result 2 | Boost survey response rate on employee satisfaction to 70%+ |
| Key Result 3 | Decrease non-health-related absenteeism by 10% |
| Key Result 4 | Improve participation in peer recognition program by 20% |
| Objective 3 | Improve the effectiveness of the rewards and recognition program |
| Key Result 1 | Improve coverage of the rewards program by 20% |
| Key Result 2 | Ensure 2 weekly emails recognising top performers or project successes |
| Key Result 3 | Create a feasibility report of a monthly reward program based on manager recommendations |
#2. OKR Examples for Performance Management
| Objective 4 | Improve performance review process |
| Key Result 1 | Conduct an employee survey on how the performance review process can be improved, and ensure a 75%+ response rate |
| Key Result 2 | Prepare feasibility report about shortening performance review cycle from annual to quarterly |
| Key Result 3 | Achieve a 100% completion rate for performance reviews within the deadline |
| Objective 5 | Train managers for better performance management |
| Key Result 1 | Conduct two monthly training workshops with employees (managers and above) to train about performance review best practices |
| Key Result 2 | Ensure an average score of 75%+ in the post-workshop quiz |
#3. OKR Examples for Recruitment
| Objective 6 | Decrease average time to fill vacancies |
| Key Result 1 | Decrease resume screening time taken by 50% using automation |
| Key Result 2 | Decrease the average number of interview rounds per selected candidate to less than 4 |
| Key Result 3 | Increase offer acceptance ratio to 80%+ |
| Key Result 4 | Decrease mid-recruitment candidate drop-off rate by 50% |
| Objective 7 | Improve recruitment marketing reach |
| Key Result 1 | Increase job posting views by 40% |
| Key Result 2 | Increase attendance in job fairs by 20% every month |
| Key Result 3 | Add 5 new universities for conducting recruitment programs |
| Objective 8 | Improve Employer Branding |
| Key Result 1 | Improve Glassdoor.com rating to 4+ |
| Key Result 2 | Increase employer branding video views on social media by 30% |
| Key Result 3 | Post-bi-weekly employee testimonials on the LinkedIn page |
#4. OKR Examples for Training
| Objective 9 | Improve the effectiveness of online training modules |
| Key Result 1 | Ensure an average 90%+ pass rate for the end-of-training quizzes |
| Key Result 2 | Increase average training feedback survey score to 8+ |
| Key Result 3 | Get 50% online training content reviewed by internal subject matter experts and record feedback |
| Key Result 4 | Integrate 3 third-party certification exams into online training paths |
| Objective 10 | Increase the adoption of learning and development programs |
| Key Result 1 | Increase average enrolment rate by 20% |
| Key Result 2 | Make 50%+ training courses accessible on mobile devices |
| Key Result 3 | Conduct two programs with 50%+ attendance every month to inform managers about internal training resources |
| Key Result 4 | Conduct one internal survey to know about training requirements with a response rate of 50%+ |
#5. OKR Examples for the Onboarding process
| Objective 11 | Increase new hire satisfaction |
| Key Result 1 | Improve the average orientation feedback survey score to 8+ |
| Key Result 2 | Complete new hire documentation and compliance for 80% + recruits within 3 days of joining |
| Key Result 3 | Arrange a one-on-one introductory meeting with the manager for 80%+ recruits within 7 days of joining |
| Key Result 4 | Improve the average feedback score for onboarding training modules to 8+ |
| Objective 12 | Decrease the timeline from hiring to productivity |
| Key Result 1 | Improve the completion rate for new-hire online training modules within two weeks from joining to 90% |
| Key Result 2 | Improve the speed of assigning new hires to their first project within three weeks of joining to 90% |
| Key Result 3 | Arrange a goal-setting meeting with the manager for 100% recruits within 1 month of joining |
| Key Result 4 | Increase trainer-to-hire ratio to 1:10 for live training workshops for new-hires |
#6. Company Culture OKR Examples
| Objective 13 | Promote a healthy company culture |
| Key Result 1 | Launch a monthly Town Hall with Open Q&A by the CEO and VPs |
| Key Result 2 | Improve the company’s net promoter score (NPS) to 8+ among employees |
| Key Result 3 | Improve average employee happiness score in pulse surveys to 7+ |
| Key Result 4 | Conduct weekly experiential workshops about company culture to cover 25% of total employees in a quarter |
| Objective 14 | Promote employee well-being |
| Key Result 1 | Conduct two monthly mental-wellness workshops for 20 employees at a time |
