Results in just two quarters.
The recruitment training and career services company Saranen believes in people-centric leadership. When tools were sought for strategic work, the method chosen was OKR and the partner was Sora Consulting.
A strong foundation in place. The right tool was missing
When Saranen's CEO Janne Lindfors reached out to us in September 2021, the roughly 100-person company had already spent a year and a half on an internal cultural journey toward a more team- and individual-driven model of work.
Saranen was looking for the next logical step that would make experts' own everyday leadership easier and bring transparency to the company level. Lindfors asked Sora to run an OKR workshop for the management team. The workshop convinced them.
"We had no prior experience with the OKR method, and I wanted someone with strong expertise to coach us. Henri helped both with building the whole and with the basics. For example what a good objective is, what a good key result is, and how they relate to KPI metrics." Janne Lindfors, CEO
Faster adoption than usual
Saranen's OKR adoption started in January 2022. Early in the year Sora guided the work more actively and acted as a mentor to Saranen's own OKR coach, but by the end of the year OKR work was being done fairly independently with Sora's support.
Although adoption typically takes 3-4 quarters, at Saranen the OKR model was part of everyday work within six months. And during those two quarters the company hit set objectives and key results.
"Adoption succeeded thanks to commitment from the whole management team and the key people, plus the good collaboration between our internal coach and Henri." Janne Lindfors, CEO
Better guidance and transparency of work
The OKR tool chosen. Tangible Growth. Collects all the necessary information in one place.
"The company-wide OKRs give clear direction to the different teams' work and their own goals. From our tool, anyone can see what different teams are doing, how things are progressing and where the challenges are." Janne Lindfors, CEO
Genuinely on the client's side
After a year of intensive adoption, the collaboration between Saranen and Sora continues in an adaptive form.
"We appreciated that Henri seemed to genuinely think about what's best for us, and at appropriate moments he wanted to reduce his own contribution when it looked like we could manage on our own." Janne Lindfors, CEO
- Adoption in half the usual time: 2 quarters instead of 3-4
- Guidance and transparency of work improved significantly
- Tangible Growth gathers everything essential into one view
- Collaboration continues in a supported form. Independence grows over time