Lead agile with goals : The OKR method – application in a savings bank

To achieve their corporate goals, savings banks in Germany use several controlling-systems. These systems are often combined with assessment-systems for the employees. Mostly they are carried out annually, for example as part of discussed conversations. But are these systems still suitable to steer the contributions of individual em-ployees to achieve the company goals in a more and more dynamic world? The OKR method (O stands for “Objectives”, KR stands for “Key Result”) a possible alternative. The OKR method was used in the examined medium-sized savings bank for three years. After the first few runs it became clear that a modification becomes necessary. For this purpose, the author (together with a manager of the savings bank) used the results from the OKR reviews were evaluated. A new concept was created for an adapted application of the OKR method for savings bank. The findings are not just interesting for savings banks, but for all companies who deal with the OKR method.