| Key Result 2 | Conduct two monthly all-hands meetings with motivational speakers |
| Key Result 3 | Send two monthly emails explaining counselling facilities available for employees |
#7. OKR Examples for Payroll
| Objective 15 | Improve the accuracy of payroll processing |
| Key Result 1 | Decrease the number of payroll error-related complaints by 20% |
| Key Result 2 | Automate generation of digital salary slips for 100% of employees |
| Key Result 3 | Reduce time spent in resolving payroll errors by 50% |
| Key Result 4 | Decrease the monthly number of retrospective payments by 80% |
| Objective 16 | Ensure timely payroll processing |
| Key Result 1 | Improve the percentage of employees submitting investment proof documents within the deadline to 90%+ |
| Key Result 2 | Ensure the bank account details and CTC structures of 100% of new hires are updated in the payroll system within 3 days of joining |
| Key Result 3 | Reduce the time to collate leave data and overtime data by 50% |
| Key Result 4 | Reduce the number of payments processed outside the regular payment cycle to less than 5% |
#8. OKR Examples for Compensation and Benefits
| Objective 17 | Increase awareness about non-financial benefits |
| Key Result 1 | Send weekly email reminders of how employees can avail company benefits |
| Key Result 2 | Increase enrolment in the company fitness program by 20% |
| Key Result 3 | Increase enrolment of dependant family members in employee health insurance policies by 20% |
| Key Result 4 | Create an online training module for new hires about non-financial benefit offerings |
| Objective 18 | Increase salary competitiveness |
| Key Result 1 | Conduct research about manager-level salaries of Top 5 competitors |
| Key Result 2 | Prepare a feasibility report for issuing ESOPs to top 5% performers |
| Key Result 3 | Improve employee satisfaction score for compensation to 8+ |
| Key Result 4 | Improve salary competitiveness ratio to 1.2 for top 20% performers |
#9. OKR Examples for HR Compliance
| Objective 19 | Increase compliance-readiness of the HR Team members |
| Key Result 1 | Ensure compliance training completion for 100% of members of the HR department |
| Key Result 2 | Improve average score in HR compliance quiz to 75% |
| Key Result 3 | Resolve 90% of HR compliance-related complaints within 3 days |
| Key Result 4 | Complete internal quarterly audit of the HR department |
| Objective 20 | Ensure 100% tax compliance in payroll processing |
| Key Result 1 | Completely automate tax calculations related to salary using HR software |
| Key Result 2 | Ensure 100% on-time quarterly TDS return filing |
| Key Result 3 | Perform audit of salary tax calculations of last 3 months |
| Key Result 4 | Ensure digitally signed Form 16 is sent to 100% of employees 30 days before the tax filing deadline |
#10. OKR Examples for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DE&I)
| Objective 21 | Create a genuinely diverse workforce |
| Key Result 1 | Enrol two new diversity-oriented associations or educational institutes in recruitment programs |
| Key Result 2 | Ensure 100% of recruiters complete DE&I training modules before conducting interviews |
| Key Result 3 | Increase diversity index for leadership levels (above senior managers) by 30% |
| Key Result 4 | Ensure 100% adherence to DE&I quotas in recruitment with the help of recruitment management system |
| Objective 22 | Create an inclusive organization |
| Key Result 1 | Create 2 new Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) for underrepresented communities |
| Key Result 2 | Ensure completion of DE&I training for all new hires within 3 weeks of joining |
| Key Result 3 | Ensure investigation of all DE&I-related complaints within 2 days of raising the complaint |
| Key Result 4 | Decrease the width of pay bands at each level by 50% |
#11. OKRs for Talent Management
| Objective 23 | Reduce Leadership Talent risk |
| Key Result 1 | Enrol 10 new candidates (senior manager and above) in the leadership development program |
| Key Result 2 | Create a succession planning report covering at least 70% of managers |
| Key Result 3 | Reduce attrition at the top management level (senior manager and above) by 5% |
| Objective 24 | Implement an internship program to build a talent pipeline |
| Key Result 1 | Recruit 5 paid interns for 3-month internships across functions |
| Key Result 2 | Design two online training courses for interns |
| Key Result 3 | Create an evaluation framework and an offer policy for interns based on manager recommendations |
Closing Words
OKRs are crucial to HR agility. An agile transformation requires enhanced visibility and understanding of objectives, direct ownership, and real-time accountability. It is precisely what OKRs enable.