Sneaker enthusiasts and businesses have one major thing in common — they’re keen for the hot, new drop on the scene. And what’s the talk of the town lately? Air Jordan’s and OKRs (see OKR meaning for a complete definition of OKRs).
While OKRs have been around since before the microwave, they’ve only attained buzzword status in the last couple of decades. But why should businesses adopt them? And which companies utilize them?
This article will share some of OKRs' greatest successes with case studies highlighting best practices. We delve into how leading companies like Google, Adobe and Linkedin use OKRs to create goals and boost their performance.
Who uses OKRs?
If you’ve done your homework, you probably know that OKRs were made popular by Google. Many major tech companies, such as the aforementioned plus Microsoft, Twitter and even Netflix, use the OKRs framework to set and track goals within their business.
But just because these companies have popularized OKRs doesn’t mean they’re just for major corporations. Whether you’re a doggy daycare owner, millionaire executive or just an average Joe, OKRs may be the missing piece to your individual or business success.
Smaller teams may be able to implement OKRs more easily due to their flexibility and fewer moving parts. Larger companies can experience faster growth with OKRs, as more people's combined efforts usually yield quicker results.
Since OKRs are scalable and adaptable to just about any company or person, the answer to ‘Who uses OKRs?‘ is potentially anyone!
What companies use OKRs?
From startups to multi-billion dollar companies, thousands of businesses use OKRs. Here’s a snapshot of some of the more well-known companies implementing OKRs.
- Adobe
- Amazon
- Atlassian
- Dell
- Deloitte
- Dropbox
- Eventbrite
- GE
- GoPro
- Intel
- LG
- Microsoft
- Netflix
- Panasonic
- Samsung
- Slack
- Spotify
- Trello
- Uber
- Yahoo
OKR case studies
How exactly have OKRs helped multi-billion dollar companies become so? Here are three examples detailing how well-known organizations use OKRs for growth.
Adobe
Best known for its innovative software products such as Acrobat and Photoshop, Adobe’s success is well documented.
However, some years ago, Adobe struggled with a people management issue stemming from outdated annual performance reviews. This tedious and time-consuming process was causing a spike in resignations once a year.
Adobe executive Donna Morris identified this issue and posed the question on the staff intranet — ‘If we did away with our ‘annual review,’ what would you like to see in its place? What would it look like to inspire, motivate, and value contributions more effectively?”.
From these responses, the OKRs system was implemented. Rather than measuring performance annually, Adobe committed to continuous performance management through a 'Check-in' program. Check-in is a three-part system that starts with OKRs (what Adobe internally calls ‘Goals and Expectations’ and continues to regular feedback and career development discussions.
Voluntary attrition has dropped significantly since OKRs were implemented.
One of the best-known companies in the world, Google has long been a user of the OKRs system. It was introduced to the company by famous venture capitalist John Doerr in 1999, who had previously worked under Intel CEO and OKR founder Andy Grove.
Since implementing OKRs, Google has grown from a company of 40 to more than 140,000 employees worldwide. Every Google employee can view their colleagues' OKRs — this transparency is a hallmark of OKR success.
Every quarter, Google leaders set ambitious objectives and grade key results performance on a scale of 0.0-1.0. Scores between 0.6 and 0.7 are considered successful, and low-score OKRs are identified as growth opportunities in the following quarter.
Google’s OKR success doesn’t end internally — after a Google Ventures workshop detailing how Google sets OKRs went viral, the framework gained enormous traction. As more companies report OKR success, data and revenue are fed back into the search engine.
When former LinkedIn CEO Jeff Wiener took over the company in 2008, he brought with him a mission and vision goal model (otherwise known as Objectives and Key Results). He credits his $20 billion success to the implementation OKRs framework.
LinkedIn has a slightly different approach to OKRs — each team member sets three to five ambitious quarterly objectives, which become more important higher up the company ladder.
Teams track progress through in-person meetings, which keep leadership teams aligned with how objectives work toward wider business goals. Employees identify their successes and shortcomings, and leaders recognise their achievements and provide assistance as needed.
More OKR success stories
The OKR framework is used by many popular businesses, so explaining everyone's story would be impossible. Instead, we’ve decided to share a few testimonials we’ve received at Tability, demonstrating the success of the OKRs model and our OKRs software.
- Blys: “I’m able to take our new team members through our strategic plan and quarterly goals OKR in Tability. It gives them a clear picture of our milestones and what’s coming up.”
- Covaler: “We saw team members get excited by having a better understanding and being better connected to the company vision and goals.”
- Ricksoft: “Tability has been useful for planning goals, tracking them every week and leading our team in the right direction."
Read more customer success stories on our testimonials page.
Why you should use OKRs for your company
With so many benefits, it is easy to see why pioneering companies use OKRs as part of their company strategy. Here are some key benefits of using OKRs, as outlined in our case studies.
Improved motivation
OKRs is an inclusive goal-setting methodology that gives teams a say in what they're working on, which motivates them to accomplish their own objectives.
Aligned teams
With OKRs, your workforce will clearly understand the company's goals and how their efforts contribute to them. Goals are public so that anyone can see them.
Increased revenue
OKRs are designed to boost performance, and better performance at for-profit companies leads to an increase in revenue.
Better insights
Unlike annual performance reviews, OKRs provide feedback every week, helping people identify and resolve problems early.
Approaching OKRs with Tability
Just because many businesses have made great use of OKRs doesn’t mean they haven’t faced early-stage challenges. Team commitment is essential for OKRs to be effective, which is often easier said than done. That’s where software like Tability comes in handy.
Tability simplifies OKRs planning and implementation, making it easier to get everyone on board. What are you waiting for? Try Tability for free today!
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