An OKR Example: How to Create a Strong OKR?

An OKR example works best when it pairs an ambitious, inspiring objective with clear, measurable key results, as shown in this real company case study on building a volunteering culture.

The OKR performance system gives companies a systematic, lean development plan by defining goals and key results in advance. It helps you track progress against objectives and motivate your entire workforce toward shared priorities. Below is a real-life OKR example, including how the OKRs were built step by step.

An OKR Example: "Volunteering" as a Company Objective

I worked for a company that recognized the value of a sustainable future. As someone aware of social problems, this mattered deeply to me. My objective was "to make volunteerism part of company culture" — an objective that still excites me today. At first, it didn't seem easy. I remember our HR director's reassuring words: "Don't worry; we'll provide the resources and information you need to succeed."

Do you think this was an easy target?

Building the OKR

The company's top-level objective was "to become an industry leader and increase brand value within 3 years." The objective to "break ground on sustainability," tied to that top company goal, was distributed horizontally across all company objectives.

This chart shows how every component focuses on the same objectives, making the path to the top goal clear. The "O" in OKR answers the question: what is the objective? What do you want to achieve? Objectives should be qualitative, hard to reach, and inspiring. Numeric data isn't required — what matters most is that the objective excites people and sparks creativity. It should also be time-bound and realistic. Our objective checked all these boxes. From production to marketing, from corporate communication to HR, every department was motivated and aligned. Collaboration between teams became legendary. A motivated employee doesn't count working hours, doesn't distinguish weekdays from weekends, and voluntarily does more — reaching peak performance without needing constant management, because they're self-directed.

Objectives must be supported by SMART, numerical KPIs. This is where Key Results make the goal measurable. Let's revisit the objective:

"To make volunteerism a part of company culture."

Did that seem ambitious and difficult? It kept my teammates and me up at night. How would we turn an abstract, new concept like volunteering into part of the company culture?

Back then (2005–2008), the company typically planned three years ahead and set annual goals. But volunteering required a different strategy. We couldn't predict the future the way we could with other targets — would employees engage with volunteering? What platform would we use? Would the company provide budget and time support? There were many open questions. We decided to set our first objectives only as far ahead as we could reasonably see, then re-plan once we reached them. Just like the OKR method intends.

As we studied successful companies' Corporate Social Responsibility and volunteering practices in a benchmark study with OSGD, and identified common features of volunteer platforms, the picture became clearer. About 110 employees responded to our first volunteering call. Finding volunteers wasn't hard — choosing the initial team was. We set our second six-month OKRs more clearly than we expected, though uncertainty remained since interest spread rapidly and we couldn't predict how far our success would go. At the end of Q2, we presented successfully to management and secured budget approval plus two working hours per week per volunteer. Soon there were multiple projects, each with natural leaders.

Tracking Multiple OKRs Across Teams

Looking at the objectives set for each volunteer, you might ask: how do you track and manage so many goals at once?

Honestly, it wasn't easy. If only there had been OKR-compatible performance management tools back then. With today's digital tools, you can plan OKR sharing across different teams — like volunteering — distribute targets within hours, and track performance instantly. Back then, I relied on labor-intensive Excel reviews every six months. In the end, it was worth it.

The Results of This OKR Example

By 2017, 50% of the company was working on projects as active volunteers, managing 12 different projects autonomously. The company allocated almost 3 weeks of work per year to volunteering, with no tasks delayed. Volunteers were grateful for the opportunity, and the employees supporting them worked toward even higher performance. Reaching roughly 40,000 individuals over 9 years, the volunteer program won dozens of awards and represented Turkey twice in the European CSR Awards — with near-zero-budget projects that outperformed heavily funded ones.

To all volunteers...

Dilek Mete
Performance and Culture Development Expert

Frequently Asked Questions

What is an OKR example in practice?

A practical OKR example pairs an inspiring objective, like making volunteerism part of company culture, with measurable key results, such as volunteer participation rates or number of active projects.

What makes a strong objective in the OKR method?

A strong objective is qualitative, ambitious, time-bound, and inspiring. It doesn't need numbers, but it should excite people and spark creativity across the organization.

How do Key Results differ from Objectives?

Objectives define what you want to achieve, while Key Results are the SMART, numerical metrics that make progress measurable and track success over time.

Why is OKR-compatible performance management software useful?

It lets teams distribute OKRs across departments, share goals instantly, and track performance in real time, replacing slow manual reviews with continuous visibility.

Can OKRs work for non-traditional goals like volunteering?

Yes. This OKR example shows how an abstract goal like volunteering was broken into short-term, adaptable OKRs, eventually growing into a company-wide program with measurable impact.