How Google grades employees, and how you can use the same system at your company

Getty Images, Justin Sullivan

From the time Google was a tiny startup, it's been using an internal grading system for employees call Objectives and Key Results, or OKR.

OKR is a simple system that helps a company organize and execute its goals. It starts at the top, and travels down the chain of command within a company. Google didn't invent the OKR system. It came from Intel. And many other companies use a similar system.

A few years ago, Google Ventures partner Rick Klau gave a presentation on how OKR works. If you work at a startup and don't use a system like OKR, you should. Or, if you work at a big company, and your company doesn't use OKR, it should. Heck, even if management hates the idea at your company, you should use OKR for yourself!

We watched Klau's presentation, and peeled out the slides to provide a how-to on how OKRs work, and how you can use them for yourself.