Improving Performance through OKR Implementation at Madre Integrated Solution
Discover how Madre Integrated Solution, a major HR provider for Middle Eastern construction projects, boosted productivity and alignment by integrating OKR frameworks through Hidesc. Learn how customized workflows, real-time org charts, and AI-driven insights transformed their operations.
Case Study Overview
Madre Integrated Solution – a human resource provider for multi-billion dollar construction and infrastructure projects in the Middle East – struggled to manage an extensive, scattered workforce and integrate multiple teams with strategic objectives. With collaboration with Team Hidile to introduce an OKR-based management platform (Hidesc), Madre realized important improvements in productivity, team cohesion, and efficiency in making decisions. This case study examines how the inclusion of an Objectives and Key Results (OKR) framework, along with customized software capabilities, created focus and quantifiable results for Madre's operations.
"Over the 14 years of my experience in business management, I'm so glad to meet and work with Team Hidile. The entire team at Hidile has a culture of developing and learning every day. The technology developed by Hidile always meets the purpose of our business."
– Melvin Mathew, COO, Madre Integrated Engineering (Qatar)
Background and Challenges
Madre Integrated Solution has a staff of more than 500 people in Qatar and Bahrain, and employees of different nationalities are posted on different sites. The size and spread of its operations brought some critical challenges:
Diverse Teams & Alignment
As more than one project was operating simultaneously, Madre found it difficult to get all teams and departments aligned with the company's broad goals. Goals tended to be communicated top-down without a structured framework to relate day-to-day activities to strategic goals, posing the risk of misalignment and lower productivity. In particular, well-aligned teams in firms have been found to enjoy 37% higher productivity, indicating the importance of goal clarity.
Tracking & Visibility
Management's inability to find, monitor, and track each project in real time, with hundreds of employees working at multiple worksites, was a challenge. Current tools (such as spreadsheets and simple task trackers) offered poor visibility. Without real-time vision, proactive decision-making was inhibited and it was difficult to determine bottlenecks or forecast manpower requirements (such as which site would need extra staff or overtime).
Manual Workflows & Mistakes
Most approval workflows (for timesheets, requests for resources, etc.) were email or manual-based, creating slowness and mistakes. The lack of an integrated system resulted in silos of information and redundant data entry, wasting management time and occasionally producing conflicting information. One of their accounting clients in practice testified that following their implementation of Hidile's solutions, "workflows [were streamlined] and [significantly] reduced errors," enhancing reliability and efficiency in operations – something Madre had to attain as well.
Resource Forecasting
It was difficult to plan for future projects without tools based on data. Madre had to better forecast manpower supply and demand – say, predicting the number of welders or electricians needed next quarter – to prevent understaffing or wasted capacity. Without predictive analytics, resource planning was more reactive than strategic.
In short, Madre needed an end-to-end system to provide order to its flexible teams, inform everyone of who is doing what (and why), and keep goals on target. They wanted a solution that would marry project management with OKR setting, and support the company's intricate hierarchy and approval processes in a convenient manner.
Solution: OKR Framework Integration with Hidesc Platform
Madre collaborated with Team Hidile to deploy an OKR management solution that was customized to meet specific needs, built around Hidile's Hidesc platform. In contrast to traditional board-based or single-purpose tools, Hidesc provides a hybrid model that merges agility with well-structured monitoring. The deployment involved installing a suite of interconnected applications that directly tackled Madre's pain points, along with tailoring the platform to their requirements (such as obscuring any features they didn't need and white-labeling the application with Madre's brand). Some of the key components of the solution were:
Task Management Module
A bespoke task management application was added to distribute, organize, and monitor employee tasks across all their projects. Project managers would be able to delegate tasks with specific deadlines and priorities, and track the completion of tasks centrally. Having a single point of truth for tasks, Madre enhanced accountability and was able to immediately view the distribution of workload, making it easier to determine whether any team was overwhelmed or under-staffed. Tasks might even be set up to necessitate a manager's approval on completion, providing an additional layer of quality control for vital tasks.
OKR Goal-Setting and Tracking
The core of the solution was an OKR-driven goals module. Madre's leadership set high-level Objectives (e.g. enhance on-site productivity, increase safety compliance), and department and team set corresponding Key Results to further those objectives. The Hidesc platform offered dashboards whereby progress against KRs (tracked by measurable metrics such as "% increase in tasks finished on time" or "number of safety incidents") was updated in real time. The open OKR system had the effect of making all employees aware of how their work was aiding larger company objectives, creating clarity and common purpose. Studies indicate that companies with dedicated OKR software enjoy a 23% gain in goal clarity and a 32% increase in employee engagement – advantages Madre started to enjoy as all-around alignment increased.
