What Are OKRs? Why They Matter and How HR Can Use Them
November 9, 2026
As competition grows, companies keep trying new ways to reach their goals, and agility has become one of the most valuable skills a team can have. OKRs come up again and again, especially since remote and hybrid work became common. So what are OKRs, why do they matter, and how can HR use them? Let's take a look.
What are OKRs?
OKR stands for Objectives and Key Results. It is a goal-setting framework: you define what the company wants to achieve, then track progress toward it quickly and with flexibility. Whatever your industry, department or company size, OKRs keep people focused on what matters most and support a more agile way of managing. The idea is older than it seems. It grew out of Peter Drucker's management by objectives in the 1950s, was shaped into OKRs by Andy Grove at Intel, and spread quickly among fast-growing companies after Google adopted it as part of its growth strategy.
Many well-known companies, including Google, Intel and LinkedIn, have used OKRs.
For anyone who sets team or company goals on a regular basis, OKRs are a dynamic way to do it. They are built on transparency, so every department and every employee can see the whole picture of where the company is going. That makes it easier for people to see what the company needs most from their work and which tasks deserve their focus.
Why do OKRs matter?
OKRs answer two questions: "Where do we want to go?" and "What do we want to achieve?"
- Objectives are qualitative. They should be ambitious, hard to reach, worth wanting and always tied to value.
- Key results are specific and measurable. They focus on outcomes and should be achievable within a set time frame.
A more agile way to manage
At their core, OKRs support collaboration between departments, open communication, employee motivation, employee satisfaction and engagement, focus, speed and agility. They show employees what work needs to happen to reach a goal and help them focus and prioritize.
By bringing every employee into how the organization works, OKRs build strong communication and team spirit, which removes many coordination problems. They give people the transparency they need to do their best work and encourage them to take initiative, which builds autonomy. Clarity, alignment, adaptability and speed add up to a more agile way of managing. And in today's competitive market, speed and the ability to keep up with it are what companies need most.
OKRs in HR
OKRs give you a way to track progress, build alignment and get people involved around measurable goals. They help create an environment where employees can work with a clear purpose, and companies such as Intel, Google and LinkedIn have used them.
OKRs work well for HR responsibilities too. In areas like hiring, performance management and employee engagement, they can bring real value to any company. Here are some examples of how HR teams can apply them:
Company culture
Any company, in any industry, makes progress best with a healthy culture. To build one, HR plays a key role in helping employees keep a good work-life balance and stay satisfied in their jobs.
- Objective: Support a healthy work-life balance for employees
- Key results: Encourage employees to use their PTO, get them involved in company activities, run social responsibility projects on a regular basis.
- Objective: Increase employee engagement
- Key results: Build a culture of feedback in every direction, run regular employee satisfaction surveys, make goals clear to boost participation.
Hiring
Hiring is one of the most sensitive parts of HR work, because it is how you attract job seekers and the right candidates. That makes employer branding especially important.
- Objective: Strengthen the employer brand to attract the right talent
- Key results: Run brand awareness campaigns, win awards such as "best place to work," respond to every applicant whether the answer is yes or no, step up marketing efforts.
Performance management
Every new hire starts with their own strengths and weaknesses, but the organization plays a big role in helping people improve. With OKRs, performance management means HR should improve its processes and find the areas where better support will lift performance.
- Objective: Improve new-hire performance
- Key results: Shorten onboarding time, shorten the performance review cycle, improve the quality of hires.
- Objective: Help managers become more effective
- Key results: Have managers attend training twice a year, hold regular meetings to improve feedback, run anonymous employee surveys.
Employee retention
Keeping the people you have costs far less than hiring new ones. Giving talented employees reasons to stay longer is one of the most valuable things HR can do.
- Objective: Keep high performers for the long term
- Key results: Offer flexible work options, provide benefits, create programs that support career growth, raise employee satisfaction scores.
Training and development
A learning culture is key to an organization's growth. Managers should encourage training programs, and HR should make it clear that learning is part of how the company grows.
- Objective: Identify the training employees need to work more effectively
- Key results: Create a personal training plan for each employee and set aside a budget for it.
Put OKRs into practice
OKRs work best when goals, progress and feedback live in one place where everyone can see them. Kolay brings employee management, performance reviews, shift planning and compensation reviews together, so your HR processes stay connected as you roll out goals across the team.
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