Zoho People is Zoho's HR platform — holidays, sickness, appraisals, attendance and goals — and it's included in Zoho One. Its newer OKR feature gives you a clearer way to set and track goals than the older goal-setting tools.
What are OKRs?
Objectives and Key Results were popularised by Google and the book Measure What Matters. An objective is the bigger-picture goal ("Double our client base"). Key results are the measurable steps that show whether you're getting there ("Book five meetings with new prospects a week") — similar to KPIs, but always tied to the objective they serve. OKRs are usually set quarterly.
Step 1: Turn OKRs on
If Zoho People was set up before OKRs launched, the feature may be hidden. Open Settings (top right), use the settings toggle to switch OKRs on. This is also where you can switch off features you don't use, such as Learning.
Step 2: Configure OKR settings
- Cycle: choose the month your first quarter starts. Start in September and your quarters run September–November, December–February, and so on.
- Statuses and, if you have several offices or regions, location-based OKRs.
- Who can create objectives — reporting managers, department heads, individuals.
- Key result permissions — whether employees can assign key results to themselves, their reportees or anyone.
Step 3: Create objectives and key results
- Go to More → OKRs (you can drag it higher in the menu). Note that Performance is the older goal tool.
- Add an organisation or department objective, choose the quarter and set visibility (just you, the organisation, or specific teams).
- Add key results. Track each as a percentage or a metric, set its own period within the quarter (you might focus on meetings in month one and conversion in month two), and assign an owner.
- Set a check-in interval — weekly on a chosen day, or monthly on a chosen date.
Step 4: Check in
Owners get automatic reminders when a check-in is due. They enter the current value (and a comment), and progress rolls up: each key result's percentage feeds the objective's overall progress. Zoho also shows whether each item is on track, by comparing progress against time elapsed.
Employees see their OKRs on their dashboard and under My OKRs. Managers see organisation and department views, and can click into any key result for its check-in history and progress against plan.
Tips
- Build check-ins into an existing rhythm, such as a weekly team meeting.
- Keep it to a few objectives per quarter, each with two to four key results.
- Organisation-wide reporting is still fairly limited, so decide how you'll review progress across teams.
Watch the August 2026 What's New in Zoho webinar to see OKRs set up.