Achieving Clear Strategy and Collective Accountability with OKRs

The Challenge

In the ever-evolving environment of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM), SThree France, a STEM-specialist talent partner, found itself in need of a pivotal change. For over four years, they had been on a journey to transform their operations across France. They wanted to reinvent their company but needed a way to foster better ownership of the strategic objectives by all employees and increase accountability in collective performance.

SThree France struggled to find the right balance between individual and collective performance.

“we felt the need to reinvent our company: the question was how could we do that? That's why we started working with OKR to face two main challenges: better ownership of the strategy by our colleagues and accountability in our collective performance.”

Claire Bonnenfant, CEO Sthree France.

The Catalyst: OKRs

SThree France identified the OKR method as a great lever to support and enable this cultural transformation. They sought the expert guidance of OKRmentors to address these critical challenges. Our OKR experts helped SThree France leadership team define their Strategic OKRs and deploy the method throughout the whole organization through coaching and training. It included working on the tailored deployment strategy together with the Country Director and the person in charge of the OKR deployment internally. Once the approach was clear, one of our OKR experts facilitated the executive workshop to design their OKRs and align on the roll-out approach. 

Besides, our team ensured SThree France had a supportive hand to guide them throughout their transformation journey, conducting weekly follow-up sessions to keep them on track with the implementation of the Objectives and Key Results (OKRs).

We also recognized the importance of grounding SThree France's employees in the world of OKRs. To facilitate this, they used our online certified masterclasses, designed to break down the complexities of OKRs through short, illustrative videos and assignments. This interactive and engaging learning approach allowed 200+ staff to easily understand and grasp the essence of the method, thereby fostering greater ownership and accountability.

“We had an OKR expert by our side during all the preparation sessions / workshop as well as a weekly catch up which allowed us to keep a clear focus all the way to the set up of OKRs. We benefited as well of the online training to get a foot into the OKR world that gave us the basics to start using the OKRs. The way it was built with short videos illustrating the method made it easier to apprehend the subject and brought a touch of interactivity.”

Anne Laure Moulins, OKR Lead, Sthree France.

The Transformation

Through OKRmentors’ support, SThree France quickly moved past the initial obstacle of understanding the difference between OKRs and regular KPIs. With our help, they realized the true value of OKRs in setting inspiring objectives supported by measurable outcomes. Moreover, they understood that the key to the success of OKRs lay in the involvement and participation of every single employee. Each person played an active role in defining the OKRs for their team, leading to a heightened sense of engagement and commitment.

The impact of our services on SThree France was multilayered, resulting in transformative changes on four levels:

1. Strategic Understanding: With our guidance, SThree teams achieved a clearer understanding of their global strategy and how their collective effort could impact it.

2. Collective Goal Alignment: Our methodology facilitated a stronger collective drive, as each team now had a common goal that aligned with the overarching strategy.

3. Empowered Employees: By involving every employee, SThree demonstrated trust in their team members, thereby promoting individual accountability.

4. Employee Satisfaction: The process of collectively deciding on objectives led to increased employee satisfaction, as they felt genuinely involved in the company's strategic decisions.

“OKRsmentors helped us in understanding what was OKR and how to set up the methodology within our company. In the beginning, it was a bit of a struggle to really understand what was the difference between OKR and simple KPIs but OKRmentors helped dealing with that. One of the other main challenges we faced was to engage all the employees on this new way of setting objectives, measure them and above all, how to make it last over time. OKRmentors gave us some of the keys to really make a difference and today all of our teams have integrated OKR in their routine.”

Anne Laure Moulins, OKR Lead, Sthree France.

The Before & After Snapshot

Before engaging with OKRmentors, few Sthree France’s employees were truly aware of the strategy or how their work aligned with it. Teams and their leaders were setting objectives that were sometimes disconnected from the broader company strategy. This lack of strategic clarity and employee involvement often led to disengagement and a lack of collective accountability.

After implementing our OKR system, the landscape at SThree France changed dramatically. They emerged with a few clearly defined strategic objectives, all well-understood and accepted by every employee. More importantly, every team member now understood how they could contribute to these objectives collectively. The engagement and participation of each employee in defining their team OKRs led to increased ownership and accountability, key factors in the successful implementation of OKRs.

“The main difference now is the clarification that OKRs brought in terms of strategy: we have 5 clearly defined objectives and know by all the staff and we know how we can impact them collectively. What has also been a game changer is the involvement and participation of each employee in the definition of their team OKRs and that was definitely the key to success.”

Claire Bonnenfant, CEO Sthree France.

OKRmentors: Your partner for Strategic Transformation

At OKRmentors, we are committed to empowering companies to drive their transformation journeys through the effective implementation of OKRs. We aim to foster strategic clarity, instill collective accountability and increase employee engagement, leading to improved individual and overall performance. We believe there should be more mission-driven teams deliver their full potential and we are committed to support organizations to do so.

Our work with SThree France was a really rewarding partnership and confirms that when there is the right mindset for change, and the right resources to make it happen, OKRs deliver magical results. We are grateful for the opportunity they gave us to help them with personalized, hands-on support, and interactive training methods. It is great to see how SThree France successfully embarked the whole organization in collaborating collectively to execute a clear strategy, ultimately leading to better performance.

Join us on your journey to reinvent your company, much like SThree France did. Experience the transformative power of OKRs, and let us guide you to your strategic future. Feel welcome to get in touch to know more.