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No CEO. No departments. No traditional management structure. And yet it works – sometimes surprisingly well.
What seemed like an anarchic thought experiment just a few years ago has now developed into a serious form of organisation: DAOs – Decentralised Autonomous Organisations. They manage millions, make collective decisions via token-based voting – and recruit their members through open communities instead of structured application processes.
All this happens without a central HR department. Without an application process in the traditional sense. Without an organisational chart.
And yet, new roles, new responsibilities and, above all, new expectations of what we now call organisation are emerging around these decentralised networks. HR is not on the sidelines, but at a turning point: Those who only manage now will miss the opportunity to shape the future.
Because what DAOs are doing today on a small scale could soon transform traditional companies: freedom of decision-making, transparency, new forms of remuneration and co-determination. If you want to know what an organisation can look like in the age of Web3 – and what tasks HR will take on in this structure – you need to look beyond the boundaries of traditional systems.
In this article, we examine what ‘decentralised organisation’ really means. What ways of thinking and practices can be derived from it. And why it is high time for modern HR departments to take a closer look at DAOs – not as a pipe dream, but as inspiration for the present.
Collective leadership: DAO governance as an organisational experiment
What happens when leadership is distributed not through position but through trust? When power is not delegated but tokenised?
In a DAO, it is not the executive who decides, but the code. Governance processes are public. Anyone who wants to make or change suggestions does not need a mandate, but participation – usually in the form of governance tokens. Decisions arise from collective intelligence, not from directives.
This transforms everything we have learned about organisation, responsibility and decision-making processes. In DAOs, leadership is not a status, but a temporary assignment. Management cannot simply push things through – it needs the approval of the community. This takes time, but it creates transparency and trust (Cointelegraph 2024).
Decisions about roles, conflicts or rewards are not outsourced to individual delegates, but are made collectively.
The transition from centralised decision-making to decentralised consensus challenges not only structures but also ways of thinking (Cointelegraph 2024).
Many DAO members see this as a benefit. They feel heard. They help shape the organisation. And they learn to take responsibility – not because they have to, but because they want to.
Nevertheless, the model has its limits. Not every decision is suitable for community voting. Complexity, speed and responsibility cannot always be resolved collectively. Some DAOs therefore rely on hybrid models: operational teams for day-to-day business, governance for strategic decisions (Blockworks 2025).
For HR, this means a radical redefinition of leadership: Who bears responsibility? How is performance made visible? What role does reputation play? And what happens when there are no longer any executives – but leadership is still needed?
These are questions that are increasingly preoccupying traditional organisations. DAOs do not provide the final answer. But they show how organisations can also be conceived – beyond job titles, departmental boundaries and hierarchies.
Organisational design in transition: from role to reputation
In traditional organisations, responsibility follows the role. In decentralised organisations, it follows reputation.
DAOs replace fixed job descriptions with flexible levels of competence. Anyone who wants to take on a specific task does not need a formal promotion – just the trust of the community. Visibility, activity and previous contributions count more than titles or CVs. Reputation becomes the central anchor of responsibility.
Roles emerge dynamically – from what someone actually does, not from what is written in their contract. Those who regularly make informed contributions to the governance forum are entrusted with decision-making mandates more quickly than someone with a highly decorated CV but no commitment (Cointelegraph 2024).
This fundamentally transforms organisational design: teams are formed temporarily, often on a project basis. Roles are advertised openly – and evaluated publicly. Performance is observed and recognised by the community.
Feedback on-chain: new HR tools in use
New tools support this development: on-chain credentials, peer reviews, token-based feedback systems. These reputation metrics are openly visible and lay the foundation for task allocation, reward allocation or voting rights (HR Daily Advisor 2023).
The result: career paths become fluid. Hierarchies disappear in favour of participation logic. The classic question ‘Who is responsible?’ is replaced by ‘Who is recognised?’.
Of course, this also brings new challenges. Reputation can be manipulated. Members who are active early on secure disproportionate power. And not everyone is equally good at making themselves visible in a public space.
This is where the role of HR begins anew: How do we design fair, transparent and inclusive reputation systems? What skills do employees need to navigate open systems with confidence? How can organisations organise decentralised role allocation in such a way that they remain capable of acting without sacrificing the principles of openness and participation?
A new organisational design is emerging – beyond job architectures. Reputation becomes currency, contribution becomes the ticket to entry. And HR becomes the architect of this new structure.
Value creation via tokens: new HR mechanisms for motivation and performance
Those who work in a DAO rarely receive a traditional salary. Instead, new forms of remuneration are emerging – flexible, transparent and often automated. At the heart of this is a mechanism that is many things at once: the token.
