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Liberated company and OPALE model: a user manual to accelerate CSR?

October 7, 2025 by
Liberated company and OPALE model: a user manual to accelerate CSR?
Positive Company, Florian Masseube

Reading time: 7 min
Written by Florian Masseube

CSR is now at the heart of organizational transformations. However, many companies face a major challenge:how to move from a CSR approach led by management to a dynamic truly embodied by all employees?

To meet this challenge, some organizational models open up new perspectives. Theliberated company, popularized by Isaac Getz and further developed by Frederic Laloux with theOPALE, offers a different way of thinking about governance, the relationship to work, and collective engagement.

What if these principles could become apowerful lever for CSR ownership and performance? ?

1. The liberated company in a few words

The central idea of the liberated company is to:remove hierarchical and bureaucratic barriersthat stifle initiative, allowing employees to make decisions and fully engage.

It is a framework where everyone can exercise their autonomy in service of ashared purpose..

French pioneers likeFAVI(foundry),Poult(biscuits), orChronoflex(technical services) have become its symbols, just like theMAIF, which has rethought its governance around trust and collective involvement.

              


2. The OPALE model: three key principles

Popularized by Frederic Laloux inReinventing Organizations, the OPALE model is based on three pillars:

  1. Autonomy
    Decisions are made as close to the ground as possible. Employees have the necessary trust to act without having to escalate every validation to management.

    Example: at FAVI, production teams decide on the organization of their schedule based on customer needs.

  2. Wholeness
    Work is no longer a role to play, but a space where one can express their entire personality. This reduces the distance between 'who I am' and 'what I do'.

    Result: better cohesion, less stress, a more peaceful social climate.

  3. Evolving purpose
    The organization is defined by a living mission, capable of evolving with societal challenges.

    Example: MAIF has evolved its purpose to integrate social and environmental impact into its strategy.

Conditions for success:
  • Transparencyof information.
  • Trustas a core value.
  • Managerial maturityto accept letting go.


3. How to apply the OPALE model to CSR

Mettre en œuvre la RSE dans une logique inspirée de l’OPALE ne consiste pas à plaquer un modèle idéal, mais à s’appuyer sur ses principes pour transformer en profondeur la manière dont la RSE est pensée, décidée et vécue au quotidien.  

🔹 Step 1: From top-down CSR to a shared dynamic

La plupart des entreprises lancent leur stratégie RSE par le sommet, avec des orientations définies au COMEX. Mais sans appropriation des équipes, ces ambitions restent souvent théoriques.

The OPALE model invites us to do the opposite:co-construct the approach with those who will bring it to life.

Un exemple concret : certaines organisations ont créé des cercles RSE sur le modèle de la gouvernance partagée. Chaque cercle regroupe des collaborateurs de différents services (achats, RH, opérations, marketing…) et se voit confier un mandat clair : prioriser les enjeux, proposer des actions et décider de leur mise en œuvre. Ce type de dispositif favorise l’engagement parce qu’il redonne du pouvoir d’agir.


🔹Step 2: Restore autonomy to CSR ambassadors

In many companies, they appointCSR referentsbut without actually giving them the means to act. The OPALE approach changes the game:the CSR ambassador is not a communication relay but a decision-making actor..

Let's take the example of a logistics department: if the CSR ambassador of this service identifies a project foroptimizing delivery routesto reduce emissions, they must have the ability tovalidate the test, mobilize colleagues, and lead the project, without waiting for endless arbitration.Autonomy then becomes the engine of sustainable innovation.


🔹 Step 3: Mobilize fullness to engage around CSR

CSR touches onpersonal convictions: climate, equality, inclusion, health… so many topics where everyone has their own sensitivity. The OPALE model valuesfullness: allowing everyone to bring theirvalues, ideas, and emotionsinto the collective.

Concretely, this can take the form ofcollaborative ritualswhere teams share theirpersonal initiatives(soft mobility, waste reduction, volunteer work) and translate them intocollective projects..

A service company, for example, launched itssustainable mobility planafter several cycling employees shared their experiences:bike parking, green mileage allowance, shared fleet.. Fulfillment then becomes acatalyst for authentic and unifying projects.


🔹 Step 4: A purpose that evolves with CSR

e troisième pilier OPALE – la raison d’être évolutive – est sans doute le plus puissant pour la RSE. Il ne s’agit plus d’inscrire la raison d’être dans le marbre une fois pour toutes, mais de l’enrichir régulièrement au fil des attentes sociétales.

Some companies now organize annualreviews of their purpose: once a year, a panel of employees, clients, and stakeholders meets to check if the purpose is still aligned with thecurrent issues (climate, inclusion, biodiversity). This practice avoids the pitfall ofgreenwashingand establishes CSR as aliving, dynamic process..


Appliquer l’OPALE à la RSE, ce n’est pas multiplier les comités et les indicateurs. C’est changer de posture organisationnelle : passer d’un projet piloté par une poignée d’experts à une dynamique vivante, incarnée, où chacun peut contribuer à transformer l’entreprise. ​

The liberated company at IDS Media

Can you tell us why IDS Media chose to become a liberated company?
"We adopted the model of liberated companies toplace people at the center of our operations.At IDS Media, team members do not hold a fixed position, but embodymultiple rolesaccording to needs and projects. This flexibility allows us to better respond to CSR challenges, innovate collectively, and live our purpose in a shared way."

What concrete benefits have you observed since implementing this model?
"The autonomy granted to everyone has allowed us to strengthen our commitment. For example, we have reduced our carbon footprint through simple, concrete, and co-constructed actions: Green IT, refurbished equipment, energy-efficient screens, plant-based ink... Each initiative comes from the teams, with real power to act."

What advice would you give to a company that is hesitant to adopt this model?
"Don't think about applying a perfect model from the outside, but start with small initiatives: redefine roles, test autonomous projects, create spaces of trust. The important thing is toleave room for initiative– then, collective momentum can really take shape."

Agathe Quignot
Marketing and Communication Manager - IDS Media

📚 To go further

This article stems from the Café des labellisés on July 1, 2025, thanks to:

L’intelligence artificielle face au défi climatique : innovation ou menace écologique ?