Meet Henkel
Henkel is a global leader in consumer goods and industrial technologies, with around 48,000 employees. The OKR Institute partnered with Henkel to train its leaders to draft Objectives and Key Results at the middle management level across several European entities. The goal was to bring middle managers closer to the company's overall strategy, lift the quality of how they set goals, and make sure team efforts pointed in the same direction as Henkel's wider plans. Because Henkel operates through many separate entities across Europe, that alignment was not a given. It had to be built deliberately, manager by manager.
Alignment, Skills, and True Adoption
Henkel ran into three connected problems. First, keeping OKRs aligned was tricky. Middle managers across different European entities each drafted their own goals, and tying those goals back to one global strategy was a real effort. Second, there were skill gaps. Many middle managers had little experience writing or running OKRs, so they needed a solid grounding before the framework could work. Third, getting people to truly adopt OKRs, not just attend a session and move on, called for an approach built around engagement rather than instruction alone.
These problems fed into one another. A manager who is unsure how to write a good OKR is unlikely to feel much ownership of it, and a manager without ownership will struggle to align with anything. The work had to address all three together, not one at a time.
How We Worked Together
The OKR Institute put together a program that handled both the learning and the alignment side by side.
- Customized training programs: We ran targeted sessions for middle managers across Henkel's European entities, covering the fundamentals of OKRs, how to align them, and how to put them into practice.
- Alignment workshops: We held workshops that connected middle managers' OKRs to Henkel's global strategy, bringing clarity and consistency across every level.
- Ongoing support and tools: We gave managers continued help, resources, and practical tools for drafting, running, and tracking OKRs, along with ways to keep their teams engaged.
The mix of training and ongoing support was deliberate. A single workshop can teach the idea, but it is the follow-up that turns the idea into a habit. Henkel's managers had help not just at the start but as they put OKRs to work.
What Made it Work
- Middle management focus: Targeting the layer where strategy often succeeds or stalls ensured the right people had the right skills to carry the plan forward.
- Training plus alignment: Handling learning and alignment side by side meant managers built skills and connected to strategy at the same time.
- Engagement over instruction: Building an approach around genuine engagement rather than one-way teaching produced ownership rather than compliance.
- Sustained follow-up: Ongoing support turned an initial training event into a lasting habit, giving managers help as they put OKRs to work.
What Changed at Henkel
Better strategic cohesion
The training and alignment workshops tightened the link between local and global, with middle management OKRs reflecting the company's strategy far more closely.
Stronger expertise and execution
Middle managers built a solid grasp of OKRs, which led to sharper execution and better handling of team-level goals tied directly to strategy.
Wider engagement across teams
The initiative drew more middle managers and their teams into the OKR process, helping build a culture focused on improvement and clear priorities.
What This Shows
Henkel's case points to the middle of the organization as the place where strategy often succeeds or stalls. Senior leaders can set a fine direction, but if middle managers cannot turn it into clear team goals, the plan never quite lands. By investing in those managers with real training, alignment time, and steady support, Henkel closed that gap. The takeaway is straightforward. If you want strategy to reach the ground, equip the people in the middle who carry it there, and stay with them long enough for the new habit to take hold.