Tokenisation is not only replacing money. It embodies co-determination, belonging, reputation – and in many cases responsibility. Those who contribute a lot receive more. Those who own tokens have a say in decisions. Those who win others over increase their social capital within the organisation.
Legal reality
But it's not quite that simple. Tokenised salary models are uncharted legal territory, especially for regulated industries such as finance and law. Although many Web3 talents would like to receive part of their remuneration in cryptocurrencies such as Ethereum or USDC, German labour law sets clear limits here. The main remuneration must continue to be paid in euros, and compliance issues such as income tax, social security contributions and protection against seizure remain in place in Web3 (Numeris 2025).
A recent ruling by the Federal Labour Court (BAG) allows crypto payments, but only under strict conditions. HR departments therefore need clear guidelines, legal coordination and tact to combine innovative models with legal certainty. Those who act too quickly here risk not only problems with the tax authorities, but also damage to their image (Kliemt 2025).
There are various models in practice: tokens as performance bonuses, token-based reward pools, staking models and smart contracts that automate payments.
These mechanisms create transparency and personal responsibility, but also raise new questions: How do you measure contribution in decentralised structures? Who awards tokens – and according to what criteria? How can toxic incentive systems be avoided?
Many Web3 projects now use hybrid systems: a fixed amount for financial security, supplemented by tokenised rewards for commitment and performance (RecruitBlock 2025). This makes organisations more attractive to professionals who are looking for flexibility and a say in how things are done – but who also expect economic security.
Motivation becomes participation
At the same time, the relationship between companies and employees is transforming: those who own tokens are not only employees, but also stakeholders. This creates new loyalty – and new responsibility. But it also requires HR to take on new roles: designing, understanding and supporting token systems.
And this is precisely where the real transformation begins: performance is no longer controlled, but incentivised. Motivation does not come from control, but from participation. Organisation is no longer managed – it is shaped collectively. And that is precisely the promise that Web3 holds for the HR of tomorrow.
HR as a cultural force: How companies can prepare for DAO principles
Decentralised organisations are not an end in themselves. They are based on certain beliefs: trust instead of control, participation instead of instruction, transparency instead of silo thinking. Those who take these principles seriously do not have to immediately set up a DAO – but they do have to learn to create cultural spaces in which this logic is viable.
This requires a new understanding of the role of HR: less administration, more facilitation. HR teams working on Web3-related projects are increasingly taking on tasks that traditional corporate structures have hardly covered until now: community management, onboarding into open governance systems, coaching for self-management.
One thing is already evident today: the most successful Web3 projects are not those with the best tech stack, but those with the most stable community and clear values (LinkedIn 2025).
This means that anyone thinking about Web3 must also think about culture. Trust must be earned and psychological security strengthened. This requires moderation, process competence and, often, conflict management skills.
HR can actively support this change. For example, through pilot projects in existing teams: testing roles without titles, adopting feedback systems from DAOs, trying out token logic in internal project bonuses, and training executives in decentralised decision-making.
This is not about abolishing hierarchies, but about designing them more consciously as spaces where responsibility can shift and trust can grow. Because in the end, it's not about technology. It's about attitude. And that's exactly why HR is needed more than ever.
Conclusion
DAOs are not the right approach for every company. But they are a catalyst for the questions that many HR departments have been asking for a long time – and often put off for too long. How do we distribute responsibility? How do we promote motivation without control? And how do we design organisations so that they adapt without losing themselves?
If you can't relate to Web3 today, don't focus on the technology. Focus on the principles behind it. DAOs show how organisations can function differently – beyond silos, job titles and rigid hierarchies.
This is not a threat to HR. It is an invitation. To rethink. To try it out. And to actively shape a working world in which trust, participation and transparency are not idealistic platitudes, but lived practice. If you want to be prepared for what is coming, you should start looking now at what DAOs are already testing today.
Sources
- Blockworks (2025): Making Sense of DAOs in 2025
- Cointelegraph Jobs (2024): The Role of DAOs in Shaping HR Practices for Web3 Companies
- Fast Company (2023): Why the Future of the Workplace is Leaderless
- HR Daily Advisor (2023): Blockchain HR: How Decentralisation Will Affect HR Structures
- Numeris Consulting (2025): Compliance and Crypto – 6 Challenges for HR in Recruitment
- Kliemt (2025): Crypto kills the Cash-Star? The BAG on crypto remuneration
- LinkedIn (2025): The Future of Work: DAOs as Modern Employers
- Medium / Unpluggd (2022): DAO Governance: Decentralised HR Management