Workforce & Org-Chart Integration
Hidesc was set up with a live organizational chart that mirrored Madre's organizational design – from corporate leadership to project site teams. This living org chart ensured that when teams changed or fresh projects began, reporting lines and user permissions were automatically updated in the system. Managers could immediately find any employee or team in the system and review their current tasks and OKR status. This went a long way in solving the previous pain point of "who is where doing what" by offering real-time visibility into manpower deployment in all locations.
Data-Driven Insights (AI-Powered)
For enhancing resource forecasting and decision support, the platform incorporated artificial intelligence-enhanced analytics that processed task data, project durations, and historical performance. The AI brought out patterns or anomalies – for example, whether a project phase would experience a shortage of labor based on its current rate, or proposed redistribution of personnel to achieve an objective. These observations enabled the humanization of the software by offering managers proactive suggestions as opposed to mere raw data. With more effective information available, decision-making was more evidence-based. (Interestingly, firms that successfully measure and follow OKRs have achieved up to 15% increased revenue growth on average annually, illustrating the strength of data-driven strategy.)
Custom Approval Workflows
Hidile's solution provided flexible, automated approval workflows inside Hidesc. For instance, leave requests, overtime approvals, or budget sign-offs might automatically go to the correct managers based on the project and level of urgency. This moved ad-hoc email chains to a structured workflow with approvals traced, timely, and audit-able. In Madre's instance, even everyday task completions could be configured to initiate a supervisor's sign-off (a second validation step) prior to being closed as completed, addressing their requirement for additional monitoring on work quality. In a high-tempo project environment, these customized workflows maintained work progressing without stopping and relieved managers' time, since approvals no longer clogged up inboxes. (As one client from the finance industry testified after using Hidile's solution: "We strongly recommend their services to any company looking for efficiency and reliability," having seen how the solution improved workflow and minimized errors in their operations.)
The roll-out was done in batches over the course of several months to facilitate a seamless uptake. Team Hidile collaborated closely with Madre's IT and HR teams to tailor the platform to their precise specifications (such as displaying only applicable modules per user role and naming the app after Madre), transfer current data, and train personnel. Perhaps most importantly, a continuous integration strategy ensured new features and enhancements were released incrementally without disrupting operations – the system grew in tandem with Madre's requirements. This close collaboration extended to 5+ years, with Hidile offering continuous support and improvements to Madre's evolution.
Principal Hidesc Platform Features Utilized
A number of principal features of the Hidesc platform were used in this deployment to make Madre's OKR initiative successful:
Granular Role-Based Permissions
Carefully customized access for all teams and projects guaranteed that each user (executives, project managers, site supervisors, etc.) looked at and was able to do precisely what they required. By limiting or providing functionality according to roles, the system provided increased security and reduced clutter so that employees were able to concentrate on their work without distraction – leading directly to enhanced productivity and increased task completion rates.
Dynamic Org-Chart Integration
A live org chart was integrated into the system, illustrating Madre's hierarchy. When teams expanded or rearranged, permissions and project memberships automatically adjusted in real time. This real-time representation of organizational structure meant no reconfiguring by hand when individuals changed roles, minimizing admin overhead and making sure no one fell through the cracks in communication or goal alignment.
Multi-Project, Multi-Team Management
Hidesc's UI enabled multiple projects and teams to be handled in a single unified environment. Madre's management could readily switch between dashboards for projects or look at combined data for all projects. This was important for their complicated setup – whether they wanted to see a bird's eye portfolio overview or drill down into the status of a single team, it was all available within a single platform. Project tracking centralization enhanced visibility and did away with the hassle of managing multiple tools per project.
OKR-Driven Goals Alignment
The natively supported OKR on the platform ensured that all levels of the organization were on the same page. Corporate goals cascaded into department and team goals with attached key results within the tool. This line-of-sight from the uppermost goals to everyday tasks ensured that field teams' activities were directly translating to quantifiable targets. This alignment has been proven to increase productivity and concentration – firms that closely link team objectives with corporate-wide goals realize considerably greater performance returns (for instance, a study conducted at Harvard discovered aligned teams are 37% more productive, and aligning individual goals with company goals can yield a 29% boost in worker performance). Madre experienced this advantage rapidly as siloed working gave way to a more coordinated, mission-oriented work environment.
