Technology Industries of Finland has improved goal setting and transparency through the OKR model and Viva Goals, increasing employee motivation and commitment.

Technology Industries of Finland is an influential organization for business and labor market policy, whose approximately 1,800 member companies comprehensively represent the electronics and electrical industry, the machine and metal product industry, metal processing, information technology, and the design and consulting industry.

The association promotes the competitiveness and operating conditions of Finland’s most important export industry, sustainable development, and responsible business operations. It is committed to openness and transparency in its operations, both with external stakeholders and within its own organization.

Technology Industries of Finland has significantly developed its operations by introducing the OKR model (Objectives and Key Results) in 2020 and moving to Microsoft’s Viva Goals platform in 2023.

The OKR model brought agility and concreteness to the operation

Technology Industries of Finland adopted the OKR model to improve the clarity of goals and transparency of operations. The model helped the organization combine long-term strategic goals with daily operations.

Tarja Ihalainen, member service manager of the Technology Industries of Finland, says: “We thought that this could be a good model for our type of organization to help get the bright lights and short lights in the same picture.”

In 2020, the organization started an extensive change in operating methods by familiarizing the personnel with the basics of the OKR model.

“We had a kick-off where the second day was dedicated to OKR. Each team did their own OKRs there, and we invested a lot in the common thinking.”

At the same time, the long-term goals according to the strategy, the action plan, the annual goals of the organization, and the OKR goals of the teams were outlined with the personnel. Personal OKRs were also built into the new model.

Three key principles were introduced:

• The whole organization stops together every tertile to see where they are going in relation to the goals. This enables continuous evaluation of the progress of the goals and making the necessary changes in time.
• Personal goal discussions moved to joint OKR discussions, which increased teamwork and mutual understanding of goals.
• The OKRs of each team and individual are visible to everyone, which creates transparency and increases common understanding of the organization’s goals.

With the help of mutually agreed principles, the organization was aware of common goals and worked together to achieve them.

The OKR model brought agility and concreteness, which helped the organization to focus on the essentials and ensure that all employees were working towards common goals.

Viva Goals helps to visualize goals and key results

In 2023, the Technology Industries of Finland adopted Microsoft’s Viva Goals platform, which made it easier to follow and visualize the OKR model.

“Viva Goals was a natural choice because we use Microsoft software anyway. We took a few pilot teams to try it out, and it was a good approach. The pilot experiment taught us how people can misunderstand or develop better ways to use the platform.”

Tarja Ihalainen
Member service manager, Technology Industries of Finland

“Viva Goals combined the monitoring of OKRs at the organizational level,” says Ihalainen. The platform allows teams and individuals to connect their work to the broader goals of the organization. The tool’s visualization of transparency has improved the goal orientation and motivation of the entire organization.

With the introduction of the tool, the organization moved from doing things according to quarters to the tertile level.

When the tertile changes, the Technology Industries of Finland gathers at the office in Eteläranta, Helsinki. Employees can also participate in the tertile review remotely via Teams. The review goes through each goal one by one. This process has helped make the OKR model a part of the organization’s daily operations.

Persistence and continuous learning in a key position

After the initial enthusiasm, there were challenges in setting goals and defining key results.

“It was important to learn that the goal does not have to be 100% achieved,” Ihalainen explains. She emphasizes that OKRs are specifically stretch goals intended to challenge and inspire teams, not to be taken for granted.

Although there have been challenges, the Technology Industries of Finland has succeeded in improving the clarity and transparency of operations.

“The biggest benefit of all has been that we now have a clear plan and metrics that allow us to monitor progress.”

Tarja Ihalainen
Member service manager, Technology Industries of Finland

The comprehensive transparency of the entire organization’s operations has given the personnel the opportunity to focus on what is essential and prioritize better.

“The most important thing is to have the courage to tell if you don’t understand and to ask for help,” Ihalainen emphasizes. The continuous learning process and perseverance are key to the success of Technology Industries of Finland.

“Persistence and going in the direction of OKR thinking and accepting that this is continuous improvement are important in this kind of change, when people have to start thinking about those things and act differently,” sums up Tarja.

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