Case:
Value-Based Management Approach – From Subculture to Cultural Cornerstone
This is the story of HR-ON – a socially sustainable workplace that, at first glance, could resemble a lawless subculture, until leadership and employees together established their own sustainable frameworks and agreements.
It is also a story of a fundamental leadership dilemma: that trust and control are difficult to balance simultaneously – and that a new understanding of people is the path out of the shadow of disorder.
Written by: Betina Noe Favrholt, Trust-Based Legal Advisor.
When Ali E. Cevik founded HR-ON in 2012 and hired his first employees, it was natural for him to let them manage their own working lives, based on the belief that people cannot be controlled. He did not seek to control why employees take time off, report sick leave, or stay home with their children. What matters is that they are doing well and feel motivated by their work.
As a result, HR-ON quickly became an organisation characterised by a distinct and empowering culture, where individuals take responsibility for managing themselves. However, this culture can also create uncertainty among trade unions and new employees.
The Perception of a Lawless Organisation
The hiring process is a story in itself – not only in the early days of the company, but even years later. New employees often try to negotiate additional holiday time, despite Ali clearly explaining that HR-ON offers unlimited paid leave.
For individuals accustomed to a culture shaped by control – where rights must be negotiated – it can be difficult to understand that HR-ON is genuinely organised as an equal, trust-based team, where no one needs permission to take time off in alignment with their own needs.
The culture at HR-ON differs so fundamentally from the traditional employer–employee relationship that it can seem almost too good to be true. What is experienced as positive internally can appear unfamiliar or even questionable from the outside.
At times, this creates a sense of perceived “lawlessness”, particularly when external advisors, such as legal professionals, challenge whether such a culture operates within acceptable boundaries – even though HR-ON fully complies with applicable laws. It can give the impression of an organisation operating outside conventional norms.
From Abstract Concepts to a Shared Framework
Ali is aware that people need concepts to understand. A culture only truly exists when there is a shared language to describe it. In 2021, HR-ON therefore dedicated resources to enabling employees and leadership to articulate what they were already jointly practicing. Nothing was changed – the objective was to define a common language.
They introduced principles such as “From Control to Trust,” “From Time to Results,” “From Hierarchy to Dialogue,” and “From Rules and Instructions to Meaning and Empowerment.” They chose to define their culture as a value-based management approach and consolidated these principles into a document called the employee manifesto.
With this, they established a shared language to understand and communicate their culture — both internally and externally.
Through this work, HR-ON has strengthened its organisational framework within existing legal structures. The manifesto serves as a structured extension of these frameworks, providing clarity and transparency around how the organisation operates.
At HR-ON, practices such as unlimited paid leave and flexible parental leave are embedded within this framework. The manifesto has effectively become a guiding document for how the organisation is led and developed.
Public Reception: Freedom or Lack of Structure?
When HR-ON launched the manifesto in October 2021 to inspire other organisations, it quickly gained widespread attention and went viral. It attracted significant media coverage, with headlines such as: “The CEO does not mind whether employees take five or ten weeks of holiday.”
HR-ON experienced an overwhelmingly positive response from the public. Many expressed sentiments such as: “I hope this becomes the new normal” and “Trust is the way forward.” Interest was also strong within the Danish business community, with organisational psychologists suggesting that this approach represents the future.
At the same time, HR-ON faced questions from journalists, HR professionals, and leaders who found the model difficult to reconcile with traditional structures. Questions included: “What about employees who need clear frameworks?” “What if trust is misused?”, and “Is leadership no longer necessary?”
Although the manifesto demonstrates HR-ON’s commitment to a value-based management approach, these reactions highlight that leadership must continue to clearly communicate how employees navigate and succeed within a more flexible and trust-based structure.
A New Narrative About People
The manifesto opens up a new narrative about people at work. It is a narrative about individuals learning to let go of ingrained assumptions – when these appear as inherited patterns or beliefs that no longer serve them. It may, for example, be the assumption that it is most appropriate to work from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., even when a different working rhythm would be more suitable.
These types of constructive reflections continue to emerge as the manifesto is further clarified and developed as the dynamic framework it is intended to be.
It is also the ongoing story of a leader who enables autonomy, yet can still experience a sense of operating outside conventional norms. Despite the manifesto, Ali continues to have conversations where it is challenging to communicate the culture in a way that is fully understood by those outside the organisation.
Although job candidates are asked to review the manifesto as part of the recruitment process, there are still instances where it is perceived as aspirational rather than tangible. It is not surprising. During the hiring process, candidates are also presented with an employment contract focused on rights and obligations – a format that, for many, carries more weight than a manifesto.