Flexible Approval Workflows
The workflow automation, customizable in Hidesc, enabled Madre to customize approval chains to each of their internal processes. For everyday issues, straightforward one-click approvals were adequate, but important project changes or high-value expenses could initiate multi-level sign-offs. This flexibility ensured decision-making to be controlled and effective, imposing required checks without being burdensome. Managers were sent timely reminders for approvals outstanding, and nothing fell through the cracks in email—resulting in better compliance and pace. (As Fahad, a partner at a financial services firm that also implemented Hidile's solutions, noted: their system "streamlined workflows and decreased errors considerably," making it reliable and efficient.) On-time, well-documented approvals within Madre's processes meant work no longer stalled while awaiting email responses, and audit trails were automatically preserved.
Other Solutions Delivered to Madre
In addition to the central OKR management solution, Team Hidile also provided a number of add-on solutions to further automate Madre's processes and meet associated requirements:
Email Pulse
A smart email management solution that automatically sorts incoming mails into predefined categories (e.g., client queries, internal requests, supplier communications, etc.) and monitors response times. Email Pulse gave reports and graphical summaries on how rapidly each department responded to mails, enabling Madre to enhance communication effectiveness and accountability.
Project & Assets Tracker
A tailored module to track Madre's complete manpower and assets by location. This application superimposed a Qatar (and Bahrain) map with real-time data on each project location – employees sent to each location, their positions, and contract statuses. It made it easy for managers to see resource availability, schedule exchanges of staff or equipment between sites, and make sure that every site's requirements were covered. It provided a geo-spatial snapshot of projects, enabling better resource and logistics optimization at a glance.
Visitors Management App
A web-based visitor log platform to track the check-in and check-out of all visitors to Madre's offices or project locations. Regardless of whether the visitor was a client, vendor, or job applicant, the app would automatically record their information, host, reason for visit, and datestamp (usually with ID scans or QR codes). This not only enhanced on-site security and professionalism but also yielded valuable information on visitation patterns (e.g. monitoring supplier visits or client site tours).
Internal LMS (Learning Management System)
A company-owned learning portal that logs and archives weekly training sessions and toolbox talks by department. This LMS is a library of training videos, safety briefings, and best-practice tutorials which staff can access at will. New employees or team members would easily be able to catch up on previous sessions, and managers would be able to see who completed required trainings. By keeping knowledge centralized in a convenient manner, Madre promoted a culture of ongoing learning and had essential training material always within the reach of employees.
All of these additional solutions were integrated with Madre's system of record (where applicable) and white-labeled under Madre's brand, creating a smooth digital ecosystem. Collectively, they helped drive an overall organizational shift – not just was goal management enhanced through OKRs, but day-to-day communication, resource management, visitor management, and employee growth were all enhanced through technology.
Results and Benefits
With the OKR system and the Hidesc platform in place, Madre Integrated Solution experienced revolutionary outcomes in its operations:
Increased Productivity
In the first year, Madre achieved an estimated 20–24% increase in productivity across projects, as quantified by output measures (e.g. tasks completed weekly) compared to the original baseline. Prioritized objectives eliminated wasted effort, and clarity of expectations encouraged teams to work more effectively. This local outcome mirrors larger findings – organizations that utilize OKRs have been proven to increase productivity by double-digit percentages. Employees at Madre spent fewer hours on duplicate status meetings or digging for information, and more hours on high-leverage activities, since progress and tasks were transparent to all stakeholders in real time.
Increased Team Alignment & Engagement
The visibility of OKRs and frequent check-ins fostered a culture of ownership and accountability. Each team member was able to visualize how they fit into the company's goals, which increased morale and collaboration. Management noted increased engagement – for example, site managers started having weekly toolbox talks not only on safety issues, but also to discuss OKR progress, share wins or discuss solutions to targets in danger. These habits support industry evidence that an engaged, cooperative goal-setting culture significantly enhances results. Firms with strong goal alignment see about 30% increased employee engagement, and extremely engaged teams were discovered to outperform others by 21% in profitability while finishing projects more quickly. Madre's own employee satisfaction and retention levels increased after implementation, as personnel felt more a part of the company's mission and achievements.
