Example of Company OKRs, How Did They Do It?

If you’re new to the agile community, then you must know one thing: OKRs (objectives and key results) are quite a big deal within organizations that wish to align their goals with those of their teams – and what is the purpose you must be asking? To all work collectively and reach those goals. 

Having said that, many prolific and renowned organizations have sworn by OKRs that it is a game-changer. But how so? We share examples of company OKRs and how they did it!

Organizations using OKRs

Several well-known organizations use such methods as part of their goal-setting and performance management practices. Some examples of companies that have adopted OKRs include:

1. Google
2. Amazon
3. Netflix
4. Twitter
5. LinkedIn
6. Uber
7. Airbnb
8. Spotify
9. Dropbox
10. Slack

These companies have found OKRs to be a valuable tool for setting and achieving ambitious goals and aligning their teams towards common objectives.

Google

Google is well-known for its use of OKRs as a goal-setting framework across the organization. But how is this mogul of a company adopting this method to obtain bold results? Below we share some examples of the company’s OKRs:

Objective: Improve user experience on the search engine

Key Results:

• Increase the click-through rate (CTR) on the top search results by 5%.
• Reduce the average page load time by 10%.
• Implement user feedback on search result relevance in 90% of cases.

Objective: Expand market share in emerging markets

Key Results:

• Launch tailored marketing campaigns in three new countries and achieve a 20% increase in user acquisition.
• Partner with local providers to improve service coverage and increase user engagement by 15% in targeted regions.
• Localize the product in two new languages and see a 30% growth in active users within six months.

Objective: Enhance workplace diversity and inclusion

Key Results:

• Increase the percentage of underrepresented minority hires by 20% within the next year.
• Implement unconscious bias training for all hiring managers and track a 15% improvement in diverse candidate hires.
• Establish employee resource groups for marginalized communities and have 90% participation from eligible employees.

These examples of company OKRs illustrate how Google uses OKRs to set objectives that are challenging yet achievable and define key results that are measurable and quantifiable to drive progress and innovation within the organization.

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Learn how to Implement OKRs!

Above is a video on how to implement OKRs within an organization: A Holaspirit webinar in partnership with Natural Flow. 

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Netflix

For Netflix this popular goal-setting framework has helped them to align and measure progress towards specific objectives. Here’s how Netflix approaches OKRs:

Objectives

• Clear and Inspiring: Objectives at Netflix are designed to be ambitious, inspiring, and aligned with the company's broader mission. They focus on what the organization aims to achieve.
• Qualitative: Objectives are qualitative and reflect what the company wants to improve or change. They are not metric-driven but rather describe a desired end state.

Key Results

• Measurable and Quantitative: Key results are quantifiable and measurable. They are used to track progress towards the objectives and are often set with clear deadlines.
• Specific and Actionable: Key results are specific actions or outcomes that need to be achieved to meet the objective. They are clear and actionable steps.
• Aggressive but Achievable: Netflix sets ambitious key results that push the team but are still attainable. This encourages high performance and continuous improvement.

Implementation in Netflix

• Company-Wide Alignment: Netflix uses OKRs to ensure alignment across different teams and departments. Objectives set at the top level cascade down to departments and individual teams, ensuring everyone is working towards common goals.
• Transparency: OKRs at Netflix are transparent. This means everyone in the company can see the objectives and key results of others, fostering a culture of openness and shared accountability.
• Quarterly Cadence: Netflix typically operates on a quarterly OKR cycle. This allows for regular check-ins and adjustments, ensuring that goals remain relevant and achievable.
• Focus on Innovation and Creativity: Given Netflix's emphasis on creativity and innovation, OKRs often focus on pushing the boundaries in content creation, technology, and user experience.

Examples of OKRs at Netflix

Objective: Enhance User Experience

• Key Result 1: Increase user engagement on the platform by 15%.
• Key Result 2: Achieve a 20% reduction in the number of customer complaints regarding the user interface.
• Key Result 3: Implement 5 new features based on user feedback.

Objective: Expand Global Reach

• Key Result 1: Launch Netflix services in 5 new countries.
• Key Result 2: Achieve 10 million new international subscribers.
• Key Result 3: Increase content production in local languages by 25%.

Objective: Improve Content Recommendation System

• Key Result 1: Increase the accuracy of content recommendations by 10%.
• Key Result 2: Reduce the average time users spend searching for content by 30%.
• Key Result 3: Implement a new machine learning algorithm for content recommendations.

Benefits of OKRs at Netflix

• Focus and Clarity: OKRs help Netflix maintain focus on key priorities and provide clarity on what needs to be achieved.
• Alignment and Coordination: By cascading objectives and key results throughout the organization, Netflix ensures that all teams are working towards the same goals.
• Motivation and Engagement: The ambitious nature of OKRs motivates employees to strive for excellence and stay engaged with their work.
• Adaptability and Agility: The quarterly review cycle allows Netflix to remain agile and adapt to changes quickly, ensuring they stay ahead in a dynamic industry.

By integrating OKRs into its strategic planning and daily operations, Netflix maintains its competitive edge and continues to innovate in the entertainment industry.

Are you ready to use OKRs within your organization?

Implementing OKRs within an organization, at times, can be complex and perhaps arduous. But if done right, it can be a great tool to align your company’s goals with those in your teams. 

Remember: using this framework allows you to come back and revisit your OKRs and check what needs to be done, changed and adjusted. 

At Holaspirit, we take pride in offering a well-rounded OKRs framework feature for organizations who are deep into the method or for those who wish to dab at first. 

If you wish to know more about this framework, opt for a demo with our team!

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