Balancing Control and Trust Is Challenging
Until 2025, HR-ON used standard employment contracts, even though they were based on assumptions that did not align with the organisation’s approach. One such assumption is that agreements cannot be formulated in a trust-based language. It does not align with HR-ON’s ambition to create inclusive frameworks and agreements.
HR-ON has continuously addressed this dilemma. Balancing control and trust at the same time is challenging – if not impossible. It is reflected in the many conversations Ali has had with new employees.
In 2025, HR-ON developed fully trust-based employment agreements, designed to replace traditional contracts. These will be implemented in 2026. In the new agreements, needs and interests are articulated instead of rights and obligations. The key difference lies in the use of trust-based language.
Where the previous contract stated:
“The Company may, with at least three months’ written notice, require the Employee to take their main holiday, and with at least one month’s written notice, require the Employee to take the remaining holiday.”
The new agreement instead states:
“The holiday you are entitled to under applicable law is coordinated within your team. If you require additional time off, management should be informed to ensure an overview of the overall situation and to balance the needs of both the company and the employee.”
It demonstrates HR-ON’s full commitment to a trust-based approach.
Instead of contracts that may challenge the culture, the organisation now operates with agreements that align with it — while remaining fully compliant with legal requirements. The difference lies in the language of trust embedded in the agreements.
Out of the Shadow of Lawlessness
HR-ON believes that the foundation of future job security lies in a shared set of values. For Ali, this belief runs even deeper. He grew up as a shepherd in the Middle East, in a farming community shaped by an ancient philosophy: Alevism. This philosophy holds that the individual carries an inner sense of divinity and that being a good person comes from within.
The belief is not written down, but passed on through music – and Ali, now CEO and co-founder of one of Denmark’s most forward-thinking tech companies, still remembers the melodies and the words.
It has shaped a lifelong awareness of the tension between being a law-abiding citizen and remaining true to oneself. For Ali, this tension has always challenged his sense of justice. Because following one’s own values should not be seen as something wrong.
The Story Continues
HR-ON is a company experiencing rapid growth, yet it will remain just as natural in the future to trust employees to manage their own working lives. As one employee states: “It creates a sense of security when frameworks and agreements are clear and understandable, and when they reflect the values we express both internally and externally as a company.”
The new employment agreements are just one example of how future workplace communities require legal frameworks and external requirements to be interpreted through a new understanding of people.
At HR-ON, there is no other way of operating than with the awareness that attempting to control one another is ineffective – and that trust is a source of strength.
A New Standard
HR-ON hopes that these agreements – like the manifesto – can inspire other leaders committed to sustainability to feel less constrained by conventional norms.
Both leadership and employees value the alignment between values and expectations. Sustainable leadership and social sustainability require the courage to stand by one’s beliefs and to prioritise values over outdated structures and assumptions.
The belief is that the leadership of the future is grounded in authenticity – and in having the courage to act in alignment with what one truly believes.
This case is part of HR-ON’s ESG Report 2025, which you can read here.
FAQ: HR-ON: From a subculture into a cultural cornerstone
What does value-based self-leadership look like in practice?
Value-based self-leadership means enabling employees to manage their working lives based on shared values rather than control and rules. In practice, this means decisions are made closer to the task itself, and responsibility, freedom, and trust go hand in hand. It requires a strong sense of shared values and a common language, so everyone knows what the right thing to do is, even without fixed frameworks.
How do you prevent freedom from turning into “anything goes” in a trust-based culture?
Freedom only works when it is rooted in clear frameworks. At HR-ON, the employee manifesto and shared agreements provide direction. It is not the absence of structure, but a different kind of structure, where values, dialogue, and transparency replace rules and control.
What role does leadership play in an organisation built on self-leadership?
Leadership does not disappear; it changes in nature. Instead of directing and controlling, the leader’s role is to set direction, create meaning, and facilitate dialogue. The leader becomes a culture carrier and a framework setter, ensuring that values are put into practice.
How do you ensure that new employees understand and thrive in an unconventional culture?
It requires clear communication and aligned expectations from the very beginning. New employees need to be introduced to both the values and the way they are translated into action. This is where onboarding plays a crucial role, not only as a process, but as a way of creating a sense of security and understanding of the culture.
How can employment contracts support a trust-based culture?
The language used in agreements matters. Traditional contracts are often framed around control, rights, and obligations. Trust-based agreements, by contrast, are built around needs, shared responsibility, and collaboration. When the contract reflects the culture, it creates alignment between what you say and what you do.
