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All-in-one HR platform · v2.0
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All-in-one HR platform · v2.0
14-day free trial · No credit cardhello@HrMagix.com
OKR vs KPI comes down to purpose. A KPI tells you whether something that already runs is running well; an OKR sets out a change you want and how you will know it happened.
01
A key performance indicator (KPI) is a measure you track continuously because it shows the health of a process: payroll errors per run, average time to fill a vacancy, attendance regularisations per month. It has a normal range, and you act when it drifts out of it.
An OKR is an objective, a qualitative statement of where you want to be, paired with two to five key results that show you got there. It is set for a period, usually a quarter, and then closed and scored.
Put simply, KPIs watch the business as it is; OKRs are about moving it somewhere else.
02
| Factor | KPI | OKR |
|---|---|---|
| Purpose | Monitor an ongoing process | Drive a specific change |
| Time horizon | Ongoing, reported each period | Fixed period, often a quarter |
| Form | A single metric with a target or range | An objective plus a few measurable key results |
| Target level | Realistic; missing it signals a problem | Often ambitious; partial progress can be a good result |
| When it ends | When the process changes or stops mattering | At the end of the period, when it is scored |
| Typical owner | The function that runs the process | The team taking on the change |
Watch for itA KPI that is out of range is a natural source for an OKR. If time to fill a vacancy keeps rising, an OKR for the quarter might set out to bring it down, with the KPI itself as one of the key results.
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Yes, and it often is. The difference is that the key result sets a target change in that KPI within the period, rather than just keeping it in range.
No. OKRs cover what you are changing; KPIs keep watch over everything else. Dropping KPIs when you adopt OKRs leaves ongoing work unmonitored.
A KRA is an area the role is accountable for, and KPIs are usually how performance in that area is measured. OKRs sit alongside both for time-bound change.
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