Redefining core values: How Ontra is building a culture of ownership, excellence, and continuous growth

Ontra

January 23, 20253 min read

By Megan Hansen, Chief People Officer

As we look toward the future of work, it’s increasingly clear that a culture grounded in strong, actionable values is critical for lasting success. At Ontra, we’ve seen how our core values have propelled us forward, enabling us to solve complex challenges for our customers, drive our growth to nearly 400 employees, and serve over 800 customers globally, including nine of the top ten PEI-ranked firms worldwide. Now, as Ontra has evolved from a single-product company to a transformative, multi-product platform, we recognize that our values must evolve to match the scale of our ambition.

Ontra’s journey reinforces a simple truth: the best companies are those willing to challenge, refine, and grow their culture to stay aligned with their vision and true to their core identity. We’ve designed our values to enrich a culture that thrives on excellence and innovation.

Megan Hansen

 | Chief People Officer

Ontra’s six core values as a blueprint for sustainable success

The recent refresh of our core values represents a bold step forward — one that aligns with a rapidly changing market, reinforces our position as an industry leader, and reflects our growth over the years. At Ontra, our values serve as the foundational pillars of our talent strategy, acting as behavioral anchors that guide how we achieve our goals, work together, and deliver value as a team.

We recently celebrated our 10-year anniversary, a milestone that called us to examine the ways in which the growth of our business has informed our cultural identity. Building on the foundation that enabled us to reach this point, we refined our values to represent the key behaviors our employees embody that drive continued success.

The result was a set of six actionable values that capture our ambition and support a workplace where culture fuels outcomes, innovation thrives, and every individual has the opportunity to grow.

Our values in action

Building and sustaining a strong culture takes work and intention. We believe culture is defined not by words but by actions. By making identity-driven decisions that represent what truly matters to us, we ensure that our values are both aspirational and operational, reflecting how we show up and drive impact when we are at our best.

Act Like Owners

  • OKR goal-setting: Employees take ownership of their work through our Objectives and Key Results (OKR) structure, where each team member contributes to ambitious company-wide goals, ensuring alignment and accountability across the organization.

Obsess Over Our Customers

  • Customer-centricity from day one: Our tailored onboarding program immerses new hires in the industry landscape and needs of the customers we serve, ensuring that everyone is aligned with our mission to deliver value and build lasting relationships from the start.

Play to Win

  • Biannual gathering strategy: Our biannual in-person offsite gatherings provide employees with the opportunity to align on strategic objectives, strengthen relationships, and set ambitious team goals, ensuring high performance across the organization.

Do the Work

  • Commitment to equitable legal access: By donating $1 for every document processed on our platform, Ontra’s Legal Aid Alliance partners with nonprofit organizations to close the justice gap and provide legal representation to underserved communities across the U.S., Europe, and Asia.

Communicate Openly

  • Employee Resource Groups (ERGs): Our ERGs provide platforms for employees to openly share their perspectives and ideas, fostering inclusion and better communication across all departments.

Are Always Improving

  • Growth and development programs: Through regular performance reviews and talent development initiatives, our employees are empowered to give and receive feedback in the spirit of continuous improvement while remaining aligned with Ontra’s mission and values.

Why evolving values matter

In a world where businesses must adapt to stay relevant, evolving values is essential. Ontra’s journey reinforces a simple truth: the best companies are those willing to challenge, refine, and grow their culture to stay aligned with their vision and true to their core identity. We’ve designed our values to enrich a culture that thrives on excellence and innovation.

As we head into our next chapter, we’re excited to see these values in action. They represent our commitment to each other, to our customers, and to our mission of becoming the trusted leader in legal technology.

Together, our core values are more than a set of principles; they are our path to continued success.

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