What is the primary goal of HR departments?
One (as there can be many and they can differ) of the primary goals of an HR department is to ensure that a company is maintaining its level of productivity.
This is defined as making sure that the size and quality of the workforce match what’s needed and that employees are satisfied with their employment in general.
How do HR measure if they’re a success?
Over the recent years, HR departments have (as many other departments inside companies) become a lot more data-driven. Meaning they have access to more data about employees, their activity and satisfaction levels, etc.
Let’s have a look at a great OKR example for HR.
What is a good OKR example for HR?
Objective: Increase WFH productivity by minimizing distractions
Key Result: Increase the reported productivity score for the remote workforce from 6 to 8
In recent years, a lot of companies have shifted from an in-office work model to either a hybrid or fully-remote model. This creates new routines, new ways of communicating, etc.
One thing is for companies to conquer that shift, but another is for the employees to do it as well. Working remotely generally means more flexibility but with that also comes greater responsibility.
This HR OKR would require HR to work with employees on how to establish frameworks and guidelines for how employees could work remotely and keep sane during their day.
From here, HR would need to sit down and brainstorm initiatives and ways to help their colleagues work better from home.
The Key Elements Of HR OKR Examples
Overall, a great HR OKR should follow the SMART guidelines of being:
Specific
Measurable
Achievable
Results-oriented
Time-bound
1st HR OKR Criteria: Specific
Your OKR should be specific enough so that when other people within the organization, that aren’t necessarily on your team, know what you’re working on.
No one ever got punished for having an OKR that was a bit too long. Instead, writing fuzzy or unclear OKRs is a definite no-go.
2nd HR OKR Criteria: Measurable
Because OKRs are usually working with specific metrics, it’s a lot easier to check the box that the OKR is measurable.
We measure things that are relevant to progress within employee productivity and satisfaction.
3rd HR OKR Criteria: Achievable
It’s important to have achievable OKRs. They should always be ambitious, but nothing is more demotivating than unachievable goals.
A rule of thumb is that the chance of achieving a Key Result should be around 50% from the start. If you reach 70% and above, it’s considered a success.
4th HR OKR Criteria: Results-oriented
Being focused on results is a very important aspect of OKR. It’s so important, that we’ve dedicated an entire section to describing why you should focus on outcomes over outputs below.
5th HR OKR Criteria: Time-bound
A key part of defining a goal is also defining when you’re expecting it to be met. For OKR, your goals are usually divided into different cycles and your goals should of course be reached within the end of the cycle.