What can car dealers learn from Google's staff assessment?

Google uses a system called OKR to measure its employees. OKR, which stands for objective and key results, was made popular by technology company Intel and American venture capitalist and early Google investor John Doerr.

The process starts by setting an objective and a number of key results needed  to reach it. The objective has to be definitive and measureable – for example, to increase used car profit per unit by 10%.

At Google, each person sets an annual objective and quarterly objective. The annual objective is a large overarching idea for the company and can evolve. Quarterly objectives are set in stone.

Google uses OKRs at company, team, managerial and personal levels. Employees have four to six OKRs per quarter.

Key results are graded at the end of each quarter on a scale of 0-1. ‘Googlers’ aim for a 0.6 or 0.7 rather than a 1. If they achieve a 1, the objective is regarded as too easy. A score below 0.4 means individuals need to review where they are going wrong.

All OKRs within Google are open to everyone in the company, from the senior executives down. Anyone can look at what anyone else is working on and how they have performed.

OKRs are not used specifically to determine promotions, but can be used by employees to track what they have accomplished that year.