Data-Driven Decision Making
With real-time dashboards and reports at their fingertips, Madre's leadership were given unparalleled visibility into operations. They could see progress on every objective and key result at a glance and drill down for detail when necessary. So, for instance, if one particular project's key result – let's say "reduce rework by 15%" – was behind, management would be able to catch it early and act by assigning more experts or arranging an impromptu training session. Decisions that used to be based on gut feel were now supported by real-time data. This flexibility kept projects on track or quickly course-corrected. The centralized data also improved quarterly and yearly planning, as historical OKR performance indicated potential future resource requirements (solving the previous forecasting problem). Indeed, 58% of teams indicated improved performance when they had structured tracking and real-time feedback loops established, and Madre's experience strongly supported that figure.
Simplified Monitoring and Less Errors
Managers and executives had a much easier monitoring process. Rather than working with spreadsheets and lengthy email conversations for updates, they could have a bird's eye view of Hidesc's integrated dashboard and receive automated alerts for any discrepancies or approvals waiting. The approval workflows integrated meant compliance and administrative procedures were dealt with in an organized manner, with virtually no errors and oversights that characterized the previous manual processes. For example, delayed timesheet approvals (leading to subsequent payroll adjustments) became prompt and accurate, since the system would highlight any discrepancies and require all timesheets to be signed off by managers prior to cut-off. The overall result was a smoother process with less "fire-fighting." One of the senior managers explained that monthly review meetings of the projects changed their focus from "sorting out what's going on" to actually examining risks and opportunities, as the status of the tasks and OKRs was already clear to all in advance.
Continuous Improvement Culture
Through the 5+ years since its initial launch, Madre has had a cycle of continuous improvement. With the constant guidance of Hidile and periodic software updates, the OKR system kept improving with added features such as mobile accessibility, deepened analytics, and integrations (for instance, connecting the OKR module with Madre's HR system to connect performance reviews with OKR results). All these incremental updates were provided without interruption, reflecting the stability of Hidile's service. In addition, the long-term collaboration enabled Madre's internal team to upskill in utilizing the OKR approach – they improved their goal-setting every quarter, stretching yet being more specific in setting Objectives and Key Results. The snowball effect of these successive cycles can be seen in Madre's consistent operational excellence and its capacity to undertake increasingly sophisticated projects with assurance. COO Melvin Mathew attributes some of their organizational achievements to this OKR program, and he says that Hidile's technology "always meets the purpose of our business." That is, the tools have consistently benefited the business objectives, and not the reverse.
Summary
Through the use of an OKR-focused management practice with the assistance of Team Hidile and the Hidesc platform, Madre Integrated Solution took its operation performance to new levels. The organization changed its capacity to concentrate on what is most important, align multiple teams, and react to realities on the ground with speed. This example showcases how effective OKR integration can create focus and measurable results even with a complicated, distributed project setup – simplifying project monitoring, enhancing transparency of performance, and ultimately leading to timely delivery of projects and business success.
Key here is that this success story is not unique. It highlights a larger pattern: organizations that adopt disciplined goal management systems (such as OKRs) and facilitative technology realize real gains in efficiency and expansion. For instance, Zenger/Folkman research showed that OKR-utilizing firms enjoy a 35% productivity gain over those that do not. Madre's experience validates this on the ground, demonstrating how the theory behind OKRs translates into practice with the right expertise and tools. Furthermore, the Harvard Business Review has reported that effectively tracking and measuring goals can correlate with higher revenue growth (up to 15% annually), a statistic reflected in Madre's improved project outcomes and client satisfaction.
Hidile's work on Madre's journey also highlights the value of a solution-focused collaboration. By being aware of Madre's distinctive challenges and tailoring a hybrid structured/agile tool to meet their needs, Hidile provided a solution that not only addressed short-term pain but enabled Madre to improve perpetually. The everyday learning and innovation culture that Hidile embodies was just what Madre's enthusiasm for excellence needed. As contemporary companies balance several projects, teams, and goals at once, Madre's experience shows that with the proper methodology – the use of OKRs, taking advantage of current software with AI-powered insights, and holding flexibility in check – even a large-scale operation can reach the clarity and nimbleness of a startup.
Today, Madre Integrated Solution is able to serve its multi-billion dollar customers with more assurance, knowing that its internal performance engine is highly calibrated, aligned at all levels, and designed to evolve.